#AND there's a nukes subplot

[pebbledrat]

Genuinely no one understands how much Paul Shapera's The Mayor is a cTubbo song

#you don't cry for mercy! you don't cry for help! #you don't cry 'cause in this world you got. you gotta get it done yourself #the mayor is just ctubbo coded in general tho. she's my everything #like what if we dedicated ourselves to preserving our city from war and inside threats and in doing so #we accidentally isolated ourselves from the people we cared about most? #AND there's a nukes subplot #like you can't make this stuff up #and don't get me started on #''Shaking hands making pacts/ with knives held round our backs/ We all smile as we push in the blade'' #okay I'll be done now but like. the madness is definitely consuming me #everyone go listen to fairypunk 3 right now #pebble speaks

[advictoriams]

Nines' calibration tool is his pistol. It is a direct reference to RoboCop.

Since David Cage didn't have the balls to have at least one RoboCop reference in a game that HAS A ROBOTIC COP AND IS SET IN FUCKING DETROIT. I guess I'll just do it.

#headcanon #dbh headcanons #this is just a universal headcanon that I have. it applies to any and all versions. #dbh nines #robocop #how do you not have a robocop reference in a game about robocops from detroit #i mean i guess of you squint the unnecessary and underdeveloped red ice subplot is kinda like Nuke?

[clairikine]

"Sir, this is a Radio Shed"

#i cackled #time to get rid of the subplots; the failed spinoffs; #honestly didn't expect them to bring back Kaia so this was a nice surprise #also was surprised that cas and jody had in fact never met in person #claire watches the spn show #supernatural #15x12 #nuking household appliance stores from orbit #also it's weird to me that they now reference stuff like *galaxy brain* bc like....a year ago i was still watching them use flip phones?? #i love the meta

[garleansecretary]

I know people love the Fallout Show and I'm probably poking the Hornets nest with this but legit i really can't be assed to watch it

Spoilers below.

SPOILERS. BELOW.

So the Show retcons Fallout New Vegas.

I don't care what some Exec says on Twitter about them not retconning it, they did. Why else would they have destroyed the NCR via a Nuke for some Vault bullshit (one of Todds big fetishes. Yes, Vaults are important to the games but Todd specifically has a weird obsession with them. I cannot explain it well but if you look at FO3, FO4 and FO76 you get the feeling that he wants the Vaults to be of more importance than the world outside in the wastes. That and the weird way of everything that was rebuilt to be destroyed soon after) and the destroyed remains of New Vegas proper in the end credits.

The reasons can be many but the one that is true to me personally is that Todd is, like many other rich white guys, a manbaby who cannot take not being praised as the best.

FNV is and had been a Thorn in his side for years now and I am very sure when I say that the shows "subplot" of everything FNV related in the show being shown as destroyed etc to be nothing more than him finally trying to get rid of this boogeyman that he can't cope with.

At best it's the showrumners being absolute morons about the lore (like fr. If Shady sands was destroyed in 2277 which is the same year as the First Battle of Hoover Dam, would the NCR still expand into the Mojave? Prolly not they'd regroup and mount a defense in California proper against opportunistic enemies like the Legion)

At worst it was, as described above, Todd Howard trying to ruin the last great game in the series (Idc what you think about FO4 it's lame, badly written and the gunplay is just copypaste FPS Slop)

Idk if i wanted to come to a conclusion or anything so

Tl:Dr: don't watch the show, buy new vegas and make Todd mald. Hey I'll even give Mod recommendations to make FNV even more of a blast to enjoy.

#sfw #fallout new vegas #fallout #fallout tv series #fallout tv show #fallout tv spoilers #todd is a massive fuckin loser as are all rich white people #justice for new vegas

[digitaldoeslmk]

I kind of figured, yeah! In that case, can you tell us a bit more about how the group ends up taking Macaque down, and what happens afterwards?

I'm still defining the details but, basically Macaque's whole tirade is against MK rather than Wukong this time around. I'll get into his motivations eventually tho lmao

suffice to say, they manage to nuke Macaque a la LBD in the series and at first they think that's all done. except, Macaque has left quite a few doubts in MK's mind and their whole plan to beat him kind of made Heaven turn their gaze to MK and wonder if they are going to be having a young Wukong electric boogaloo situation any time soon and how to avoid that.

so S4 is mostly about MK trying to reassure Heaven he is not going to do any havocing any time soon, MK figuring out what being the fifth mystical monkey even means, some high tier investigating going about because the missing memories subplot is still happening, and also oops Macaque is still here oh nooo spaghettiooooos

Macaque takes the role of the ink curse, except he's just a bodiless haunting now, mostly haunting MK and preying on his insecurities and the stress of reassuring eveyone that haha he's fine he's so fine actually. fun for the whole family :D

also MK negotiates with the Kings of Diyu and he loses a lot of the merit he earned by defeating Macaque, so that LBD and the Mayor (man I need to name the guy) cna be reincarnated as monkeys in FFM so that he can take them under his wing and make sure they get reformed

#lmk au #by the book au

[terezis]

how Did you like nona tho?

short answer: i liked it! i didn't love it. as of this exact moment, having read it twice, i think that nona the ninth should have been pruned mercilessly and put into a very long alecto. (breaking dawn is 756 pages! they could’ve done it!!!) it didn’t need to be its own book, and does not do enough to justify itself as one. 

that said: it was still pretty good!!! 

long answer: i’m gonna be spicy first and then talk about what i liked LOL... spoilers under the cut

most of my criticism here comes back to the fact that this was originally meant to be the first act of alecto the ninth. you can tell. i definitely feel like i have read the beginning of alecto. like, don't get me wrong, most of nona stands on its own as a story, and it's a fun read; but you could have cut a good third of this book and it wouldn't have changed anything. 

we spend a frankly OBSCENE amount of time on nona's daily life when we could have gotten the picture in forty pages... and for all that she's deeply invested in her home life, her time at school, and her friends, the book fails to make ME care, which is disappointing because i know tamsyn muir is capable of doing so.

i mean, in the first two books everyone was uniquely delightful and felt like they could be the main character of a different story. it was hilarious to watch gideon interact with silas and colum; i love the original lyctors. but why should i care about beautiful ruby, whom i cannot distinguish from the other one, what's his name, born in the morning? we suffer? hell, even the angel???

you could replace pash with any nameless rebel and the story wouldn't change overmuch; the fact that she's apparently wake's niece has no relevance, except that it makes her hate zombies more… but most people in this book do, so who cares. what’s the point.

likewise, details and subplots that, in previous books, would have become relevant to the larger story at some point, don't seem to matter as much in nona. is that because they're going to be addressed again in alecto, or because they actually don't matter? i can’t tell.

take for example: hot sauce’s burns. compare it to something like abigail's backstory; it's a minor detail, but her interest in lyctoral history ended up spooking cytherea, which got her murdered, kickstarting the main conflict of the first book.

am i being too nitpicky here? did it not feel like those burns were supposed to be more relevant than they were? especially after we learn that she thinks edenites are too soft, so she hangs out with a fringe group implied to be responsible for the zombie burnings? but neither thing ever comes up again. is it just flavor? 

also consider: the different factions of the blood of eden, namely the hopers, who we’re frequently TOLD are major obstacles to the characters’ immediate goals, but who we rarely see become a problem. we suffer says it’s hard to convince them of anything, but they never really refuse her in any meaningful way. what are the stakes? is this the same group who previously killed 18,000 cohort soldiers with a space nuke? where's the oomph??? 

i feel like all of the above is also exacerbated by the fact that the entire book is told from nona's pov, and nona just does not give a single shit about the larger conflicts happening around her. it's not her fault. if i were her, i don't know if i'd care either. but as a result she spends SO MUCH of the book away from the action, which sucks when the best parts of this book are when she actually gets to be involved. 

i loved when she snuck out to talk to varun; when she listened to cam's tapes; when she and hot sauce ran off to see the broadcast. those parts fucked!!! i liked when she got to throw a tantrum!!! it was spooky!!! let her loose!!! i guess she has been let loose now, but it would've been nice if it had happened sooner.

look, i know this is a lot of criticism for a book i keep saying i liked. i really did enjoy it. harrow the ninth also had to grow on me, and u know i love that shit now. i like when a book is a puzzle, and the locked tomb is one of those thousand piece motherfuckers. right now nona gets a 6.5/10 from me, but mayhaps that will change on another reread.

anyways here's my highlight reel:

i was thrilled when gideon woke up and made a joke about stealing palamedes' girl

it’s so fucked up that ianthe wore babs' body like a little suit (complimentary) and when that body hugged corona omg. recall the last time the sisters saw each other. so fucking juicy. i love her

i LOVED the nun. pre-res anastasia? when she did the thing with the gun??? delicious

the thing with anastasia's bones at the very end Intrigued Me Deeply, and i want to know more about her relationship with alecto

the part where pyrrha told nona about her terrible shirt made me cry, which is funny bc the shirt had a sex joke on it

THE PART WHEN AIGLAMENE TOOK GIDEON'S FACE IN HER HANDS AND FLINCHED BACKWARDS BECAUSE SHE RELEASED SHE WAS LOOKING AT A CORPSE, AND SAID THEY KILLED YOU, AND GIDEON JOKED ABOUT IT, AND AIGLAMENE TURNED TO HARROW FURIOUSLY FOR LETTING GIDEON DIE, OW MY HEART

did not expect gideon to do a kill on crux, liked it, liked how she reacted to it, still don't think it's really gideon as we know her though

like she was MEAN. she was so sassy!!! i know she is sassy in general, but she was like NICE sassy in the other books, why is she acting like the villain version of herself, the stuff she said about becoming john's cavalier was so fucking weird, i don't think it was a front??? but why would she want that??? she was so MEAN

i hope she and ianthe are actually friendship bracelet wearing buds though like imagine when harrow finds that out. hilarious

i REALLY liked the fucked up nun. like a LOT

#Anonymous #ntn spoilers #nona the ninth spoilers #locked tomb spoilers #i have been refining this ask for like four days pls be nice to me i do not mean to ruin anyone's fun. LOL #the locked tomb #tlt tag

[tanadrin]

similar pattern in big-budget RPGs too sometimes, where various subplots and sidequests are great but the main questline is kinda lame. because if there's a sidequest that's a bit shit, then okay, there was a sidequest that was a bit shit, but there was this other one that was brilliant. but then the main plot has a) more pressure to produce something marketable and b) too many cooks, so it's almost always pressed into bland mediocrity. there's also more room to trip over your own feet, rather than eliding over irrelevant details or trusting the audience to fill in what isn't shown or explained like you can with a one-episode fucked up planet or optional side-quest

Yeah, Shamus Young's reviews of the ME series remind me of this: the main plot of ME2 and ME3 really struggled, bc it nuked a lot of the great setup from ME1 for no good reason, and it was just a mess--but the companion quests are cited as frequently being a highlight of both games, bc they're more standalone stories (and, in the case of Mass Effect, they pick up plot hooks laid down by the first game).

This can actually be a real strength of big, sprawling RPGs and MMORPGs. Ray Bradbury once said you should write a story every day for a year because nobody can write 365 bad stories in a row, and while that's kinda facetious advice, it's true that in almost any sufficiently big setting or game you will occasionally get some really standout elements if you have enough different contributors. That is actually something I really like about collaborative fiction projects!

[plaguethewaters]

kinda batshit insane but. dsmp sk8 au where beeduo are matchablossom. Hear me out.

older beeduo perfectly comfortable in their marriage keeping it a secret at S because its fun. Ranboo's competitivness stirring up that "tactical flirting" theyre too socially anxious to try in their daily life and tubbo having loads of fun showing off his "lawyer with a stick up his ass" worksona while also cursing his husband off at any point in time.

Tommy is shadow, in this dynamic, a little bit different than in og sk8. Ig he's a little closer to adam inn that hes the same age as beeduo and went to school with them but also hes not a pedo with weird codependent relationships. And i love the idea of him having a little flower shop but also dressing in full punk demonic regalia at S. Let him be fucking weird and extra.

if i want to have adam be close to sk8 canon Dream is the obvious choice. Weird obsession with a singular kid and an incessant need to have power over everyone and everything, with a couple of guys who where super friends with him in his youth but ended up dropping him because of the weird controlling behaviour? perfect. I like the idea of tadashi being punz in this situation, even if george would probably fit better but idk.

It works very well actually because - reki and the babygang would be second gen dsmp kids. In particular, reki would be michael, langa would be shroud, and miya would be yogurt (little subplot- wilbur is Oka in this au, fundy is a random guy thats his son and kinda hates that his own child chose the same hobby as his father). Thus we would have dream getting super super obsessed with shroud - not inn a weirdly sexual way like adam for langa, but as a replacement. Tommy's all grown up, hes not fun to play with anymore. What better than tommy's precious son to fill up the role? Especially since it gets tommy so worked up.

This also opens the way to another secret plot, because te kids would have absolutely no idea its their parents in the masks at S. Michael probably finds out when Nuke gets decked in the face by dream's skateboard during the beef, they have to call the ambulance and - oh prime thats my goddamn dads.

#plague speaks #nova aus #sk8 #dsmp #i wrote. more abotu this than i originally intended to lol #but ive been rewatching sk8 and this is such a compelling plot to work with if done right #additional things i didnt put to not clog up the tags #does this imply romantic michael and shroud? kinfa #i saw a bunch of tiktoks shipping them years ago and the idea isnt bad #super mega childhood bf material right there #but ill see #super easy to make it platonic since sk8 never fucking delivered anyway. #2 thing #i also kinda toyed with the idea of having quackity as adam #stirring a bunch from the og so that his beef would be more about tubbo than an obsession w/ the kids #and thus also giving me weird dog roleplay tntduo #but overall dream fits much more nicely #adn gives me an eviller villain to work with #without having to worry about those pesky grey areas

[the-summers-rebellion]

Alan Moore is a brilliant writer and Zack Snyder is a hack, but by dropping the alien corpse subplot from Watchmen, I think Snyder made the ending a lot more poignant.

As an ex-evangelical, "We need to stop planning to nuke each other and unite against an alien threat," is nowhere near as impactful as, "We need to stop planning to nuke each other out of fear of the omnipotent God we accidentally created." Especially since there's no way to use the alien scare twice or to prolong it. You'd get a brief period of world peace, but when nothing else shows up for several years, it'll just be a weird disaster that happened.

If you think the omnipotent blue man who has been in the public eye for a couple of decades blew up several major cities, that's something familiar becoming hostile. All of what you know about him becomes tinged with sinister intent. The fear casts deeper roots. Even if the disaster is never repeated, Dr. Manhattan is easier to humanize, ascribe motives to, and speculate over. Having the threat be knowable, and something you once placed your trust in carries more weight.

I lived for a couple decades under the eye of a God who was simultaneously infinitely loving and infinitely wrathful. You have no idea how effective a method of control that is unless you grew up being hammered into shape by the church.

Snyder may be a hack, and he likely pulled this poignancy by accident, but Moore is also a bitter, prideful old shriv whose ideas are not above criticism or improvement. And I think Snyder improved the original work in this very specific case.

#comics #dc comics #watchmen #dr. manhattan #alan moore #zack snyder

[lady-raziel]

tell me about the brotherhood of steel in your head please i want to know so badly

ok so there's a chapter of the brotherhood of steel that exists in the rocky mountain region that split off from the western chapters many years ago and was successful for a while but has been in a slow decline and the nail in the coffin was when caesar's legion rolled into the area and essentially killed the chapter off. most of the remaining members have either been killed or wandered off to other parts of the wasteland. those that stayed with the chapter officially, only a handful, got caught in a radiation storm that lasted for weeks, and it irradiated them so bad they, guess what, got ghoulified. but the brotherhood hates non-humans so they had to do some serious soul-searching and realized that in the beginning when the brotherhood was founded it was more about preserving technology to keep humanity from falling into the dark ages again and preventing another nuclear war. the surviving members of the rocky mountain chapter realized they could continue this mission and further the goals of helping people rebuild even as ghouls.

well then fallout new vegas happens and caesar's legion gets the axe. suddenly the rocky mountain region is up for grabs again. the rocky mountain chapter realizes that in order to have stability in the region, they need to gain control of the area so another caesar doesn't show up and the land doesn't fall to raiders again. they've also heard rumors of a place called vault 0, which was the command center for all the vaults and used to be NORAD, america's missile command bunker. all they know is vault 0 is they key to securing the remaining missiles in america's arsenal and that the place is rumored to be held by the enclave. caesar's legion tried to breach the vault but never succeeded. but the rocky mountain brotherhood realize that if they open their chapter to anyone who wants to join and make a difference, they might have a shot. so they start recruiting ghouls and wastelanders, and even a few supermutants (they build custom power armor for the super mutants, because i think that would be sick as fuck). They even get a few synths who have escaped the institute.

so with their brand new recruits they uncover the enclave and take vault 0 and basically gain control of all the remaining operational nukes and then nobody wants to fuck with them, which is actually fine because they're super chill and interested in actually helping people in the rocky mountain region. but fast forward to them wanting to reconnect with the other chapters of the brotherhood of steel which are either 1) at war with the ncr or 2) asshats. They're basically like "roger maxon didn't die for you to perpetuate the same bullshit that got us in this nuclear mess in the first place" and "not being assholes and racist actually works well in your favor, actually" and decide that with their nuclear arsenal and planes salvaged from the enclave, they're gonna take control of the rest of the brotherhood and put a stop to this nonsense.

so then they show up in Boston and basically tell Arthur Maxon that he's a little racist baby bitch and to sit the fuck down because elder Lyons actually was dope af. and he'd be super disappointed in you if he were alive and hadn't disappeared under mysterious circumstances, arthur. There's also a whole subplot in my head about how arthur got to the east coast from the west coast brotherhood that involves a lot of attempted murder and a hot air balloon but we don't have time to get into that right now.

anyways the rocky mountain brotherhood mary-sues their way into the fallout 4 plotline, defeats the institute with the help of the sole survivor, frees the synths, and makes the eastern brotherhood look like racist fools. which makes them then question everything and makes arthur maxon realize that everything he thought he stood for was a total lie.

idk there are more pieces and it's all very long and complicated and somewhat based on tidbits of lore from things i've read on the fallout wiki and very much existing in my head

but, you asked.

#my fallout rambles #it's a very long and complicated lore based daydream

[bestworstcase]

i really love your analysis of rwby, it really speaks to me as this is exactly the stuff i’ve criticized rwby’s writing for before.

but, knowing rwby’s writing, how much do you trust that the writers will actually go through with this and reveal the villains are right (and how well will they actually pull it off)?

i mean. the thing is my analysis of rwby generally isn’t criticism, in the sense of being negative judgments i am making about the writing—certainly there are things to be critical of, like the fumbling of the white fang subplot, but overall i do think the story accomplishes what it tries to accomplish pretty well. everything about the narrative structure, the way certain characters are framed vs others, and the general thematic thrust of the story itself suggests to me that the things that are broken in the societal status quo are fully intended to be that way because the narrative is interested in restoration and revolution in a much deeper sense than is typical for your average fantasy war story. i have a lot of trust that the story is going to deliver on the reveal and execution in large part because i interpret ‘the lost fable’ as the beginning of the reveal; the narrative straight up handed us salem’s backstory and the staggering extent of ozpin’s deception on a silver platter topped with “oh yeah and the god of light is actually genocidal but don’t worry about that salem’s toooootally the big bad :)” and then spent three entire volumes building up to salem’s siege on atlas being less relevant than headmaster creation nosediving down the fascist rabbit hole and threatening to nuke everybody if they don’t do what he wants. like

imagine if ATLA had fire lord ozai turn up in the middle of the ba sing se arc with a vast army to lay siege to the city, and then spend the entire time being cruel and manipulative to his children while the gaang devoted most of their efforts to getting, what’s his name, long feng? to stop disappearing and brainwashing the citizenry, and then the dai li retaliated by declaring war on the lower and middle rings and destroyed the entire city. like that’s the level of swerve, except rwby builds up to it so effectively and seamlessly that it doesn’t even register as an antagonist bait-and-switch and also it happens in parallel with half the core cast arguing with each other about what salem is actually trying to DO and making a point to not use the relic of knowledge to find out. fghnfhcj

#not to mention the whole thing where the kids are all having trauma breakdowns

[p-artsypants]

Arcadia or Bust (18)

Señor Uhl’s Homeroom

I think the Arcane Order is super cool, and the concept of them being the ultimate authority on magic is really interesting, though Wizards and RotT just show them as ‘nuke the world’ evil. I have my own ideas for them. They may seem nicer in this fic than in canon, and it’s because I want them to be silent judges…and I already have a main villain. The Arcane Order is just going to be a subplot for now. All this to say, don’t yell at me for making them out of character. 

Also reminder that most of the Merlin/Morgana lore was written before Wizards was released, so it’s wildly different from canon.

Ao3 | FF.net

—

Jim came to wakefulness slowly. He had been sleeping longer than normal after his grievous wounds. But it was still some time before dawn. 

He opened his eyes, hand groping for his phone, as he checked the time. 

“Ugh, 3 am. I still have time…” As he turned it off, prepared to go back to sleep, he glanced a silhouetted figure standing in the light of the Heartstone. 

“Wha-!” 

A pair of ancient orange eyes stared down at him. 

He scooted away, sitting up quickly and bringing a sharp pain to his side. “Ah!” 

“Do not move,” said the figure, a kind girl’s face, made of greenery and leaves. “You are hurt.” 

“What—who--?” He couldn’t parse a sentence as he realized there were three strangers in his room. “Who are you?” He finally asked. 

“I am Nari,” said the one close to him, “of the Eternal Forest.” 

“Skrael,” said the gray one, with a deer’s skull for a headdress. “Of the North Wind.” 

“And I am Bellroc, keeper of the Flame,” said the last one. “We are the Arcane Order.” 

“Arcane Order? What are you doing in my house? Have you just been watching me sleep this whole time?” 

“I assure you, we’ve been quite busy while you’ve been resting,” said Skrael. 

It was then that Jim noticed a door behind him, made of roots and crystals, with a skull scorched on the front. 

“What did you do to my house?!” Jim shouted. 

“This is your home now?” Said Nari. “You live in the Heartstone husk?” 

“Yeah, well I was told it would help it return to how it used to be if I spent time around it.” He absently rubbed at the wound from Morgana. 

“You are the one responsible for its death?” Asked Bellroc, anger in her voice. “The oldest primordial heart stone? And you killed it?!” 

“No no! I was trying to protect it! Gunmar was the one that killed it.” 

“Take us to him! Let us punish him for his grievous and wanton destruction!” 

“As great as that sounds, I already took care of that. Like a month ago.” 

Nari settled closer to him, looking at his chest. “You are Merlin’s Trollhunter, yes? But you were not the one that fought at Killahead bridge.” 

“No, that was Deya. There’s been several Trollhunter’s since then. Wait. Were you there?!” 

Bellroc walked the room, touching his belongings, and studying them intently. “We are many eons old. Since the dawn of time. We have sought to balance the Magic’s of this world.” 

“And they have once again fallen out of balance,” continued Skrael. He crouched next to the bucket of water bottles Toby had brought just a few days ago. The ice in the bottom had turned to lukewarm water. But with just a touch from Skrael, the whole thing froze solid. “It hasn’t been this extreme since Arthur was on the throne to Camelot.” 

“Back then,” said Nari, “Merlin the Wizard harnessed much magicks for humanity. He created Excalibur, the Trollhunter Amulet, and the Heart of Avalon.” 

“It tipped the balance, and we awoke to observe,” said Bellroc. “He had apprentices. One such by name as Morgan La Fey.” 

“Morgana,” Jim provided. 

“That was her reborn name. After she and Merlin severed their souls, she was nearly dead. We revived her, and imbued her with our power.” They gestured to the Heartstone. 

“Wait, wait, wait—you mean to tell me that the Heartstone magic, which was Morgana’s magic, is actually from you?” 

“Where else would it have come from?” Asked Nari. “We are Magic, Trollhunter. All begins and ends with us.” 

He sat up more, mulling it over. “Okay. I get it, I guess. Please continue.” 

Bellroc rested a hand on the lifeless gray crystal, and it warmed under her palm. “Morgana was supposed to bring balance. But she aligned herself with Gunmar instead. The great battle of Killahead commenced, and the earth shook with the raw energy that burst forth.” 

“In the end,” said Skrael, “Morgana and Gunmar were sealed away. Arthur and Excalibur fell. Merlin and the Heart of Avalon fell into slumber, and only the Trollhunter Amulet remained active. The magicks did not die, but they were no longer a threat. We then retreated, and returned to our silent observations.” 

“Until not too long ago,” said Bellroc, clenching a fist. “It was as if all the magicks awoke again, and the Earth cowered in fear of their power. It took us too long to find where it was coming from, and when we finally arrived, it was as if it all died.” She rested her forehead against the crystal, and pounded a grief stricken fist against the surface. “It just died. Swallowed by the darkness.” 

“What happened, Trollhunter? What series of events could bring such a calamity?” Asked Nari. 

“Um…it’s a long story.” 

“Time is nothing to us,” said Skrael. “So speak, and miss no details.” 

Jim exhaled loudly. “Miss no details, huh? Okay…” Where to even start? “Well, I actually kept a journal during this whole time. I can get it for you, but it’s at my mother’s house.” 

It looked like they were going to demand he go now, but he cut them off. “How about I give you the short order of events first?” 

Bellroc and Skrael shared a look, then ultimately nodded. “That is sufficient,” said Bellroc. 

“Okay. So, the previous Trollhunter, Kanjagar, was defeated by Bular about a year ago. He fell into sunlight to prevent Bular from taking the amulet, but also the other trolls from retrieving it. So I, being a curious 15 year old teenage boy, stumbled upon it and found it in some rocks.” 

“A human Trollhunter?!” Nari leapt to her feet. “Such a wondrous occasion! That is why you have mammary glands!” She poked his nipple. 

“Ack! Yeah, don’t do that.” He covered his chest. 

“If you were a human,” asked Skrael, unfazed, “why are you a troll now?”

“I’ll get to it.” He mentally rewound time to back then. “It took awhile, but eventually the trolls…begrudgingly accepted me as the Trollhunter.” He told them about Angor Rot, and his plot with the Changelings, about uncovering Killahead bridge, and then reassembling it for him to save Enrique. 

“You risked your life, the safety of the world, to save one human infant?” Asked Bellroc, the ground scorching underneath her. 

“Yeah, I did. I still don’t regret it either.” But he did shamefully admit that his actions allowed Gunmar to be set free from the Darklands, and in turn, he consumed the Janus Order and the magic of the Heartstone. 

Bellroc was enraged. “So you are at fault for this!” 

“Maybe!” Jim scrambled on the bed, wincing as he pulled at his wounds. “But I know that Gunmar would have gotten out of the Darklands eventually, and he would have gone for the Heartstone. Who knows if the Trollhunter at that time would be able to stop him?” 

“Gunmar was inevitable,” said Nari. “We knew this.” 

Bellroc paced the room, thinking. “Perhaps.” 

“The Heartstone was lost, but not the rest of the world. Should we not be grateful to the Trollhunter?” 

Skrael looked over Jim, and narrowed his eyes. “How were you injured?” 

“Ah…this one was from Morgana.” He pointed to the wound on his waist. “And I was recently hurt by a scared human who didn’t know what Trolls were.” 

The three ancient beings shared looks, Skrael and Bellroc were displeased, and Nari was nervous. 

“You still have not explained why you are part troll now,” said Nari. 

“Oh, right. So…” Jim took out his phone, the beings watching with interest. He found an old photo of him before he was transformed and let them see. “This was me before.” 

“Just a babe!” Said Nari, cradling his phone. “A crisis that the amulet would pick such a fragile fawn to fight. 

“Yeah…Merlin said as much. So he made a potion and had me transform into a half troll.”

“So Merlin is awake, yet again?” Asked Bellroc. 

“Yes. But he’s…not really doing any magic anymore. I know he has the ability, but he’s more or less just studying and observing these days.” 

“And Morgana?” 

“She’s trapped in the Shadow Realm, but she’s been kind of training my girlfriend, Claire, in Shadow magic.” 

Nari got very interested at that. She knelt on the bed and sat attentively in front of him. “Your friend knows of Shadow Magic?”

“Yeah, and I think she’s pretty good at it.” 

“How does Morgana teach if she’s in the Shadow Realm?” Asked Bellroc. 

“Uh…it’s not really clear to me? Morgana possessed Claire’s body once, so I think there’s a bond or something?”

The three nodded in understanding. “You understand more than you think, Trollhunter,” said Bellroc. “It seems not all magic has been swallowed, only contained.” 

“We should observe these mortals, guide them as needed,” added Skrael. “There is not yet a need to purge.” 

“Excuse me, purge?” Jim spoke up. “Purge what, exactly?”

“We were prepared to wipe the Earth clean and start over again, but Nari convinced us to hold off for now, and judge more up close and personal.” 

His eyes nearly bulged out of his head. “Well. That’s…very generous of you.” 

“We have already made our decision, that Earth is beyond salvaging at this point. But Nari is not convinced. So she will join you, and see for herself how evil man is. Then she too will agree that all is lost.” 

“I look forward to learning your ways, Trollhunter,” said Nari, with a large smile.   

It was too early in the morning for another earth-saving mission.

—

“So what is this ‘school’ we are preparing for?” Nari asked, as Jim looked in his dresser for something Nari could wear. If she had to follow him, she couldn’t just wear the dress of leaves she was currently wearing. 

“School is a place all young humans go to learn.” 

“Learn what?”

“A little bit of everything. Science, math, writing, reading, history.” 

“Fighting?” 

“No, not really. The closest we have to that is fencing, which is sword fighting. Both players wear cushioned armor, and the goal is not to hurt the person, just to just touch them with the sword. It’s a game.” 

“The humans have taken their blood thirst and turned it into a game?” 

“No no,” he chuckled. “Just the art and technique. Nothing bloodthirsty about it.”

“So men no longer wage war against each other?” 

Jim found a smaller t-shirt that looked like it would fit her. If Claire lent her a pair of leggings, she’d be set. “Here, put this on.” And he went about finding clothes for himself. 

“About the war, Trollhunter Jim?” She pressed. 

He sighed. “Unfortunately, yes. War is still a thing. No one likes it, but as long as men disagree on important things, war will happen.”

“I worried as much. What wars are being waged now?” 

“Well, actually, I think Mr. Strickler might be a better person to ask that question too. He’s our school principal and history teacher. He knows all about the nuances of politics and conflicts.” 

“Will we see him at school?”

“Yep! Now let’s see what we can do for your shoes…” 

—

“You sure you’re well enough to go to school?” 

“I’m sure mom. I’m still weak, but staying home and watching TV all day just doesn’t sound appealing anymore. If I’m home, I’ll feel like I’m not being productive and end up working on some project. Then I really won’t rest.”

“I guess I can believe that. You’ve always been a little more stir crazy than others.”

“I’ll take it easy, I promise.” Jim pressed a kiss to her cheek. 

“I am ready for school!” Said Nari, emerging from the basement. 

“Oh! Who is this?” Asked Barbara. 

“Uh, this is Nari—“ 

“Of the Eternal Forest!” 

“Yes, um…she’s uh…how would you describe yourself?” 

“The authority on the Earth’s life and all that lives on it.” 

Barbara blinked. “So…a god?”

“We prefer the term primordial.” 

“‘We’?” 

“There are three of us. I am following Trollhunter Jim to school to learn about war.”

“Just Jim is fine,” Jim interrupted. 

Barbara chuckled. “Kiddo, you lead a very interesting life. I’m glad you’re making new friends…as ancient as they may be.”

“My work is never done. I’ll catch you later!” 

“Bye Jim, bye Nari!” Barbara waved them off, and then looked in the fridge. “Authority of Earth and all that lives on it? Does that include cows? We’re out of milk.” 

Jim and Nari went into the garage and opened the door. There, Toby and Claire waited. 

“Are you sure you’re well enough to go to school?” They spoke in unison. 

Jim couldn’t help but laugh. “Yes yes, I’m sure.” He gestured to his new friend. “This is Nari, by the way. She’ll be following me around for a while.” 

“She needs the leggings, right?” Claire held out the pants, which Nari took with gratitude. 

“I must not draw attention to myself, lest my goal be ruined by fearful humans.” Nari spoke as she balanced on one foot, trying to put the leggings on over her borrowed converse. 

“What goal is that?” Asked Toby. 

“Trollhunter Jim is to be judged. How he does will decide if we purge the Earth or not.” 

Jim smiled, “no pressure, right?” 

“Unless I see something so foul and heartbreaking that I change my mind, the Earth and your lives are safe.” 

“Better keep her away from Steve then,” said Toby with a little smirk. 

“I’m going to grab some trash for lunch, and then we can go.” Jim walked over to the trash can. 

“Make sure there’s no cocaine this time!” 

“Hahaha very funny, Tobes.” 

“There is a joke? What is cocaine?”

The three teenagers collectively winced. 

“Uh…it’s something Troll’s shouldn’t eat. I didn’t know it was in the garbage and ate it…and got really sick. It’s part of the reason I got injured.”

“Ah, I understand. It is a funny joke because you just consumed the cocaine and were injured, and the round one is making sure you do not do it immediately again!” 

“The round one?”

“Oh, by the way,” said Jim. “This is Claire, my girlfriend, she’s the one practicing shadow magic.” 

Nari got very excited at that. “I am wearing shadow leggings!” 

—

The return to school was just about as weird as Jim was expecting. Lots of greetings from friendly classmates, and a few fearful side eyes from those who were still skittish around him. 

But for the most part, people were happy to see him. 

“UGH CLAIRE!” Mary shouted angrily from down the hall.

“What’s up?” 

“You were supposed to tell me when Jimmy Jam was coming back to school! I don’t nearly have everything ready for the party!” 

“Party?” Asked Jim. 

“Sorry Mar, I was kind of busy making sure he didn’t die.” 

“Fine whatever! Sorry Jim, you’ll have to have a belated welcome home party.” 

“Considering I didn’t even know I was getting a party, I’m fine with this.” He smiled at her. 

“Oh ‘em gee! Your eye makeup is so on point!” Mary looked at Nari. “I’m Mary, are you a friend of Jim’s?” 

“She’s my cousin.” 

“On which side?” 

“My troll side.” 

“Ah, gotcha. But seriously, how did you get your makeup like that?” 

“Make up? I do not understand. This is just my face.” 

“You mean you’re on fleek all the time?” 

“Your words are a mystery to me.” 

Jim gave Nari a little pat on the back. “Don’t worry. She’s a mystery to me too.” 

“Lake!” Coach Lawrence yelled down the hallway. 

“Geez, what is it with everyone yelling at me today?” 

Coach hurried up to him and put an arm around his shoulders. “How you feeling, kid? You recovered yet? That was a doozy of a rampage you had!” 

“I’m much better, thank you.” He absently rubbed at his wounds. “Not battle ready, but I’m okay.” 

“Are you football ready?” 

Jim winced. “Coach, I don’t know. I’ve been practicing with ARRRGH but I don’t think I know what I’m doing.” 

“Not a problem. We’re doing some drills after school today. If you’re up for it, you can run some, see how you feel, and then if you want to play Friday…” 

“Jim, you promised to take it easy,” Claire reprimanded. 

“I know…” 

“The only reason I’m asking is because we’re facing off against Reefs Puffer on Friday. And those slime balls have loss just dangling over their heads!” 

“Is this a war you are waging?” Nari asked, wide eyed. 

“No no,” Jim insisted. “It’s Football. It’s a game. A sport.” 

“Humans like their games, don’t they?” 

“Sure do!” Said Toby, enthusiastically. “We’ll have to introduce them to you while you're visiting!” 

“So Jim…” Coach tried again. “Do you think you’d be up for it?” 

“I’ll ask my mom what she thinks, but I could at least hang around after school to learn some plays.” 

“Of course! Doesn’t hurt to learn them when you can! And if your mom benches you for the season, you’ll at least be around next year, right?” 

“I’d like to graduate with everyone, so yeah. I’ll do my best.” 

“Great! I’ll let the boys know! They’re all very excited to play with you, you know! Victory is within reach!” 

Then, the bell rang. Nari jumped at the sound, not expecting it. “What is that?” 

“The bell, it tells us to go to class. Come on, we have homeroom with Señor Uhl.” 

“And what will we learn from Mr. Señor Uhl?” She asked, with excitement in her eyes. 

“Well, this period, nothing. Homeroom is where everyone meets up for the day, prepares their stuff for class, maybe look over homework. That kind of stuff.” 

“I understand! Let us go to the Homeroom then!” 

When they arrived, most of the class greeted with a loud, “Jim!” 

But not everyone was so happy to see Jim back. Mainly Shamus, who had picked on Jim the day he had raged…and received a high speed dodgeball to the face as consequence. He let out a loud scoff and then shouted, “You gotta be kidding me!” 

The difference in tone was not missed by Jim or Nari. 

Shamus stood, with a thick bandage still in place over his nose. “They let you come back? After all you did?” 

Nari tilted her head, and then looked at Jim. “What does this boy talk of?” 

Jim winced. 

“I’m talking about how you broke my face, threw Steve across the room, tore the doors of the gym and went on a complete rampage through town!” 

Nari gasped. 

“What? You didn’t know?” He asked Nari. “Makes sense he would lie about it. He can’t bear to be seen as anything less than a hero, right Jim?” 

“That’s not fair, Shamus…” Jim tried to explain. 

“No, you want to know what’s not fair? Having your nose shattered so badly that the doctor has to take a piece of rib to reconstruct it. Meanwhile, you get off scot-free!” 

“I did not get off scot-free!” He growled. “Did you miss the part where the army came and took me from the hospital?!”

“Jim, ex-nay on the army-nay.” Toby tried to warn.

But Nari just looked confused and slightly frightened. 

“Didn’t miss it at all. In fact, I think I’m the only one that was happy about it! Does no one else care for the safety of the town? You parade yourself around like you’re so good and strong and protective, but you’re the biggest threat, Jim!”

Jim, as a human, would have just rolled his eyes, since he had the support of so many others in the room. But as a troll, that anger that kept feasting on him flared up again. In a few steps, he had his hands fisted around Shamus’ collar. 

“Jim!” Claire shouted.

“I could squish you like a bug.” Jim hissed, hoisting Shamus into the air. “It would be so easy. So how about you stop trying to pick a fight with me, huh?”

“Is there a problem, Mr. Lake?” Señor Uhl asked as he came into the room. His voice was even, but calm. 

Jim took a massive sigh and set Shamus down. “No sir.”

“Then care to explain why you were hoisting Mr. Johnson into the ceiling?”

“The young man was antagonizing Jim,” provided Nari. “He called him a threat.” 

“And…so you accosted him?” Uhl asked Jim.

“Sounds pretty dumb when you say it like that…” 

“I’ll have to send you to Mr. Strickler’s office. And uh, your new friend, as well?” He gestured to Nari. 

“Yes sir,” Jim nodded patiently. 

Claire and Toby tried to reach out to him, but he breezed by, embarrassed. 

When Señor Uhl had his back turned, Steve punched Shamus in the shoulder. “Asshat.” 

Jim went dutifully down to the office, while Nari followed quietly. “I’m sorry you had to see that,” he said sheepishly.

“Why did you lie to us? You did not mention you went on a rampage.” 

He rubbed the back of his neck. “Because it sounds really bad. It was an accident. You remember when I said I ate cocaine?”

“Yes.” 

“Well, cocaine is…it’s a medication. It used to be used for pain relief, but now people use it to feel good.” 

“Ah yes, for long humans have used herbs and plants for pain relief and pleasure. I am familiar.”

He nodded. “So, the amount I took caused me to become hyper aggressive and destructive. I didn’t know what it was when I ate it. So yeah, I caused some damage to the town. Claire, Toby, Merlin and some others helped clean it up so I could come back, but I guess some people will always be afraid of me.” He sighed. “I didn’t just doom Earth, did I?”

“No. Quite the opposite. So many humans worked together for your sake. And those that feel differently see you as dangerous and want to protect themselves. No one here is hurting anyone for no reason. I thank you for being honest with me, Jim. I will not share this with Bellroc and Skrael.” 

Jim sighed again, this time in relief. “Thanks Nari.” 

At this point, they had reached Mr. Strickler’s office and they knocked. 

“Come in!” 

Walt smiled calmly as they entered. “Good Morning, Young Atlas. You have a friend with you today?” 

“I am Nari, of the Eternal Forest.” 

Walt frowned, “that name sounds familiar.” 

“She’s from the Arcane Order?” Jim offered. 

Walt’s eyes grew wide. “Oh. Oh dear. Why…why is she here? And why is she wearing converse?” 

“I am here by the urging of my brother and sister. They wish to purge the world of life, and I forbid it. They have sent me with Jim to change my mind. But I am stubborn.” She looked at Jim. “You did not tell me that the Principal of your school was a Changeling!” 

Jim chuckled weakly. “Man, I’m glad I already knew that or this would be super weird.” 

“Well,” said Walt, still horror stricken. “Welcome to Arcadia, I guess.” 

“Thank you! It is very lovely!” 

“Mr. Strickler, I gotta be honest, I’m actually here because Señor Uhl sent me.” 

“Why?”

“Ummmmm…I may have picked a fight with Shamus?”

“I would say that he picked a fight with you.” Nari defended. 

“Thanks Nari, but I still got physical with him. It’s just this anger that I don’t have under control yet!” He looked at his hands. “I’m so frustrated with it too. I should have just let it roll off my shoulders, but he was calling me a threat and even before all this he was trying to tick me off on purpose! It’s stupid!” 

“I call you Young Atlas for a reason,” said Walt, resting a hand on his shoulder. “Even though Gunmar is behind you, the role of Trollhunter isn’t over. Nari here is evidence of that.” 

“Yeah, I’m aware. I’m like, hyperaware. Like I said, I shouldn’t have gotten angry with Shamus. I know better, I’ve been better, but I just…” 

“How long have you been a troll?” Asked Nari. 

“A few months.” 

“That is a blink of an eye to me. No wonder you are so unstable! Take your time. Be patient. Soon, the anger will make sense and you will deal with it well.” 

Walt gave him a look of consideration. “Have you considered football?” 

Jim actually laughed. “Considered it? Coach has all but kidnapped me to get me to join. I’m checking out drills tonight.” 

“I think the exercise will do you good. Give you a chance to tackle and run and work some of your frustrations out.” 

“On high schoolers?”

“They have padding on. Besides, you could also practice releasing energy with restraint. It would be good for you.” 

“Okay. I think I’ll go for it then.” He winced. “But first, I think I need a detention slip?” 

—

Thankfully, Jim didn’t receive detention. In fact, Mr. Strickler called Shamus down for a talk as well. A word of warning. 

“Don’t irritate the guy who could throw you over the building.”

Shamus didn’t appreciate it. 

After school, Jim and Toby, of all people, joined the Football team for practice. Claire and Nari sat at the bleachers and watched. 

“Dolmzalski, what are you doing here?”    

“Sir, I’m here to play football with my buddy Jim, Sir!” 

“We’re not playing a game today, we’re running drills.” 

“Sir, I’d like to work on my running, sir!” 

“Stop talking like that! I’m not a drill sergeant!” 

“Sir, you just said we were running drills, sir. Does that not make you a drill sergeant, sir?!”

Coach Lawrence stood a little taller. “You know what, Dolmzalski, you got a point. Fall in!” 

As the group lined up, Shamus took his shot and tripped Jim as he was mid trot. He didn’t fall, just stumbled. 

“Hey! What’s your deal!?” Jim shouted, a roar in his throat. 

“You look off balance, Jim. Sure you should be playing?” 

Jim got right up in his face and poked his chest. “I’m here because Coach asked me to be. Step off!” 

“Coach only wants you here because you’re fast, but you’re going to hurt somebody!” 

“Yeah, you, if you keep talking!” 

“Johnson! Lake! Cool it! We haven’t even started yet!” Coach called. “Alright, before we begin drills, we’re going to do a little housekeeping. Johnson, Lake’s going to be training for Running Back. Johnson will be on offense.” 

“What!?” Shamus hollered. “You can’t take Running Back from me! If anything, Lake should be on defense!” 

“Jim is the fastest and strongest player we have. Steve’s staying QB since Jim doesn’t know all the plays yet.” 

“But I’ve been the Running Back for all the games so far! And I’ve been to every practice! And I didn’t just get out of the hospital!” 

Coach yelled, “do you want to keep your position or do you want to win!?” 

Shamus balled up his fist and whirled around to punch Jim in the stomach. But being that Jim was alert to any danger coming close to his wound from Morgana, he caught the fist easily. 

“Stop. Now.” Jim growled. 

Nari appeared then, walking calmly and gently onto the field while no one noticed. She walked right up to Shamus and touched his chest, while Jim still had his hand in a vice grip. 

“H-hey! What are you doing?!” 

Nari smiled softly, a look of understanding gracing her face. “Do not worry, Jim. Shamus Johnson is not a threat to you. I just read his soul. He is merely being led by jealousy and inferiority. His father has mentioned he is greatly impressed with you Jim, something he has never said to Shamus. Shamus is now feeling intimidated since you are taking his position in the game.” She beamed.   

Shamus tore away from Jim and Nari, his cheeks red. “Shut up! That’s not true! I-I just think that Jim is way more dangerous than he acts!” 

Nari reached out and poked him. “You are lying.” 

“Ugh! I don’t have to put up with this!” He started to stomp off. 

“Johnson! Where are you going?!” 

“Home! This blows!” He stuck up a finger and stormed off. 

Coach shook his head. “He’ll be back. I’ll bench him for a game or two. That might fix that attitude. In the meantime, Williams, can you train up Jim?” 

“SIR YES SIR!” 

“AT EASE SOLDIER!”

#arcadia or bust #tales of arcadia #trollhunters #jim lake jr #claire nunez #fanfiction

[dahyeltal]

💞🍭!

💞what's the most important part of a story for you?

The most important part of a story for me is purely selfish: I need to enjoy rereading this fic. If I know I won't enjoy rereading it, I know I won't enjoy writing it, so even when I'm writing for an audience, I still put my own likes and interests into the fic.

That aside, the most important part is to have a coherent plot that is developed and not too convoluted. I also try not to have many subplots since I tend to write shorter fics...but that might be a challenge for another day!

🍭why did you start writing?

Writing in general: As a preteen, I kept having vivid dreams that would continue from night to night, and when I told people about them, they said it'd make a great story. I wrote several notebook pages worth of content only for my brother to throw it away after months of writing this thing. (I also actively text roleplayed in a ton of different forums, and I think that contributed.)

Fandom in general: I just...really wanted to put my two favorite Naruto characters together and no one else wrote about them. God. I wrote so much for them and commissioned a lot of art. Alas, it was all nuked when y!Gallery was hacked.

My current fandom: I started writing because there was not enough Spones content, and there certainly wasn't enough Spones content that I thoroughly *enjoyed*. (Not to mention one of the more prolific Spones authors doesn't write them nicely.) I wanted to bring more Spones content to the community while also providing myself with fics I enjoy reading.

#spones #spock/mccoy #fanfic ask meme

[silvandar]

Watching "Aliens vs Predator: Requiem". This film is... odd.

It's like three films are playing at the same time, and neither are hitting the mark.

The sci fi action horror is just two cgi monsters fighting in the dark. Not great.

There is a small town monster hunt movie going on, which has the weirdest character combo of an inept sherriff and an overly confident ex con. It also has a body count so high that all other characters are irrelevant, and a weird teen bullying subplot that noone gives a single shit about.

Finally there is a survival horror movie with the previously mentioned weird character combo, and honestly at this point the only sensible solution is for the Predator to nuke the planet.

#silvandar reviews films #aliens vs predator #avp #avp requiem #film review

[ramblingsonic]

I'll be honest, I'd found the relationship stuff alright so far. That said, it seemed almost out of nowhere for Julie-Su to be acting like her and Knuckles were a thing (unless the idea was that he was supposed to just know, which is stupid- fuckin' communicate), aside from that one kiss that clearly left Knuckles confused.

Vector being kinda a shit head and "wantin' to hit on babes" and the like "without ever gettin' weighed down by a ball and chain [Marriage]" fits well enough with the character they established for him at least, and frankly, I was fine seeing that plot play out- hopefully ending with the whole thing as a lesson to Vector to be less of a sexist dick or something, IDK- character growth, or maybe some karma.

Now, this comic is NOT new to relationship drama- that's why Geoffrey was first introduced, and I've been variably tolerant of it. But ultimately, the best relationship elements of the story, in my opinion, have been those built around genuine care between characters, and how they communicate their care and navigate their relationships with each other.

Like, Geoffrey and Sonic fighting over Sally fuckin' sucks (for SO many reasons, but let's ignore the accidental pedophilia issues in this case- still so many problems). Meanwhile, having Sonic get a bit insecure over Knuckles and Sally, ending in him asking Sally a question that leaves them both thinking "Ahh, haha, he/she cares :3" is great. The first is plagued by inconsistent writing (it seems like half the writers want Sally and Sonic to be very loosely a thing, while the other half want them committed to each other), Geoffrey never seemingly having respect for anyone EXCEPT the girl he wants to bone (coincidentally the princess), and there never being a proper scene of Geoffrey really respecting Sally beyond a surface level it feels like. Meanwhile, we have been learning the history (slowly) of Knuckles and Sally, and we see a clear respect they have for each other- meanwhile, Sonic and Sally bounce off each other constantly, having genuine issues and some fights between them, but also often resolving them one way or another; we have scenes where they just talk, where Sally confides in Sonic and he supports her; Sally mourns the death of Sonic AND Knuckles when they get nuked in Robotopolis, and Sonic is horrified to see a roboticized Sally- hell, the BEST scene that ever happened involving the Geoffrey/Sonic/Sally love triangle was when Sally was "dead" and Geoffrey and Sonic screamed at each other "You killed the woman I loved" "You only love yourself, I'm the one who loved her" because it was all built on genuine heart and emotion.

I don't know. I'm not a romance person- romcoms and love stories and (generally) romantic will they/wont they sitcom type shit just doesn't do it for me. I love The Night Circus (go read it, the love story is generic but the fantastical imagery IS SO GOOD!!!!!!!), and I can bear a romantic subplot just fine enough- The Seven Realms is a series with romance and some love triangle esq stuff at it's core, and I still love those books (the dance and proposal in book 4 is SO good- but I have personal reasons to love that).

Still, I'm not an active fan of this space of tropes. I just... want genuine affection and character insight and to see what happens when two characters are put together- some ships are fun in the same way a car crash can be, just watching as two characters interact like water and oil under the heat of romance, while other times these stories are great because of how they humanize the characters and help draw out deep down pieces of them.

All this ranting... the reason I started typing this is: I absolutely hate the trope their setting up in the included panel, I hate it so much, whyyyy?????????? I was having a decent time...

To my understanding, this isn't the end of relationship drama in the comic, it might get worse, and... oh boy. I know there's bad art we've yet to see, and quite likely some stories that'll be worse than what came before. To be honest, I've found most of the comic to be, at worst, low quality and/or convoluted; plenty of it has been enjoyable, with some fantastic art, some really cool and wild ideas, and some great character stuff and all around good execution- not all of it certainly, it started off as nothing Loony Toons bits and even later hasn't been consistently good at all, but more and more it's been getting better in my eyes.

But I worry that, what's to come, might be the bad stuff people attribute to Penders. It feels like everyone makes fun of or complains about Knuckles The Jesus and how convoluted everything is and Geoffrey St. Pedo, as well as the art, but I've yet to see that horrible Vector dancing image, or stick-thin-limb Sonic in need of a haircut, and I worry that the genuinely bad quality writing is yet to come...

#please don't spoil anything y'all #Sonic the Hedgehog #Sonic Archie #1997-1999: Brave New World #Sonic the hedgehog comic #Knuckles the Echidna #Knuckles the Echidna comic #Knuckles the Echidna 26 #in case it's not obvious- I'm rather an optimist #and I've been having a positive good time so far for the most part #Yes it's messy and lots of it is nonsense but how bad is that really? #It's been largely harmless (LARGELY- they should have thought through Geoffrey's age a little bit more...) #but I'm just... I just wanna have a good time here; not be overly harsh. #and I worry that- while early archie might be messier and lower quality- that what people call bad hasn't happened yet.

[byneddiedingo]

Edward Judd in The Day the Earth Caught Fire (Val Guest, 1961)

Cast: Edward Judd, Janet Munro, Leo McKern, Michael Goodliffe, Bernard Braden, Reginald Beckwith, Gene Anderson, Renée Asherson, Arthur Christiansen. Screenplay: Wolf Mankowitz, Val Guest. Cinematography: Harry Waxman. Art direction: Anthony Masters. Film editing: Bill Lenny. Music: Stanley Black. 

Screenwriters Wolf Mankowitz and Val Guest (who also directed) find a way to send a message about nuclear disarmament and government secrecy in The Day the Earth Caught Fire. They let the newspapers (remember them?) do it. Much of the movie was actually filmed in the old Daily Express building on Fleet Street in London, and the real editor of the Express, Arthur Christiansen, played the fictional editor in the film. The result is that a lot of the exposition is carried by the actors playing the reporters for the newspaper as they try to figure out what the hell is going on with the planet. It seems it was knocked off its axis by two simultaneous nuclear test explosions at the poles, one by the United States, the other by the Soviet Union. The immediate result is disastrous climate change, but the greater threat comes when scientists realize that the Earth's orbit has changed so that the planet is reeling closer to a fiery death by crashing into the sun. The protagonist, Peter Stenning (Edward Judd), is a hard-drinking newspaper columnist who uses some unethical methods to disclose the coverup. There's a romantic subplot, of course, involving Stenning's liaison with Jeannie Craig (Janet Munro), a pretty clerk in one of the government offices. And much of the swift, quippy dialogue is between Stenning and his editor, Bill Maguire (Leo McKern). These players make the most of their stereotypical characters, keeping the film lively as the tension builds over whether the world is really catching fire, and whether the proposed fix for the crisis -- a tremendous blast of nukes in Siberia to right the planet on its axis -- is going to work. The movie feels less dated than it once did, because the scenes of climate disaster evoke our current concerns about the Earth and the fear that governments are too secretive and inept to save us. It's a well-made movie whose budgetary inadequacies show but are mostly overcome by the use of camera tricks and stock news footage. The ending is ambiguous, though tilted in the direction of hope by the sound of church bells, which are said to have been introduced by the American distributor, Universal, which wanted a less somber ending. 

#The Day the Earth Caught Fire #Val Guest #Edward Judd