#a cool hero he becomes a monster -> at first because he and everyone thought he was just a meta he was just the normal phantom shit -> then

[ghostreblogging]

Damian stands before the corpse of his brother.

Is it a corpse? He doesn't know.

They had come to this lonely stretch of land that was once called amity park because something something. Damian hadn't really cared. It was supposed to be a simple get in and get out situation . They were already much busier with their own cases .

Eerie ruined houses and buildings seemed to paint a rather depressing picture. Because you could feel that people used to live here. Half drunken bottles and stollers were out. Just like if everyone just disappeares while walking. But the rotting flesh In the strollers seemed to suggest that darker things have happened here. The everyday norm seemed to frame the gateway to hell. The green glow was the only thing that was truly out of the ordinary.

Perhaps it's just an opening to another Lazarus pit.

But It doesn't feel like a normal Lazarus pit . Damian would know that better than anyone. It somehow felt brighter. And an electric buzz permeated the air. It felt sickening. The destroyed sign makes somewhat of an archway for the entrance. It says Fen- something something? The letter had long fallen off from the elements

"God, bloody hell. This place just reeks of infinite realms," the laughing magician commented before pulling another cigarette from his pocket.

"Infinite realms?" Father grunted

"Don't get your panties twisted. There's a reason I didn't tell you about them, the more you know the harder they are to deal with"

There were more mindless chatter between his family. But Damian ignored that in favor of staring down the archway . It felt like a cold shiver on his back and a horrible burning sensation on the palm of his right hand. Weird.

Damian knew that what awaited him was death. He didn't know whose though.

"Do you feel that?" Damian asked before he could stop himself

Grayson turned to look at him, raising his eyebrow. "Babybat, what? What feeling?"

Damian knew he already walked into communication.

"The cold shiver, and the burning sensation on your right palm"

"Ha! Just sounds like your scared demon brat"

"Forget it"

And they promptly walked into hell.

Damian I've missed you so much! But it's dangerous here. You'll get caught by him

Inside Damian felt as if he was walking for years. All with that , horrible disgusting smell. Burnt flesh and plastic. So overwhelming that his eyes stung even through his mask. He had to wake with his eyes half closed. Stumbling his way through the uneven terrain.

Winding corridors made out of crushed rubble.

Damian , be careful there is sharp glass there

Eerie glow that never seems to get closer.

Damian? I really don't like the Lazarus pits

It was dark and an encompassing ceiling above him felt like spiderwebs, a trap. But beyond that you could see the sky.

Hey Damian? Let's go stargazing again!

Hey Damian please don't go further

Something kept bothering him but he didn't know what. But he kept on walking.

And eventually they found themselves in a big chamber. Lazarus pit waters filled the caver like a lake. Beautiful flowers that seemed misplaced grow up to the sky.

The sky.

Maybe that was the source of the discomfort?. They came in at dawn.

It shouldn't have been dark .

And the stars were wrong. How long did they walk for?

Long enough. Just go please

There was a huge rift. Beyond were Lazarus green lands with floating landscapes. Sometimes you could see something big float by . Damian wonders if they were living or just a part of the landscape.

Beautifully enchanting. Like freedom, feeling of wind on your ski-

And then Damian's eyes fell on the thing. How could he have not noticed that.

Please get away that is not me that is not me that is not me that is not me

Like some kind of a lost puppet it was hung in front of the rift. That was the source of the smell. A white suit that once had been sterile, burnt and fused with the flesh below. Dark burnt hair that hung and thankfully concealed the empty eyes.

For once Damian was thankful he couldn't see something. He just felt that if he saw the thing's eyes, he would never recover.

Because that face.

He knew that face

It was one of he had forgotten a long time ago.

Damian please that is not me plEase. I aM LOSiNg my SeLF

A brother that went missing during a mission.

"God what the fuck is that" Grayson's voice broke Damian's trance.

Damian frowned. It didn't feel appropriate to talk here.

Hide. Hide hide hide hide

A voice broke the silence soon after.

"I advise you to leave immediately" a familiar voice. From the oh so familiar corpse . It grated against his ears. And the corpse moved in tandem. Exaggerated and cartoonish but in a horrid way like a machine struggling to run in their later years. It felt like it was coming from everywhere at once.

Hey Damian let's not go here

Damian it's not a good idea to be here take you family and leave

Damian, let's go another route

I can barely maintain luciedicy please listen to me

"I advice you to leave immediately" just like clockwork. The exact same tone, the exact same horrid little dance.

"Well we can't. Well we can't before we know why In the everliving earth there is a direct portal to the infinite realms here." Constantine seemed to have nonchalance as he spoke but Damian saw his cold sweat. And eyes darting , trying to look anywhere but directly at it .

The corpse directly ignored Constantine. It turned to him . Each movement sharp and gutted.

"Damian we are finally together again :) "

#danny phantom #danny fenton #dp x dc #danny phantom au #is this done yet? #dc x dp #dp x dc prompt #dpxdc #dc x dp prompt #huh #a moment of inspiration led me to this #i wanted to draw but i couldnt rwnder the picture in my head out so ehhh #i dont even know what is happening here #but twin dami and danny #uhhhh so loike danny instead of getting super powers while dying #gets turned into an eldritch monster instead like the other kids #so like timeline here #danny dami as kids in the league -> danny goes on mission -> gets adopted as a fenton -> the portal incident -> instead of turning into #a cool hero he becomes a monster -> at first because he and everyone thought he was just a meta he was just the normal phantom shit -> then #realized he was dead -> everyone realized these werent the normal ghost themed metas -> bcuz they revealed to be ghosts more of the hidden #FORBIDDEN KNOWLEDGE is seen by the people #like in this au i was foliwing that one au where the infinite realms is actually the primodial chaos #so there ought to be like consequences to knowing that shit #danny splinters into two parts #one montstrous and manipulative part and one kind and protective part #danny tries to protect everyone from himself but oh shit everyone is insane arleady! #leading most people to do the oneway trick to the otherside with just a rope #danny wants to leave but like there is a demon there like he cant leave it or itll be able to leave

[angel-of-hunky-doryness]

How Disney (Unintentionally) Created The Most Sympathetic Disney Villain

Yes, we're talking about Hades. So strap in, folks, this is gonna be a long one.

It may or may not come to a surprise to some of y'all that Mr. Hot head is my favorite Disney Villain. His charm, his sass, and above all his sarcastic one-liners, what isn't there to love about this walking-talking wheeling and dealing Mephistopheles archetype with the most basic villainous ambition of taking over the world.

Okay, fine, the cosmos. But at the end of the day, Hades has a very cut and dry appearance in Disney's Hercules. He doesn't even have nearly as much screentime as other Villains as I had previously believed.

First appearing quite apropos in the shadiest corner of Olympus ready to raise hell and all manner of chicanery just to incite misery to a newborn baby, only to exit stage left to cue the villainous side-plot with a bit of prophetical verse thrown in for good measure. A plan comes into being and he orders a hit on the aforementioned baby, only for the hit to fail despite y'know being the yutz in charge of the land of the dead *cough cough*

18 years pass and suddenly Hades has to completely 180 his plans, focusing not on his intended target of Olympus but the prophecy hero he thought he already axed. And so he unleashes a horde of monsters upon the city of Thebes as a result. The Titans are freed for some reason, Olympus is easily defeated and rescued, and then so is the plot device- I mean the Titans, and Hercules gives Hades the one punch man treatment, and so Hades is left to reconsider his life choices for all of eternity swirling in the Phlegethon/abyss. Pick your poison, either work.

Alright, cool, glad I got that out of the way. Oh, hold on, my sponsor, is giving me that beady eyed stare to remind our lovely audience that Meg was also an unfortunate victim in Hades' scheme. We'll get to Meg and Hades' relationship in a future post, but to summarize, Hades' treatment of Meg is far, far harsher and has tons more animosity than Hades and Hercules- the titular character mind you- ever had.

But I digress.

Despite, Hades' antagonistic role in the film, there are many, many nuggets that Disney gives that allows the audience to sympathize with his lot in life.

In his very quick introduction- it's a Disney movie the plot has to establish quickly cuz animators have lives too. Insert obligatory pay animator's fairly line here.

We have what I like to call Exhibit Alpha: The Introduction.

Now Disney Villains are no strangers to a dramatic introduction.

I couldn't find the exact gif of Maleficent appearing, but I ended up putting the one above because it proves my point. Everything about Maleficent strikes fear in the hearts of her audience. Everyone is watching her every move because they know she's a formidable threat.

When Hades makes himself known, the Olympians aren't scared or spooked like King Stefan and the 3 fairies were when Maleficent first appeared.

They're annoyed.

To them, Hades is the weird uncle no one invited, but shows up anyway. If anything, it looks like the gods have dealt with him before and know how to put on the cold shoulder to get him to leave faster.

The only one oblivious to all this is Zeus who invites him to stay and enjoy the party. But Hades isn't an idiot. He's very aware of the chilly reception he's getting and declines with this one-liner:

Keep this line in mind, we're going to circle back to it.

Zeus then proceeds to meet Hades with a quip right back and a very punny one at that, earning the first laugh since Hades arrived, and one at Hades' expense.

A laughing fit ensues and Hades storms off in a quiet rage.

A short scene indeed, but it tells us a lot about Hades, Zeus, and the gods.

Hades is an outcast.

Boo-hoo, homeboy just needs a girlfriend. Maybe a flaming flower-picking one, but that's neither here nor there.

Now, the interchange between Zeus and Hades makes it very clear how Hades started to become excluded from his family. Hades is absent to a lot of social gatherings and most of it is because of his job. A job that deals with stiffs, the dead, the dearly departed, however you wanna slice it.

Now before you say- well he was scheming to take over the cosmos on his free time, what do we see in the very next scene?

Over 5 billion souls served. Hades is a busy guy and the movie makes it really clear that even in his spare time meeting with the Fates, the work is piling up. Maybe that's why he's a fast talker, he's always moving and grooving so he can get some time to relax.

Yeah, yeah, we saw him smite some of his people on his small world boat ride, but considering we only see one god working in the underworld, he doesn't have the time of day for them and after eons of this drudgery he's gotten quite apathetic to their pleading.

The shades are just as doomed as him really.

Now we're going to gloss over a few scenes and move to Exhibit Beta: The Thebans.

Hold the phone, Hades isn't even in this scene.

My point exactly. Hades is a bit busy amassing a horde of monsters. Hecc, none of the disgruntled Thebans even mention a monster in their list of disasters. The Monster Mash party starts after Hercules rolled into town thanks to Meg after her failed recruitment of Nessus.

So what does that tell us? Whoever causes floods, earthquakes, fires probably caused by lightning incited these disasters not Hades. Hmm, on a weird side note, I don't think Hades' brothers, the earthshaker or god of storms, fit those descriptions at all.

All these disasters were happening while the Olympians did nothing. It wasn't unheard of for the ancient greek gods to send wayward mortals to do their bidding and help people or free them from monsters, so why does Phil put it upon himself to take Hercules out for the hero life? (Yeah Disney should've included the presence of other gods working on earth to make them out to really be responsible and helpful, hell maybe have Hermes fly in congratulating Herc for completing his training and direct him towards Thebes)

It's almost like Hades is the only god who's present or aware of the woes on earth. Sure he adds to it, but are the Olympians really lounging about doing nothing in this movie?

Exhibit Gamma: Storming the Palace

....

I have no words. Zeus and Hera could've been doing paperwork?? Looking out for their son??? Have a meeting with the Pantheon and that's why they're suddenly blindsided by the Titan attack???

Hades, though sassy, though sarcastic, and just a bucketful of ruthless and malicious described the Olympians to a T.

Hecc, the Olympians had no idea the Titans were out destroying the world until they were literally on their front doorstep. If Hades had told them to destroy half of Greece, they would've done so before the Olympians noticed.

And it's so contrived, but the only reason Hades lost was b/c Hercules shows up and frees some of the gods. Like if one other god was not on Mount Olympus they could've come save the day. But every god was there. Make that a fanfic y'all. ONe where the one god who was- I don't know confined to their island or something wondering where her mother went and so she has to gather all the nymphs and natures spirits to save olympus or some drivel like that.

Hermes had to sound the trumpet like judgement day to get the gods rocking and rolling. And that's not even considering how Hades gets punched into oblivion.

Exhibit Delta: Revelation 20:14 (NIV)

The one god who did his job has been thrown in prison??? Zombie apocalypse??? Is that you??? Where's Shawn when you need him???

Confine him to the underworld, Wonder Boy. Get your Greece Lightning father to take care of business in a flash. He'd get you Meg back in an instant. Just ask nicely. We know Psyche is in attendance. Meg deserves it after all she went through.

I know it's more dramatic, but the world of Hercules is absolutely screwed. Talk about a happy ending with terrible implications for the state of the world. Meg and Hercules are going to die and be sent to an afterlife with no deity to even send them to Elysium, and that's if Hades comes back at all.

*Takes a long drink from my pina colada*

I didn't mean for this post to turn into a hate show on the Disney Olympians. I'm just, I always knew Disney messed up hard on this movie. And yes I adore the hell out of it, but making a villain more sympathetic and likable than the hero? When I started writing this I didn't think it would get this bad, but the more I looked into it?

I haven't even touched how Hades has the worst employees, having to put up with his imps? The Titans who don't even know where the tallest mountain is?

For all his manipulation with Meg, Hades did give her everything he promised her. He's a devil sure, but he's a god of his word. He couldn't even force Meg to seduce Hercules, he had to convince her with some extra added relinquish your soul type bit. Hell, he was even willing to negotiate with Hercules after hurting his dog.

To finish off, even with those nuggets sprinkled in, at the end of the day Hades is a villain through and through. Yes, he's fun, yes, every single one of his lines is an improvised banger, but that's kind of the point.

One of the directors of Hercules once described Hades as being the type of evil that's attractive. Drags you in with promises of honey until you find yourself drowning in mercury. He's Mephistopheles offering you a Faustian deal, Satan with the apple, and this author trying to advertise their terrible fanfic that delves into this very topic.

I remain ever yours, dear readers.

Till next time.

#disney #disney hades #hercules #disney megara #disney hercules #my rambles #greek mythology #greek myth #zeus #disney villains #hades #persephone

[ask-the-pale-elf]

(Cont. from he gives you one last glare before walking away)

They don’t go after him, not right now anyway. He needs some time to cool off and they need some time to figure out their response. Plenty of time to do that while cooking.

They wait till after everyone is fed and asleep, or, well, most everyone. Walking over to Astarion’s tent, they say the words they’ve been mulling over, “I’m sorry. You were right,” they raise a hand to keep him from interrupting them, ‘It’s hells of a lot easier to be selfish. And I try and be a hero, a saint even. That’s just how I’m selfish in my own way, I guess. To give myself a feel good feeling, a pat on the back, by helping others.”

“I didn’t say any of that stuff before to make you feel bad, and I’m sorry I did. I’m sorry you’ve been through the literal and metaphorical hells and back. I’m sorry you e been hurt so much. I’m sorry you got your life taken from you before it really even began. My feelings haven’t changed though. You have your way of handling things, I have mine.”

“Mine just so happens to make me want to be a hero. Want to help others. Maybe it’s for my own peace of mind or feeling of goodness rather than it’s for their sake. Maybe it’s so I can feel better about myself.p,” their eyes shift from Astarion to the ground and their voice turns wry and derisive, “Maybe it’s because I’m so selfish in wanting to play the hero, I can’t mind my own business and drag others into helping with me against their will all so I can get that feel good feeling,” they scoff at their own words before looking back at Astarion, voice becoming more neutral, “Whatever the reason, it doesn’t matter.”

“I am how I am and I won’t change,” they throw their arms wide and begin to gesture more and more dramatically, “Try and take advantage of the wannabe foolish hero. Throw me in the face of whatever monster we face next, use me as a meat shield, drain me of my sickeningly sweet goody two shoes blood, kill me, I don’t care! At least then we’ll both get what we want. I get to die feeling like I actually did something good, you get a ‘foolish hero’ out of your way, hells, even Lae’zel will get something out of it by having one less person to worry about turning into a mind flayer!”

“Or,” they bring their back back closer to them and cross them over their chest, “we can try and get along until we figure out a way to rid ourselves of our little hitchhikers. You won’t ever have to look or even think about the stupid adventurer who wanted to play hero. I’ll get to be selfish in knowing I did a good thing by helping others and being able to feel like a hero.” They snort as they mockingly mirror their previous words, “And Lae’zel won’t have to be on edge sharpening her sword, waiting for one of us to bust tentacles out of our skull.”

They don’t walk away this time. Instead they look in his face and try to see what he may be thinking, “We’ll each get what we want. It’s just a matter of when. Maybe I’ll throw myself into death’s arms trying to play hero before any of that, who knows. Until any of that happens, we should try and get along. If only so we work well together in battle, if nothing else.”

It’s as close to an olive branch as they’re willing to offer.

- Starlight (tell me if these are too long please, I have anxiety and worry. Also, you’re totally okay for lack of updates, you have your personal life offline and shouldn’t feel obligated to update if you’re busy or stressed. Hope all works well for you!)

(Cont. from here)

His ruby red eyes narrowed at you as you forbade him from interrupting, how utterly rude of you. First you prided yourself on your moral high ground, then you strolled up to his tent without any invitation, and now you told him to shut up!

Astarion stifled the urge to bear his fangs at you, he'll tear a new one into you later. As he kept listening to you go on and on, he couldn't help but roll his eyes. How naive.

You really thought you were making a difference, didn't you? The pale elf knew your kind very well, intimately even. There were many a bedfellow who promised to love him or hells even free him from his master, but they all failed. By either running with their tails between their legs or being disappointed by Astarion not being the affectionate damsel in distress they wanted him to be. Either way they met their ends swiftly enough.

Even heroes wouldn't stoop so low as to help a vampire spawn and in his eyes, you were no different. Astarion had half a right mind to take you up on your offer and suck you dry and leave you in the dust. But...

He knew your potential, as much as he would hate to admit it. The vampire spawn needed you, he needed your strength to finally take down Cazador.

Astarion bit into his lip in frustration, "Fine! You're more useful to me alive than dead anyway. Just don't expect me to like what you're doing, least of all be nice."

He turned his back to you in a huff, frustrated at your good points but somewhat relieved that you had his back.

#bg3 #baldur’s gate #baldur's gate 3 #baldur’s gate iii #baldur’s gate 3 #astarion #astarion x tav #astarion roleplay #astarion rp #astarion x reader #astarion x mc #astarion romance #astarion ancunin #astarion bg3 #baldurs gate 3 #baldurs gate #baulders gate 3 #astarion x you #ghost's posts #bg3 rp #my darling starlight #sowwy astarion is a dick rn #hes cranky because he hasn't gotten his dinner yet #and also sorry not posting finals kicked my ass #but im on break now

[onequalityduck]

Rambly thoughts on Ganondorf:

Many of Nintendo’s franchises don’t focus on things like continuity and complex morality. For them, characters are thought of in a gameplay manner rather than a storytelling manner. For example, Bowser is evil because he kidnaps Princess Peach because we need Mario (the player) to find and save Peach. Bowser is not (entirely) evil when we play with him in Mario Tennis, Golf, Party, etc. games because we need him to be playable.

In the same way, Link and the player need an enemy to fight. Ganon, or Demise, Calamity Ganon, they will all be evil simply to be a villain. Nintendo will always make light good and darkness evil, monsters are always evil and born from evil, and people are only evil if they are corrupted by the evil thing.

I would say the most complexity for Ganon we get is actually the introduction of Ganondorf the man in Ocarina of Time. He is introduced as a politician and leader of the Gerudo, who also are pretty morally complex (at least for the Zelda games). The Gerudo are a tribe of “bandits and thieves” but their second-in-command Nabooru becomes the Sage of Spirit so they can’t be absolutely bad. The first time we see of Ganondorf is child Zelda saying “everyone trusts this guy but I think he’s evil!” which well, he is, but human (or I guess Gerudo) Ganondorf is much different from evil pig Ganon- the incarnation of evil, that we had only seen in the previous games.

Ocarina of Time doesn’t give us much to work with, but it does give us speculation. Monsters are monsters are pure evil beings, as these stories go, but like I said before npcs are only truly evil when they are corrupted by evil thoughts. Otherwise they are tragic.

Skyward Sword gives us another reason to think Ganondorf could be influenced by evil in the form of Demise. Ganondorf is an incarnation of Demise in the same way Zelda is an incarnation of Hylia, but Zelda isn’t fully good in fact she can be quite flawed. In the same way, Ganondorf could be merely influenced by his past life as Demise but otherwise a more morally complexed character.

Link himself isn’t even technically a “purely good” character, instead Zelda is the incarnation of Hylia, the one with the Light powers, and normally placed directly opposite Ganon. Link is more the errand boy of Zelda, or otherwise just a guy placed in a situation trying to help the people. His triforce and motif, Courage, is more humanistic as courage can only be gained in the face of fear. Rather than always being good or always being evil Link simply chooses to be a hero and help others.

I think that choice of the main character provides a good parallel to Ganondorf, that he chooses above all to be evil not that he is evil itself (except in pig form). It’s also interesting that we always start the adventure after Ganon’s enacted his revenge or is getting ready for part 2. Every time we as Link get to Ganon he’s already got beef with Hyrule.

Makes you wonder why.

…

…Or not, because clearly with Tears of the Kingdom retconning EVERYTHING in the “timeline��� we get good-old-purely-evil Ganondorf anyways.

So while it would have been cool to see the kingdom of Hyrule being called out for past mistakes, I think that might be too much story in Nintendo’s gameplay. I understand if some people hate the whole unshakeable good/evil thing, because irl there is TONS of people who claim they’re purely good and are definitely not, but I don’t think they will ever uno reverse and make the royal family secretly the bad guys or something.

…or make Ganondorf finally reincarnate into an ally please Nintendo set him free it was the same damn man sealed since Ocarina give him a break

#loz #legend of zelda #no spoilers #ganon #ganondorf #tears of the kingdom

[studentinpursuitofclouds]

random angsty scenario came to my mind

what if because of a random reason (like their connection to the forest spirits, or a magic experiment gone wrong) the farmer lives longer than a normal human being. They are not completely immortal, they know that one day they are going to die of old age, it's just taking them longer. So they have to live through all the changes of the valley, people coming and going.

After some time that would become kinda depressing, specially after most of their friends their age die.

I love this question! Agnst is usually not my forte (even in this question I managed to write it a little), but I wanted to write something sad, so... here's a sad headcanon for you!

Headcanon where Farmer finds out that they lives longer than ordinary people

warnings: some angst

The Farmer's connection with the forest spirits grew more and more: they began to understand the language of wild animals perfectly, grow vegetables in the blink of an eye ("I thought only fairies could do that!"), and other manifestations of magical power. They're not surprised: Lance, Camilla, Magnus and others have long noted that the young farmer has magical potential. But there is something new here, something... different.

They usually don't tell Rasmodius how they learned a new spell. The wizard might have more important things to do, or maybe he'll force the Farmer to read boring books about the safe use of magic, oh no. However, this time you are a little worried about such a sharp jump: yesterday you just understand the language of Junimo, and now there is already a whole set of forest magic.

After their story, Magnus's face showed mixed emotions, and it made them uncomfortable. Morgan also began to listen with interest. Magnus has seen cases like this. When he noticed the concern on the face of his young farmer friend, the Wizard began to speak:

"You're fine, don't worry. It's just... It turns out you're not quite human."

He explained that people with such a gift have inhuman abilities, and it's not even about being able to use magic. The most important part of such a gift is longevity. On average, you can live from 600 to 800 years, unlike a normal person.

Silence completely filled the tower, only the squelching of liquid in the cauldron could be heard. Morgan, who broke the silence with a loud gasp, said to themselves that this is very cool, and they wanted to approach the Farmer with a bunch of questions already. But Magnus gave his young apprentice a stern look. Morgan didn't understand at first what was the matter, but then they saw the Farmer....crying? Quietly and silently, tears flowed down their cheeks. The realization hit young Farmer suddenly: they would watch as all of their friends and loved ones, to whom they had become so attached, die, when they would still live. Death is a natural thing, but to see how generations change, how close relatives and friends leave ... It hurts, very much.

Magnus walked up to them, and before he could do anything, he felt strong arms wrap around him in a tight hug. The farmer buried himself in the chest of his magical friend and began to cry. The hero of Stardew Valley, excellent cultivator and the tamer of the scariest monsters, wept softly like a child. Magnus did everything in his power to calm them down. He later gave them a vial of soothing elixir and comforted them with advice and guidance. Morgan sat next to the Farmer, hugging Farmer's hand, silently comforting them too.

Well, if this is a gift or a curse - it is what it is, and they have to live with that. But Magnus reminded them that everyone in the Valley loves the Farmer (he and Morgan too, no, don't make us repeat it, Farmer), and even if they're not quite human, that doesn't change anything. It doesn't matter if the Farmer tells anyone else about it, attitudes towards them will not change. And the Farmer, confident of this, thanks Magnus and Morgan for support, mentally thanks Yoba and their grandfather for the opportunity to have a wonderful family and friends despite their oddities.

I actually like that scenario, feel free to write your ideas about it! Only a couple of people ask me questions 😅

Don't be shy to ask something about sdv and sve fandom, I'm interested in writing!

#sve #stardew valley expanded #stardew valley #sdv #sve headcanons #sdv headcanons #sve morgan #sdv farmer #sdv wizard #sdv rasmodius #sve magnus

[thesoulspulse]

Danny Phantom Randomness (Desolation)

I just had an interesting thought. To give you a bit of context, in my fanfic “Nowhere To Run” I had Vlad and Danny confront a lot of their personal issues with one another, especially Vlad after he went too far with the cloning incident. Danny’s a tough kid but everyone has their limits as far as how much they’re willing to put up with.

So here’s my thought, what if after the events of TUE Danny becomes extra paranoid of losing his friends and family? For example, when Vlad tries to make Jazz and Danny fight he straight up refuses to instead of putting on an act. This obviously confuses Vlad who has never seen Danny like that and Jazz for once is at a loss for what to do since Vlad injected her with nanobots and legit threatened to “waste her” if she betrayed him, meaning she probably HAS to fight Danny.

Danny seriously loses his cool and goes straight to attacking Vlad so violently to make him turn off the nanobots and ghost shield that for the first time he’s getting a small taste of exactly what Danny’s capable of once he stops holding back. This makes Vlad stop to think about what could have possibly made Danny react like that. Was this just his usual teen angst and raging hormones, or the result of one too many ghost fights giving Danny some serious emotional trauma?

Skipping forward to when Vlad infects Sam and Tucker with ecto-acne, Danny loses it again and doesn’t even try to play nice in front of his parents. He grabs Vlad by the collar of his shirt and threatens Vlad, saying that if ANYTHING happens to them...he’ll kill him. Vlad of course just writes it off as Danny being dramatic since he knows he’ll save them all anyway. And this time, Danny doesn’t screw up the timeline to make sure Vlad doesn’t get his ghost powers since he’s already seen the damage something like that can do.

What finally makes Danny snap is when Vlad kidnaps and tortures him to get a mid-morph sample. He’s had enough. And so, one day Danny goes to confront Vlad and it goes something like this:

After Danny calls Vlad out on how evil he’s become, like a spoiled brat Vlad tries to excuse his actions with the whole “Jack Fenton ruined my life” bit to which Danny responds coldly. “No he didn’t Vlad. It was an accident but you CHOSE to use your powers for selfish reasons. You chose to be my enemy. We could have been friends at least, but no.

“The truth is, Vlad, you don’t know HOW to love anyone. If you did, you wouldn’t do things like this. You wouldn’t threaten the lives of my friends and family or reject someone who genuinely loved you! Dani LOVED you, and you threw that all away because of your stupid obsession with the perfect half-ghost son. Well news flash Vlad, I’ve SEEN how it ends once you get what you think you want...

“In a timeline where I actually lost everything and had to come live with you, you destroyed that too. You destroyed what was left of me and the entire world paid the price for your selfishness. You think my dad ruined your life but that’s where you’re wrong, you did that. You destroy everything you touch which means...the only way to make sure you never turn me into that monster is to become it on my own terms so that I’m the only one who has to live with the guilt. Because I’d rather die a hero...then live long enough to see myself become a worse villain than you.”

After that, Danny goes all out and stops pulling his punches. They duke it out in a seriously intense battle and after Danny comes out on top, but only just, Danny tells Vlad that if he EVER crosses the line again it’s over. No second chances. No mercy. Because Vlad was slowly turning into a real monster, not just some cartoon villain and Danny’s not willing to risk the fate of the world or the safety of his friends and family on sparing the life of a self-centered jerk who keeps saying all he wants is love but then ends up doing things to make Danny hate him more and more as time passes.

So, Vlad has a choice to make.

He can either keep going on like this, pushing Danny away completely.

Or, Vlad can stop and take a long hard look at his life and realize Danny’s right. This has to end before its too late and any chance they might have to become anything more than enemies is gone forever.

Even if Vlad can’t be Danny’s father...he can at least become a mentor which is better than nothing and means he won’t be alone anymore. Then the two of them can have at least one person around who understands them better than anyone else in their lives. Heck, even agreeing to a truce would be a huge improvement...

Anyways, just had to get this idea out of my system. Hope you liked it!

#danny phantom #danny phantom headcanon #danny phantom theory #headcanon #vlad masters #vlad plasmius #the ultimate enemy #danny phantom tue #angst #jazz fenton #secret weapons #masters of all time #dani phantom #kindred spirits #danny clones #danny phantom randomness #random thought #randomness #thesoulspulse #thesoul'spulse #the souls pulse #the soul's pulse #Nowhere To Run

[cascadiums]

Okay, the question of how much Vampire Lucy is still Lucy is a cool one I think. there's a lot of murkiness and it relates back to some things I find really interesting (long post, I have many thoughts)

Seward is very set on the belief that Dead Lucy is not Lucy. This is a monster wearing Lucy's face. But Seward also witnessed her preying on a child and is reckoning with killing her and desecrating the corpse, so it makes a lot of sense for him to want to put a lot of mental space between the Lucy he knew and Dead Lucy. everyone involved adores her, they don't want to think of themselves as murdering her. the suitors have also never encountered a vampire before; it's worth bearing in mind that they don't know how this works. even Van Helsing, operating as the authority on the matter, doesn't exactly have a wealth of first hand experience here (as well as being very selective about what information he shares and when, and I don't fully trust him not to say whatever will serve his aims best). so I don't know how far we can take Seward's words as fact here.

he describes her as "Lucy's shape without her soul", which for me just raises even more questions. do we take "without her soul" to mean the soul is absent, or that it isn't the soul of the woman he knew anymore? if whatever makes Lucy herself is either changed, replaced or removed, Seward's words would still be true. there's ambiguity there.

Dead Lucy as changed works pretty well with a reading of vampirism as corruption, but then you have to ask how much her soul needs to be distorted before she isn't Lucy anymore. for me, the implication that she has been tainted and has therefore lost her personhood is. Not Great. especially when it's followed narratively with "and so we will murder her to restore her honour." it makes it hard for me to read the suitors as heroes rather than men who reject a woman for the traumas she's been put through.

if you follow the latter option, that Seward et al are right and Lucy's soul is gone, you get a different problem. Lucy Without a Soul is not necessarily the same as Not Being Lucy. she still knows Arthur, she still has her memories and experiences. and like a spiritually corrupted Lucy, soulless/replaced Lucy is still a woman who has been mutilated on a spiritual level. I don't want to get bogged down Ship of Theseus-ing Lucy's immortal soul, but where do we draw the line to say definitively what is and isn't her? when does she stop being an injured woman and start being a creature?

metaphysical ambiguity aside, with limited perspectives and the unreliability of the accounts, I don't think we can really know. it's definitely easier to believe that Dead Lucy isn't really Lucy when we know what the others will do to her, and it's more comfortable than reconciling the monster that is with the sweet girl that was. but there is still room for doubt.

personally, I favour a reading that the only one who really knows is Lucy herself (or Not-Lucy, as the case may be). a strict delineation between identities is too easy, it makes everything that follows morally black and white. it's comfortable. but that grey area? the question of if they're doing the right thing, the blurred boundary of Lucy's transformation? that's so much scarier to me. I cannot and will not shut up about monsters disrupting borders and inhabiting liminal spaces because I love it. a Lucy who is possibly lost to us and possibly Becoming ticks so many more boxes for me than a Lucy who is definitively one or the other

#dracula daily #29 sept #we got souls we got unreliable narrators we got collapsing binaries its everything i ever need

[orbdotexe]

Since you’re alive I’ve got two song recommendations for you, not for anything specifically I just think they absolutely slap. It’s cut my fingers off and engravings both by Ethan Bortnick.

From the 5th! Slightly better... Sorry I misled you there LMAO

OKAY right off the bat, for Cut My Fingers Off, you went straight for the kill. I see how it is. First line, "I fear the people I love most", thank you.

"My unconditional blindfolds, and a life I could waste" and "Crying over ivory was never my goal"... already killing me here, Luna. Already. But you know I can't resist talking about songs in New Contexts, so-

Wolf trying to become the monster everyone thinks them to be, if only to save all of them the pain of having been wrong. And before that, before exile, the willingness to go along with everything, without question. And the statue of hope and greatness they were turned into, The Godslayer, Champion of the Last City, Hero of the Red War - an ivory mockery of them.

"I've married my doubts, now I need someone to trust while I lie to myself" Luna you're killing me. you're killing me here. only Wolf and Crow thoughts. (also, 100% going on the TFE playlist, btw)

"The puzzle pieces don't fit" made me go back and relisten to Engravings, because I realized I could have CROW here. Then the song just clicked, so congrats. 2 for 2 here!

"You warned me of other guys, and then you tell me you lied" about Wolf telling him not to trust the Vanguard, while trying to convince him not to trust them, either. "Trading panic attacks, then throwing it all back, and told me about how he abused you" running out of coherency already BUT. Trading panic attacks sounds... about right.

Also these lyric videos are really cool??

#like. these songs are 100% supposed to be about manipulation. probably #but... since when have we kept things on their original meanings? #hhhhhmemh. I would have written more. and trust me i had more thoughts #but brain has decided thats enough for today- and also didnt want to write ANOTHER essay about songs lmao #great taste btw. amazing brainrot #orb rambles #The Forsaken Exile

[morganee]

Byler Fic Rec Week - Day 6: Canon divergence

the taste of the color by waffles_isa (@waffles-isa) (699 words, complete)

It's a world where people are only able to see in black and white until they find their soulmate. Everyone's worried about it, but Mike is completely chill.

Static Re-connection by IllogicalFallacy (@illogical-fallacy) (62k, complete)

AND - H E R E - I - T H O U G H T - U ‘ D - F O R G E T - M E N E V E R N E V E R - E V E R - ? N E V E R - E V E R He thought about the way Will had looked at him all those years ago, lying in the hospital bed, eyes not his own. Even through the fog of possession, something behind Will’s gaze had clicked and recognized Mike for who he was. Even without anything else left, Will had still remembered the connection he had to his mom - and... to Mike. His trembling fingers hesitated for an infinite moment, before typing faster than his brain could hope to process, P R M S E - ? Y E S A miles-apart, oblivious mutual pining, emotional summer vacation disaster-fest starring Mike, Will, and one incredibly unreliable radio connection.

must be a devil between us by els bloody rollerskate (@super-nova5045) (37k, ongoing)

Don’t assume that because every gate was closed by your telekinetic girlfriend before the world split in two everything will be okay. Your best friend might become a new target of this monster four months later on summer camp and be in grave danger. Or do. He’ll have to die. Ever since November 1983, when Will Byers went missing, shit has just gone downhill for Hawkins, tragedy after tragedy afflicting a once peaceful town. For the first time ever, Mike Wheeler, is at peace – he’s going to Camp Hero in the summer of ’86, where the high-schoolers of Hawkins bond for a summer of “totally rad, epic fun”. The only thing that could possibly spoil it? His best friend, Will, happens to be attending camp too, as well as his girlfriend El – the two people Mike was trying to avoid; the sheer level of awkward tension between them driving him insane. Mike’s trying his best to ignore Will and even worse, ignore the feelings for Will he tried to repress, too. However, when his assumed-dead dungeon master, Eddie Munson, steps foot on Camp Hero on one midsummer night, Mike knows he must get over his tension with Will and El and reunite his friends to destroy Vecna, once and for all.

A Hope to Cling To by midnighteverlark (18k, complete)

While talking to Will in the shed, trying to break through the Mind Flayer's control, Mike starts thinking about what he would do if Will gave up, and completely unintentionally blurts, "I love you." Mike's existential crisis follows. Meanwhile, Will uses the words as his anchor, holding onto this glimmer of hope with all his might as he struggles to hang on against the Mind Flayer. Basically, a more Mike/Will-centric version of episodes 8 and 9 and the time beyond, with a good dose of of grit and Serious Stuff but also plenty of happiness and some fluff to come. (I mean, come on - Will is a gay kid in the 80s who just craves love and acceptance, and he deserves A Break. Mike is just realizing he's bisexual and he needs some love and acceptance and A Break too.)

king of my heart by bookinit (@bookinit02) (21k, complete)

Will finds himself wondering, sometimes, if his mark matches Mike’s. He thinks it must, really—he can’t imagine wanting to spend the rest of his life with anyone else. Mike’s cool and strong and brave and funny. His hair flops down over his forehead and his eyes bore into Will’s soul, always so steadily intense. He doesn’t cry when he scrapes his knee. Instead, he just gets back up. Will thinks that if Mike isn’t his soulmate, something is seriously wrong with the world.

truth serum side effects (may include: accidental gay confessions) by sterrenhemel (1k, complete)

"You okay?" Mike asks him. "Yeah, your hands are really soft." And— Jesus Christ, what was that? Sure, it wasn't a lie, but... what?! "Uh, thank you?" Mike replies awkwardly. Will wants to hit himself. Why would he say that?  "I'm sorry. I don't know why I said that." Or the one in which Will is hit by a truth serum.

#byler #bylerficrecweek2023 #bylerficrecweek #byler fic rec #byler fic #will byers #mike wheeler #stranger things

[moviemunchies]

Supposedly this movie was received better by critics than the first movie, with a line in Wikipedia even claiming that critics thought this one explained some of the Plot holes.

I don’t understand that.

But whatever! I don’t like this movie as much as Mask of Light, but I do like it.

This story follows the 2004 BIONICLE storyline, which was a flashback to long before the Mata Nui island Plot. Six Matoran from across the island city of Metru Nui are chosen by Toa Lhikan to go to the Great Temple, where they suddenly find themselves becoming Toa. Guided by Vakama’s visions, they decide to prove their worth by obtaining the six Great Disks, but upon presenting them to the city’s leader, Turaga Dume, they’re labeled as fakes and framed for Toa Lhikan’s disappearance. With half of them capture, and half of them on the run from the law and the two Dark Hunters actually responsible for Lhikan’s disappearance, they’ve got to figure out how to use their Mask Powers to rescue “the heart of Metru Nui.”

This one is, like the original film, Mask of Light, a story of self-discovery for the main characters as they work out their own powers and learn to be heroes. And in the context of the movie, this mostly works? Out-of-context it’s a bit odd, because if you keep track of the comics and books, the Toa Metru have already been doing a lot. Not enough to necessarily invalidate this character arc, but this movie treats them like they haven’t done anything, when we know from the stories that they’ve been going on epic quests to get the Great Disks and fighting an evil vine monster.

Really, this movie leaves out a lot. For starters, the Toa don’t show any elemental powers at all. The books explain that the Toa had expended their elemental energies fighting the evil vine monster and have to wait for them to recharge, but the movie does not mention this. There’s no mention of elemental powers in this movie, which is odd, considering that’s the Thing Toa are known for in the stories. Yeah, Mask Powers are important too, but elemental powers? That’s where it’s at.

Lhikan has no excuse, given that he didn’t use up all his powers. There’s no reason he shouldn’t be barbecuing Nidhiki when they fight, instead of jumping around and throwing his swords (though that, like all the action sequences, are pretty cool). The reasoning, I suspect, is budget and because this is aimed at children. Can’t exactly have that level of violence in the movie on-screen.

The changes from comics and novels to books are the result of another year where the Plot of the movie dictates what has to happen in the story for that year. This resulted in some weird things, like Lhikan not appearing until the actual movie, despite his giving Toa stones to the six Metru being something that SHOULD have been shown to us, along with characters like Dume.

And there are things that the movie leaves out, or oddly done. Lhikan declares that Makuta swore to protect the Matoran, but this is the first time, we, the audience, have any indication that he used to be a good guy or that people knew who he was, or that he was involved in this storyline at all. It makes that Vakama seemed to know who he was before the reveal a little strange, as well. This was true back in 2004. His scenes where he and Dume talk to each other don’t really make much sense, considering he’s pretending to be Dume–the novelization tries to fix this with “fake Dume was talking to a mirror,” but it doesn’t really make it any more logical. There are clearly two-sided conversations going on here! And if this is some sort of magic mirror, well, that kind of thing has never been explained or referenced again!

This watch-through made me realize that they made Nokama incredibly competent, almost to the detriment of everyone else? She’s apparently the best fighter and has a better idea of what to do than any of the other Toa. And there’s a scene where they’re getting sucked into a whirlwind, and she’s the one that digs her Hydro Blade into the ground (Matau follows her example seconds later). To be clear: both Onewa and Nuju (Toa of Stone and Ice, respectively) have Toa tools designed specifically for climbing, anchoring someone into a solid surface. And yet Nokama, the Toa of Water, who has tools designed for swimming, who has experience as a teacher and swimming through canals, is the only one who thinks of using her weapon as an anchor.

I’m not going to lie, though: watching her deflect disks from Krekka by spinning her Hydro Blades is pretty darn awesome.

And you know what? The Kanohi Vahi, the Mask of Time, is completely extraneous to the story. It’s an important artifact that the Makuta is after, but it doesn’t really have that much of a role in the story. It’s kind of there, an extra thing, as if the LEGO story team realized that they should explain what the deal with this mask is, and you know what? I kind of appreciate it. But the only real explanation we have as to why Makuta wants it is because he just wants to… I don’t know, fast forward to the part where he wins, I guess? I can make some estimates based on what I know of the story later on, but I don’t think that knowledge was in the writers’ minds when they crated this movie. I strongly suspect it wasn’t.

[rubs head] Oh gosh, I’m sorry, I’m making it sound like I hate this movie. I don’t. I love this movie. I haven’t seen it as many times as Mask of Light, so I don’t have as much of it memorized, but it still sticks in my head quite a bit. I suspect, in part, because I absolutely love the soundtrack (maybe even more than the first movie?).

And the ending–I talk about how the Mask of Time doesn’t really do much with the Plot, but the final fight with Makuta is great and I love that dialogue. I love watching Vakama go from a timid mask maker (albeit apparently the most skilled one in Ta-Metru) to realizing that he can be a hero, standing up to the ultimate evil. 

Also the soundtrack is fantastic. Nathan Furst is great and I’m sad he’s not talked about more.

But while Mask of Light felt very much like a BIONICLE movie, this one is working with a setting and ideas that fans are still getting used to at the time of release. It’s not completely inaccessible to newcomers, but it doesn’t feel representative of the story overall, with things like the lack of elemental powers. Long-time fans will be happy with some of the reveals, but at the same time it skips over so much of the books and comics I don’t know that they’ll be thrilled either.

I like this movie, but I suspect because I saw it when I was super into BIONICLE. Someone going into BIONICLE now, or trying to understand it, might not be as forgiving towards this movie.

#BIONICLE #Movie Munchies #Legends of Metru Nui #LEGO

[adamwatchesmovies]

Yakuza Apocalypse (2015)

Every source I've seen describes Yakuza Apocalypse as an action film. This must mean that my initial thought to categorize it as a parody comedy is inaccurate. So what is it then? An incomprehensible tale that seems to halfheartedly say one thing until it devolves into absolute madness and then just ends. I kind of hated it.

Beloved Yakuza crime boss Genyō Kamiura (Lily Franky) is the idol of Kageyama (Hayato Ichihara) and secretly, a vampire that drinks the blood of criminals. When a gunslinging priest (Ryushin Tei) and an assassin (Yayan Ruhian as Mad-Dog) decapitate Kamiura, he uses the last of his strength to turn Kageyama into a Yakuza Vampire. Unfortunately, he only learns the rules of his new condition after biting a civilian and unleashing a plague upon Japan. Meanwhile, the priest is not done yet and summons the ultimate terrorist (Masanori Mimoto) to finish what he started.

At first, I thought this was prolific director Takashi Miike lampooning Yakuza films. We’re told Kamiura has kept the big companies and chain stores out of the city and that he instructs his men only to harm other criminals. This makes him a hero of the people because Yakuza gangsters are so cool. Kageyama thinks so. All his life, that’s all he’s wanted to be but he’s never been able to get the trademark tattoos. When Kamiura bites him and transforms him into a Yakuza vampire, he becomes the real deal but in time, vampirism is rampant. Teachers, high-school girls, nurses, police officers are all becoming Yakuza vampires! Where is this going? Is it a lamentation that the criminal identity has become meaningless today, that it no longer inspires fear?

I'd say yes, if the idea went somewhere but in-depth analysis has no place in a film like this. Ambitious criminal Masaru (Makoto Sakaguchi) starts leaking brain matter out her ears like a hose, we get psychedellic gardens, martial arts battles between people in the worst monster costumes you’ve ever seen, and more. It should be so nutty it becomes awesome but it isn’t. All of the characters are so flat you don’t care about them and the incomprehensible non-logic means you have no idea what you should be paying attention to, what’s there just to be weird or if anything means anything at all. Did we just witness a rape scene? Who cares? Not the people who made this film. If they did, they might’ve tried harder to give us some convincing special effects or believeable performances. When you don’t speak Japanese and you can still tell the actors are struggling with their lines, you’ve experienced a badness so intense it transcends language.

The only thing that keeps you watching Yakuza Apocalypse is that something will make all of this click together. Is Miike saying the Yakuza are the vampires of Japan as they bleed the population dry? Does he suggest we’ve become infatuated with people who should be hated like we have with vampires? Your guess is as good as mine. The non-ending doesn't help. Abruptly cutting off your story can work - sometimes. Here it feels as though everyone got bored and said “let’s just end it here and move onto the next thing. It’ll be too late for them to get their money back after nearly two hours”. That’s another mark against this picture. It’s way, WAY too long.

Yakuza Apocalypse is little more than a mad-lib of supernatural action. Ideas are tossed in at random. Few of them pay off. You’ll retain nothing from the experience and will feel like you wasted your time. (Original Japanese with English subtitles, April 2, 2021)

#Yakuza Apocalypse #movies #films #movie reviews #film reviews #Takashi Miike #Yoshitaka Yamaguchi #Hayato Ichihara #Yayan Ruhian #Riko Narumi #2015 movies #2015 films

[fryingpan1234567]

Danny made Frank watch Deadpool

so Danny, true to his Ghostface identity, is a huge movie nerd

like huge hUGE

anyways Frank is… not

he went with Susie to see La La Land. In order to make up for sleeping through it, he let her talk him into dancing on the LA hilltop when they visited America— but he wasn’t quite as graceful as Ryan lmao (it’s okay they were just messing around ^^)

he also went with Julie to see Black Phone (Danny too)

Joey dragged him to see Bullet Train

and all those were fine, but Frank would never sit and rant about them for whatever like Danny did

explosion big. parkour cool. nice murder. that’s all that goes through Frank’s head

at some point, Danny asks him if he wants to watch Deadpool 2, because he hadn’t gotten around to it but thought Frank would love it

only Frank hadn’t seen the first one. that was unacceptable, so it was time for a DP marathon

Frank is grumpy about it because he’s got better things to do than lay around and watch movies, but Danny isn’t taking no for an answer

as expected, Frank fucking loves both of them (despite his bitching)

every time Wade is on screen, they both point and go “that’s you”

dumbass bisexuals watching the Deadpool franchise:

Frank complaining that everyone is hot while Danny laughs endlessly

anyways because he can’t exactly… die in the Realm, he wants to try all that shit for himself IMMEDIATELY

the idiot deadass steals Oni and Spirit’s katanas

that's how bad he wanted to try them all

Danny is singing Wham! in his ear the entire time and Frank would have stabbed him a long time ago if he weren’t pressing kisses to all the exposed skin around his neck he can reach in between verses (Frank is pretty sure Danny isn’t even watching the movie and he’s apparently attempting to prevent him from doing so either, despite it being his idea)

“That holiday fucking thing they have going on isn’t a bad idea…” (Danny chokes on his popcorn)

it’s truly astonishing how similar Danny and Frank are to Vanessa and Wade

when Warhead and Yukio pop up Frank gasps dramatically and screams “IT’S JULIE AND SUSIE!!!!”

and after that every character is compared to someone in the Realm

Michael would make a lovely time traveling dude with a big gun (or knife)

Juggernaut has been twinsies with Pyramid Head since he first showed

that shiny alien dude I don’t remember the name of is dubbed Ji-Woon

Domino is Joey (SLAY KING)

anyways for Halloween Frank wears a DP suit and makes sure to crack a joke before stabbing survivors

“sack of assholes” is Frank’s new favorite thing to call people

shit-biscuits also becomes a regular thing

”MAXIMUM EFFORT, JULIE! STAB BETTER!” “I WILL STAB YOU.”

super. hero. landings. as often as possible

Frank has turned into so much more of a gremlin since watching the movies

everyone blames Danny for creating a monster but he just thinks it’s hot when Frank cuts a survivor clean in half with those stolen swords

#DBD #legion #dbd legion #frank morrison #danny johnson #ghostfrank #ghostface #dbd ghostface #deadpool

[storylocke]

I really just want a chance to ramble after a conversation this morning woke up the muses.

Dippy:

Back when we did the TPP Gauntlet in 2020, I started a series of fics to go with it. No surprise. It's funny though because I didn't start one for Oriana / "Red0" from Gauntlet Red even though G.Crystal connects directly to it. So the first one we meet in all this is Dippy. More specifically, we meet his mother. She doesn't play a huge role in all this, but it says a lot about the kind of person she is that she won the Who Wants to be a Millionaire (pregame) and her first priority was to get her son out of Rainbow Rocket ruled Kanto (Randomized Ultra Moon comes before this in the timeline so all of the Gauntlet leaders are different from the canon gang), and then went off the radar to protect him. She bought a small house in Newbark Town, helped Dippy to graduate early and go after his dreams in music and botany. Or biology. Pokemon is weird about what Grass types would be considered. And that's it really. She stays at home and sells stuff from their garden, most of her remaining fortune is saved in secret for Dippy and he likes to add to it too when he can. They live pretty comfortable and planned to stay in their small town the rest of their lives where they've become loved by the community with no one knowing how they afford things.

Then came the Voices. Honestly, they're barely an inconvenience for Dippy besides dragging him into fights he'd rather avoid, but he and Elm both notice that things suddenly start happening. Dippy gets picked up by Oak's Dex project and Elm encourages him to branch out in his field studies to better himself. Then the break in. Then Rockets... It's about Azalea Town when Dippy realizes he's in over his head, but that's okay because he's got a sharp memory and a lot of patience. Especially as it's here his story shifts. He's the hero, of course, that's the role of the Host in all the stories he's read or heard, but this isn't "his" story.

This is about Alaija, who broke into Elm's Lab when he saw no other way. This is about the Rainbow Rockets, who Alaija has sworn to destroy before they can begin their terrible world takeover plan. This is about Red0, who everyone thought had crushed the Rockets only to mysteriously disappear shortly before disaster struck on Cinnabar Island.

Dippy may have been called to rise up against all of them, but instead he does what he does best. Listen. He finds out what he can from the people who knew Red0, including from a glitched entity that once belonged to him (Missingno) who he promised he'll help find the boy any way he can. He gets Alaija to open up about his past with the Rainbow Rockets and the pair decide to work together with Dippy gladly taking any advice Alaija has to offer. If someone has information for him, he'll sit transfixed as he takes it all in. Because what he lacks in strength (which he really isn't) he wholeheartedly gives as a support to everyone he meets.

By the end of the story, this hasn't changed. With the Rockets gone but not defeated, Dippy finds Alaija and gives him a place to stay in case they try to come after him. Dippy gets a teammate that tells him about Cinnabar and he realizes where he has to go. Red0 didn't just disappear, he's in trouble, an no one would ever know. Red0 has become a monster after suffering from his own hubris in playing with the Glitches (his run ended with a crash after we were allowed to play with the game unpatched). In the battle to bring him back, he seems to be completely taken over by the ghost of Red in Red0's weakened state. (Phase two fight was super cool, but man kid, what happened to you?) But even seeing this lost child, scared, crazed, and out of control, Dippy doesn't put the boy out of his misery. He wants to help him. He gets him home. And when home turns out to be no place for an unstable and extremely powerful Glitch, Dippy and his mother dig into their funds to get him a place of his own.

Red0:

I didn't write a story for him because I didn't have a story. The GRed Run was fun and we had a lot of lore for the kid, but his arc was mostly in stages in my head. Oriana grew up in the Church of Helix where from early on he'd been told he was to be one the next Red. The threat of the Rockets was a sign of corruption that needed to be purged from Kanto, and this boy prayed to be taken by the Voices so he could fulfill the will of Helix. But... Once the Voices actually came and Red0 got out into the world, the sudden freedom and seeming invincibility pushed him to rebel against the lessons that had ruled his life. He hated Red, he wanted nothing to do with Helix, he was reckless with power and took it out on any Rocket he came across. He made a name for himself and quickly became a target by the big man himself: Mr. Grimsley. Red0 didn't think much of Grimsley saying he planned to scatter the group and leave Kanto for a while. Good riddance. The boy was overconfident and proud of himself to have destroyed the Rockets without the help of any so-called god! So it was little surprise that when the Glitches started to appear and Red0 learned he could gain even more power if he could catch them, that that's exactly what he set out to do. Most of his team was quickly replaced with little abominations and he admired the riches and cool talents they gave him. Until he wandered too far. Until a certain alien jellyfish appeared that he mistook for a Tentacool and gave him the bite. Until his friends from the haze seemingly turned against him. Until everything in his mind had gone to mist.

Red0 was presumed dead after Cinnabar erupted. Probably for the better that he was, surely it would have grieved his family more to see what he had become. The Voices had left, and with them, so did his sense of invincibility. He was a god among ants but these ants merely drifted along the edges of the Void. He didn't know how long he'd been on Mt. Silver by the time Dippy came to rescue him, all he knew was to destroy anything and anyone that came near him. How many had come to hunt the beast? Enough to have the gateway blocked until they are strong enough to trust they knew their lives were at risk beyond there. But then something strange happened when Dippy managed to tear down his team and break through the Glitchwork armor. Red0's greatest nightmare, the one he had spent YEARS running away from such lunatic prophecies, finally came true. While he had hardly been himself since being riddled with corruption, it wasn't Red. Red0 completely lost himself as the bizarre ritual took hold, trying to bring the epic hero fully into the plane of existence, but Dippy beat it back. Red0 fell, no armor, no ghost, no teammates left to protect him. He honestly feared the worst as he saw this Trainer with an air of fearlessness standing over him. He would finally get what was coming to him.

A hand up.

Red0 still doesn't understand why Dippy saved him. Why he trusts him, the boy understands even less. All he knows for sure is the Voices sent Dippy there that day, and for that, he's forever grateful to Them for not abandoning him like he once thought. They are a strange and unpredictable entity though. More than that, he's grateful for Dippy. The boy lives quietly up in the mountains still, but it's with a small farm his new plant-loving friend has been teaching him how to manage. There's comfort there in working with the land, in the company and protection of his Pokemon now that he's been humbled about thinking he could do everything himself. He's still traumatized though, prone to nightmares and outbursts, and cloaking himself in the cursed armor when feeling overwhelmed. He's glad sometimes he's alone. Dippy's been helping with that too. Staying with him whenever he has to go into town for supplies or meet the occasional customer, eventually even meeting some of the other hosts. Battle can be fun again as he gets back into the swing of things, usually just sparring with Alaija when he comes along to the farm. Even as they hear about the Rockets still out there and trouble overseas, Red0 might be scared but the Voices will send someone... Right?

Alaija:

Alaija is by all accounts Mr. Grimsley's son. He grew up in Rocket Castle with the other heads of the organization looking after him and everything until they were overthrown by Virginia and the team was scattered to the winds. Fortunately, he ended up with his dad when they split up, but it also meant getting to really know the guy in a way he hadn't before. Grimsley was a monster. No, not cruel necessarily, but according to many who feared him, an actual monster. Alaija had been cursed plenty of times as some kind of little freak but it was only as he got older, he started to really understand what being a Glitch meant. And even started to question if he actually was his father's son or merely something dredged up from the Void himself. Alaija had glitch powers, mostly just super speed and the ability to walk through walls normally, but thanks to Mr. Grimsley, most high ranking members in the RR have a unique power of their own. It helps bind them to each other. In a way, it helps bind them to him. Being the youngest heir to the supposed throne, Alaija spent several years being groomed for his role in the takeover. But the more he learned about it, the less certain he was about going along with it. It's not like he could just leave though. His father would find him. He would always find him. So imagine the boy's shock when Red0 blasted his way through to break up the team and leave a certain redheaded orphan suddenly alone. He's sure if he stayed in Kanto the Rockets would have come back for him. If nothing else, Grimsley would be back for him, and he was too angry and afraid to wait.

Now the thing about Grimsley is, this is actually the same Grimsley from back in Season 1. He was corrupted by the Glitches in a sort of twisted experiment by Fennel. He fought against the curse eating away at him for quite a number of years, but when Unova was nearly swallowed by the Void in Randomized White 2, Grimsley finally gave in. It's been a couple of centuries since he gained this unwanted immortality and it's been enough to drive him crazy trying to find a way to get his humanity back. There's a ritual spoken of in legend that may hold the key, but it requires someone of the same blood... And he's not dumb enough to go first.

As Alaija has grown, there's a certain level of trust given to him about what's going to happen when the RR make their move. But unlike even most of the higher ups, Alaija has also learned what it is his father is after. And it terrifies him to think in the end he'll lose his life so his father may live. A lot of his issues stem from his dad, especially given the level of Glitchery the RR has now, he's just one kid trying to stop an army. He's so scared, he doesn't even get a Trainer's licence for Johto because he feels like the RR could use it to track him down after he makes himself known, and if he's planning to poke the hornet's nest, he better be sure they can't follow. But without an ID, he can't even get a Pokemon. Johto seems oddly trusting though that once he steals one for himself everyone just assumes he's a normal Trainer. Living off found items is hard though when he can't use the Pokemon Center and going from training with the best to starting from scratch is infuriating. He's not a bad Trainer, he's just not used to using such weak Pokemon! And then there's Dippy. Why the Voices chose some meek, passive, sheltered brat is beyond him but the more the run into each other, the more they seem to rub off on each other.

Alaija was almost caught in Azalea Town and found himself having to rely on Dippy of all people to bail him out. They aren't friends, but it's the first time they genuinely get to meet. After that, he finds himself slowing down, and knowing the fate of the world could be resting with this idiot, he even starts training Dippy on how to stand up to the Rockets. Admittedly, his powers are no match for them, but at least Dippy has the Voices on his side. And after hearing what happened with Virginia and witnessing first hand with Red0, he knows better than to underestimate a Host. They talk more often and he slowly warms up to the idea that maybe taking time to care for his Pokemon can make them better as well. Turns out, it might even make him better too. And when it turns out somewhere along the line Dippy surpassed him? Then... Maybe he can trust things will be okay. With the Rockets gone, for the first time in his life, Alaija has time for self reflection. He's got a home for the first time in years, and can feel safe setting foot back in Kanto again. ...Then Dippy brought home Red0. Alaija is glad the kid has no idea who he is, but seeing him brings back memories. He's also quite scared of Red0's power as his own pales in comparison. They may both be Glitched, but there's still a hierarchy there. Hearing what happened to the kid makes him sick. And when Dippy tells him about Mt. Silver, Alaija feels his fears returning. Given Red0's history, he can't shake the feeling this has Grimsley's hands all over it. He doesn't have the heart to tell the kid though. He wouldn't want to bring up bad blood anyway.

Dippy knows his friends have a lot of stuff to work through, but that's okay. He'll use whatever resources he can gather to help them every step of the way. It actually gets a lot better when fellow RR escapee Nia shows up to reunite with her little brother. She helps a lot with Red0 too with her nature loving ways. It's still sad to see how it affects them all though when GBlaze Black 2 comes around though. Dippy makes Alaija stay home just to be safe. There's no telling what Grimsley planned to do if he went. Red0 is a little better with Dippy, Nia, and Izzy there to both protect him and keep him in line.

#twitch plays pokemon #Gauntlet Crystal #GKids #Dippy K #Oriana Red0 #Alaija Grimsley #This is way long than anticipated #Haji babble #I really need to post my fics here

[helpimstuckinafandom]

Thank you for answering my ask.....If you don't mind me asking (again), can I ask your top 5 (or top 3) favorite characters from Percy Jackson novels? And your top 5 favorite moments from the series? Sorry if you've answered this question before....Thanks....

Oh god the questions' are getting harder (but thanks for the ask!!!)

**Spoilers ahead for the Percy Jackson series (so anything in PJO, HOO and TOA)**

So top five (in no particular order):

1. Nico di Angelo

2. Piper McLean

3. Jason Grace

All three were explained in my last ask answer since they're in my top 10 of all time.

4. Reyna Ramírez-Arellano

My ace queen! I remember so distinctly disliking her when we first met her in SoN. I thought her being from Circe's island was interesting because it was a cool way of introducing consequences to actions that Percy had never previously thought of (one of many, such as Calypso being left on her island and becoming increasingly bitter, Bob the Titan being memory-wiped, a lot of stuff with Nico, etc). But at the time, I just didn't care about reyna herself until HoH. When she showed up on her pegasus, I remember freaking out with excitment like "yes bitch! Holy shit Reyna's coming!" and being so surprised at my own reaction, because since when did I give a shit about Reyna? But after that I just loved her, and having her pov in BoO was so good??? Like oh my god??? Rereading all the books last summer, I realized I was literally delusional for disliking her (side note, but you are entitled to dislike her, every opinion is valid, but I love her and am allowed to). Like she was great from the very beginning, and then I got to TOA and she was so iconic. I know some people were annoyed when she expressly said that she wasn't into Thalia and they are allowed to be just friends, but I kinda appreciated it in a weird way? Like idk it made sense to me.

5. Will Solace

This was difficult to narrow down, and I feel people rolling their eyes but you gotta understand I thought Will Solace was so cool. Pre-TOA and before I read HOO, I liked him (yeah, for all of the two seconds he showed up, don't judge me). And then he became a more prominent character and I was so hype about it! He is more than just Nico's sunshiny boyfriend, and I'll fight to the grave saying that. He is brave and badass in his own right, he is a deeply caring person and I really have nothing more to say. I've reblogged posts that can explain way better than I can about why he is his own character, and not just some boyfriend thrown at Nico just cause.

Some honorable mentions: Rachel Dare, Apollo/Lester Papadopoulos, Ethan Nakamura (y'all can't say shit about Ethan okay, don't worry about it)

Now the REALLY hard decision of what are my favorite moments. This is just off the top of my head, so I'm sure I'm forgetting some! But (in no particular order):

1. Nico becoming the ghost king in BoL

The way he had me snapping and cheering I should be embarrassed but I am not. That shit gave me chills and I was so proud of him. Honestly, the whole list could be made of Nico moments, but I'm gonna limit myself to just this one cause I gotta be stopped.

2. The dolphin pirates chapter in MoA

That shit was so funny, I can't. And it gave us the iconic "Be-hold! The god's chosen BEVERAGE! tReMbLe before the HOrror of diet coke!" Like come on, that was so fun.

3. Frank and the chinese handcuffs in MoA

It's a downtime moment, but it was really sweet when he came to Annabeth to get help with them. I felt really bad for Frank (even though him and Leo antagonized each other, Leo was very much more of a dick to Frank) and it was just a nice character moment for me. It's sweet that he felt comfortable asking Annabeth because she wouldn't make fun of him for it.

4. Jason apologizing to Leo in Lost Hero

Another downtime moment, but I really like that. Everyone's badass skills in battle and funny moments with monsters are cool, but I really like intimate character moments (romantic or platonic). And the lost trio had a lot of friend character moments, and that's part of why you really feel that those three are best friends. I appricate Jason assuring Leo after the incident with Medea. Honestly, there are a lot of sweet character interactions to pick from for Jason alone, but I'd have to bring out my books and start citing shit lmao

5. Blood of Olympus

Yeah, you read that right - the whole goddamn book. Nothing can compete with the absolute high that book had me on from start to finish. Do you know how shocked I was to find out people hated it? I was so flabbergasted, cause it had everything I wanted. The pov characters were the Lost Trio (which I love so goddamn dearly) and NICO AND REYNAAAAA!!!! When I saw that they had chapters I all but cried, I was so excited. I don't care what anyone says, they deserved povs and they deserved to kick ass. Reyna's backstory was so goddamn interesting and her pov grew my love for her, and her fight with Orion was certified iconic. Nico was doing THE most - I couldn't get enough of his pov, seeing his thoughts was so great. The decimation of Bryce Lawrence? PEAK. Him, Will, Lou Ellen and Cecil sneaking around? Loved it. And I haven't even touched on the peak of Jason's arc, Piper fully coming into her own - like can we just all bask in the glory that was her leading Annabeth with emotion in that one scene? Afagdhdkf - and just Leo's pov in general, because the Lost trio had some of THE best povs in the series, no questions asked. The only thing I didn't give a shit about was Leo going to go get Calypso right at the end, but I was still happy she was getting off that island and that Leo was alive. Like it cannot be overstated how much I love this book, and rereading it last summer did nothing to change that. Is it cheating to list a whole book as a favorite moment? Definitely, but your honour, you have to understand-

((Just wanna give a shout out to another moment that I remembered halfway through typing about Jason's apology: Piper defeating Medea in Burning Maze. The satisfaction I felt in that moment baBY))

Again, thank you so much for the ask! It's pretty fun getting to talk about media that I care this much about, and it's making me wanna reread all the series' again lmaoo

#my asks #pjo #hoo #toa #piper mclean #jason grace #nico di angelo #will solace #reyna ramirez arellano #reyna avila ramírez arellano #again idk how to put the read more option on mobile #so sorry for the long post #long post

[stillness-in-green]

Chapter 357 Thoughts

Fight Dynamics

The likes of you would make me relive the pain and misery of that day.  I've always appreciated the touch of humanity that a lasting trauma from his backstory fight with All Might gave AFO, so I'm glad to see it back again.

That full page of Endeavor is fuckin' sick.  I like it when the Todorokis breathe fire—it gives them a draconine quality that is extremely cool.  Dabi's mouth gaping wide and spewing fire puts me strongly in mind of some ancient and terrible dracolich, and Endeavor's curl of spitting flame here has a similar quality.

The eye lasers are pretty fun also, though I feel like they raise the question much more prominently of exactly how prone to overheating Endeavor is that he can pull that move.  Eyeballs are really sensitive, guys.  Endeavor, don't boil your eyeballs!

God, the Endhawks shippers should never have let Hot Wings get taken from them as a ship name.  Listen, has Hawks ever sent his feathers to burn into ash as they boost Dabi's speed and become his wings?  I didn't think so.

As before, while my emotional investment in this fight is not high, I really am enjoying the physical dynamics of it.  The mixed visuals of people who can freely maneuver in the air (Hawks and AFO), the people who are managing to stay aloft through means that require balance and coordination (Tokoyami and Endeavor), and the one who can't be airborne under their own power at all (Jirou) makes for a great sense of mingled weightlessness and gravity in the open sky.  This panel is particularly good—look at the way Tokoyami's legs dangle!

I like that we can just assume that Hawks knew to call out a warning because his feathers likely picked up on AFO's vitals, and he doesn't have to scream that out as part of his warning or reflect on it in his head first. Much more organic than the similar moment in Chapter 355.

ENDEAVOR'S MONOLOGUE

My mistakes took form as Touya, leading to so many stolen futures.  Dabi is Endeavor's monster, yes, yeeeeeeeees!  Exactly my preferred read on the character.

The past never dies.  Rage, resentment, and even penance are wound together toward the future.  I like this, too.  Endeavor's talking about himself, but in echoing Touya's words, he calls to mind the villains as well.  Heroes can't keep just brushing their failures under the rug and looking away from them; villains are embodiments of failings both personal and systemic, and while they have their own agency, and have to account for the lives they've taken, the actions and inactions of those around them that led them to villainy also have to be reckoned with.  The villains have their own rage and resentment that drives them toward their futures, and that can't just be erased.

The future is a path for the young.  This, I'm of more mixed feelings on.  The future is a path for everyone still living, not only the young.  It's a very shonen manga sentiment, to be sure, and a worthy thing for a parent—and for Endeavor in particular!—to be thinking about, but as someone who likes a lot of the adult villains and also has a lot to say about Hero Society at large, I don't like the sentiment that only the young--young heroes and young villains alike--warrant this compassion.       However, I don't think Endeavor's thoughts here are necessarily meant to be prescriptive—I'm reminded of that scene between All Might and Aizawa where the former expresses his feelings of uselessness, and Aizawa tells him that just him being there in peoples' lives does plenty of good.  So adults have plenty to contribute, now and in the years ahead, but it suits Endeavor well in his atonement to view himself as largely an obstruction to be gotten out of the kids' way.

I'll win today and keep my eyes on Touya!  Assuming Endeavor survives the next phase of this, I really can't wait to see the look on Dabi's face when he's told this.  It's pretty much everything he's ever wanted, so what happens to him when he gets it?  (My hope: like his father, he gets what he wanted and then has to process everything he's sacrificed to get there.)

    

KILLING AFO (REPEATING MISTAKES)

Picking up this topic from last week, here again, we have a hero's thought about killing and death interrupted by a twist from AFO.  All Might said at Kamino that trying to kill the man was a mistake, and here we see the results of that.  So again I have to wonder, did the authors of this battle plan talk about that backstory fight?  Even if they think killing AFO is a fair moral action to take, simply from a practical standpoint, if they don't know how AFO survived getting his head pulped by All Might seven years ago, it seems actively foolish to risk killing him again here.

I would guess they found out about Ujiko and assumed he saved AFO (and they're probably right), so, already having Ujiko in custody, just resolved to be more fastidious with the body this time. Narratively speaking, though, no matter how careful they are, they're still repeating the mistake that is trying to kill AFO.  I'm extremely curious as to whether that narrative theming will pay off, and the heroes will realize they can't keep trying to solve the problem AFO represents by murdering him, or if killing AFO is just meant to be this difficult hurdle the heroes have to figure out how to overcome, like some kind of demented logic puzzle, and when they finally do, it will be treated as a triumph rather than just the newest iteration of the same mistake.

For the same reason, I'm interested in the echo of the end of the High End fight here.  That was framed as a big triumph on Endeavor's part, him overcoming the shadow of himself he recognized in Hood-chan, only for us to find out later that not only are High End Noumu sentient, but even among normal people, there are those who regard the outcome of that fight as being, "The Number 1 hero just killed someone."  The High End was not Endeavor's ghost; he just projected that onto it.  And it was very moving in the moment, but it was still a dehumanization with lasting consequences that showed up in the form of Ending and his threat to Natsuo's life.

Here, likewise, Endeavor gets this big dramatic moment of self-evaluation and resolve while holding the body of a villain he just killed to get said absolution—but was that really such a good idea? Perhaps not, it seems: as I said last week, it's unlikely we're going to see AFO get taken out in a way that clashes with the manga's overarching themes.

That said, I do feel for Jirou and Tokoyami here. Those two really brought their (1-)A-game, and if Endeavor had stopped at "only" maiming AFO rather than pushing him over the brink of death to whatever reset trigger he's got here, I think this combat would be over, and they would have been able to say they were instrumental in taking down the most infamous capital-V Villain in Japan's history. Yet another reason for the kids to start finding their own way, perhaps?

    

AFO'S REGENERATION

AFO coming in hot with the phoenix quirk, lol.  I consider it possible that it's something he and Ujiko picked up from Touya during his coma years, but if that's so, I will need an explanation for how they could know about this but Ujiko could still be puzzled as to how Touya survived.      Right now, the only angle I see on that is that his real question wasn't simply how Touya was still alive, but rather, how Touya was still alive in that state—how on Earth had the boy not immolated himself and regenerated yet; how was he still hanging on despite being in such tatters??  But that still kind of goes back to a lot of the issues with the Evil Orphanage backstory and what AFOUJi's actual goals were there, why they thought it was worth three years burning resources to keep Touya alive but then were just willing to let him escape without trying to recapture him because they thought he wouldn't survive much longer after that.

Given the above contradictions, I'd generally rather this be something different.  And it probably is, else why on earth flash to Eri?  And I'd love to see the bullets turn out to be actually relevant, though I have no earthly idea how bullets Ujiko didn't get his hands on until long after AFO's imprisonment in Tartarus could possibly be relevant to AFO's body now, since Ujiko was likewise in custody by the time AFO broke out.      I guess Shigaraki probably did still have one or two of them left in his pocket from the Jakku fight after he pulled them out of the wreckage of Ujiko's lab?  But I'm very curious what a single bullet designed only to destroy quirks could be refitted to regenerate AFO's body at a certain point without AFO's pet genius geneticist/biologist around to figure that out.  I'm sure AFO knows some science after being Ujiko's patron/husbando for seventy years, but I'm skeptical that he had the knowledge and the equipment for something like this.  Unless vestiges are so incredibly present and reliable a presence that AFO can use Ujiko's science knowledge just by virtue of having the old man's vestige in his brain, I guess?

AFO writing off his body because, presumably, his consciousness already has a foothold in Shigaraki's body is one of the things that irks me about the possession plot.  That conflation of quirk and soul is so weird, and so distinct to the AFO/OFA plot while being so disconnected from the reality of the rest of the comic.       A quirk is not a mind.  Taking someone's quirk doesn't deprive them of their awareness; they don't shut down like an appliance that just got unplugged or a computer with the motherboard removed.  Mirio is still Mirio; Ragdoll is still Ragdoll.  A quirk carries an echo, a copy of sentience, but it's just a simulacrum; if Ragdoll were killed, she'd still be just as dead regardless of the whereabouts of Search.  Nana is just as dead, regardless of the presence of Float in the tapestry that makes up One For All.  It just makes no sense to me why AFO is content to let his own mind die just so his quirk can live on—sure, he might share senses and have a mental connection with it when it's in range, but the AFO vestige is its own independent actor at this point; if AFO's body dies, the consciousness that he's cultivated since the day of his birth is still going to die with it.      I swear, it's like the series is staring down the barrel of the teleporter paradox and trying to bluff us into not noticing the gun.  I hope that, if AFO does get killed, he has a moment of panic where he realizes all this.

That said, I am looking forward to a full reveal of AFO's appearance next time we come back to this stage of the combat—his hair and his eyes back, no more shadow covering up the upper half of his face, just, finally, getting to know what he actually looked like before the backstory fight.

    

ODDS & ENDS

I am very curious as to why AFO mentioned "sacrificial moments."  Traditionally, the sacrifice play is to secure a victory for someone else, but even if the "someone else" is just his vestige in Shigaraki, e.g. another form of AFO himself, what relevance does his body dying and regenerating here have to that?  And how can he call this moment a sacrifice when he fought against it to the end?

Re: whatever's going on in the sky that Deku's approaching, my first thought is, "Star & Stripes fighter pilot bros, maybe?"  I don't know if they ever actually went back to the U.S. or not.  It doesn't quite fit Yoichi's, "I have a bad feeling about this," but Yoichi is clearly reacting to AFO's body reviving; he's got no reason to have any feelings one way or the other about whatever Midoriya's coming up on—that'd be Shinomori's purview.  However, getting supersonic jets to pick Midoriya up would be an extremely smart way to get him back to the fight with Shigaraki as quickly as possible without forcing him to fly well over 500 miles across open ocean and half of Japan's land mass to get there under his own power.

#bnha #bnha 357 #todotalk #bnha afo #quirk metaphysics #chapter thoughts

[robbyrobinson]

Thoughts On Thanks to Them

So, ultimately speaking, I liked the episode. I really liked how Luz had developed as a character with how she is genuinely in turmoil over feeling that she messed everything up by unwittingly teaching Belos the light glyph. Really, it is distressing to see a character who wanted to be a witch fully convinced that everyone would have been better off not knowing her or intervening in their lives.

Also loved some of the montages such as, of course, Luz coming out to her mother and introducing Amity as her girlfriend to which Camila accepts them both. Or some more bonding moments between Gus and Hunter and them becoming obsessed with some science fiction series. Honestly just nice seeing Hunter happy and having a normal childhood even if for a moment.

We learn some new info such as why Luz was so enamored with the Good Witch Azura series: her father gave her a copy of the first book in the series before he died so she was really using it as a coping mechanism to deal with her loss. Camila herself used to be bullied when she was in high school which made me think that she did not want the same to happen to Luz which explains the whole summer camp thing. Because keep in mind: she never said she HATED Luz's creativity as evidenced by her nightmares where she was the only one praising or humoring her daughters' antics.

We get more lore drops to explain a bit more about why Belos was so angered about Caleb: according to Masha, they were both orphaned children who tried to fit in with the social order of Gravefield by becoming witch hunters. That was until Caleb was enraptured by one, Evelyn. As in Evelyn Clawthorne perhaps? Philip desperately went into the Demon Realm to save his brother (who he viewed as a parental figure), only to act on his blind jealousy. It does explain in some ways why Belos was so hellbent on killing witches as a result of what was seen as acceptable back in the day. And, lastly, his possessing Hunter and killing Flapjack (or at the least mortally wounding him) was shocking in and of itself.

But, as much as I liked a lot of the episode, can't help but notice some missed potential. Of course, a lot of that comes from Disney canceling the show (thanks a lot, House of Mouse), so they had to adapt to the terrible turn of events. It comes at the cost of missing out on potential arcs or episode ideas. Even though three months had passed, it just feels like only yesterday that the Hexsquad is stranded on Earth. Sure, we get the montage of the witches interacting with human society, but that was largely because they were trying to decipher the rebus.

Belos felt wasted in this special/episode. His possession of Hunter's body was creepily cool, but I was really wanting a few moments where Belos interacts with modern-day Gravesfield and comes to the realization that Luz and the Collector were right. Instead of being lauded as a hero and the great "Witch Hunter General," people in the modern era would view Belos instead as what he always was: a deeply prejudiced monster. Or maybe comment on Halloween. Instead, he spends most of the episode possessing animals and recuperating.

Vee was wasted, as, due to being a basilisk, she could drain Belos while he was possessing Hunter. Jacob returns and at most, we learn that he was fired as the museum curator and then tries to expose Gus before being escorted out. Honestly, I thought the show was going to suggest that part of the reason he is that obsessed was that he was a descendant of the Wittebane line. Which would potentially have Belos appear to him and suggest a deal that they both could benefit from. But instead, he is taken as just a one-off joke. Or Masha reappears and she only contributes by introducing the rebus to the Hexsquad and telling most of what we had already known about the two Wittebane brothers already. Vee's other friends don't appear either.

Overall, though, did like the episode just wish that the show didn't end up having to try to cram everything to get to the ending. Just resent Disney for it.

#thanks to them #owl house #the owl house season 3 #review #thoughts #my thoughts #the owl house