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narkinafive · 4 years

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thots on the responses to this post but i wanted to start fresh

the best thing about fiction is how carefully you can control it. every detail has a greater meaning, including death, and if you can assign a meaning to a death, which is so often meaningless, then all the better. sw is really good about assigning meaning to deaths, usually, building up to them and then dealing with the fallout. sw generally follows a specific pattern--most often the hero’s journey as laid out by joseph campbell--and one of the steps in that pattern is the death of the mentor (obi wan for luke, ahsoka or kanan for ezra, luke for rey). in sw, that Death pushes the protag into a character breaking moment, which tests the strength of their heroic resolve

with regard to the prequels, the pt is patterned off of greek tragedy, which has its own set of steps. literary tragedies are built on characters being destroyed by their own mistakes. in this sense, Death is a sentence passed onto the “guilty” (please note that i am NOT arguing the jedi deserved to be wiped out). it’s not a total downer ending, however, because we the audience can watch luke and leia be adopted by their families and know that, eventually, all of this horror will be ended. padme, the jedi, the republic and separatists, and everyone victimized by the sith will eventually have justice when luke inspires anakin to kill the emperor.

so where does that leave us with order 66 survivors?* you can explain away various absences from the ot with “oh they were hiding” or “oh they were just doing somethign else that day,” but as @gffa points out, if you present yourself as a jedi under the reign of the empire, you are literally painting a giant, flashing target on your back, and while the empire may be incompetent, the Single most efficient branch of the empire is apparently their secret psychic police (which... that’s a whole other post right there) as they can find cal kestis, who barely slowed prauf’s fall, within a literal day. so if the ot operates under the rules of the hero’s journey, and the pt operates under greek tragedy, then the intra-rots/anh period operates under the rules of dystopia, a set of rules which are, admittedly, much more free-ranging.

but i think we can all agree that a dystopia needs a boogeyman. vader is that boogeyman, bar none; the guy is a nigh unstoppable one-man war machine who literally has no other purpose than fulfilling his master’s diabolical commands. you can’t reason with him, you can’t escape him, and you can’t defeat him. this is why vader is used so sparingly in swr, bc you can’t have your all powerful, fear-inducing boogeyman defeated by a scrappy group of kids every week, bc it vastly reduces his effectiveness, both in-universe as an enforcer, and out-of-universe, as someone who raises the emotional stakes through the fucking roof. so far i think sw has done a pretty good job of making sure that the heroes manage to escape only by luck or someone else’s incompetence, but... i, personally, would like to see a different outcome.

wrt luke, the presence of order 66 survivors doesn’t have to take away from his achievements. i think someone like cere junda surviving, cut off from the force as she is, could make for a really interesting story if she ever met luke in canon (and, well, he’s gotta get that idea from somewhere, right). i’m not even that beholden to yoda’s line “when gone am i the last of the jedi you will be” (despite what it looks like). imo the mounting number of survivors, rather than detracting from luke himself, detract from the clean slate that the prequels give us. again, i am the jedi order’s number one stan, but they allowed palpatine and the empire to rise; hell, they contributed to it. the old jedi order failed, and survivors who try to live in that old framework can’t succeed against the empire, because it’s luke’s attachment to his father and his sister that give anakin the final push to turn back.

but this doesn’t mean that that failure against the empire doesn’t have meaning. kanan’s death was so impactful partly because we have evidence of its direct consequences: the destruction of the TIE factory, the lessons he taught ezra which inspired him to take out thrawn (the only competent leader in the entire imperial navy), hera’s life (and jacen’s, by extension). obi wan’s failure, too, has a lasting impact, as it grants him a higher understanding and allows him to return to luke when he needs it most. “strike me down and i shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine,” indeed

(now that i’ve written this, of course, i seem to have convinced myself out of wanting cal dead... except for the fact that vader-the-boogeyman needs a win so he stay a scary motherfucker. and i want to see that beautiful boy in pain. so it seems i am at an impasse)

*none of this applies to yalls jedi ocs btw!!!!

#FUCK this got long #essay tag #swmeta #long post #listen im just getting ready for grad school again #as always commentary critique and responses are always welcome as are reblogs #can you tell ive been hanging around gffa too much #the adhd compulsion to ramble...

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hilllsnholland · 5 years

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Karma (1) - Halloween Series

Pairing: Demon!Tom Holland x Angel!Reader

W.c: 3.8k

Warnings: Mentions of religion, gun violence, trauma, and other dark themes!

Summary: Y/N wants nothing more than to find out the truth about her life before she died. This includes becoming an Angel agent, curing the world of evil, and meeting The Creator and to finally get the answers she’s looking for. That’s until she meets Tom, a Demon, her supposed nemesis of all people. Yet, there’s something about him that isn’t right? He’s…good. Leaving Y/N to wonder, who she can really trust in this balancing game of Good and Evil.

A/N: Only one day late!! Haha but no seriously I really love this idea and I’m really excited for you guys to read this! It’s really different from anything I’ve ever written so don’t be so harsh? and enjoy!

In bright, yellow glowing letters a sign hung over the Embassy building. The residents looked past it, knowing the message like it was their first words.

Everything must be balanced

This was a common phrase used in the Place. It was hung up in every office, every tavern (yes there’s alcohol in the Place), and even homes. It was a reminder to ever Angel what their purpose was which was to outweigh the bad from the Demons. All Angels could live in perfect paradise in the Place as long as they lived by this message. This included basking in the heavenly glow, spending eternity with their loved ones, and be blessed by The Creator at random times in the day.

It wasn’t known to common earth-folk that this system was in place. Versions of this concept were spread out upon every culture and religion, but no one could really hit it right on the head. Especially the part about Angels and Demons. The biggest point they got wrong was that they were not what books and movies predicted them to be. They were not some holier, glowing beings, or monsters with horns and pitchforks. They were beings that the human mind could not comprehend, but they did get one thing right. Angels control all the good in the world and Demons control all the bad. It was their jobs, quite literally. To gain access to all the amenities the Place, or the Under, had to offer, you had to work or give back in some way.

Which is why Y/N, a level five Angel, was rushing through the crowd of co-workers to get to the assignment area. Y/N, a young but skillful angel, had just gotten done with another assignment. She had miraculously saved a person from a near-death car accident, bending the metal of the car so the person was unscathed Medical personnel were even amazed at the incident, as the car was completely smashed in except for the driver's seat.

It came natural to her, like she was born to do this. Y/N had even thought that maybe her life back on Earth had something to do with it. All Angels were born on Earth, and when they died the Creator granted them the ability to become an Angel. The only downside is that people don’t take their memories with them to the Place. Y/N had spent so many days, weeks, months trying to figure out what she did back on Earth. Her memory was wiped though. She could remember her family, where she grew up, and what schools she went to, but nothing else. She was a blank canvas, like the rest of the Angels.

“Y/N! Back already?”

Y/N turned to see Sloane, a friend and fellow Angel agent, standing behind her. Her shining blonde hair and innocent face made her look like a biblical Angel. She was perfect for this job, as Y/N would agree, but Y/N knew she was better.

“It was a quickie save. I need to get at least three more assignments done by the end of the quarter if I want to reach Level Six.”

“That’s insane! You only started at the Embassy two years ago and you’re already more than halfway to Level Ten.” Sloane gasped.

If Y/N reached top levels before her third year was up then she would be fastest Angel to ever do so. Reaching Level Ten was the equivalent to an earth-folk retirement. If you chose so, that is. Not many Angels get to that point, mainly because the Afterlife was so relaxed, but if you did then you had two options; one was to retire and live in the Place in peace, and two was to meet the Creator. The Creator, an unimaginable force that only a handful of people ever met. Also Y/N’s goal. The Creator had the answers that Y/N desperately wanted, and it was obvious that nothing was going to stand in her way.

“That’s the plan.” Y/N said with a confident smile.

Y/N placed her completion ticket onto the counter of the assignment outpost, still looking at Sloane. The worker rolled his eyes, knowing Y/N very well.

“You know quick doesn’t always mean afficient,” Carlos sasses.

“But it’s me so you know it’s done with perfection,” Y/N bats her eyelashes. “Just admit it, you love me. I’m your favorite Agent,”

Carlos laughs, stamping her completion paper and snapping his fingers. The paper disappeared into a puff of bright light, a perk of being a top employee at the Embassy. Carlos was a long time friend of Y/N’s, he was the first one she met when she arrived in the Place almost two and a half years ago. He was a trusted friend, advisor, and mentor. He reminded Y/N of someone, but she couldn’t figure out who.

That was the one thing about the place she didn’t like, It was blips of happiness and sadness that you couldn’t place. It was a constant state of deja vu, putting the pieces together into a puzzle that never matched. But it didn’t matter, because people were guaranteed to meet their loved ones in the Place. It was a waiting game though that Y/N had become impatient for.

“I can not confirm or deny,” Carlos winks at the two women. “What do you want next? I got a miracle recitation or…”

“Boring!”

“Wait for the ‘Or’!” Carlos points his pen at her warningly. “...OR a bank robbery with a miracle rescue,”

“Drama! Excitement! I need that assignment,” Y/N clutched her chest dramatically and held her hand out for the form.

Carlos chuckled, knowing that Y/N was one to take on the most. It was a chance for her to show off her ability, and more so to be given the praise she needs. Carlos stamps off the form and gives it to Y/N. Her eyes instantly go to the point value, 115 points if she handles this mission perfectly. Minimal death, positive outcomes, no long term effects on the rest of the world. Y/N looks to Sloane and proudly shows off her points.

“Guess who’s going to be a Level Six by the end of the day?”

A knife pierced through the air and hit the cork board sitting behind the young man in the chair. The man didn’t flinch, blinking his eyes slowly in boredom. He watched as another man pace around a desk, swearing and muttering about incompetence.

“What do you have to say for yourself?” Kaiser screamed.

The knife lifted off the cork board and fell into Tom’s lap.

“I did the job. I don’t understand why you’re angry,” Tom said calmly.

The knife flew into Kaiser’s hand, gripping it tightly until flames engulfed the blade. Tom didn’t bat an eye. This is how Kaiser showed disappointment and Tom wasn’t going to fall for it today. Besides, the mission wasn’t a failure in Tom’s eyes.

He was sent on a mission to create a catastrophic tsunami over a small village in the East. Which he did, but there were no casualties. There was significant building damage and people were injured. No death though.

“People needed to die!” Kaiser raged.

“They will. They have poor health care so the likelihood of them dying from their injuries is quite high-”

“Not if the Angels get to them!”

There he goes again. Always about the Angels, never thinking about the Demons. Tom blinked his eyes again to try to suppress the yawn that was bubbling in his throat. He wanted this meeting over with so he can go back home. Tom half-assed his assignments to get home quicker that was all. Or at least that’s what he told Kaiser.

“You’re the worst Demon we’ve had in an eternity!” Kaiser threw himself back into the desk and held his head.

Tom watched Kaiser’s horns pierce through the stack of paperwork he had on his desk and subconsciously felt where his should be. There were two small bumps on his head where horns should be. It was hidden by curly hair but it didn’t matter anyway. Decades in the Under and he hadn’t earned them yet. Mainly due to his own doing, or lack of doing that is.

Tom remembered his first years in the Under, after the Creator placed him there as a child, and how he strived to get his horns. Years went on though, and something didn’t feel right. The destruction that fueled the Under didn’t make him happy. It filled him with dread. It angered him. Tom kept that a secret though because fallen Angels go to the Under, but fallen Demons go to the darkness.

“You need to step up Tom,” Kaiser sighed. “You’re here for eternity so you better start enjoying it,”

Kaiser’s red eyes met Tom’s, pity is all he saw. Kaiser had put so much effort into making Tom the best Demon in his division, yet it was all wasted. Guilt was not a word in the Under, but Tom felt it. He felt a lot of emotions the other Demons couldn’t.

“The Creator put you here for a reason-”

“It doesn’t make sense,” Tom finally raised his voice. “Why do they create us but choose the Angels? We’re basically their...kids right? It doesn’t make sense,”

“Don’t invoke the answers you don’t want,” Kaiser warned and lifted a book off the shelf. “Read this if you want answers,”

The Manuscript fell into Tom’s lap which a painful thud. Earth-folk have a different name for it depending on what religion belong to, but most of its the same. Tom rolled his eyes, placing the Manuscript onto the desk.

“I know what it says but-”

“No. More. Questions.” Kaiser ordered and held out his palm. “Take this,”

A piece of paper appeared in his hand in a burst of flames. Tom took it, looking over the assignment with a scowl. Kaiser really knew how to punish him alright. Tom stood up, breathing sharply as he headed for the door. Kaiser watched him, arms crossed with a devilish smile.

“Now, kill someone or don’t come back,”

Tom hated how easy those words came from Kaiser’s mouth. He forced a knowing smile, nodding his head as he gripped the handle. It was burning hot, his hands tingling from the heat. Tom pushed forward though, knowing it was one of Kaiser’s tricks to persuade him to actually do the job. Tom met Kaiser’s eyes one more time, nodding more confidently as the door swung open.

“Won’t let you down,”

Y/N rushed through the back alley, jumping (or more like phasing) over the trashcans and muck. Nobody said saving the world was pretty. She darted for the backdoor of the bank, holding her hand out towards the handle and twisting her hand. The door slowly opened with a quiet creak. Although nobody could see her while she was in her hidden form, she still had to be cautious that no one caught her. Her cloak looked blindingly white to her, but to the common Earth-folk, she was invisible. Another perk of being a high leveled Angel, you get amazing gear.

The bank seemed normal though as she passed through. The bankers were doing their job while the customers waited in line patiently. Y/N looked to her watch, any minute now some crazy guy would enter with a gun and she needed to be ready. The least amount of casualties the better, especially for her score.

The door chimed as a person walked in. Y/N, who was hiding around the corner, watched as the man entered in a long coat, wearing mostly black. It was time to move. Y/N darted through the main hall only to see a familiar shadow slipping through the cracks of the door. The shadow turned into a mist that formed into a real person wearing a dark cloak. A Demon of all people. The Demon shook his head, cracking his knuckles as he was ready for work.

Y/N had never seen a Demon look this young before though. Most of them were older ones from earlier dawns of time. This one though looked to be her age. His hair was soft and curly, framing his face delicately. He had a strong face, but so boyish. He looked so innocent, no horns to be seen either. He must be a young Demon then, or a newbie in the field. He was...cute though? He would’ve been a perfect Angel if he was born human.

“Everybody get down!” The man yelled as bullets went flying into the air.

Shit. Y/N was so focused on the Demon that she forgot about her own mission. The Demon seemed surprised too, springing into action to grab the robber. It was time for the negotiation. Whenever an Angel and Demon were on opposite sides of an assignment, they have to come to an agreement on how it’ll play out. How many survivors, other damages, and how likely this will affect the rest of the world.

“Hey!” Y/N yelled.

The Demon finally saw her, his curly mess of hair moving as he looked to her. Both their hands reach out and everything stops. The terrified patrons are frozen, the gunman mid trigger pull is stuck. The only people who can move are Y/N and the Demon.

“Tell me your name!” Y/N demands.

“It’s Tom,” His eyes narrow at her. “And you are?”

“Y/N. What’s your wager?”

Tom looks at her puzzled. His eyes scanned the room, landing on the eldery couple sitting on the floor in terror, the pregnant woman holding her stomach, and the bank teller who was in tears. What could he wager? This was not his life to gamble?

“I-I don’t know,” Tom admits. “Are you really an Angel?”

Y/N stares at him. He’s stiff, hand still outright to control the time lock.

“Y-yes,”

“Where are your wings-”

“None of your business,” Y/N says quickly.

Her hand is pulsing a white glow now, strong that Tom’s timelock and it’s engulfing his hand in a heavenly warmth. Not like the Unders, but it feels like a hug. It feels so soft that Tom never wants it to go away. It leaves as swiftly as it appeared as Y/N realized her anger bubbling. She had to keep her cool. She had to get this right.

“I just thought Angels had wings. That’s all,” Tom watches as his words get under Y/N’s skin.

“Listen, we could go on and on about my lack of wings, but right now we should focus on negotiating a deal. How many people will you take?”

“I don’t-”

“You can have a maximum of five,”

Losing five would only reduce her score to a 110. A still passing score that gets her so close to leveling up in the ranks.

“What? No!”

Five lives taken? It shouldn’t have shocked Tom as much but it did. An Angel willing to give up five lives was unheard of? Y/N flusters, stepping forward with her hand out.

“I’m not taking five lives. I just need one,” Tom asserts and points to the robber. “I’m hoping it’s him,”

It had to be a trick, Y/N thought. Demons were tricky, they were not to be trusted. That’s all Y/N heard at the Embassy. Both of them lock eyes on each other, hands still straight out keeping everything frozen, and for a brief second both of them felt something change. Y/N took a step closer to make sure what she saw was real. There was glow illuminating Tom and it was heavenly.

“What are you playing here?” Y/N shouts, ready to fight him.

“Nothing! I don’t want anyone to die,”

“That’s impossible…”

Tom watched as Y/N’s eyes turned dark, her hand dropping to her side. Suddenly his hand was sizzling. It was like it was on fire again. He took his hand back, clutching it to his chest and stumbling to the floor.. Everything resumed like it was before, the robber was pushing the gun into the face of the teller, demanding money. Y/N sprung into action, bolting for the gunman.

Confidence flooded through her as she bounded for the gun, her hand passed through it in an attempt to stall it from shooting anymore. Tom rolled onto his stomach, aching in pain. Everything felt hazy and he could barely get himself up. She hadn’t attacked him though. When they disconnected...it hurt?

“Give me all the money or everyone is going to die!” The robber slammed his fist onto the counter.

“It’s in the vault. You have to let me take you to the vault,” The bank teller cries.

Y/N steps back, wondering how to fix this mess. It would have been easier if that Demon just negotiated with her. Now she had to figure it out on her own while he was on the floor. The teller holds her hands up with the keys to take the robber to the vault. Everyone is watching, sweating and crying. It suddenly hits her. The button, she had to press the emergency button. It wasn’t the heroic way she was planning, but it was her best shot of getting a good score. Y/N phased through the desk, fumbling around underneath the desk until she hit the button. Now all she had to do was make sure nobody died.

“Stop!” Tom yelled out.

He finally got to his feet and was trying to run towards the robber. He’s clutching his side and phasing through the gun. He’s trying to unjam it, Y/N thought. He had an agenda just like her, but he had to be difficult. Y/N groaned, rushing over to the robber and the teller. Y/N grabbed Tom and threw him into the wall, his body burning more intensely.

“Are you crazy? Let me go!” Tom thrashes around and kicks Y/N away.

“I’m trying to save humanity here,” Y/N snaps back and jams the gun again.

The teller is placing keys through the locked door that leads to the vault. All they had to do was make it down there with no deaths and Y/N would have this job in the bag. If Tom was getting her way though then it might have to get ugly.

“It seems like you’re the bad guy here,” Tom braces himself for a fight as he side steps towards the robber.

Before Y/N can even respond there are sirens. The blue and red lights shine through the window and relief washes over the victims lying on the ground. Y/N is about to celebrate until there’s an empty trigger.

“You fucking called the cops?” The robber slams his gun onto the wall and then pressed it to the teller’s head. “You’re gonna die,” He hisses into the tellers ear.

It’s a split second but it goes so slowly. It was almost like they had time locked again, but they were not in control. Y/N grabbed the Robber while Tom slides toward the teller. Y/N knows what she has to do, jam the gun again. But...she doesn’t want to. Coldness comes over her suddenly. Her hands are bitter cold.

Thoughts of betrayal, sadness, and anger consumed her as she grabs the top of the gun. Jamming is no longer in her head. All she can think of is letting the gun shoot the teller. She snaps back, horrified by her thoughts. Her hand goes to grab the gun but it’s already gone. The bullet has already been shot, but there was no trigger. His hands did not move. Y/N freezes.

The bullet pierced through the air, the ringing blasting everyone’s ear. Tom stands up fully, his hand coming up and igniting the bullet into flames. Y/N holds back a breath, believing that he was going to murder this woman right in front of her. But it doesn’t. The bullet redirects and falls onto the ground. The woman gasps, reacting to the almost magical occurence that saved her life. Tom waves his hand again and the Robber is on the floor, convulsing.

Y/N is still frozen. She couldn’t believe her eyes. Tom, the Demon, had saved someone? Tom pushes the hair out of his eyes and stands over the body of the Robber. He places his hand on the man’s forehead and suddenly the life leaves him. Y/N can see the soul fall onto the floor and disappear. He had killed him. What she would have expected from a Demon, but she was still shocked.

“He didn’t pull the trigger,” Tom mutters as he walks towards her.

“I know-”

“You caused the trigger to go off. I watched you. You tried to kill that woman.”

Y/N met his eyes. They were not black nor red like the others. They were wa arm brown. His face was so soft, even the blankness in his stare was electrifying. It felt familiar again. Just like the feeling with Carlos.

“What kind of Angel are you?” Tom places his hand on her back, feeling the notches where her wings hid.

Y/N steps away, slapping his hand away. It hurt though, like he was freezing her to death.

“The kind of Angel who won’t tell anyone if you don’t,” She warns and points to the woman. “I’m sure your people won’t like it if they found out you refused to kill anyone.”

Tom nods, tightening his cloak around his body as he walked away. There was nothing to say at this point. It was a fluke interaction, a mission that went horribly wrong. Y/N watched Tom disappear as cops flooded through the building, guns up high and escorting victims out of the scene. Y/N stood in the midst of it though, holding up her assignment sheet as it filled itself out.

113/155

That was printed in the score box on the top of her paper. Usually ,that would spark joy in her, but it validated what she had thought all along. The little whispers in the back of her mind that she was too afraid to say. She scanned the comment sections where it read.

‘.5 point deduction for trauma done to Lydia Richards’

A picture of the bank teller appeared next to the comment. She was held at gun point, almost died, and watched a man mysteriously die in front of her. Yeah, she was gonna have issues.

‘.5 point deduction in communicating with a Demon for more than ten minutes’

And finally

‘1 point for causing suspicion with mysterious death’

It was true. A woman’s life being forever changed was worth less than how the Angels were perceived to Earth-folks. Talking with a Demon on how many lives would be ruined was worth the same as ruining a life though. It made sense to the other agents. It made sense to The Creator. But it never made sense to her, and that was the point. The Place made no sense, and neither did the rules. Not even the description of Demons fit anymore.

Fear drove her to silence about these worries, and it would still drive her to hide her feelings, but now it was clear. This was not just a Y/N issue, it was seen by one other person. Tom, the Demon boy who saved a life. Unheard of, or maybe that’s what Y/N was taught. Either way, she needed to find Tom again and get some answers.

Taglist:

@hopeless-starry-kingdom / @1-800-ahh-crap / @spnqueen02 / @heatherhollowayst

#Tom Holland imagines #Tom Holland imagine #Tom Holland blurbs #tom holland angst #Tom Holland blurb #demon!tom holland #demon!tom #angel!reader #halloween series #Tom Holland fanfiction #tom holland x y/n #Tom Holland x reader #Tom Holland x you

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thejakeformerlyknownasprince · 5 years

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Why do you think the Animorphs fandom doesn't have as many AU stories as some of the other fandoms? I don't mean non-cannon stories, but those where the characters are taken from the Yeerk Invasion concept enitrely and dropped into another sandbox: coffeeshop AU, Hogwarts AU, etc. Even really common additions to the cannon world such as soulmate AUs seem to be less used with Animorphs. Any thoughts as to why?

Reason 1: The characters are 13.

Technically they grow up to ages 16 - 19 before dying horribly the series ends, but their problems and concerns are very much those of actual early adolescents. They don’t drive (not even cheat-driving with mopeds or helicars like in other teen superhero stories), they don’t go on real dates, they don’t have jobs, and they don’t use money except for occasional emergency purchases of shoes or tacos.

Obviously that doesn’t preclude the protagonists from suffering through romantic clichés, but it means that there’s less material to work with than in a series such as Harry Potter or Supernatural where the characters do have these kinds of classic adult concerns. It also means that (and fandalites are classy af so they tend to recognize this) there’s an inherent squick factor in hardcore romance, even in AUs where the characters have been aged to 18+.

Reason 2: There are no love triangles.

Probably the closest we get is Rachel realizing in #27 that she has romantic options other than Tobias… which leads to her realizing that Tobias has what she wants and needs in a romantic partner, whereas a civilian guy simply doesn’t. Other than that, we have the moment in #44 where Cassie realizes that she’s flirting with Yami… which sets up the realization that Cassie might be better off with someone who has more capacity than Jake to make her happy. No one cheats, no one fights rivals, and no one experiences much jealousy.

Characters dealing with their romantic feelings in mostly-healthy mostly-transparent ways, whether in or out of relationships, doesn’t leave much room for rom-com miscommunications and the like. Ergo, there’s no room for characters being forced to date or to confess their feelings by circumstance. Even Jake and Cassie’s unhealthy dynamic remains unhealthy for, like, a book and a half, before they have an amicable post-breakup goodbye in #53. Not much room for romantic angst. Speaking of which…

Reason 3: Do we really need MORE angst? REALLY?

This series is about six mostly well-adjusted kids having their entire lives destroyed by the horrors of war. If angst is your jam, there’s no need to add it by introducing backstory elements or hurt-comfort premises that we didn’t already see in canon. You can literally just grab that time Jake watched his cousin drag his internal organs off the ceiling (#16), that time Cassie killed an innocent prisoner of war on reflex (#19), that time Tobias was tortured into insanity (#33), those times Marco committed matricide (#15, #30, Visser) and you’re off to the races. A lot of fan fiction tropes are all about angst (Tony Stark’s dad never loved him, Stiles Stilinski wishes he was special, etc.) and where Animorphs is concerned, there’s really no need. On a similar note…

Reason 4: Adding ridiculous humor would be redundant.

This is a series where running gags include (but are not limited to): the hawk kid getting his talons stuck to cetaceans when he tries to acquire them, “These Messages” (e.g. commercials) and CinnaBon being the only artistic creations of humanity worth saving, the main villain of the series being a Cat Person, all the Animorphs debating whether it’s cannibalism to eat fried chicken in seagull morph, the resident alien being unsure whether vinegar and motor oil count as beverages, and the kids getting out of obligations with excuses that range from “I have to go buy a nicotine patch before I become a teen smoker” to “my cousin — and not the one you’re thinking — just got into a fistfight with a six-year-old over Raisinets.” Coffee shop humor, de-aging humor, and other whacky fan fic premises simply can’t top what we already have. Not only that, but a lot of the whackier fun AUs — animal transformation AU, gender mashup AU, evil twin AU — have already been done in canon.

Reason 5: The cast is already pretty tight.

By this I mean that the cast is tight in that there are few wasted or tangential characters, and that the cast is tight in that there are few intragroup conflicts. It’s not really possible to “break” the dynamic in ways that would feel organic (e.g. Civil War AU) without losing a ton of what makes the series itself. There are also relatively few minor characters that one can add to the original six’s dynamic in meaningful ways (although yours truly is guilty of trying), because they’re so isolated and codependent. Writing AUs in which the characters just meet for the first time during the fic is... possible, but IMHO would feel deeply weird.

It’s also a fairly fundamental aspect of what makes Animorphs unique that there are no mentors anywhere in the series. The kids get occasional information from Erek or the YPM, but they have NO ONE they can turn to if they want to ask for advice. ALL of their attempts to seek mentors end in said adults revealing themselves to be incompetent (Elfangor, Gonrod, Ithileran), morally bankrupt (Alloran, Arbat), unwilling to help because they have their own agendas (the Ellimist, Toby, Aldrea), or simply less experienced in relevant areas than the kids themselves are (Eva, Jara, Mr. Tidwell, Sam Doubleday). It is possible to add adult characters to the team through crossovers or other AUs — but to do so is to fundamentally alter the structure of the series.

Reason 6: The plot is already pretty tight.

Animorphs isn’t a perfect piece of coherent plotting, but it also doesn’t have any huge glaring plot holes. There’s nothing that the whole fandom agrees needs to be “fixed”: some people want Cassie to be wrong more often, some people would like direct queerness, some people dislike the tragic ending, some people think the late-middle sags, some people want more Tobias-narrated books, some people (*cough* me) want the series to be 55 books long so that Rachel gets to narrate one last story… None of these represents a majority opinion, the way that the “what have you done to our Jaime Lannister!?!?!?” outcry is currently dominating the Game of Thrones fandom to the tune of 800,000+ signatures on the world’s silliest Change.Org petition.

The events of the series follow pretty logically from one another, which means that there aren’t tons of divergences on a single theme, and also that it’s pretty easy to invent divergence points from canon itself. There are occasional modern AUs and college-age AUs, but a lot of the time they have to differ dramatically from the source work to pull off the effect.

Here’s where I acknowledge my bias: I dislike the majority of super-popular AU ideas. Some strike me as harmless romantic clichés (hatebanging AU, accidental dating AU) or wealthy-American-kid clichés (college AU, wedding AU). Some strike me as sacrificing character for plot (fake married AU, sword-and-sorcery AU) or not having much plot at all (wedding planner AU, elaborate-miscommunication AU). Some are downright problematic in their magical codification of power dynamics (omegaverse, sex pollen) or deeply concerning consent issues by definition (soul mates, coffee shop AU). Most of them are perfectly good story ideas, but most of them are not to my taste.

All of these AU ideas can be done well and have been done well, because every cliché becomes a cliché by being genuinely brilliant until overused. I mostly avoid these stories anyway because too many of them are plagued by setting rather than motivation forcing the characters to go from Point A to Point B or even forcing the characters to become romantically involved. So there is a distinct possibility that there are Animorphs stories out there that use these ultra-popular AUs, and I just haven’t encountered them.

#animorphs #animorphs fic #fandom #fan fiction #animorphs fandom #game of thrones spoilers #consent issues #fan lore #q word #there are probably more reasons i haven't thought of #if so hmu

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dalekofchaos · 5 years

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Rae Sloane should’ve been the main villain of the sequel trilogy

This is my opinion, but Rae Sloane should’ve been the main villain of the sequel trilogy.

Here’s the problem with Snoke, Kylo Ren and Palpatine. It is telling the same story all over again. When I first saw the teaser for The Force Awakens. I just sighed. Really? We’re just redoing the Jedi and Sith again? Snoke could’ve been great, but was ultimately a retread of Palpatine. Kylo Ren is great, but the fandom ultimately ruined him for me. They are literally bringing Palpatine back aka “we have no idea what we’re doing” then I read the stories of Rae Sloane and was awestruck by such a great character and I have been wondering “why is such a great character NOT in the sequel trilogy, where is Rae Sloane???”

Here’s why Rae Sloane would’ve been better.

It would’ve been different. The Imperial Remnants would of course rise up, but the Imperials lead by Rae Sloane while Kylo, and Hux are her top lieutenants would’ve been perfection. Plus a woman of color being in high command of both the Empire and The First Order would be something fresh new and really different from the rest of Star Wars’ villains.

Rae Slone’s character is great and actually has a motivation.

Hailing from the industrial core world of Ganthel, Rae Sloane was born in 41 BBY (the same year as Anakin Skywalker). While the planet was under Old Republic Control, a young Rae was nearly kidnapped by slavers at a port city. The slavers had been raiding the planet for years. When the Empire took control of Ganthel in order to access its shipbuilding capabilities, they brutally stomped out all the gangs and slavers, thus solidifying the Empire as heroic in Rae’s eyes.

From there, her future was set. Joining the Imperial Naval Academy at her earliest eligibility, Rae distinguished herself from the pack of cadets early on. After graduating from the Academy, Rae began studying navigation aboard the Flight Training Institute (FTI) starship, where she first met both Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader. She came to their attention when she rightfully corrected the navigational course to keep the entire FTI ship from crashing into the heart of a sun, a plot concocted by traitors to the Empire in order to assassinate Palpatine.

This loyalty would help her ascend quickly through the ranks. From Commander through Captain and onward to Vice Admiral, by the time the Battle of Endor occurred she had achieved the rank of Admiral. After that disastrous defeat, Rae would become integral in the reformation of the Imperial fleet, have a massive presence at the Battle of Jakku, and become a founding member of the First Order, so much so that she was the one to name it.

What makes Rae a compelling character is the fact that she believes what the Empire is doing is right. In her eyes, the Empire is doing the right thing, purging lawlessness from a galaxy overrun by bureaucrats that care little for the common people. She’s wrong, but like great villains before her, audiences can see where she’s coming from even if they don’t agree with it. Throughout her many appearances in the supplemental Star Wars narratives, she is constantly pushing for the Empire to be “just.” When things start to fall apart after the Battle of Endor, Rae struggles to keep the remnants of the fleet playing by the unspoken rules of warfare and is frustrated to see the Empire careen into backstabbing and incompetence. You can see Rae’s influence in the First Order with its strict hierarchy and minute by-the-books stringency that makes Palpatine’s Empire look positively laissez-faire by comparison.

SHE FOUNDED THE FIRST ORDER! Unlike Snoke, we know her story. We didn’t need JJ’s “MyStErY BoXeS” we needed a good main antagonist and a good story. We have that with Rae Sloane. Sloane was loyal to the Empire, so much so, rather than allowing it to cease to exist, she recruited other loyalists and they fled to the Unknown Territories beyond Jakku. She founded the First Order. With Rae Sloane in control of The First Order, we can have the canon answer to The Thrawn Trilogy. We can have someone who is an antagonist to Leia. The founder of The First Order and the mother of the Resistance.

Where does this leave Kylo, Hux and Phasma? Sloane was a mother figure and mentor to Hux. Sloane saw potential in Hux and took him under her wing. Taught him everything to make him an exemplary leader. In essence, he is her son.(aka before Rian Johnson ruined Hux) with Kylo, I have a feeling perhaps Sloane could’ve leaked the info that Darth Vader was Ben Solo’s grandfather in hopes of turning him against his family and the New Republic. Sloane had a good relationship with Vader, so I have a feeling Kylo Ren would’ve had respect for Rae Sloane. Rae most likely would not train Kylo in the dark side, but she would’ve given him guidance and attention and used that to manipulate him to her cause and Kylo would hold Sloane’s views that the First Order is what the galaxy needs and Sloane is resourceful, she could point Kylo and the Knights Of Ren in the right direction for becoming stronger with the dark side and Kylo and Hux fighting for their mother figure just sounds perfect. With Phasma, I am unsure considering Captain Cardinal held Sloane in high regard and honestly Cardinal is a more likely person to stay in Sloane’s inner circle.

In conclusion. Supreme Leader Rae Sloane could’ve been the perfect villain for the Sequel trilogy and it’s a damn shame Lucasfilm has a lack of vision. We could’ve had it all.

Angela Bassett would have been the perfect person to play Rae Sloane in the sequel trilogy.

#Star Wars #Rae Sloane #Grand Admiral Rae Sloane #Supreme Leader Rae Sloane #Kylo Ren #General Armitage Hux #Captain Phasma #Captain Cardinal #The First Order

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tumblunni · 5 years

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OH FUCK I THINK I FINALLY CRACKED THE CODE OF WHY I ALWAYS LIKE THE VILLAINS BETTER

Like man it always makes me so confused cos i mean im a soft AF person and i always end up having sympathetic redemption headcanons for them so its not like i like VILLAINY ITSELF but what else do all these characters have in common?

Thats it. Thats it, ursula helped me crack it.

I just WANT THOSE TRAITS ON THE HEROES

I really want a nice confident sassy funny chubby trans auntie who promotes body positivity to our young hero and always gets to say the coolest lines and get the best moments and BE LOVED FOR WHO SHE IS

And like usually whenever you get anywhere close to seeing those "villain traits" on a hero they like.. Remove all the good parts. If you have a supportive hero aunt she's always boring and generically supportive instead, and has to look like the most stereotypical boring mess ans have a super small plot role and uuuugh thats IF SHES EVEN THERE i mean seriously aunties and grandmas are weirdly less represented as mentors than grandpas who are already REALLY HARD TO FIND and again OFTEN GENERIC AND UNFUN WHENEVER THEY GET TO APPEAR

And how damn often are we allowed to have a chubby gay aunt!! WHERE IS MY CHUBBY GAY AUNT!! ive met SO MANY chubby gay aunts in real life like 90% of all my psychologists have been either that or like.. The exact same but a straight lgbt ally instead. Sassy plus size aunties are THE BACKBONE OF OUR SOCIETY DAMMIT! I've had so much help thanks to sassy gay aunts!! And like even just looking at any damn crowd scene in a normal city centre youre gonna see so many chubby aunts and long nosed uncles and all those sorts of bullshit "ugly people" that mass media pretends are ugly and relegates to One Minor Role In The Entire Cast despite them being infinately more common than supermodels and NOT UGLY AT ALL GEEZ IT PISSES ME OFF SO MUCH

I cant believe im a fuckin disney villain fan cos of body positivity

Tfw u suck so bad at making hateable people that the fandom universally hugs all your villains and ignores your boring protagonists like fuckin TAKE THAT DIDNEY

God i wanna hug hades sooo bad he just needs a friend aaaaaa

And i mean its not just disney, every damn time ive obsessed over a villain its been because they have some trait thats supposed to be "bad" but its actually good and we dont get to see it on the heroes

Like my thing with science villains in particular is that when i first played ff7 i really liked the idea of an evil minion who's a bad sidekick not just because he's "dumb" or "bumbling" but because he's actually not interested in any of the evil stuff and he works against his own boss and is like.. Friendly to the heroes, i have no particular grudge against you and i wont stop you if im off duty and all. I liked the Turks for the same reason but in the origibal ff7 translation they were kind of stoic and serious and i didnt really become as much of a fan of them til i saw them being more goofy and comic relief in some optional sidequests and then their movie adaptation. But hojo was always being all "lol my boss's plan is so stupid amirite" and had that very memorable scene where he's just sunbathing and tells you everything you need to know to get to the next thing to ruin his boss's plan cos i mean fuck it who even cares im just here to soak up some sun while fully dressed in a turtleneck and labcoat. It sucked so much that he was such a reprehensible bastard with creepy sexual assault vibes and murder and child abuse and experimenting on people and basically just NOT A LOVEABLE VILLAIN but his CONCEPT held so much potential to be filled by a sympathetic character instead...

So yeah then cos of him i kept being obsessed with finding SOME CHARACTER SOMEWHERE that actually lived up tp that potential, and thats why i was instantly interested in charon from pokemon and totally on edge waiting for the slightest chance for him to become That Perfect Sass Gramps Of Legend. And then he was indeed sassy!! And had so little screenyime that there was potential for interpretation of him as potentially redeemable cos i mean the game never said he wasnt, the game barely said anything about him at all, lol. And he was so old and small and frail looking and i just wanted to protect him!! And then that one wifi event that actually hinted at synpatheticness!! Aaaa its a recipe for a Forever Fave~

And i guess maybe it all started with my grandma being awesome and me really missing her? Cos i had shitty abusive parents and she was my ONLY good family member who showed me what love was like. And she was also basically a supervillain. Like every damn supervillain trait except being evil! She was bombastic and confident and sassy and mischievious and loud and passionate about stuff and always had something funny to say and never gave up no matter how many times she failed. And she also used all that great power for the forces of good!

So yeh thats why i love sassy good guys and i hate that often even when a sassy villain gets redeemed they seem to lose all their edge and become more generic now theyre a good guy. Or they get totally sidelined with no screentime anymore, or they ONLY get to be comic relief and dont get the full and complex redemption they deserve. Or just a lot of bads!! Its never the simplest answer of just fuckin.. Keep the character the character. Thats kinda why i didnt feel too much for the maleficent movie even though the concept itself sounded like everything i ever wanted. The character in that movie is a very different person to origibal maleficent, she's more just a stoic tsundere mumsy figure than a hammy badass iconicness. Still a nice villain redemption but it felt like it would have been better as an original story instead of an attempted maleficent. Also i wish they handled it better with the whole "true love's kiss could be from your mum instead" thing cos i get sooooo grossed out whenever i see people shipping movie maleficent and aurora! Like yes sleeping beauty with lesbians would be great but not when one of them is old enough to be her mum and raised her like a mum and changed her goddamn diapers! Also why did they have to ruin the three good fairies just to make maleficent have the mum opportunity? Like just remove them from the story if you wanted maleficent to raise the kid instead. No need to rewrite them into incompetant assholes when they were everyone's fave part of the original! Dont sacrifice the rare and elusive Good Sassy Gay Aunts!! THEYRE LIKE THE ONLY ONES IN DIDNEY!!! (Incodentally merlin is the equivelant of this to hades as the fairies are to ursula)

Also also villains tend to have ACTUAL FLAWS in stories that have a more boring bland protagonist. I wanna see the story behind charon's neuroses and how he struggles with overcoming his temptation to be bad because of greed but ultimately manages to conquer his own negative side because power of friendship and such. Thats a great character arc that provides so much more than he does as a villain where they just wasted him entirely :(

SO BASICALLY IN SUMMARY

* villains are often more complex and well developed characters with flaws while the same wroter might make shitty heroes due to the illogical fear that nobody would root for them if they werent 100% perfect and successful at everything ever

* villains are also often made as negative stereotypes of minorities and other rarely seen traits, which means its easy to reach out to them and reclaim them as a more positive version when theres literally no other options for you to cling to

* the quite common accidental sympathy factor where a villain will seem to be hated more than they deserve for their actions, ir unjustly punished so much that they feel like an underdog, since the writer assumes you'll think theyre "more evil" for being a stereotype and if you dont agree that this thing is bad then it seems like they have way less sins than the story claims they do

* also sass. Sass is good.

But basically the whole root of it is that its stupid and cruel and doesnt goddamn work when you make villains bigoted stereotypes. It just makes me love them! The only person i hate when i see a stereotypical villain is the writer who thought that was a good idea, lol. Just imagine that meme of the samurai holding the cat but its me holding all disney villains!

Also even if a villain isnt outright intentionally meant to be "this minority is bad", it can still make me symoathetic to them if theyre still something thats rare amoung the hero side in the same series. Like charon being the "most unredeemable" villain despite being the most harmless and funny and his plan being so much less world destroying than cyrus, and also he's the only grandpa villain in like.. The whole of all. And he's drawn very much in that way thays supposed to be "ugly" i.e normal grandpa, vs that weird sort of younger than he looks grandpa that hero ones tend to be because blablabla beauty ewuals goodness anti body positivity whatever. Tho actually sinnoh was good with that, they had the best grandpa professor in my opinion cos he got to be sassy too! Rowan always reminds me of auron from ff10. Sinnoh was a good game where i liked a lot of both the heroes and villains even if i still had more villain faves cos i mean pokemon is always biased towards that for me since every game has a voiceless perosnalityless main character and often theyre the one doing most of the heroing with the supporting hero characters having surprisingly little proper screen time. Thats a big part of why i loved hau gladion and lillie in sun and moon! They felt more like a real friend group than any other ones before.

ANYWAY now im just going offtopic into more "i love lots of stuff about every pokemon game" so ill stop typing now

But just basically VILLAINS ARE GOOD COS THEYRE GOOD CHARACTERS and if those stories gavethe same character a good guy role then id still love them just as much, if not more. I dont specifically like villainy, its just that my definition of a good character is often considered a bad character by lazy writers, apparantly?

Also WHERE IS MY SUPPORTIVE GOOD GRAMPS CHARON GAME AND GAY AUNTIE URSULA GIVES YOU FASHION TIPS SMARTPHONE MMO

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