#and we realized in two out of the three games she's played dante really does fucking cry

[b4kuch1n]

for no reason at all: champion chugger dante reminds you to hydrate, the graphic

#devil may cry #dmc dante #fkdjshf the backstory of this is like. literally nothing #it was like. mim has been playing dmc as previously stated #and we realized in two out of the three games she's played dante really does fucking cry #so I was like. damn this man must be dehydrated all the time #and then a few days later. here we are. in the champion chugger dante timeline #last week was super hectic so. I gave myself this I guess #these are available on redbubble as prints and such if you want to hang em on wall #so dante can remind you to drink water #but also I feel like printing these out in low res on a4 paper and put them on the fridge is the only correct aesthetics #also may I just say I love the funky look of dmc3 but #why do none of the renders have the same details....... #AND his figure also looks?? different????? #dante is created specifically to attack and defeat cosplayers #anyways. freeware for yall go hogwild just dont crop out my signature lol #have a good night guys! yet another busy week ahead #but we do what we must. and we drink water.

[n0-eyedtaissa]

Five Long Days (Serpent Siblings!AU)

A/N: In follow up to Christmas Kids, the day after the Southside kids have themselves a Christmas party, Ruthie and Romeo wake up before anyone else and need a caffeine fix in order to quell the hangover. They share more than just breakfast and coffee, and are both counting down the days until New Years. (featuring literally all of @hughstheforcelou​‘s OCs)

Word Count: 3,028

The day after Christmas was a testament to how fast everything had the ability to change. None of the radio stations in town played any more Christmas music. All of the storefronts were abandoning their themed displays and the flashy, holiday tackiness. All across town families were discarding crumpled wrapping paper and big cardboard boxes that shiny new toys came in, beginning to repack decorations back into the plastic storage tubs to be pushed away into the rafters for the next eleven months. It was as if when the clock struck midnight on December 25, the fog was lifted and the harsh reality of the real world sank back in unclouded. Usually, the day after Christmas felt disappointing, a let-down after all of the build-up from the weeks before. This morning, though, was quite the opposite of disappointing.

Romeo Fogarty wakes up with a sharp pain emanating in his temples and when he squints his eyes open, it takes him a minute to realize where he’s at. The pillow that his head is pressed into smells clean, like cheap laundry detergent and lavender scented shampoo. The blankets are warm but not scratchy and old-feeling like the one’s in Abuela’s guest room. The curtains over the window are gauzy and paper thin, doing little to stop the bright morning sun from streaming inside. He tries his best to blink away the sleep and rub away the sandpaper feeling from his lukewarm eyes. His joints ache from being bent at odd angles to compensate for his height and his awkward frame against Ruthie’s, trying to keep as respectable of a distance as one could manage with the two of them tangled in her full size bed. They didn’t kiss last night or even touch, but it was something different. It would always be something different between the two of them. Romeo closes his eyes and wills himself to go back to sleep just a little bit longer to savor the moment, but like most things, sleep never comes easy when forced. He tries not to move too much and wake Ruthie up, rolling onto his back carefully and continuing his survey of the surroundings because Romeo realizes he’s never been inside her room. In the year and a half that he’d known Ruthie, he’d only known her bedroom as the second door on the right, a frame that she ducked through here and there to grab extra blankets or her glass pipe. Ruthie’s room is simple and it looks like it hasn’t really been redecorated since she was a kid. Romeo liked it, though. Thought it felt right for her. The comforter on the bed was purple and printed with flowers and there were more than enough pillows for the two of them. There’s a white wicker dresser that’s covered in what Romeo would call “typical girl stuff”: strewn clothes, Ruthie’s favorite pair of heart-shaped sunglasses, bright-colored bottles of lotions and sprays and polishes. There’s a bookshelf piled high with books and mix cds stacked in their colorful jewel cases — probably all of the ones she made for Spyder — Romeo thought, even though he didn’t like that he did. 

Romeo slept in his jeans last night, not wanting to do anything to make Ruthie uncomfortable. His belt buckle has been digging into his skin for hours now and Romeo finally decided to do something about it, holding his breath and doing a barrel roll out of Ruthie’s bed, pulling the purple blanket closer around her shoulders. Romeo stands in the middle of the room for a moment, taking it all in, not knowing the next time Ruthie would open her doors to him. There’s a long piece of string tacked to the wall with pictures clothes pinned to it, Romeo steps closer and investigates, rubbing his eyes: There’s  picture of young Ruthie and who Romeo could only assume was her dad, sitting in one of the booths at Pop’s, blowing out candles on a birthday cake. There’s a handful of pictures of Ruthie and Sweet Pea, a picture of Ruthie and little Queenie showing off their orange-peel smiles on the sidelines of a junior league soccer game. Romeo likes one picture specifically. He doesn’t know who was the one to take it because Ruthie, Dante, Spyder, and CD are all in the picture…a rare and momentous occasion. Ruthie’s head is tilted back and she’s laughing, her eyes crinkled like Dante had just told one of his shitty jokes. In the picture Ruthie looked carefree, comfortable, and unworried. Romeo wondered about the last time she smiled like that. Stopping in front of the bedroom door, Romeo takes a look at Ruthie who’s fast asleep, her hair covering her face and her mouth open only a little, and he feels a sort of deep tug in his chest but pushes it away as he turns the doorknob quietly, leaving her to sleep. 

“Bro! Oh no you fuckin’ didn’t!” CD whisper-shouts from his spot on the ratty green couch as he watches Romeo make his way up the hall. Romeo puts is finger to his lips to signal to be quiet but it’s no use because soon CD was rolling out question after question. 

“You dirty dog!” CD whisper-shouts again, smacking at one of the deflated couch cushions with an excited palm. “Man I’d like to be a fly on that wall!” 

Romeo rolls his eyes, “Watch your mouth, nothing even happened, fool!” He smacks CD’s leg as he sits down on the carpet with his back resting against the couch. There’s a baggie of weed on the table, leftover from their little event the night before, so Romeo starts breaking it up with his fingers so he can roll a joint. 

“They always say nothing happened when something actually happened” CD wriggles his eyebrows suggestively but Romeo is adamant. 

“Nothing happened, dude, be respectful” 

“Man she likes you, you know that right?” 

Romeo raises an eyebrow. “How do you know that, she say something?” He tries not to sound as eager as he feels but it’s obvious, especially to CD. 

“She ain’t gotta say shit, you can see it on her face, man” CD explains “I’ve known that girl for years and she doesn’t act like that with just anyone.” 

Romeo wants to ask like what, not being able to see these things since he hadn’t been around long enough, but instead he asks again, “How do you know?” 

“I’ve tried that door like a million times, man, that shit’s been locked…”

“Will the two of you shut the fuck up!” Spyder squints one of his eyes open and chucks a rolled-up sock at CD’s head before closing his eyes again, his hands folded over his chest as he laid back in the reclining chair. 

Romeo chuckles softly and goes back to rollin up his morning joint. The clock on the wall tells him that it’s finally nine o’clock and his stomach rumbles as if on command, he was in dire need of some breakfast and his morning coffee. Spyder falls back to sleep and so does CD, Dante’s such a deep sleeper that a hurricane couldn’t wake him up so he didn’t even budge to begin with. Soon the living room is quiet again, the only noises being the idle sounds of steady breathing and the occasional car horn or bird sound from outside. Time seems to move slower that morning, as though time stopped after Christmas and the five of them had yet to catch up. Romeo doesn’t know how long he was sitting on the floor in front of the couch, could’ve been twenty minutes but it could’ve been an hour. Yet still, sometime after he hears the doorknob turn. 

Ruthie is still wearing her tights and her socks from last night, though she elected to trade her hand-sewn party dress for something more comfortable. Her big sweatshirt dwarves her frame and Romeo can’t help but think she looks cute with that sleepy look in her eyes. “Morning” she mumbles, like she was surprised that Romeo was awake. 

“Morning, Shorty” Romeo smiles and tucks his tightly rolled joint behind his ear for later.  “Sleep okay?” Ruthie nods noncommittally and looks around the living room to survey for any open spots she could sit in. Spyder was snoring in the recliner, Dante was sprawled out on the love seat with his long legs bent over the side, and CD was taking up all of the space on the big couch. 

Romeo gets up quickly, “You hungry? Angel’s definitely at the coffee shop by now, lemme buy you breakfast.” It wasn’t really a question — he wasn’t going to take no for an answer even though he knew that Ruthie was more than capable of paying for herself. It wasn’t that he was trying to buy her affections, Romeo simply wanted to spend more time with her that wasn’t clouded by knowing glances and the immature comments from his cousin and their friends.

Ruthie is quiet for a second, half drowsy and contemplating. She looks down at her sock covered feet and then back up at Romeo, “What about these guys, though?”

Romeo kisses his teeth and waves a noncommittal hand, “These fools sleep like they’re dead, I guarantee you we could leave and come back and they’d all still be out cold.” Ruthie cracks a sleepy smile because she knew Romeo was right. “Go grab a jacket, Ruth, it’s cold out…” 

Ruthie and Romeo bundle up in their puffy winter jackets soon Ruthie is pulling the front door closed quietly behind them, trying not to disturb the three boys still sleeping inside. The two of them make their way down the front steps of the house and hold onto each other as they try not to slip on the icy gravel in the driveway. It feels eerily silent outside and the cold only made it more apparent. That false sense of warmth that the holidays can bring on was starting to fade, and by the stroke on midnight on New Year’s Eve, anything left of that so-called holiday magic would be gone without a trace. The December air is the kind of cold that stings their noses as they inhale and Ruthie finds herself taking the corner of her sweatshirt sleeve to dab at the corner of her watery eyes. Neither one of them say a word until they’re outside the confines of Sunnyside Trailer Park, as if everyone in the neighborhood had their ears pressed to the doors waiting to hear their secrets. 

“Remember that thing I said yesterday, Shorty?” Romeo pipes up, slowing his pace in order to compensate for Ruthie’s shorter legs. 

“Which part?” Sure a lot of word were exchanged between Ruthie and Romeo yesterday at the Christmas party, but even more was left unsaid.

“About, you know…” Romeo feels his face heat up as he finds himself shying away from an honest declaration of his feelings. It felt more real today, like it held more weight. Last night things felt easy because it was Christmas and they were carefree and happy and under the influence of more than just the Christmas spirit. Romeo sighs and decides to spit it out: “About me thinking you’re pretty and like…wanting to do something about that.”

Ruthie stops in her tracks, smirking at she shields her eyes in order to look up at him. “And what do you think you’re gonna do about that, Fogarty?” Ruthie hopes that she sounds flirtatious but she thinks it might’ve actually come across as mean. 

He smiles down at her and thinks for a second. “I don’t really know yet, Shorty but I think I’ma start with this” Romeo reaches for her hand and interlocks his fingers with her own. Ruthie squeezes his hand and they keep walking. “That okay?” 

“Definitely okay”

They hold hands for the entire rest of the walk to the coffee shop although neither one of them were talking all that much. Silence was comfortable between Ruthie and Romeo, they didn’t feel the need to fill the empty spaces in conversations only for the sake of talking. It sounded cheesy to admit, but it felt like the two of them were on the same wavelength; always somehow able to understand one another without having to say anything. Romeo opens the door for Ruthie like always but this time it feels different. Both of them are painfully aware of the fact that Angel Abrejo is staring at their entwined hands from under the dorky visor he had to wear while he was working.

“Looks like the Christmas party was pretty exciting?” Angel raises his eyebrow and Romeo’s neck gets hot. 

“You could say that” Ruthie laughs and squints at the menu above his head. She didn’t need to look at the menu, she’d been a consistent enough presence at the coffee shop that she already had her usual…she just didn’t want to meet Angel’s gaze right now. Angel had been finding reasons to push the two of them together since they met and neither one of them wanted to give him the satisfaction of an I told you so.

“All right man, lemme get a large black coffee and a slice of that banana bread…and I assume Shorty over here wants her usual?” Romeo smirks down at Ruthie, his thumb brushing over the back of her hand. 

Ruthie gives an emphatic nod yes and Angel looks at both of them like he’s on the verge of throwing up. Romeo takes his coffee with no milk but lots of sugar and Ruthie crinkles her nose in distaste as he pours another sugar packet in his ceramic mug. He laughs at her and steals a bite from one half of her chocolate chip bagel. The two of them finish their breakfast and leave the coffee shop feeling more energized and much less hungover. Both Ruthie and Romeo were unofficial caffeine addicts who weren’t afraid to admit it — that was another thing they had in common. 

They don’t say it out loud but they both start heading the long way home. Romeo remembers the joint he has tucked behind his ear and retrieves it and his lighter, sparking it up and handing it to Ruthie who politely declines. 

“Sometimes, when I get too high I think people can’t hear me so I start talking really loud…” She shrugs, somewhat sheepish. 

Romeo laughs loudly, puffing away, “Believe me Ruth, I’ve realized.” Ruthie shoves him playfully and Romeo runs a few steps away from her, whooping as he bobs and weaves out of her arms reach. 

Ruthie runs after him, giggling, and suddenly it’s a full blown race: Romeo’s holding onto his belt as he runs, his puffy jacket billowing out behind him as he tried to catch up to Ruthie a few paces ahead of him. She may be skinny but she’s fast, her freshman year of high school Ruthie was almost a star of the girls track team before it lost its funding. Shortly thereafter she decided to dedicate more of her time to smoking cigarettes and consuming her weight in french fries from Pop’s. Ruthie might have been out of running shape but she wasn’t going to lose to Romeo. Her lungs are burning because of the cold air and she can feel her breakfast churning in her stomach but she looks over her shoulder and keeps running all the way to the street corner Ignacio’s bodega was on, smiling the entire time.

“Jesus—“ Romeo leans over and puts his hands on his knees as he regulates his breathing, “—why did I do this — I hate running!” He wheezes and Ruthie laughs, pushing her windswept hair out of her face. 

“It’s not your fault, the oxygen is much thinner up there” She winks, joking about his height. Ruthie’s about a head shorter than Romeo but she’s all long, skinny legs. 

“Yeah, maybe that’s it” 

They sit on the front steps of Ignacio’s and catch their breath, taking a moment to sit and pet the bodega cats. Ruthie gives them scratches behind their ears and Romeo tries his best not to sneeze. Ruthie holds Romeo’s hand hight as she pulls him up from the stairs now that he’s caught his breath and they continue their way home, wondering how much damage they would be met with having left Dante, CD, and Spyder unsupervised for a handful of hours. 

The two of them stop short in front of the Sunnyside Trailer Park sign and Ruthie looks over at Romeo, confused. 

“You know I wanna kiss you, right Shorty?” Romeo sighs. He’s nervous for lots of reasons. One being that he’s never kissed a girl before and he doesn’t wanna fuck it up somehow, the other being that he was nervous about overstepping Ruthie’s boundaries or taking her too far out of her comfort zone. Hell, it had taken them a year and a half to even hold hands, how long would it take for something like that to happen if both of them were too scared to be honest and make a move. 

“Really?” Ruthie was just as nervous as he was. 

“Yeah…is that okay?” Romeo asks and Ruthie nods in response, taking his hand. Definitely okay. “I know you don’t like surprises so I wanted to tell you and all.”

Ruthie quirks up an eyebrow at him. “Okay…so are you gonna do it?”

Romeo’s face heats up. “Well, uh, not now, no—” he sputters, feeling thrown off guard. “cause I just told you it was gonna happen and like, I dunno. Gotta let the tension build…”

“Oh-kay” Ruthie says with bemusement, pulling Romeo into the grid-work labyrinth of trailers and motorhomes. 

“I’m gonna kiss you on New Years, Shorty, just you wait” Romeo smiles at her, pulling her closer to him and slinging his arm around her shoulder. 

“That’s a whole five days away!” She protests.

“Tension, Shorty. Gotta build some tension!” Both of them would find those five days to be the longest ever. 

#oc: ruthie soh peterson #lou's oc: romeo fogarty #lou's oc: dante fogarty #lou's oc: cd rhodes #lou's oc: spyder de la cruz #lou's oc: angel abrejo #ruthie x romeo #ocappreciation #little brother! sweet pea

[sethrine-writes]

Devil-sitter May Cry, Ch. 3

Pairing: Dante x F!Reader, Vergil x F!Reader (Undecided)

Words:  2150

Warning:  Cuteness, Defensive/protective Nero

Story Summary: Low on cash and desperate for a job, you reply to a flyer for a babysitting position. Little did you know that the opportunity to watch over two special boys would bring your life so much mayhem and adventure…and, perhaps, a chance at a family of your own.

A/N: First day on the job! How does the morning go down? Guess you gotta read to find out...!

------

Chapter 3 - Early Morning Start

Waking up at 5:30 a.m. had never brought upon such relief and excitement as it did that particular morning.

The brothers of Devil May Cry had asked you to be at the shop by around seven, and given your one-hour commute, the early morning wake-up was a necessary evil you would gladly deal with.

A hasty breakfast of toast and the last few dredges of orange juice in your fridge were downed quickly as you rushed to get ready for the day ahead. You flung your bag over your shoulder, ensuring for the third time since waking that your bus pass was in the front pocket, and practically ran out the door and out of the complex to the bus stop just down the block.

Devil May Cry was on the other side of Red Grave City, and you happened to live near the outskirts of the bordering town. Luckily, the bus route had a drop off close to the shop, barely a five minute walking distance that gave you time to, once again, calm the nervous energy that had been building during your ride.

First day jitters were always the worst, but having met the boys beforehand gave your mind a sense of ease you were glad to have.

You approached the shop with time to spare, enough to ask any last-minute questions you had about caring for the boys. Just as you made to open the door, it swung out, revealing a grinning Dante on the other side.

"Ah, right on time," he mused, and you barely had a moment to wonder how he knew you were right there in the first place before you were being ushered inside.

"We got an easy job lined up for today," he began straight away, "so we should be back before dinner time, if everything goes smoothly. If not, then the boys will be sure to hound you for something decent to eat, so anything in the fridge is fair game."

You nodded along as Dante gave you the general run-down of how the day usually progressed, as well as giving you some tips for general things that would come in handy for caring for the boys. He even ensured you knew the basics of answering the phone, just in case a call came in.

"I think Vergil wrote some other things down," Dante mused after a moment, shifting some papers around on the much neater-looking desk with a bit of confusion.

"On your left," Vergil spoke up suddenly, nearly causing you to jump out of your skin with how close he was. Where did he even come from?!

"You're really good at that sneaking thing," you said aloud, flustered from having been surprised.

"So I've been told," he all but deadpanned as he moved to the opposite side of the desk and plucked a small notebook from under a few sealed envelopes.

"I've not written much," he said, "only the most important details. See to it that V's schedule is kept to."

Vergil held the small notebook out to you, of which you took immediately from his grasp. You thanked him sincerely, of which earned you a small nod from the intimidating man.

"I think you've got it from here," Dante grunted as he hefted what looked like a massive sword over his shoulder with ease, one you hadn't realized had been leaning against the desk this whole time. You were sure your eyes were as big as saucers at seeing such a display, forgetting momentarily that you had been hired by demon hunters to watch over their sons.

"Y-yeah, of course," you assured, rattling off the few things that deemed to be highlighted. "Uh, Nero is high-energy, so keep him snacked up and occupied; inhaler for V is in the second desk drawer; outside play after lunch; no naps after three, or bedtime will be hell. And keep to V's schedule, got it."

"She may survive us, yet," Dante chuckled as he glanced over to Vergil, who answered with a quirk of a smile.

You only had that moment to really study the twins and their attire, how they both wore full length coats made of well-worn leather, hands braced with fingerless gloves. Instead of a massive sword like Dante's, Vergil held a sleek katana within his grasp, elegant in its design, from what you were able to see of it.

They were so very different.

"Nero and V are awake," Vergil informed as he and Dante moved toward the front doors. "They will be ready for breakfast."

"I'll get to it, then," you assured, watching the twins head out. As a final thought, you couldn't help but wish them luck on their hunt.

"Be careful out there!"

They both turned to fix you with oddly amused looks, Dante giving a playful scoff as Vergil simply continued out the door.

"Don't miss us too much, babe," Dante parted with a wink, and just like that, you were left alone in the main room of Devil May Cry, both a business and home to two demon hunters and their young sons, of whom you would be watching over for the foreseeable future.

What a world you lived in.

You glanced down at the small notebook in your hand, flipping it open to find Vergil's neat penmanship inside. True to his word, there were bullets of immediate information, such as specific times V usually did specific things. Medicine and stretches after breakfast, usually a small nap after outside play, and more stretches right before dinner.

Bedtime routine wouldn't be necessary for your first day on the job, but it was nice that Vergil had the forethought to jot everything down for when you would inevitably need it. You'd been told they had hectic schedules and often responded to calls as they came in, so there were certain to be days you would be on night watch, as well.

Closing the notebook, you placed it within your bag for safekeeping, hefting the tote off your shoulder and leaving it in the chair behind the desk for the time being.

The kitchen entrance was just to the left side of the desk, obscured somewhat by a slight wall partition. You made your way into the area, finding the kitchen and dining area modest in size and pretty well kept. The counters and stove top were clean, as was the table, yet there were some dishes left in one side of the double sinks from what looked like their dinner the night previous.

Well, they were busy, single dads who ran a business together - what did you honestly expect?

Already set on the task at hand, you began shifting the dishes about as you filled the opposite side with warm, soapy water. You'd be dirtying some, anyways, so there wasn't really any reason to leave soiled plates and pans and cutlery lying about if you were already going to wash what you used.

It was as you were sliding the dirty dishes into their makeshift bubble bath to soak that you heard movement from behind, a yawn and the soft little thumps of feet hitting hardwood.

You turned, smiling sweetly at finding Nero and V standing just outside the kitchen, groggy-eyed and still sporting their pajamas.

"Good morning, you two," you greeted warmly, shifting into babysitter mode, or as your best friend liked to call it, your "mother hen" mode.

"Morning," Nero replied, followed by a grumbled, sleepy version of V's own greeting as he yawned and rubbed at his eyes sleepily.

It seemed he was a bit more on the sluggish side, but Nero took it in stride and carefully led V by the hand toward the table, ensuring his cousin had made it into the chair before taking up the one right beside him.

Frankly, it was an incredibly cute display, one you had a feeling you would be seeing quite a lot of in the future.

"Anything in particular you boys want for breakfast?" you asked as you opened the fridge, finding a decent variety of foods for both meals and snacks. "I was thinking maybe omelets-"

"Oh, spinach and cheese and bacon!" Nero shouted out excitedly, hands fisted against the table in an eager display. "V likes ham and cheese in his."

"Yeah? Well, I think I can manage that just fine. How about some juice?"

"Orange juice!"

"Apple, please."

You grabbed the two containers and set them on the counter, rummaging through the upper cabinets until you came across the cups. You poured each juice a little over halfway to avoid any major spills and handed them over, orange for Nero, and apple for V.

They both thanked you and smiled big, Nero almost immediately downing half his cup's worth while V sipped at his as he slowly continued to blink away the lingering sleepiness he held.

Satisfied that the boys were placated for the moment, you went about starting breakfast, gathering all the ingredients and rummaging around to find the utensils necessary to cook with. Lucky for you, it wasn't too hard to find what you needed, and within minutes, the kitchen was smelling of fried bacon and ham pieces.

As you cooked, you could hear Nero talking animatedly to V about the dream he had last night, going into vivid detail about the monsters he fought on a far-off planet.

It still amazed you just how vibrant a child Nero was, especially after seeing his bashful demeanor upon your first meeting. It really did seem like he was just wary of new people, not necessarily shy, just guarded. Once he'd gotten a chance to be around you, it had been such a jarring change into seeing his true personality, and it was largely thanks to V's eagerness to include Nero in what he had been doing.

You continued to muse on your thoughts while cooking, plating up the omelets as they finished. You then made your way back to the table and placed their respective meals in front of them, once again heralding thanks and sweet grins as both of them dug in.

Satisfied, you went back to the double sinks, going about washing the dishes that had been soaking. Luckily, there weren't too many, and the stuck-on bits were washing away with relative ease.

"Aren't you going to eat, too?" V asked suddenly.

"I already had breakfast before I got here," you assured, turning to see that Nero had nearly devoured his omelet, already over halfway finished with his meal.

You were suddenly glad you had made his out of two eggs instead of just one.

V stared at you for a long moment as if contemplating something, but eventually tucked back into his food with a little smile. You paused to refill their cups with juice and handed over napkins for messy mouths, moving back to finish off the previous night's dishes and beginning on the ones you had just sullied..

When you turned back to see if V had finally finished so that you could gather their plates, you were met with Nero eating half an omelet, and V missing his plate.

"Whoa, hey!" you startled, catching the boys' abrupt attention. "Nero, isn't that V's?"

Nero's baby blues narrowed immediately in a defensive way, but V was quick to cut in.

"I was finished! I got full," he said, though you were momentarily doubtful.

"You sure? You didn't eat very much," you gently questioned.

"I don't really eat like Nero does," he supplied with a little smile. "Uncle Dante says he's got lots of energy that needs lots of fuel, but I don't have that."

"And that's okay," Nero defended rather vehemently, "because you can still do lots of things, and I can help finish them. Like breakfast. And races in the park."

"Alright, alright, I understand," you appeased, though it was something that was still cause for some concern. "I'm not angry. I'm still learning how you guys do things, so be patient with me, and I'll keep a willing and open mind, okay? If there's something I need to know, don't hesitate to tell me."

V nodded as Nero gave a somewhat affirmative hum, though he still seemed a bit defensive, perhaps still thinking he was getting in trouble. Whatever the case, you cleared the table once he finished off the rest of V's omelet, leaving behind their juice cups, and made back to the soapy water.

"Why don't you two go get dressed for the day, and we can do V's morning stretches before finding something fun to play. Sound good?"

Both V and Nero seemed on board with the plan, both scooting out of their seats with more vigor than they came into the kitchen with, finally up and at 'em and ready for the day.

Something told you that you had your work cut out for you.

#dmc #devil may cry #dmc dante #dmc vergil #dmc nero #dmc v #dmc au #kid nero #kid v #babysitter au #reader #reader-insert #female reader

[buffyversefanfiction]

The Haunting of Buffy Summers

PART ONE HERE

Warning: I do not own the rights to the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, its spin-off series Angel, its dark horse comics continuation series, or any of the characters created by Joss Whedon and others in the Buffyverse. 15 years +, Mild to Strong Violence, Sexual References. F/F, F/M, M/M, Other +

PART TWO

Buffy Summers could not believe her eyes, sure she had a hunch her recent haunting may have had something to do with her recently deceased son but for him to actually be standing in front of her in the astral plane as she stood next to a sleeping version of her was super strange even for a vampire slayer. “I knew it was you!” Buffy said proudly, only to be met by Tristan rolling his eyes in frustration “Yeah good on you mum can we get to the whole shadow demon business now?” Tristan replied, attempting to make his mother see the urgency of their situation but all she could hear was him calling her mum once more. “You just called me mum…twice!” Buffy responded with a giddy smile, beyond happy to see her son once again. “You’re here and you’re calling me mum.” “Damn it!” Tristan snapped, as he looked over at the bed to see that Buffy’s sleeping body had suddenly disappeared as if it was never there. “It’s taken you!” “Wait, what?” Buffy asked as she turned to the side to see her sleeping self was no longer on her bed. “Okay…I’m guessing that is not a good sign.” “Nope,” Tristan sighed. “For this plane the shadow demon is basically a god it’s like the astral plane is his kingdom and he’s just taken your body which means if we do not find it really soon your going to be as stuck here as me!” “Okay I get it big bad spells big trouble…can we just get back to you calling me mum for a second and then I’ll turn on slayer mode?” Buffy responded, not ignoring the danger she faced but just so happy to see her son to fully care.

Tristan Summers had been in the astral plane for what felt like forever to him forced to see the world go on without him and unable to interact with others, well at least that is how it began for him until one day he found himself reunited with a vampire he’d never thought he’d see again, his ex-love Dante. Tristan could not believe it when he was reunited with the love of his life in this twisted afterlife called the astral plane and before long he began to realize they were not alone, there were many lost souls within the astral plane mostly used as food for the shadow demon but a few who managed to stay alive in this limbo like world. As time passed he learned that the astral plane was neither heaven or hell but some kind of in between with no possibility of going to either, forced to live in the shadow demon’s domain, one that had been his domain for eons, a home which would soon be no more now that the shadow demon was free to roam the living realm. The astral plane was a miserable existence for most spirits but not for Tristan as he watched life go on without him he did not become bitter like the others, instead he learned how beautiful life was now that he was no longer living it and how much people he never fully opened up to loved him despite his many twisted actions. Tristan did need Buffy over here to help him but not hoping to escape this realm he had come to oddly love but to help him, help her as the shadow demon grew stronger and stronger preparing for his war against the slayers. “So, are you two like back together now or what? Because I am not sure how I feel about my son dating a vampire.” Buffy wondered as she, Dante and Tristan walked the empty streets of San Francisco. “He is not a vampire anymore nor am I, not sure what we are here.” Tristan explained as the three of them continued walking. “Also, you dated two vampires.” “Yeah but they both have souls and…” Buffy began to reply to her son before turning her attention to Dante. “Are you still evil if you are not a vampire?” “I still remember vampire me; I sometimes still feel like vampire me but no I am not vampire me…anymore! I think I’m human or at least a human spirit.” Dante answered his boyfriend’s mother. “Although I’m nowhere near as powerful a ghost as your son!” “Is this about the haunting again? It’s Halloween any ghost could have pulled something like that.” Tristan told Dante, playing down his boyfriend’s claims. “I’m not just talking about that I am talking about how you’re the only spirit the shadow demon leaves alone in this realm not to mention how much safer I’ve been since you got here.” Dante argued. “And yet it still remains here despite no longer being trapped.” “That is because It needs to power up before taking on well…you!” Tristan revealed to Buffy as the three of them continued to walk. “The demon cannot be touched like the first, but it can touch it is like it has control over when it is just a shadow and when it is something more.” “If I cannot touch the thing yet it can strike me why the hell has it not just took me out? Why does it need to get stronger?�� Buffy wondered. “Clearly it needs to level up for some reason.” Dante answered the blonde-haired slayer. “Which is why I needed you here to help me stop it before it gets whatever it wants,” Tristan told his mother, “Of course I had hoped Willow would come with you and do some kind of spell like the one the shadow men did on it originally to trap it once before.” “But now we have to waste what little time remains of your visit to the astral plane to find your body because as always the shadow demon is one step ahead.” Dante continued to reveal to Buffy. “So, I guess this means we find my body and then I await the next apocalypse.” Buffy stated, saddened to know her time with her son was not only limited but was going to be spent ensuring that she would once again leave him. “Hold on a minute,” Tristan said before stopping walking, the other two stopping too, eager to hear his next words. “Do not ask me how but I think I know where to go…” Tristan had no idea why he suddenly knew where to go or how he suddenly knew where to go but he knew for certainty he was not wrong which somehow managed to alarm him more than if he still remained unknowing.

“I do not get it why would I be here?” Buffy asked in shock as she and Tristan stood in front of Tristan’s grave within the astral plane version of a San Francisco cemetery, the two of them looking at an unconscious version of Buffy lying on top of the closed grave. “It is clearly playing games with us, reckons a reminder of what awaits you when you wake up will stop you wanting to wake up it’s rather impressive to be honest it is exactly what I would do if I was fucking with someone.” Tristan answered his mother. “I guess that is how I knew somehow…clearly a part of me rubbed on off it just as much as it changed me!” “I do not want to leave you; I should stay and help you stop whatever it is that the shadow demon is planning.” Buffy told him. “I cannot just leave you here alone to fight the same demon that killed you!” “Firstly I was killed by a goddess not a demon which is a good way to go like being taken out by the best, secondly I am not alone or did you forget the fact I am here with Tristan.” Tristan argued with her, determined to make his mother return to the land of the living. “And you really should not feel bad because I freaking love it here, I get to see the world through a veil, I get to be with the man I love and mostly I get to let go of all the darkness that plagued me my entire life…it is weird to say it but this is kind of my heaven.” “I wish I did better by you, I wish I could have been a better mother.” Buffy admitted to her son, as tears began forming in her eyes. “I should have raised you, protected you from it all and maybe then you would not be happy with being dead.” “I do not blame you for anything, I did for a long time, I despised you and Angel so much despite the many times you guys keep trying to reach me it somehow just managed to make me hate use even more but that part of me is well and truly dead.” Tristan said, comforting his mother with his words. “I can never make up for what I’ve done, nor do I deserve to be at peace or my version of it but I am and I am going to be okay here! You do not need to worry about me anymore.” “I am always going to worry about you.” Buffy cried. “You are my son!” “You know your needed there.” Tristan replied, as he gave his mother a hug. “You are a true hero through and through and I would never forgive myself if I was the reason you stopped being who you are by staying here.” “I should not have to keep choosing the slayer side of me over everything.” Buffy complained as she hugged her son tighter. “But you are right my destiny is far from over…neither is yours!” “I know I have just moved to a different realm instead of a different country.” Tristan joked as the mother and son broke off their hug, preparing to say goodbye to each other. “And hey if you start missing me too much, I’ll rank up the volume on your tv from time to time, who knows I may even try some other stereotypical hauntings.” “You enjoy being a ghost far too much!” Buffy laughed with her son. “Just make sure you give that demon hell…for me.” Tristan told his mother who quickly nodded in agreement with her son. Buffy closed her eyes briefly before reopening them to find herself waking up in her bed back in her apartment to the sound of her door being knocked on before she sat up as Willow opened the door and walked into Buffy’s bedroom. “Well did you get some closure, or did it make everything even worse?” Willow asked, fully fearing the answer. “Actually, it made everything better, minus the fact the shadow demon is planning something pretty big, but we will deal with that when we have to.” Buffy replied as she climbed off her bed and stood up to face Willow. “For now I am just happy my son is happy even if that means he is in some weird after life it is still better than him being miserable and trying to kill us all…I think.” “Well yay to that…I think.” Willow responded. “Just no joining him anytime soon because I need you for the long-haul Buffy and this world will always need you!” “Do not worry Willow I am not going anywhere.” Buffy reassured her best friend. “Well except to go and see my niece hopefully dressed as a vampire and not a pumpkin.” “Ironically, they settled on ghost because no ghost costume has ever backfired!” Willow said with sarcasm, remembering her own ordeal as a ghost. “Are you sure you do not want to stay in as planned?” “No, I think it’s time we celebrate for a change at least until the next tragedy anyway.” Buffy joked with Willow, ready to celebrate Halloween with her nearest and dearest.

Tristan Summers was beyond happy on the astral plane and if it was not for a meddling shadow demon he would consider it his heaven, however he was about to learn that the happy ending he deserved was actually no ending at all but a new beginning. “What are we doing here?” Tristan asked Dante before the two walked into an abandoned warehouse within San Francisco City on the astral plane, as Tristan was left shell shocked to see an unconscious version of his body laid on a wooden table. “Dante, what is going on?” “I was confused too when this woman that claimed to be associated with the powers that be took me here to show me your body,” Dante revealed to his lover. “Then she told me why it was there, what she had done and why she had done it.” “I do not understand…I was staked…my body turned to dust.” Tristan replied, still stunned at the sight of his own body laying on the table. “This should not be possible.” “She said only you could defeat the shadow demon, I do not know if she said that because she seemed to have the hots for Angel or because it really is true but if I have to put a bet on I’d always bet on you!” Dante admitted to him, before revealing some more truths. “You have been here for a while, the shadow demon never took it so I do not think he can…I wanted to tell you straight away but I knew the moment I did I’d lose you!” “You do not have to lose me,” Tristan reassured him. “Just because some higher being wants to give me another shot at life does not mean I want it…I am happy with you! And I am sure Buffy can handle whatever comes her way she always does.” “You are only happy here because you have given up on life, life is hard I get that, but it is so much better than this…” Dante argued with the love of his life. “You are far from done but I am where I belong!” “I do not want to lose you again Dante, I love you, I love you more than I have ever loved anyone!” Tristan declared, his words only making Dante feel more guilty. “I cannot be selfish with my love for you not again…Drusilla told me of you long before we ever met, I believed we belonged together and a part of me still does but I was a monster then.” Dante revealed reluctantly. “Tristan…Drusilla never killed your parents I did!” “No,” Tristan cried, completely in denial. “You are just saying that so I will leave you here!” “I am sorry I really am, all I knew back then was that I needed to have you so I did…I killed your parents to bring you to me and then when Mandi seemed like she would eventually take you from me it was me who got Drusilla to get her hooked on the dark magics.” Dante continued to reveal. “I was so obsessed with the idea of us I’d have stopped at nothing for the two of us but that was never love…not then! But I do love you now, now that I’m not a soulless vampire I really do love you and it is because of that love I have to be honest with you and I need to let you go.” “Oh god, you are not lying!” Tristan realized as tears began falling from his eyes, down his cheeks, as he struggled to come to terms with his lover’s betrayal. “I cannot believe I was such a fool.” “I can never make it up to you for what I have done but I cannot keep you here just to make me happy.” Dante told him as tears formed in his own eyes, as he struggled to look at the man, he loved who now only looked back at him with disgust and heartbreak in his eyes. “Just close your eyes and go back home…”

#Buffy The Vampire Slayer #buffythevampireslayer #btvs #buffy #angeltheseries #angel the series #angel #Bangel #Buffycomics #Buffyverse #buffyfandom #angelfandom #angelthevampire #fanfiction #fanfic #buffyfanfic #angelfanfiction #lgbtfanfiction #gayfanfic #buffysummers #willow rosenberg #cordeliachase #xanderharris #joyceharris #childrenofcharacter #twistedtristan #teamtwisted #tristantormented #tristansummers #halloweenspecial

[hunnywrites]

We Fell In Love In October: Part Three: The End

Summary: Billy and Teddi celebrate Halloween in 1986.

A/N: Happy Halloween everyone! The end of the mini series is here! This was a bit more fluffy than I had intended, but is that really a bad thing? Hope you enjoy!

“Will you quit unbuttoning your shirt?” Teddi asked with a huff. “He doesn’t have it unbuttoned in the movie, Billy.” She reached forward and buttoned up the remaining buttons on Billy’s dark blue plaid shirt. Billy was pouting down at her.

“If I button them all I look like a fucking dork,” He argued. He turned to look at himself in the full length mirror that sat in their bedroom, adjusting his red jacket with a frown. 

Teddi had gone to goodwill once a week for the last two months until she finally found all of the pieces for their costumes. Billy had finally caved and agreed to be Jack and Wendy Torrence from The Shining. Considering the incident with the mindflayer had made Billy go full Overlook, Teddi thought it would be a funny choice (plus, she had actually hit him with a baseball bat). 

Billy and Teddi stood side by side, looking back at their reflections. They looked older, Teddi realized. Like somehow they were peering into their futures. “...We look like we should own a farm.” Billy muttered.

Teddi let out a snort, softly elbowing him in the side. “We’d make pretty hot farmers.” she joked.

“Obviously.” the doorbell rang. Teddi hurried out to the front door, and Billy could hear her greeting all of the trick or treaters and complimenting each of their costumes as she handed out candy. Billy picked up his flask, stashing it in the pocket inside his jacket and heading out to meet her. 

He would have been perfectly happy lounging out on the couch with a stack of horror movies, ordering a pizza and handing out candy. But there was a Halloween festival in town that Teddi had been looking forward to all month. So he agreed to wear the couples costume and pig out on funnel cake and caramel apples. 

Billy didn’t miss the girl with short, golden brown hair dressed as Madonna at the door. He didn’t need to see Teddi’s face to know the girl reminded her of El. The group of kids thanked Teddi and ran off. Teddi shut the door, turning back with a glazed over look in her eyes. She quickly smiled when she saw Billy watching her. 

“You can always call her when you get home, you know.” he said, wrapping an arm around her. 

“I know...maybe. I don’t wanna annoy her,” Billy knew that wasn’t possible. “We should head out before the trick or treaters start to pick up.” she suggested. Maybe it was time for them to take a trip up to visit the Byers. Maybe he could call Joyce and surprise Teddi. Tell her they were going somewhere else entirely. 

The pair headed out to the Camaro and Billy flicked on the radio. He groaned when Teddi’s Halloween mixtape came on, the Monster Mash playing loudly. She giggled beside him, running her fingers through his curls, tucking some behind his ear and laying her head on his shoulder. “It’s one night, Hargrove.” she reminded him. 

The Halloween festival was bigger than Billy had been expecting from a town like Hawkins. It reminded him a little of the boardwalk back in San Diego. The janky rides and colorful food stalls. He was hit with a wave of memories. All the dates he’d taken to the boardwalk to make himself look good. He liked to win whatever girl he was taking out that week lots of those cheap stuffed animals to impress her and help seal the deal when it came to fooling around in the back of the Camaro afterwards. He’d be lying if he said it didn’t make him a little homesick. 

“Billy, look,” Teddi said, excitedly grabbing his hand and squeezing it. She was pointing over at a ride called Dante’s Inferno. It was some tacky dark ride that Billy guessed was supposed to be some sort of torture chamber in hell. It had two levels to it, and a large, red demon that grinned down evilly at anyone approaching the ride. “We totally have to go on that. It’s so lame.” she laughed. 

It was lame. The car was almost too small for the two of them. It had ratty old green seats and grotesque faces carved into the sides of it. Billy guessed it was enough to probably scare some kids, but it all looked almost comical to him. Teddi linked her arm with his tightly as the car took off with a jolt. Billy looked over at her, smiling at the nervous but somehow still excited expression on her face. 

Billy didn’t really understand much of what they saw inside. There was a track of loud, howling wind and evil laughter playing on loop. Every few feet a generic, “scary” animatronic would light up and go off as they passed. Billy reached over and tickled Teddi on the side a few times, timing it with the animatronic to scare her. She fell for it each time, squealing and jumping before slapping his hands away. “You’re such an asshole.” she laughed, trying to squirm away from him. 

They were both laughing as they stumbled away from the ride. Billy slowed to a stop, his eyes narrowing as he looked at the scene in front of him. “...Isn’t that your boss?” he asked, looking over at Teddi. She frowned and looked over. There was Keith standing over by the ticket booth. He was dressed as Jason Voorhees, shifting nervously and looking around as if he were looking for someone. 

“Yeah...huh. I can’t believe he’s he-...oh my god. Is that Cheryl?” she didn’t need to ask. It was definitely Cheryl Burns. She was dressed as the Queen of Hearts. Her strawberry blonde hair was swaying back and forth as she sauntered over to Keith, giving him a seductive smile that Billy was all too familiar with before running her hands up Keith’s chest. 

Billy and Teddi looked over at each other, speechless. “...Am I finally going insane, or does Cheryl Burns have her leg wrapped around Keith and her tongue down his throat?” Teddi asked, blinking wildly.

“Well...to be fair he’s probably the only guy in town that she hasn’t slept with,” he said, attempting to joke. He was way too weirded out to find it funny. “Forget the Mind Flayer, that is the weirdest thing I’m ever gonna see,” he said with a shudder. “...How come you don’t kiss me like that in public?” 

Teddi let out a loud scoff, rolling her eyes and glaring over at Billy. “Why don’t I kiss you like your ex girlfriend?”

“Technically she was never my girl-” Teddi cut him off by putting her hand over his mouth.

“Please don’t finish that sentence.” she groaned.

Billy wrapped his arm around Teddi and pulled her close, burying his face in her neck. “C’mon, Larsson. You’re not allowed to be pissed at me tonight. It’s our anniversary.” he said with a grin.

Teddi raised her eyebrow, trying her best not to smile. “Oh is it?”

“Of course. Two years ago today you fell in love with me at Tina’s Halloween party, remember?” he turned Teddi around to face him, smirking down at her as his hands rested on her lower back. 

Teddi couldn’t fight her smile anymore. She wrapped her arms around Billy’s neck, grinning up at him. “Technically I fell in love with the kissing. It took me a little while to fall in love with the rest of you.” she teased. If you asked Teddi the moment she’d fallen in love with Billy she wouldn’t be able to tell you. It felt like she had woken up one morning and realized she was in love with him. 

“Technicalities,” he scoffed. Billy leaned down to kiss her, his hand weaving its way up through her hair. It was longer than it had been when they met, and it was back to its natural sandy color. Teddi smiled against his lips, pressing herself closer to him.

“Maybe you’re right,” she sighed happily. “God, I hate how charming you can be sometimes.” that was a lie. Teddi linked her fingers with Billy’s pulling him over to the colorful and brightly lit food stalls. The smell of funnel cake batter and powdered sugar was making Teddi’s mouth water. 

“I was thinking...maybe we should go on a road trip,” Billy suggested after they had purchased their dessert. Teddi ripped a chunk of dough that was almost too big for her mouth and ate it. “We’ve been talking about it for awhile.” he reminded her. 

Teddi eyed him carefully while she munched on her funnel cake. “Yeah, but where do you wanna go?”

Billy shrugged, taking a bite for himself. He licked the powdered sugar off his fingers while he thought. “...You let me worry about that part,” he finally said. He’d never been very good at lying to Teddi. The more simple the lie was the better the chance he had at keeping her off his trail. “What do you say, Larsson?”

Teddi didn’t take long to think it over. She didn’t need to. The two of them had been talking about taking a nice, long road trip for over a year. It was long overdue. Time for just the two of them. “Just tell me when,” she said with a shrug and a smile. 

Teddi ended up convincing Billy to go on a few more of the rides. Each one seemed even cheesier than the last. They ate fair food until they nearly got sick, and took turns sneaking drinks from Billy’s flask. Billy won Teddi a small army of those tacky, cheap stuffed animals from the game stalls. On the way back to the car she could barely keep the large pumpkin, dracula, little devil and a genuinely creepy looking teddy bear in her arms. 

“Thanks for going, Billy.” she mumbled sleepily, her head resting on his shoulder. 

“Any time, Weird Girl,” he didn’t think she heard him. Teddi was already asleep, most likely from a sugar crash after all the junk food. Hawkins was pretty quiet. All of the trick or treaters had gone home for the night, and the only people Billy saw out and about where a few costumed adults stumbling out of house parties. 

He pulled into the driveway of their little house, where the pumpkins they had carved were still glowing on the porch and got out of the car. Billy opened Teddi’s door, reaching over her to undo her seatbelt and easily picking her up. All of her prizes fell out of her arms and onto the floor of the Camaro. Except the evil looking teddy bear, Billy noticed with a groan. “C’mon, Larsson. Bed time.” he mumbled, carrying her inside. 

Teddi took a deep breath in as she woke up, squinting as she took in her surroundings. “I gotta make a phone call, okay? You gonna be alright getting yourself in bed?” he asked. She rubbed the backs of her eyes roughly and nodded before he set her down. Billy disappeared into the living room. Teddi was too dazed to hear what he was saying on the phone or wonder who he was talking to. 

She made quick work of changing into her pajamas, leaving her costume in a pile on the floor before crawling back into bed and hugging the bear Billy had won for her close. She was asleep again by the time Billy made his way back into their bedroom. Joyce had picked up on the second ring. Billy could hear Will and El in the background talking animatedly about some movie they were watching. When he told her his plan, Joyce had been all for it. She told him they could stay in Johnathan’s room for as long as they wanted since he was away at school, and she promised to keep it a secret from Teddi. 

If you asked Billy the moment he’d fallen in love with Teddi he wouldn’t be able to tell you. One minute she was driving him up the wall and the next he felt like he’d do anything to keep her happy...she still could drive him up the wall. There wouldn’t be any changing that. 

Billy changed and slid into bed next to Teddi. He grimaced down at the black teddy bear in her arms, with its red eyes and fanged smile, and wrapped his arm around Teddi’s middle. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Happy Halloween, Teddi.”

#billy hargrove #billy hargrove fic #billy hargrove x oc

[arrowdaily]

In “Past Sins”, Curtis, like Lyla, is upset to discover that Diggle has restarted The Ghost Initiative, comprised of Ricardo Diaz, China White (Kelly Hu), Kane Wolfman aka Joe Wilson (Liam Hall), and Cupid/Carrie Cutter (Amy Gumenick). Elsewhere, the past comes back to haunt both Oliver and Laurel, in distinct ways.

Ramsey shared with TVLine a preview of his directorial debut and the storyline twists that come with it. Plus, for how much longer will OTA be MIA?

TVLine: What was the biggest challenge that this script presented you, as a director? David Ramsey: I think the biggest perceived challenge going in was earning the respect of my coworkers. But that ended up not being a challenge at all. I thought it would be, but it really wasn’t.

Oh, they all love you, man. DR: Yeah, and they kept it dialed in. In terms of the script, because this is a continuing arc that Oliver has through the season, the big question was: At what place does this land within that arc? How much do we want to show, how much do we want to reveal, and how much of our hand do we want to play in terms of how this emotional beat connects to the third episode from now?

I brought that up with [showrunner] Beth Schwartz earlier this month: When does this Diggle/Lyla/Diaz thing make better sense as part of the bigger picture? DR: That’s right. And that’s always the challenge, particularly in episodic [TV]. It varies when you’re dealing with a show that goes for thirteen episodes versus one like our own that goes for twenty-two, but that is the big question in prep, when you’re working with your producers and your writers. How much do we want to tell? It translates when you get on set, and you’re having a conversation with Stephen [Amell], and you’re saying, “Maybe you want to pull back a bit here, maybe you want to change this line a bit…” And Stephen, by the way, there’s no one better at it. I was thinking about this earlier, actually. I’ve been working on this show for seven seasons, and it’s obviously a very successful show. But when I step back as a director and really worked the beats, really worked the story, really worked where this [episode] fits within the overall arc of the season, you then realize what an actor like Stephen, or an actor like Grant [Gustin on The Flash], or an actor like Melissa [Benoist on Supergirl] are really doing. They’re playing the long game, but only giving you pieces within each episode of an overall arc. Stephen in particular knows what’s going to happen at the end of the season.

Oh, I’ve said that to everybody, even to [The CW’s President Mark] Pedowitz. Stephen can quote chapter and verse. “In the third act of Season 2, Episode 5, Oliver did this, so…” DR: And what I’m telling you is that is unique in lead actors. Not all lead actors do that. [Chuckles] Not all lead actors have that. This is turning into a Praise Stephen Amell-fest, but there’s a reason why this is a hit show for seven seasons. He’s not telling you what’s going to happen, though he knows.

And that only helps you as a director. DR: It only helps me as a director. Some actors don’t want to know because they can’t do that. But Stephen’s not one of those. He knows how to play now a moment now detached from what he knows happens three episodes from now. It’s a very rare talent in that respect. And as a director, now when I’m giving him a note… First of all, we talk before the camera starts rolling about what the scene is about, so the notes between the scenes now are more like, “Can you start the line earlier?,” or, “Let’s take a bit of heat off that line, because her line now won’t make sense.”

On the flip-side of these more nuanced and quieter scenes, how big do the scenes get in your episode? Any splashy pyrotechnics? DR: This can’t be compared to any of the big, huge crossover shows, and I would say that even compared to other “regular” episodes of Arrow, it’s someplace in the middle. There were no car explosions or flips, but we do have a lot of action with the new Ghost Initiative aka Suicide Squad. And Arrow obviously has a good amount of action, as well. But I would say that this is really a character-driven episode, for Oliver and Laurel. Katie [Cassidy] does a fantastic job. She and Stephen really carry the episode.

I heard we are going to get some Earth-2 backstory on her character. DR: You are, you are. And you get some looks at Arrow’s version of Earth-2. We’ve already seen it on Flash, so you’ll see Arrow’s version.

The fact that the Ghost Initiative exists at all has created a new rift Diggle and Lyla. Will they be able to work past this one? DR: They will. There will be conflict between them because of it. But the Ghost Initiative is, like most mechanisms of our show, serving a bigger story. This isn’t a long-reaching arc. It has been “brought back from the dead” to serve a bigger story. And that bigger story will be Diaz’s connections to a bigger bad guy, Dante. We’ll find out more about him in this episode, and in the upcoming episodes.

Is Diggle going to get a chance to weigh in on Oliver’s fancy new SCPD gig? DR: Oh, he’ll be doing more than just weighing in. [Laughs] The whole police connection to Team Arrow is going to take a very interesting twist. So in answer to your question, yes, but there’s even more to that than you would think.

Lastly, are there any OTA moments to look forward to? DR: There are. You’ll see OTA again. It’s the crux of our show, right, but listen, there are twenty-two episodes, so we have to go away, we have to come back… But yes, the return of OTA is absolutely happening, and it’s going to be fantastic. It won’t happen in my episode, but we will get back together.

I just want you out of those highly unflattering ARGUS coveralls, man. DR: Oh my God… you do? I’ve been begging for it! It will happen.

#david ramsey #cast #s7 #interviews #news

[sephythespooky]

Flower Child

(bringing valentine home from Goggle’s point of view)

Floret bitty from @gaiasteapot​

Twister bitty from @selkiesbittybonanza​

mythbitties from @mythical-adoptions​

Chain lamia bitties from @vex-bittys​

Puppy papri by @nyehtish​

Sunlust lamia by @bitti-tarts

Moonjelly naga bitty from @dumplingsspookysweeties​ (aka me!) )

I liked the idea of being a helper. Not being able to see wasn’t fun, even if I only half know what that’s like. It let me bond a bit with Virgil, that first little while, both of us missing sockets.

But Valentine couldn’t see at all, so I could help them. I kept their bitty carrier secure in my coils all the way home.

“What sort of bitties are at home?” they asked as we got in the car. It took a lot of effort, at least it felt like it from the tone in their voice.

“Well, we have a lot of myth bitties at home, and quite a few snakes if you include Goggles. And then there are the puppies.” Sephy giggled about them. I knew she was in love with the big bones, and it made me happy to think about it. Made me feel more secure that our family wouldn’t fall apart.

“Puppies?” Val seemed to be confused.

“really tall skeletons with some dog features and tendencies,” I explain. the little rose leans against my scales and hums, acknowledging they heard me. “Sweet Bun is the housekeeper in the family. He’s the cook, the cleaner, and very nice. Then we have Goldie, who’s more of a lazybones, but he’s the protector kinda guy. And last is Gracey, who’s the newest pup. He’s shy and quiet, but he’s gentle to us and very enthusiastic about everybody being happy.”

Valentine seemed satisfied for a while, their fingers smoothing my scales with interest. But then they asked, “what about the myth bitties?”

“We have Dante, a Dietyrus who is very energetic but sweet,” Sephy lists off, counting on her fingers as we sit at a red light, “his Harbinger, Virgil, and their little brother, Orpheus, the Faerie. Then we have Adonis and Morpheus. Adonis is an Eastern Red, a dragon-”

“FIRE?!” Valentine yelped and crouched down in their box.

“hey, no, it’s okay,” I tried to purr to calm them. I could feel the little pings of panic from their soul, “donny never blows fire. even when he was super mad at dante once, he never used his fire. and even if he wanted to, he’d have to get through all of me first.” Poor little flower.

Sephy felt bad about it, too, I could see it in her face, “Oh, honey, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. Goggles is right, Donny’s just a lazy noodle, and he’s really sweet, especially to his brothers and mate....”

“Wh-what are they?” the stammer showed they were still scared, but Valentine at least peeked their petals over the edge of my coils again.

“Morpheus is his first brother, and he’s a Lucirazz. Then we have a Dealer, Jubilee. He’s one of the sweeter red suits, a diamond, so he’ll be nice if you ask him to. And Donny’s mate is Amethyst, a Sunlust lamia bitty.”

I purr. Amethyst has been really good for our household. He made Donny happy, he helps me and Gracey and Sephy with our anxiety, and he love love loves the fact that we all like to cuddle...except Virgil, but I’m pretty sure he’s what Sephy calls a ‘tsundere’, like those cute cactus pictures she puts on her phone.

Valentine nods, “Anybody else?”

“Mmhm,” She’s turning into our apartment complex now, “I have a Chain lamia named Georgio, and I just found out yesterday that he and Wagner, his Vampyrus mate, are going to have a clutch of eggs soon.”

A soft gasp made me look down. Valentine looked nervous, “Babies?”

“Yes, babies.” Sephy slowly pulled into our spot at the end of the line. “And last we have Denim. He’s a Moonjelly naga, a classic sans type snake. He likes to boop people on the nose, but we told him to leave you be until you say it’s okay.”

Valentine has popped back up to full height, and I hold them tight while Sephy picks us up from the passenger seat. “Are the babies here yet?”

“not yet, rosey,” I explain. “Georgio and Wagner just barely told Sephy about it, and Georgio’s got his soul bond with Sephy. He’ll be kind of protective for a while until the babies are hatched and kinda big. So there’s no need to fret”

They ease a bit, and nodded again. “Okay. And they know I can’t see?”

“yep,” We’re going up the stairs so Sephy’s concentrating. She’s scared of twisting her ankle again like a few months ago, so I don’t blame her for being quiet. “usually when we take someone in from a center, we’ve all agreed they’d fit in well with us. only gracey and denim were surprise members of the family.”

They seem to relax for the most part, and Sephy gets them out of their carrier and opens the door.

“WELCOME HOME!” Sweet Bun’s voice greets us as always, and I feel Valentine jump at the sudden sound.

“Sweet Bun, remember-”

“Oh!” His voice is much softer now as he comes out of the laundry area and gives Sephy a hug. “Sorry, I forgot for a moment. Hello, little flower friend. It’s nice to meet you.”

Valentine reached out, and Sweet Bun put his finger into their hands. The pups were all at full height now, so he was over half a foot taller than Sephy now. It made me feel good that we had three tall guys here to help if something ever happened to Sephy. I know I couldn’t lift a whole human in my tiny arms.

“I do have to go organize the others, little friend. I’ll be back in a moment.” When he was let go, Sweet Bun zipped from room to room, gathering people as Sephy sat on the sofa after closing the door.

“Okay, Valentine. That was Sweet Bun. Are you okay so far?”

They say slowly, “I think so? It will take a little bit to get used to his big voice, but his small voice is good for now. Does anyone else have a big voice like that?”

“nope.” I don’t think so, anyway. Sweet Bun is the loudest of all of us. “Orpheus, we call him Fi for short, is a little loud and so is Morpheus, but they’re all way softer than Sweet Bun’s normal voice.”

“um?” I look down and Denim is there. He’s quiet, mostly, but he’s talking right now. And he actually wears shirts now. Sometimes.

“Valentine, Denim is here.” Sephy says, and their vines reach out.

“Hi, Denim.” Valentine is happy, so I’m happy.

Denim slithers closer and lets Valentine feel his face, “hi. i won’t boop you. um...what’s your name?” His voice is very very soft and I’m kind of surprised to hear it. He’s barely said a word to anyone since he came here.

“I’m Valentine. Thank you for not booping me, and I appreciate you talking softly.” Yes good. Everybody’s doing well so far.

Denim hums and nuzzles into Valentine’s hands, then backs away, “talk to you later,” and he’s off to wherever he likes to hide.

Amethyst slides up next, and I greet him. “hey, mey. meet valentine.”

“Hello, sweetheart,” Mey purrs and leans his face against my coil so Val can feel him.

“Oh. You smell nice.” Val mentions, and Mey starts to purr.

“Thank you. You smell and look fantastic, darling. Welcome home.” I had a feeling Mey would probably try to help Valentine out, too, and I didn’t mind.

“Goggles said that...that the dragon is your mate. He won’t burn me, right?” Aww, they were still worried about Donny hurting them. Poor Val.

“Oh no, he would never.” Amethyst cooed and gently kissed some of Val’s petals, earning a shy squeak, “Adonis is a tender soul who loves peace and family. And you are our family now, Valentine.”

“O-okay,” Val was blushing. and I knew things would be good. Mey could keep anybody calm.

Fi and Morpheus zoomed in, “I’M COMING, GOGGLES!” called Morpheus and Val shifted to face them as the two landed.

Fi squeaked and held out his hand, “HI! YOU’RE THE NEW FRIEND, RIGHT?”

By now, Sweet Bun was back and sat on the far end of the sofa, clearing his throat to announce his presence. Val reached out and found Fi’s hand, “O-oh, hi. Um, what is your name?”

“HE’S FI AND I’M MORPHEUS THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE!” Oh dear, M is being....well, himself. The more he grows up, the more (falsely) cocky he gets. I worry about him.

“Oh. Why are you terrible? Morpheus?” Val reached out their other hand and Morpheus seemed to realize his posing was useless and calmed down.

“BECAUSE I’M ME. AND BECAUSE IF I’M GREAT AND TERRIBLE I CAN PROTECT YOU AND FI.”

“AND I’M NOT TERRIBLE BECAUSE I DON’T WANT TO BE SCARY.” Fi answered a question no one asked. As usual for the cutie. “WE’LL HELP RAISE THE BLINDS FOR YOU TO GET SUNSHINE.”

Sephy chuckled, “That’s very kind of you, boys.”

Val hummed as he examined the two hands he was given. Fi’s wings were fluttering, and I said softly, “hey, fi, you’re awfully breezy today.”

He puffed up his cheeks and huffed, but Morpheus growled at me. Hah, cute. I love these two kids.

“Oh?” Val turned to me. “Was that a pun?”

“yeah,” I hum, “Fi was flapping his wings to make those little gusts.”

“Wings...” Val seems pleased with the idea.

“Um, if you’re ready for the others, Valentine,” Sweet Bun says gently, “they’re here. But at your pace, of course.”

Nodding, they let go of Fi and Morpheus, “it’s nice to meet both of you.”

They giggle and fly away, off to play more games.

Dante whines and puts his head on Sephy’s knee. I realize he can’t directly communicate with Val because he can’t speak. “virgil? would you mind translating for your bro?”

“It is my solemn duty and only joy,” Virgil huffs and appears on Dante’s head. “Valentine, you are in the presence of the great diety known as Dante, and I am Virgil, translator and brother of Orpheus.”

There are several groans and coos from Dante, and he signs while he makes them, for the benefit of the rest of the family (and so they can correct Virgil if he tries to twist the words).

“My god wishes you to know he is also blind, traditionally speaking, and can only sense the world through his amazing extra senses.” Val reached out their vines and was gently analyzing Dante’s face while Virgil talked. “Welcome to our divinely cultivated family.”

Val’s vines slip over Virgil, too, who is surprisingly patient with them. “Hello, Dante, Virgil. Thank you.” When the vines withdraw, so does Dante’s head.

Sephy says softly, “Are you doing okay, Valentine?”

“Um, yes? I could use some water, though.” She sets us on the cushions and goes to get some.

Sweet Bun pushes Goldie and Gracey forward, “Valentine, these two about to give you their fingers are Goldie and Gracey. Please present yourselves to our new tiny friend!”

Goldie’s soft, warm voice is always calming. If I had to pick someone to be in charge other than Sephy, Goldie wins. He loves us and is strong enough to protect us.

“hey, valentine. i’m goldie. it’s good to have you safe at home.”

Val shook his finger, then Gracey offered his whole hand to the searching vines.

“m’gracey...you’re a nice, soft little fella...that’s good.” This made Val hum happily. They liked being praised.

A soft purr reached Valentine’s attention, and they turned their head down to it.

“Georgio~” Sephy cooed as she picked up the mini chain. Here was our brave and gentle founder. I guessed Wagner and Starlight were back in the nest boxes.

“heya. felt how happy everybody was and thought i’d join for a minute.” He sounded sleepy. He probably was, if I had to guess.

“geo,” Goldie said softly, “check out our cute new pal.”

“ooh.” He turned and Val followed his movements with their head. “hey there, flower baby. i’m georgio, sephy’s chain. i’m a lamia, so snakey sounds are gonna happen. when they wake up tonight, you can meet starlight and my mate, wagner. they’re sleeping in the closet, but uh...don’t go there.”

“i...i don’t plan to.” Val answers shyly. Georgio purred some more and flopped on Sephy’s hand as it came closer.

“valentine, we’ll set you in the sun for a while now, okay?” I ask, figuring introductions were over.

“Oh. Okay.” they cuddle up to me as I set them against my back, heading to the windowsill. I figure I’ll let them sun and take a nap myself.

All in all, a good day.

#bittybones #mythbitties #chain bitty #floret bitty #puppypapri

[consmcchill]

Avatar the Last Airbender movie FIXED

I did it. TLDR: I fixed the movie The Last Airbender. Feel free to skip this rambling intro and scroll down to the good stuff.

For the rest of you, my name is Conor McCahill, I’m an actor and wannabee screenwriter living in Chicago.

I wanted to post this on the internet for three reasons:

One: Avatar the Last Airbender means a lot to me. My high school friends would meet every week at my house to watch each premier live. Those memories are among my happiest. I was beyond excited for the movie, but, everything I found out about it pushed me further from it and when it finally came out I resolved never to see it. And I didn’t, until I was in a show with Francis Guinan, who played Master Pakku, and when he told me he was in it, I thought, “Hey, why not?” Watching this movie was one of the most disappointing experiences of my life. Fast forward to now and I’m reading Save The Cat, which is a book about screenwriting and one of the homework pieces is to fix a bad movie and make it a good movie. Obviously, the worst movie I can think of is The Last Airbender, so I chose it to fix it.

Two: Fans scare me. True deeply loving fans are like tiger mothers. You have high standards, and good for you! I can’t think of anyone who would enjoy this project more than a diehard fan and my goal is to impress you.

Three: Though I started this before the Netflix announcement of the Avatar the Last Airbender live action series, I’d still like to think that this could help get the movie remade. However, even if it doesn’t, maybe this can help you find closure that in some universe, a better movie exists.

I wrote this as if it was a wikipedia article describing the movie. I tried to avoid dialogue as much as possible, but sometimes, it’s just clearer. I used screenshots from the show to aid the reader though sometimes the pictures aren’t perfect, and other times I used real pictures or art. I linked to the websites where I did that.

The process:

I watched all of season one again, with an eye for character and story development. It was a real treat and I graphed each character’s development over the season, who was the main character of each episode, and how they grew in each episode. I painted a picture of tracking information about the characters, which characters know it, and when it is revealed to a character or the audience. I also tracked tokens, my word for props of importance like Aang’s staff and the water scroll. Adapting this cartoon to a movie was a huge challenge that I was not fully prepared for. The biggest challenge faced is reduction of the source material into roughly an hour and a half to two hours. Season one is very filler heavy, we get to meet our characters and watch them interact, and the first season takes its time and lets the characters be kids in a really nice way. Each episode is roughly twenty-two minutes long, making the season about seven and a half hours long which means inevitably something is going to be lost in translation because we’re losing six hours of content. Episodically is a great way to tell a story with lots of characters with multiple plot lines and over longer periods of time. Movies are better equipped to tell stories as an immediate chronological sequence of events with few characters. This just comes down to time and how much we have to tell the story and how the audience processes a story in “real time.” If you want the movie to be exactly the same story, well, that’s impossible and you should just watch the cartoon. It’s gonna change, there’s no way around it. After finishing the cartoon, I decided it would be a good idea to at least watch the movie again.

Overall and if you squint, Shyamalan got the story of the first season in the movie pretty accurately. His movie goes, southern water tribe, southern air temple, earth kingdom, northern air temple, and northern water tribe. The problem is that we don’t really get to enjoy any one thing for too long because we’re being whisked off to the next one. I didn’t want to make the same mistake, so I chose to limit my main settings to the number of my acts, for simplicity. I picked the southern water tribe, the southern air temple, and the northern water tribe capital.

Shyamalan decided to write each movie one at a time and I really think that doomed the project. I think he decided to do it that way, Nickelodeon went along with it, and by the time he realized his mistake, production has already started, and he couldn’t hold it up because it’s millions of dollars and our young actors are rapidly aging. Any kind of delay will hurt a project starring kids more than other movies. If you want to do it right, you need to be ready to pump out each movie so the kids can age naturally and not suddenly be adults, (see: Harry Potter.) Keeping his decision in mind, I decided to approach this project as if it were a trilogy. That helped me eliminate characters and plotlines for movie one, because they can appear later. I whittled my main characters down to seven, which is more than plenty; Aang, Katara, Sokka, Zhao, Zuko, Iroh, and Yue.

Let’s talk about Yue. Her sacrifice is the emotional apex of the first season of ATLA and is therefore the most important part of the movie. We need to care about Yue because the more we care, the more effective her sacrifice is and the more satisfying the emotional catharsis. In visual media, the way we make you care is we give you screen time. In the show, she gets three full episodes, but the development of her relationship with Sokka feels rushed. It still feels better than the Shyamalan movie, where she comes in at the last thirty minutes, and by all accounts gets half as much time as the cartoon. Considering her sacrifice, Yue needs to come into the movie early. Save the Cat talks about act two as the love act. Often in movies, it is when our protagonists meet a new character(s) who will nurture them through the end. It does not have to be true love or romantic love, it is often friend love. That seems like a perfect place for Yue.

I didn’t want to change the canon, but I had to get Yue into contact with Katara, Sokka, and Aang. I decided that the most important thing, at least in adapting, is not necessarily what happens to our characters, but that they grow in the same way. That freed me up to consider other, more exciting possibilities. Like, what if we bring Yue to the south, on a quest? Aside from Yue, the most necessary element of the north is the spirit oasis, so Zhao can kill the moon. So, I thought to place the spirit oasis in the ruins of the southern tribe capital, so we’re not suddenly robbed of a whole world crossing adventure where lots of stuff must happen. We can grow with our characters (Aang, Katara, and Sokka) in the illusion of real time, and not cut to weeks later at the northern tribe. That evolved into a portal to the northern water tribe, something heavily plot relevant, canon from The Legend of Korra, and it gives something new to longtime fans.

The Yue I came up with differs from the show Yue in very exciting ways. I develop her relationships with Aang and Katara and give Sokka a stronger interest, a love that could actually be returned and is hopeful. The best part is, I make her more active instead of passive. Since this will be her only movie, she should be there more, not to mention there are five main males and only one main female without her. All my own changes made me sympathetic to the way Shyamalan had to alter the plot and characters and it was the choice to boost Yue’s role that really lead to this entire piece.

Thanks to Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino for their work that continues to inspire me to this day. Thank you to all the long-time fans who run the Avatar the Last Airbender wiki. Your work was essential. I lifted some passages directly from the episode descriptions that match what I see as the movie, but where I did, I tried to mark with a *. Also, I used some art and photos and I provided a link to those artists. And, I dunno, thanks to Jim Henson who thought it was important and healthy for children to feel fear.

How I would open the movie:

Open on the fire nation palace: an imposing tower of red crowned with gold spires slices a sunny blue sky in two and looms over a vast courtyard. The front doors are open and we zoom into the darkness. Inside the palace, the air is thick and stuffy and ornate tapestries line every wall lit by braziers that fume and pop and crackle.

In a gallery filled with portraits of proud and angry men and women cloaked in red and holding fire in their bare hands, a teenage boy sits at a table, playing a tile game with an older man.

The boy squirms, agonizing over his next move. The older man is toying with him, but plants seeds of wisdom on how defeat a superior opponent. The boy tentatively places a tile, lingering his finger on the it before whipping it away. The old man examines the board.

With one decisive move, he places a lotus tile in the center of the field, winning the game leaving the young man in disbelief. The older man laughs as the younger man passionately demands a rematch, but they are interrupted by the sound of footsteps and they stiffen. A messenger comes. He bows low, and begs forgiveness from Prince Zuko for interrupting him, but he has come to escort General Iroh to a war meeting. The older man smirks and asks the younger man if he forgives the messenger. Zuko rolls his eyes and says he does but asks his uncle if he can join him in the war meeting. His uncle denies him, but the young prince pleads. He wants to be a good king someday, why not learn as soon as possible? Iroh relents and warns Zuko not to speak out of turn.

Iroh leads Zuko into the hall before the throne room. As the firebending generals go in, each makes a flame in their hand and adds it to a fiery bowl on a pedestal in the center of the hall. Iroh explains to Zuko, as he follows suit, that the ritual serves to show that no firebender will use fire bending in the throne room or face extreme consequences. Even the fire lord is honor bound to uphold his promise, he just never has to symbolically prove himself. Iroh puts his fire in the bowl. Zuko steps up after him and does the same, his face lit up by the flames.

The inside of the throne room is darker than the rest of the palace. Zuko is both frightened and exhilarated. As a particularly old and decrepit general drones on, Zuko admires the long war table, painted to display the entire world and littered with pieces that make war seem like a big game. This will all be his someday. His eyes draw him down past the far end of the table, to the wall of fire beyond which a dark figure, the fire lord, sits on an ornate throne obscured by the dancing smoke.

Zuko stares at the man beyond the flames and their crackle fills his ears. He feels the eyes of his father staring back. Zuko snaps to attention, just as the old infirm general outlines a plan to send fresh recruits into combat against a heavily garrisoned earth kingdom fort. The prince asks the general how he expects the recruits to survive, his interruption sending a wave of murmurs down the table. The general clarifies, he doesn’t. Their sacrifice will be enough to weaken the earth kingdom army, so they can be wiped out by a second wave of more seasoned elite fire nation soldiers. The mutters of agreement wash over the room. The prince is horrified. He cannot believe what he is hearing and stands and speaks, in defense of the new recruits and their lives. To send loyal soldiers to their doom is nothing short of treasonous. The color drains from Iroh’s face as the wall of flames flares up. He clutches Zuko’s robes and advises Zuko to apologize or be honor bound to settle the matter in an Agni Kai.

Zuko sizes up the old general. What could this old man, so near to death, possibly do to him? His uncle hisses at him to be quick, but Zuko is not afraid and accepts the fire duel. The wall of fire burns high beyond him.

High above the Agni Kai arena, the crowd that lines the stands chant ceremoniously. Zuko kneels, his back to his opponent and the chanting ends. He breathes deep, spins and rises, and throws off his cloak to face… his father, the fire lord.

Zuko doesn’t understand, the general he spoke against is in the audience, smirking, next to a teenage girl and his uncle.

The Firelord fumes at him, it was his plan Zuko spoke against and it was he, the fire lord, Zuko disrespected. His booming voice echoes in the vast chamber. Zuko falls to his knees, he won’t fight his father. The fire lord demands that he stand and fight, but Zuko refuses. The fire lord will give him one more chance but Zuko bows further, touching his forehead to the hard stone floor. The Firelord calls upon the crowd to witness his son’s cowardly refusal to fight. Only a permanent lesson is appropriate for such shameful weakness, he growls as he approaches his grovelling son.

Slowly, Zuko lifts his head and begs his father for mercy, but there is none.

In the reflection of his left eye, a fireball heads towards Zuko’s tear-stricken face. A girl’s voiceover begins. “Long ago the four nations lived together in harmony, then, everything changed when the fire nation attacked.” The fireball grows larger and larger in his eye until the whole frame is filled with fire.

https://www.dreamstime.com/stock-illustration-yurt-vector-drawing-portable-round-tent-covered-skins-felt-isolated-white-backdrop-freehand-outline-black-ink-hand-image80545151

The fire in Zuko’s eyes becomes a campfire in a yurt. “Only the Avatar, master of all four elements, could stop them, but when the world needed him most, he vanished.”

Reveal, a pretty and bright water tribe girl, Katara, telling the story of the Avatar to the young children she babysits.

The kids beg Katara to waterbend for them. She’s not supposed to, and they moan and whine. To appease them, she waterbends the soup in the pot in a swirl. They beg for more and, though it is difficult for her, she manages to suspend an undulating ball of steaming water in the air. It is a magical moment, even for Katara, and they all watch in awe until she lowers it back down. The kids go nuts and all take turns trying to waterbend the soup, but it soon becomes clear that she’s the only one who can. As she watches them all around her, there is a sense of how lonely and isolated she really is. 

The flaps fly open and a teenage boy on the brink of manhood barges in and asks what the ruckus is about. Katara blurts out Sokka’s name in surprise and passes the commotion off as just childish playing. She turns the conversation to his hunt. He pretends to be downcast, then reveals three small fish triumphantly. Katara squeals with joy and embraces him.

https://itadakimasuanime.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/seafood-shellfish-hitsugi-no-chaika-avenging-battle-06.png

Later, as the sun sets, the fish roast over the fire. Katara, Sokka, and an older woman, their grandmother, eat with appreciation as if a feast as meager as this is rare. Sokka finishes first and as he gets up, he rips his pants, again. He criticizes Katara, her stitching is still terrible, and since Grangran can’t do it anymore, it’s up to her. He reaches for his other pair of pants but stops when Katara admits that she hasn’t mended them yet. Sokka gets cross with her for not finishing her chores. Katara retorts that if he wasn’t so clumsy, he wouldn’t tear his pants. Sokka scolds Katara for just playing around and waterbending. Their grandmother drops her bowl. Quickly, Katara denies waterbending, but Sokka saw her. Grangran comes down on Katara: It is forbidden, but Katara can’t forbid who she is! Grangran snaps that waterbending will get them all killed. There is silence. Sokka brings the pants over to Katara. He puts food on the table, the least she could do is contribute. Defeated, Katara fetches her needle and thread but hesitates before she begins to work. She’s about to speak when Sokka pushes that his pants aren’t going to mend themselves.

Katara pops off that he can repair his own stupid pants and throws them in Sokka’s face and storms out into the night. Sokka sticks his head out and calls after her but Katara breaks into a sprint. She runs past her neighbors, out of the village and runs and runs and runs until she can run no more, collapsing at the top of a snow-white cliff, overlooking a frozen bay.

The cold light of the nearly full moon beams down upon her. She looks up, with tears in her eyes and screams out her frustration. She pounds her fists to the ground. The ice cracks inches from her fists and shatter the side of the icy cliff down down down into the middle of the bay. The ground shakes and Katara is avalanched over with the side of the cliff and is buried in the ice and snow.

She pushes a mound of snow off her with her waterbending. As she cleans herself off, she notices a soft glow emanating from the fissure in the ice. As she investigates, the light intensifies, rising, until the source, a glowing ice sphere, bursts through the floe before her.

Cracks splinter throughout the sphere causing the light inside to escape. The light is too much and Katara shields her eyes. The sphere goes dark for a second then a pillar of light erupts out the top.

Back in the village, Sokka mutters to himself as he struggles with a needle and thread. The light rips through the night sky and through the flap of the tent. His eyes widen. He whispers Katara’s name and grabs his spear.

A dazzling aurora fills the sky. The broken bay has frozen again by some mysterious power, leaving the landscape jagged and strange. A cloud of snow and swirling mists ebb and flow about the remains of the sphere. Katara approaches and sees in the remains a boy tattooed with arrows and a white six-legged bison, both fast asleep. She kneels beside the tattooed boy and touches his face. He dreamily opens his eyes and then closes them again as he mutters about how beautiful she is.

Katara is amused. The boy snaps awake, he’s not dreaming. He jumps out of Katara’s arms and admires his surroundings. With his hands on his hips, he announces that he has made it to the south pole as planned and immediately requests a snowball fight and before Katara can protest she’s pelted as he laughs. She pulls the snow off as the boy exclaims that she’s a waterbender, and that it is officially on! Katara puts on her game face and snowballs begin to fly back and forth. Katara hides behind a snowbank. She peeks out and sees the boy scooping snow into a ball, she turns back and uses her bending to mold her own. She peeks out again, but he has disappeared. Out of nowhere he lands behind her and unleashes an impossible number of snowballs. Katara screams as she’s hit. Sokka hears her scream and breaks into a sprint. He yells her name and runs towards the boy with his spear who dodges the thrust and the following swing. Katara, covered in snow, tries in vain to stop Sokka. Sokka thrusts again. The boy lands on the spearhead, faceplanting Sokka into the snow and bringing him to his knees. Katara, wipes the snow from her eyes and gets a full view of Sokka’s undercarriage. She shrieks, “Where are your pants!?” The boy helps him up. Sokka didn’t have time to put on pants, he thought she was in trouble. Katara is touched.

https://www.deviantart.com/akreon/art/Appa-132703919

A low grumble escapes the large, furry, six-legged creature lying motionless nearby. The boy climbs onto it and enthusiastically rouses it. Sokka asks, unsure, what the thing is, and the boy replies that it is Appa, his flying bison. Sokka expresses disbelief over the purported ability of the large bison to fly. The boy, looking around at his surroundings, asks if they live nearby, which triggers Sokka to tell Katara not to answer, as he is convinced that the mystery boy is a Fire Nation spy, a notion that Katara rejects sarcastically. The boy introduces himself as Aang, an airbender. Sokka tells him no one has seen an airbender in a hundred years. Aang laughs, they are very good at hiding. *

Aang offers to fly them back to their village if he can get shelter for the night. Katara happily agrees and climbs on with Aang, while Sokka refuses, convinced that Aang and Katara are crazy. Aang says, "Yip-yip!", and Appa leaps into the air, though immediately comes crashing down, while Sokka crows sarcastically about Appa's inability to fly, Aang decides Appa is still too tired to fly just yet. He looks over his shoulder and leans out to stare at Katara with a huge smile on his face, causing her, after a few long, awkward seconds, to ask, "Why are you smiling at me like that?" He replies, "Oh, I was smiling?" Sokka lifts his head back, groaning, while Katara, at first smiling at Aang's response, frowns back at Sokka. *

In the moonlight, they walk back to the village. A curious Katara asks Aang if he knows the fate of the Avatar; being an airbender, she knows that the Avatar was supposed to be an Air Nomad. Aang awkwardly states that he knew people that knew the Avatar but did not know the actual Avatar himself. A disappointed Katara drops the subject, leaving Aang looking guilty. *

Underneath the setting sun, a scout blows a horn atop a fire nation fort located at the foot of the southern air temple mount. The commander of the base, a fierce looking full-grown man, greets Iroh and Zuko in the courtyard, he makes sure to highlight Zuko’s scar to confirm that it’s him. Iroh shows his respect to Admiral Zhao, who asks what brings the exiled prince and his uncle before him.

Zuko demands access south, to the Antarctic seas, Zhao’s domain. This amuses Zhao and arouses his interest. Even if he had seen or heard any sign of the Avatar, he wouldn’t tell Zuko. Iroh reasons with him, then, that there would be no harm in letting them search. Zhao deflects and muses if Zuko’s quest to restore his honor will ever truly end. He continues that when he marries Zuko’s sister, Princess Azula, they will let him come live in the palace dungeon. Zuko retorts that Zhao is a fool if he thinks he can ask the fire lord for Azula’s hand in marriage. Zhao is confident, that when his mission is complete, the fire lord will offer his daughter’s hand. He denies Zuko’s request, his mission is too important, and sends Zuko back to his ship.

Later that night, Iroh finds Zuko glowering over the vast southern sea. He presses the prince to sleep, telling him that if he doesn't rest, he will, like his ancestors, fail to capture the Avatar even if they do find him. The prince refuses to his uncle’s wisdom, he will succeed because he seeks to regain his honor through the endeavor, a trait none of his ancestors shared with him. Iroh casts doubt on Zuko’s assumption that the avatar is in the southern water tribe. Zuko reveals his logic, that the old airbender has likely died, and a young waterbender would be next in line to be the avatar. If it was a northern child, the proud northerners would have announced it, like they did their runaway princess. Iroh still doubts, Zuko snaps at him if he has a better idea. The night sky lights up, the same pillar of light from when Aang was released, and the aurora casts a green glow all on the southern hemisphere. *

Zuko observes it through the end of his telescope, his eyes narrow.

From high above the fire nation fort, on a cliff side, a mysterious figure in leather armor watches Zuko’s ship leave and turn south in the dead of night. The figure stands, a beautiful young woman who’s white hair shimmers in the moonlight.

Back in the village, Katara leads Aang into a stable. They don’t have much room, so he’ll have to sleep in here with Appa. She gets him a blanket. As she hands it to him, there is a moment where they share eye contact. Katara breaks it off and leaves, but not before stealing one last glance at Aang.

That night, Aang has a dream that he and Appa fly through a terrible storm. They are buffeted by the full fury of the gale, struggle in vain to escape and eventually are forced under the waves. *

In his dream, Aang’s eyes and tattoos began to glow and he creates a giant bubble around himself and Appa. The bubble freezes over, encasing their figures in light which grows brighter and brighter.

In his sleep, Aang stirs and his tattoos dance luminously. The lights wax and wane in the slit of the stable door casting a strange light on the sleeping village.

The sun rises over an icy expanse the next morning. Aang throws open the flap to the yurt, but it is empty. Sokka and Katara and Grangran are already doing their duties. As he explores, the elderly villagers look upon him with suspicion. Aang bows to the villagers respectfully, eliciting a response of fear from them, and they hurriedly take a few steps away from the airbender. *

He hears Katara calling his name. Eager to impress her, he jumps high in the air and lands in front of her and her wards. The kids go nuts. They goad him into showing off, which he obliges.

Aang attracts quite a crowd, almost the entire village. He finishes his trick. Everyone is stunned. One villager erupts in applause, the others glare her into silence. The kids tackle Aang and climb all over him. His airbending is even cooler than Katara’s waterbending.

A stir in the crowd. Katara is a waterbender? Katara feels the eyes of the villagers on her. Grangran assures the other villagers that Katara is not a waterbender, as the crowd whisper amongst themselves and go about their business. She gives the younger children the evil eye and they scamper off screaming and grabs Katara and Aang to throw them both into the tent. She looks Aang square in the face and tells him that it would be uncustomary to kick him out without breakfast but that the airbender is no longer welcome here. She goes to find Sokka. There is quiet. Aang timidly asks Katara why she refuses to waterbend. She tells him it is forbidden. Aang doesn’t understand why. The waterbenders get taken away, by firebenders. There’s a war. Aang didn’t know of any war.

Just then, Grangran and Sokka return. Sokka has checked the morning traps and has brought oysters. He passes them out, they each pry them open and slurp theirs down, except Aang, who holds it awkwardly. Sokka apologizes and opens it for him. Aang makes a face, “Do you have anything vegetarian?” he asks. Sokka aghast, scoots away from him. Aang realizes he’s made a faux pas. He corrects himself. “Can I please have something vegetarian?” Grangran and Katara share a glance. Sokka doesn’t have any vegetarian options except for sea prunes for Grangran and they are nasty.

Grangran throws a shell at Sokka and thrusts a bowl of sea prunes into Aang’s hands. His stomach growls, and he eats one. He likes them!

Sokka does not get Aang. He and Katara share a look of disgust as Aang gorges himself. Katara leans over to Sokka and whispers in his ear that Aang doesn’t know about the war. Sokka asks how that is possible: the war has been going on for a hundred years.

Meanwhile, Zuko spies the village through a telescope. Everything is going according to plan. Just then, from around an iceberg, an armada of three of Zhao’s fastest destroyers cut Zuko’s Battleship off and he is forced to change course to avoid them.

Zhao boards Zuko’s ship. Zuko greets him, amazed he found the time to chase him and hopes his all-important mission wasn't jeopardized by this detour. Zhao admits it was easy to catch up with them, the battleship was built like a tank to hold a fully realized Avatar, which makes it slow, but necessary for his capture, which is why Zhao is commandeering Zuko’s ship. Zuko protests, the Avatar is his. Zhao reminds Zuko that he ignored a direct order and is trespassing in his domain. Zuko spits out that he doesn't take orders from anyone, especially a low born upstart rat like Zhao. Zhao's smile fades as he orders his men to take the prince into custody. Two guards grab Zuko arms, but he throws them off easily. He points at Zhao and challenges him to an Agni Kai, winner gets the ship. Zhao laughs, and asks how Zuko plans to survive stranded on an iceberg without a ship, doesn't he remember the last time he did an Agni Kai? Zuko will never forget.  

Outside their village, Grangran leads Appa with a rope as Aang, Katara, and Sokka head out with her. Aang tells them that it was very nice to meet them, and he’ll come visit the South Pole again soon. Sokka explains to Aang they aren’t actually in the south pole, they are much further north, less than a day to the southern air temple. Katara extrapolates: There’s nothing left at the south pole.

https://www.onthegotours.com/au/Iceland/Best-Places-To-Visit/Reykjavik/Classic-Ice-Cave-Experience

https://www.masterfile.com/image/en/679-07608205/moon-rising-over-trees-and-buildings-at-night

The tribes used to be connected by the moon gate.

Under the light of the full moon, the portal would open and northerners and southerners could walk between the poles via the spirit world to mingle and trade and visit family and make the pilgrimage to the spirit oasis. The moon gate connected the north and south cultures. Until the fire nation destroyed everything in south and the portal was destroyed.

Flashback: Fiery projectiles rain down on the southern capital and reduce it to rubble.

Everybody who was trapped in the south had no choice but to move away from the ruins because there was no food. The north pole is floating ice, and the waterbenders can fish beneath the ice year-round, but south pole is above frozen ground and there you can’t grow food in frozen ground. Grangran interrupts and tells the airbender that it’s time for him to go. As he turns to leave, Aang asks if they are sure the south pole is really destroyed. Sokka assures him sarcastically, that yeah, they're sure, and glares at Aang. Aang posits that the monks at the southern air temple would have told him, they tell him a lot of things, after all, they told him that he was the- he doesn’t finish his sentence. He climbs on Appa and they trot off. Katara calls for him to wait. As she approaches, she tells him the only thing they have at the southern air temple anymore is a fire nation fort. Aang looks at her with a twinkle in his eye and assures her, there are air nomad monks.

He extends his hand to her. Grangran yells that she’s taking too long and though Katara takes a breath, she doesn’t look back as she takes Aang’s hand and climbs aboard. Grangran pushes Sokka to stop her. Katara wraps her arms around Aang as he tells her to hang on. “Appa, Yip yip!” Appa grumbles and begins to move just as Sokka reaches them. He grabs Appa’s fur and tries to pull them back but ends up getting pulled himself and has to run to keep up. Aang leads them straight towards the edge of the cliff and Sokka screams that they are all going to die! He shuts his eyes and holds tight as Appa leaps and they disappear over the edge. Grangran cries out for them and falls to her knees. Appa and the gang reappear, flying. Sokka freaks as he clutches Appa's fur. Aang tells Sokka that when he says let go, to let go. Sokka protests but Aang leads Appa into a barrel roll and yells at Sokka to let go which he does out of instinct. The momentum flips Sokka up and over and plomp, directly seated behind Katara on Appa’s back. The daring move has made Katara cling to Aang close and she blushes.

Aang cheers and Grangran watches as they fly towards the sun.

The sun is directly overhead as the Agni Kai begins.

Admiral Zhao and Prince Zuko crouch, back to back on the deck of the battleship. Shedding their capes, they turn to face each other. Iroh counsels Zuko to remember his basics, as they are his greatest assets, but Zuko seems not to heed his uncle's wisdom, instead stating, simply and forcefully, that he will not allow himself to lose. As he assumes his stance, Zhao, doing the same, taunts Zuko, saying: "This will be over quickly." *

The two opponents stare fiercely into each other's unblinking eyes for a brief moment, waiting for the other to strike; it is Zuko who begins the duel with a series of fire blasts from his hands and feet. *

Zhao seems more than a match for Zuko, effortlessly avoiding and nullifying all of his fire blasts. As the prince catches his breath, Iroh continues to advise Zuko to remember his basics. Zhao throws his own volley of fire blasts; Zuko is able to block each attack, but he is slowly forced back with every parry he makes. For the final blast, Zhao, using both fists, sends a ball of fire that connects solidly with Zuko, knocking him to the ground. Pressing his advantage, Zhao leaps into the air, covers the distance separating him and Zuko, and prepares a finishing blast aimed directly for the prince's exposed face. An instant before contact, Zuko rolls out of the way, rises with a kicking flourish, and knocks Zhao out of his stance. *

With new-found vigor, Zuko releases a series of low attacks that cause Zhao to retreat, finishing him with a jet of fire from a full body kick. Prone, Zhao tells Zuko to do it, to give him a scar like his own, but Zuko aims beside his face instead. As the victorious prince walks away, a beaten and furious Zhao sends a jet of fire at Zuko's back. Iroh intervenes, however, stopping the attack with his bare hand and throwing the admiral to the ground. As Iroh stands over Zhao, Zuko tries to attack Zhao once more, but his uncle tells him not to taint his victory by retaliating. Iroh lectures Zhao about the dishonor he has brought upon himself through his actions and states that his nephew, even in exile, has proven himself to be more honorable.  *

From the crow's nest, a scout shouts. They all crane their necks to see a flying bison with a water tribe girl and boy and air nomad fly far above them.

Up on Appa, Sokka refuses to open his eyes as he clutches Katara's garments. Katara lets him know that he's missing the sights. Aang spies the fire navy ships below. The fear deep inside him grows. He’s never seen fire navy ships this far south.

Both Zhao and Zuko blink in their telescopes. Iroh suggests they try working together as the bison disappears into the clouds.

Aang and Sokka and Katara fly through clouds and above mists and fog. Sokka asks if they are they yet. Aang spots the temple at the top of a mountain and they fly closer. Katara remarks on how beautiful it is.

From a window, the white-haired girl watches them all land in a sky bison pen and jump off. She disappears into the shadows. Appa grazes happily.

Sokka wishes he could eat, that ride took longer than he thought. Katara shushes him. Aang calls out to his people, but nobody answers. The temple appears to be abandoned. They walk up the temple steps. Sokka asks Aang if the airbenders have any food and is berated by Katara for being one of the first outsiders to see an airbender temple and he can only think with his stomach. She apologizes for Sokka. Aang insists the airbenders are simply hiding. There are lots of hiding places. They walk through a large archway into a great hall beyond. In the rafters above, the white-haired girl shifts into position. As Aang, Katara, and Sokka pass beneath her, she drops a net down upon them. The girl lands and knocks them off their feet and they fall to the ground in a pile.

She brandishes a staff at the subdued trio. “Are you firebenders?” She barks. They tell her they are not.  “That’s just what a firebender would say!” They assure her they are not firebenders. They are water tribe, and Aang is an airbender. She releases them and introduces herself as Princess Yue of the northern water tribe. Sokka is impressed and bows, “your majesty,” Katara does a stiff movement she would call a curtsey. Aang recognizes the staff and grabs it but Yue holds fast. It’s a sacred air nomad staff, it’s not to be touched by outsiders. Yue is nonplussed. Sokka tells Aang that he can’t speak to a princess like that. Aang takes a deep breath and bellows, “LET IT GO!” His voice echoes in the halls. Yue lets go of the staff.  Aang apologizes for yelling and inspects the staff. Yue never got the names of the other two, Sokka and Katara. Yue is incredulous, “You are Sokka and Katara!? Your father saved my life! Hakoda’s ship arrived at our capital a year ago and he was granted audience before me and my father. My father refused to help, and, I had to make a choice. I ran away and boarded your father’s ship in secret with the moon scroll.”

“We’re going to reopen the moon portal!”

But where is their father now? “He was taken prisoner by the fire nation. The last thing he said was he’d be a boomerang, but, I never got to ask him what that means.” “Means he’ll be back,” Sokka explains. He shows her the boomerang his father gave him when he left. Aang asks her how she got here. Yue continues, “I was found by a fisherman and made my way south. I got marooned here about a month ago after my ship sank. Been looking for a way off ever since, but there’s so many fire nation... We could fly to the south pole on a sky bison, though.” Someone’s stomach growls. Katara admonishes Sokka. It wasn’t him, it was Aang! Yue calculates that there is enough time to eat.

https://www.mostphotos.com/fi-fi/2720912/plum-orchard

The air temple orchard is overgrown, though a thousand years of tending have given a sense of order to the older trees. Aang hopes they like mountain peaches as he hops high in the air and grabs one. He lands and hands a peach to Katara and jumps back into the air. Sokka, asks her for it, salivating, and Katara licks it all over, much to Sokka’s chagrin. Aang lands with an armful of peaches and one in his mouth. He hands them out. They sit and enjoy a moment of peace.

Yue asks how the boomerang works. Sokka hands it to her and instructs her how to throw it. She does her best, but it is a terrible throw. She puts her hands up to her mouth and yells “Come back!” Sokka offers to go get it, but she should, she threw it, and they both end up going together. When they find it, Sokka throws it to demonstrate. Yue commends him on the throw. Sokka smiles goofily and gets lost in her eyes. They smile at each other and the boomerang runs smack into the side of Sokka’s head and he yelps in pain. Aang and Katara come running. Though he’s bleeding and wincing, Yue laughs and says it’s nothing a waterbender couldn’t heal. Katara isn’t sure what she means. Yue furthers, waterbenders can heal, she thought everybody knew that, especially waterbenders.

Yue pours some water into Katara’s hands. Katara is unsure what to do so she waterbends the water onto Sokka’s cut. Nothing happens. She closes her eyes and concentrates. The water releases a soft glow. Katara gasps and her eyes pop open. The wound has closed and there is no scar. Yue tells Katara that she just did some high-level bending. Aang lights up, he knows where the airbenders are.

Aang leads them to an intricately carved door. If the airbenders are hiding, it will be here. They have storerooms and water reserves deep in the temple. It’s his last hope. Only high level airbending can open this door, he reveals, and he bends two focused currents of air into the large doors' ornate locking mechanism, and a strange hauntingly beautiful tone resonates. The locks disengage, and the doors open slowly. Aang walks into the darkened room as Katara, Sokka, and Yue follow him.

Aang calls out to the airbenders. The room is pitch black and his footsteps echo. Katap. Katap. Katap. Skrit. He steps on something. It is a wooden medallion. He picks it up and flashes back to a happy looking older airbender monk: Gyatso, wearing medallion on a necklace.

Monk Gyatso is Aang’s sensei. Aang in the flashback has no tattoos yet and runs up to him calling his name and they embrace. Gyatso leads Aang out of the wind lock doors and onto the terrace before it.

Flying bison of all sizes fill the sky above. Gyatso tells Aang to call to him. “Appa!” Aang yells. Appa roars and dives down to Aang leaving his siblings and his much larger mother behind. Appa nuzzles and licks Aang as he laughs and laughs and laughs.

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/bison-skull-sean-griffin.html

The memory fades as Aang’s eyes adjust to the shadows. He sees a sky bison skull among bones and piles of soot and ashes, all over the room. Firebenders were here. Katara gasps. “Oh no.”

Aang falls to his knees. He is not alright. His eyes and tattoos light up. Wind begins to circle around him. Sokka freaks, “Is he glowing? How is he glowing?!” Katara calls for Aang. The winds get faster and faster, lifting Aang into the air. Yue makes them take cover. The soot and bones in the room get caught up in the whirlwind, disintegrating into brown and black dust and debris. Aang’s eyes, emanating white light, widen. The swirling blackness closes in on him. He shuts his eyes and pushes the darkness away, forcing all the ashes out the temple. Aang stops glowing and he drifts to the ground.

Outside, the ash cloud drifts away.

Yue, Katara, and Sokka cough around the corner. Katara runs to Aang and takes him into her lap. He stirs. It really has been one hundred years. She cradles his head and opens up to him that she and Sokka lost their mother to the fire nation. Even though his people are gone, he has found a new family: herself and Sokka. He looks Katara in the eyes and tells her with conviction that he will never firebend. Never ever. He sits up and hugs Katara as she mulls his statement.

From their ships, the firebenders notice the ash cloud drifting down from the temple as they pull into the harbor of the fort. Something must be going on. They form a squad of male and female fire nation soldiers fresh from the base. Zhao tells Iroh that he is too old and slow for this mission and Zuko is free to stay behind as well, if he doesn’t think he can make the climb. Zuko is ready. Iroh warns Zuko that Zhao is not to be trusted. Zuko assures his uncle, he can handle Zhao. From the battlements, Iroh watches the troops begin the hike. He puts on a cloak and sneaks out after them.

Later, the sun sets over the mountain peaks. Aang and the others bring flowers to a stone alter. The medallion sits in the middle of it. They pile the flowers around it. Aang sets a peach down with the flowers and steps back. Peaches were Gyatso’s favorite, he tells them. He closes his eyes. They all do. Aang gives the airbender prayer of mourning. The sound of wings. They open their eyes and a winged lemur eats the peach on the altar.

Aang laughs, a long clear laugh as he takes the lemur, lazily eating the peach, into his hands and names him Momo. The wind blows through the flowers.

Night falls. In a clearing in the orchard, Aang strokes the sleeping lemur as Sokka builds a fire and Yue puts peaches on the ends of sticks. She pokes fun at his fire building technique. Sokka has been building fires his whole life. Yue retorts that she’s only been doing it for the last year and she’s already better then him. They race to light the fire and Yue wins, but just barely. “Best two out of three?” Yue asks Sokka with a cheeky smile.  Katara returns with a bucket filled with well water.

The peaches roast on the sticks as the fire casts an amber yellow on the kids’ faces. “So, are we going to talk about what happened?” Sokka asks. Yue and Katara avoid his line of questioning. Sokka extrapolates, “Aang was glowing. I haven’t heard of a glowing person before.” Aang is silent. Yue speaks up, “I have.”

“When I was born I was very sick and very weak. Most babies cry when they're born, but I was born as if I was asleep, my eyes closed. They told my mother and father I was going to die. That night, beneath the full moon, he brought me to the spirit oasis and placed me in the pond and pleaded with the spirits to save me. I began to glow and my hair turned white. I opened my eyes and began to cry, and they knew I would live. That's why my mother named me Yue. For the moon.”

Yue explains that Aang must be filled with immense spiritual power. Aang is silent. Sokka pipes up that it was the same light from when Aang came out of the iceberg. Still Aang is silent. Katara scoots closer to him and prods him why he told her he would never firebend. She asks him if he is the avatar. Aang stands, surprising the lemur and it scurries away. He never wanted to be the Avatar. He only ever wanted to be normal and play airball with the other kids. He didn't ask to be the avatar! They were going to send him away, to the eastern temple where he would be safer. Which means he was in danger.  Avatars aren't supposed to know they are the avatar until they are 16 because: what if they told you, you were supposed to save the world at twelve years old? That’s why he ran away. He was going to come back but ran into a storm and somehow he lost 100 years.

Sokka is confused, if he's the avatar, how come he can’t bend the other elements? Aang doesn't know how yet.

Yue smiles. Out of her pack she produces the moon scroll.

In it is more than just how to open the moon gate, but also advanced waterbender techniques as well. She gives it to Aang and suggests Katara give him his first lesson. Sheepishly, Katara unravels the scroll. There’s writing, but she doesn't know how to read. Aang and Yue are taken aback by this, but Sokka doesn’t know how to read either. They have chores all day, there wouldn't be any time for reading, even if they had books. Yue sadly remarks that everyone in the Northern tribe knows how to read and apologizes that life in the south has gotten so hard. Aang comes closer and reads the scroll to Katara. Water is the element of versatility. It is a liquid, a solid, a gas. Gifted waterbenders can even be healers. He smiles and Katara blushes and Sokka touches his head where the wound would have been. Water is Tui and La, Push and Pull, and the earliest waterbenders learned how to push and pull the ocean like the moon with its tides. The moon is the source of power for all waterbenders and they are strongest when the moon is full.

They look up at the moon above. Aang remarks that they will be really strong tonight. Yue informs Aang, it's almost full. It's waxing, it will be full tomorrow. Katara admits that from studying the drawings, she doesn't know any of these moves. Aang asks her what she does know. She smiles. She takes him by the hand down to the well. Katara thrusts her hand out over the edge of the well and instructs Aang to do the same. She moves her hand up and down. Aang isn't sure but she tells him to feel the water, even though it’s not attached to his body. Splashes echo out of the deep. Katara says “Ok, I'll pull it and you push it.” Splash. “Ok, now you pull it and I push it.” Splishy splash. He feels it!  Katara asks Aang to pull the water up with her. Aang is surprised on how it's almost like air, but heavy.

Together, they lift a large ball of water high into the air. Aang chuckles and starts pushing it over Katara's head, he lets go. Katara closes her eyes and shrieks but opens them when she realizes she's holding up the water by herself.

She celebrates and loses her concentration and drops the water and gets soaked. Aang laughs and she douses him with the puddle around her. Aang laughs again and dries himself off with a whirlwind. Katara, drenched, asks if he could dry her off too. He tries. Her hair is swept back and poofs out. They both laugh. They gaze into each other’s eyes. Between their faces, the light of the campfire sparkles in the distance.

The campfire suddenly flares up a pillar of fire 10 feet high. Sokka yelps. Aang and Katara turn to face the flames. A rustle behind them. Fire nation soldiers! They throw their spears. Aang whisks Katara down behind the well with him. Katara begins to panic. Aang tells her to use the water.

They lift a spout out of the well and repel the foot soldiers. They run towards the campsite. Yue and Sokka are held captive by elite firebenders while Zhao taunts her. He’s been looking for the princess’s hiding place. Zuko concludes she’s the reason he’s locked down the southern sea. Zhao nods.

Katara and Aang come running to a stop. Zhao is immediately taken by the air nomad boy. Where did he come from? Where are the other air nomads? Zuko wastes no time in taking Katara prisoner. He advises her not to struggle. Zhao stares at Aang while confirming with Zuko that the girl is indeed the Avatar. She's the one from the village, the one waterbender in all the south, therefore, she must be the avatar. Aang shouts that she's not the avatar. Zuko sizes up the air nomad boy. Then who is? Katara tries to stop him but Aang tells them that he is. Zuko retorts that he couldn't possibly be the avatar, he’s just a child! Zhao isn't so sure. The avatar would be over a hundred years old, Zuko reminds Zhao, they have the princess, they have the avatar, but if he wants to waste his time with an air nomad liar, he is welcome to. Zhao willing to be convinced, leaves Aang.

Soldiers take Katara, Yue and Sokka and form ranks.  

Aang drops out of the sky in front of the squadron. He declares himself the avatar and points his staff at the firebenders. They laugh at him. He calls for Appa. From above, Appa roars, then dives and the solders duck and cower. Aang makes an air scooter and zips through all the solders like a pinball. Appa lands where Aang was standing and charges the soldiers with his horns, they scramble to their feet to fend off Appa. Some run. The distraction gives Yue the chance to escape. She knocks her captor in the gut and off of her and throws him into Sokka's guard. Aang takes out the bender holding Katara, and they struggle to get the chains off.

Zhao calls for the men to form rank. Someone yells, “the prisoners are escaping!” Zuko and Zhao leap into the chaos. They arrive to hear Aang give up on getting the chains off of Katara and that they need get to Appa to escape. Zhao is a clever man, he turns and runs to Appa, manifesting a fiery whip in each hand. Zuko fire charges into the group and separates Katara from the rest. Aang spins in and spins Katara out into Yue and Sokka’s arms. Aang and Zuko duel. Katara won’t leave Aang so Sokka picks her up and puts her over his shoulder. Katara begs Sokka to stop, but then changes her mind and tells Sokka to take her to the well. Yue tells them she will get the key to the shackles and joins Aang against Zuko. Appa runs about the courtyard chasing a hapless soldier in circles until Zhao faces off against the beast.

Aang dodges Zuko’s fireball as Appa wails in fear from afar. In his distracted moment Zuko gets past Aang but runs right into Yue. Aang is torn, does he run to help Appa or Yue? Yue tells him that she’s got this, and he goes to rescue Appa from Zhao’s torment. Yue gets in close, Zuko is on the defensive. He dodges past her, and she doesn’t follow. She has pickpocketed the key.

Sokka and Katara are at the well and Katara is bringing up all the water she can with her hands behind her back. Zuko comes racing towards them. Sokka screams and Katara throws the water at Zuko, and completely misses him. Katara asks if she got him. Zuko didn’t even get wet. Sokka throws the boomerang and Zuko has to duck. Zuko rises to his feet and the boomerang comes back knocking Zuko’s helmet. The water pools by Zuko’s feet as he fixes his helmet and with menacing rage makes fire daggers in his hands. Katara closes her eyes. She spreads her fingers then clenches her fists with a quick breath out and the water freezes and Zuko feet are frozen to the ground. Yue slides by Zuko on the ice twirling the key on her finger.

Yue unlocks Katara’s shackles as, in the distance, a blast of fire. Appa roars and flees into the air. Aang screams his name as he runs after him, but Appa won’t come back.

Zhao turns to Aang with a sadistic look in his eyes and a fiery whip in each hand. Katara, Sokka, and Yue come running. They try to convince Aang he has no other choice, he has to run. If he’s captured, who will save them? Fire nation soldiers begin to compose themselves surrounding the group. Zuko, fuming melts his feet. Aang pops the wings out of the staff. It’s also is a glider. He runs and takes flight on the orchard path. Zhao barks a command and all the firebending infantry call out and punch the sky sending fireballs into the air above and beyond and all around Aang. The fireballs arc in the sky and land all over the temple. The peach trees left and right burn and Aang lands among them. The sight of temple burning sends him into a rage. Aang glows. The wind picks up and blows all the fires out. Zhao and Zuko see. He is the avatar. With the fires out, the avatar spirit leaves Aang and the light of his tattoos fade and he lands. Zhao and Zuko race towards him; the chase is on.

http://kidskunst.info/linked/history-of-stairs-ancient-stairs-686973746f7279.htm

Aang runs through a large archway and into a great stone rotunda with a corkscrew staircase in the center. He runs at the speed of wind up the staircase to the top. Zuko and Zhao are hot on his heels. At the top of the stairs there’s a hallway and at the end of the hallway Aang finds the door to the jump room locked. Zhao leisurely jogs, beast like, up the stairs. Zuko fire leaps up the sides to just beneath the top.  Zuko grabs the edge of the top with the tips of his fingers. He pulls himself up. Desperate, Aang hits the lock with the staff and it breaks open. The door swings off the hinges to a launch pad at the top of the mountain just above the tree line. With freedom before him, he turns around and faces Zuko as the prince rises to his feet.

Zuko promises Aang that if he comes with Zuko now, he and his friends will be unharmed. Aang asks how he can trust Zuko. The fire nation invaded and killed his people. Zuko retorts it was the airbenders’ aggression and illegal settlements on Fire nation land that brought this upon them. Aang claims the airbenders are pacifist. Zuko clarifies then, that Aang won’t just windblast him off and takes a step forward. Aang also takes a step forward. The people who lived here were mostly children. He accuses the fire nation of genocide. Zuko doesn’t want to believe it, but Aang’s conviction has awoken what he knows to be true, and he falters. Aang is still very vulnerable and emotional. His tattoos light up, his eyes glow, the wind rustles around his clothing: the avatar state emerges.

Zhao comes around the corner, not even out of breath. He sees Aang’s glow and smiles his crazy smile and charges Aang. Under the state of the Avatar, Aang is stiffer, more confident. He sends a blast of air with his staff down the hallway at Zhao, knocking him off the stairs. Zuko jumps after him and catches Zhao’s hand and saves him from falling. Zhao glares menacingly at Zuko as he pulls him up. The Avatar spirit fades as Aang realizes he just attempted murder. His actions horrify and confuse him. Tears stream down his face.

Zhao kneels, winded from the air blast. Aang turns to flee. Zuko takes off after him. Aang activates his glider and throws it out the window and leaps out after it, catching it and the wind. For a second, it seems like he’ll get away but then Zuko jumps after him at full speed and grabs hold of his legs, causing them to spiral and crash in the clearing below. Zhao approaches the edge and looks down. He jumps off. Aang and Zuko lie in a crumple before him. Aang tries to get up, but he can’t. Zuko is also injured. Zhao gags Aang and shackles his hands and feet. He goes to Zuko and helps him up. Zhao compliments him on his willingness to sacrifice everything, maybe they aren’t so different. Zhao throws Zuko towards the edge of the cliff and fireballs him off. 

Aang watches, in a daze, as Zuko disappears into the forest below. From afar, Iroh is lit up by the light of the fireball. Zhao lumbers back from the edge and picks Aang up and over his shoulder as Aang passes out. Darkness.

A knock on a heavy iron battleship door. Iroh opens it and stands in the doorway. A messenger tells Iroh to hurry, there’s been an accident with the Prince. Iroh pushes through the crowd to the deck of the boat where Zhao meets him. Zhao proclaims to Iroh that the avatar threw the prince off a cliff. A search party is to be sent immediately to find his body for proper burial. Iroh spits and claims he never liked the sullen prince who had no respect for his elders and they can leave the body on the mountain for all he cares. He asks if the Avatar is in custody. Aang, gagged and bound, is carried by two large soldiers. Iroh leads them into the bowels of the ship. The battleship is a marvel of engineering and the prison for the avatar is state of the art. Even so, Zhao expected more. Iroh states that it’s mobile, self-sufficient, heavily guarded, and the safest place for the avatar to be.  

In the avatar’s cell, Zhao has Aang’s arms chained up and his legs chained down. Iroh gets into Aang’s face, “So this is the great Avatar. Master of all the elements. I don't know how you've managed to elude the Fire Nation for a hundred years, but your little game of hide and seek is over.”

Zhao ungags Aang and asks him how it feels to be the only airbender left. “Do you miss your people? Don't worry, you won't be killed like they were.” Zhao turns to leave. Aang takes a deep inhale and breath blasts Zhao, knocking him to the floor. Zhao is triggered, and fiery. Iroh helps bring him under control. Zhao tells Aang, “Blow all the wind you want, but your situation is futile. See, if you die you will just be reborn and the Fire Nation would have to start searching all over again. So, I'll keep you alive, but just barely.” Zhao leaves in a huff. Uncle Iroh glares at the remaining guards and asks for a minute alone with the thing that killed his nephew. They oblige.

Iroh approaches Aang. Aang shies away, but Iroh lays a gentle hand on his shoulder and assures him he is not like the others. He reveals that he knows Aang didn't kill Zuko but that it doesn't matter because no one will believe Aang anyway. Aang asks what's going to happen to him. Iroh assures Aang that when the time comes, he will help Aang escape, but first, he needs Aang's help. He needs to know about the waterbending girl.

In the prison hold, Katara sits comforting Grangran. Grangran is babbling on about how the fire nation came not long after they left and rounded up the villagers onto their ships but Katara's eyes fix on Sokka. He’s worried about Yue. Katara thinks they should be worried about all of them. A guard rattles the door and tells them to shut up. Iroh enters, carrying a bucket of water. The guard tries to stop him from entering the cell but Iroh tells him the orders are from Zhao. The prisoners haven’t been watered all day. Besides, Iroh asks the guard if he thinks the dragon of the west can’t handle one young waterbending girl. The guard apologizes and opens the door. Iroh enters the cell, kneels, and takes out a ladle and invites the villagers to drink. They do not move. He drinks some water himself. Sokka takes the bucket and gently helps Katara quench their grandmother’s thirst. The bucket is passed around and Katara brings the empty bucket and the ladle to Iroh. He tells her, “Katara, I have spoken with Aang.  He needs you to come with me.”

Iroh takes Katara into his cabin. On the bed, Zuko lies suffering, his stomach wrapped in bandages from Zhao’s fireball. Iroh asks Katara to heal him. Katara doesn’t want to, Zuko put shackles on her and he is after Aang. Iroh understands why she wouldn’t want to. Zuko attacked her, he’s an angry young man, he’s fire nation, but he’s the only good thing in Iroh’s life. Maybe she can see past the anger and the pain and see that he has suffered at the hands of the fire nation, too. Katara eyes the scar on Zuko’s face.

Reluctantly, Katara dips her hand in a bucket by the bedside. Water clings to her hands and she brings them to Zuko’s bandages. The water glows for a few moments and Zuko is soothed. Katara asks to be taken back to the cell. Iroh sneaks Katara through the ship. He takes her back into the prison hold and in with the rest of the villagers. As he locks them in, Sokka asks him about Yue. Iroh tells him, she is with Zhao.

In Zuko’s former quarters, Zhao sits beneath a rack of twin swords, eating a feast alone. Yue is escorted in. She has been bathed and dressed in her gown from the night she left the north. She is seated in front of Zhao. He invites her to eat. He tells her about the captain who found the dress of the northern water tribe princess on a water tribe boat headed for the south pole. Yue asks what Zhao wants. Zhao wants peace, a permanent peace with the water nation. The southerners have wasted their land, like the earthbending savages and the airbenders before them. The north will be safe, it’s water, the fire nation doesn’t want water. The southerners can move to the north. Yue doesn’t understand. Zhao tells her, he’s going to help her open the moon gate. Isn’t that what she wants? Yue asks about the avatar. Zhao tells her she can either leave here and return home with her people or join him in prison. Yue wants to know where her people are. Zhao will take her there.

The prison hold door is flung open. Zhao leads Yue to the southern people. She sees them locked in a crowded cell. She announces that they will all be taken to the North Pole as her new subjects. Zhao will allow them to open the moon gate to let the water tribe members through to their sister tribe. However, the southerners will never return to the south. This news is upsetting, the south is their home. Yue assures them, this is their only option. Zhao tells the Princess its time for her to return, Yue asks to stay. Zhao locks her up in with the rest of the tribe. A soldier enters the hold and tells Zhao they have the beast.

On the deck of the ship, fire nation soldiers struggle to restrain Appa with ropes. Zhao appears. Appa wails and struggles harder. Zhao delights in his fear and what a fine present Appa will be for his bride to be. They take Appa below deck and set sail. Momo watches from the walls of the fort. He glides down and reaches the battleship and crawls through a vent in the side of the ship. He hears familiar voices, Sokka and Yue huddled close. Sokka asks her what the north is like. Yue tells him that it’s different. She has responsibilities, she’s betrothed. Sokka doesn’t understand she’s to be married.

Yue asks if she can do something she’s wanted to do since she first saw Sokka. He nods and she kisses him. She curls into his little spoon as he holds her. Momo gags and continues through the vents.

Momo passes by Iroh and Zuko in his cabin. Zuko is feeling much better after being healed. Iroh tells Zuko that Zhao captured the bison and maybe they can use him to gain the Avatar’s trust. Zuko bets that if the Avatar escapes under Zhao’s command, it will be a huge blow to his plans. There is a knock at the door. Zuko hides in the closet. Iroh answers, it is Zhao. Zhao wants Iroh to know that he grieves for the prince and they will want to get word to the fire lord, but first, Iroh is invited to the north pole, as Zhao’s advisor. Iroh asks if Zhao meant the south pole and Zhao smiles and leaves. Zuko peeks out of the closet as Iroh shuts the door.

Momo continues on through the vents. Finally, he finds Aang’s cell. Aang is delighted to see Momo. Momo gnaws at the shackles at Aang’s feet, to no avail. He curls up around Aang’s neck, giving him comfort deep in the bowels of the battleship.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/adventure/outdoors/a19228/ice-breakers-coast-guard-great-lakes/

Late day, over the icy seas, icebreaker ships take the battleship as far south as they can. The firebenders load sleds and snowmobiles with their prisoners for the south pole. Katara is lead out, the only prisoner in full shackles and even a muzzle. Iroh walks down the gangplank after the last of the prisoners. He passes a soldier, there is a familiar scar beneath the helm. The two nod to each other and Iroh joins Zhao on his sled. The fire nation troops take off, roaring into the distance.

On the ship, a soldier stands guard outside of Zuko’s former room. There is a clanging at the end of the hallway. The soldier investigates and is incapacitated by a masked man. The man enters Zuko’s old quarters and stares at the twin swords on the mantle. The door is left ajar and the swords above the mantle are gone.

Down in the prison hold, four guards play a game in front of Appa’s cell. One of them asks why they need so many men to guard this beast. Another guard tells him, that he’s a gift for Princess Azula from Zhao just as Aang will be a gift to the fire lord. There is a bang down the hall. The guards all jump at the noise.

The helmet of a Fire Nation soldier rolls down the hallway toward them. When one guard investigates alone, the other three suddenly see a flame erupt from the hallway and hear the muffled sounds of combat and of chains being strung up. When two more guards follow after him, they find their companion strung up with his hands to the ceiling. The masked man, clinging to the ceiling, wraps a chain around a hand of each guard and drops down, simultaneously pulling the guards up. The last guard standing in front of Appa’s cell, having heard the scuffle, takes his horn to sound the alarm, though before he could blow the instrument, it is knocked out of his hands by a well-aimed knife. Noticing a figure running toward him, he firebends, though the masked man extinguishes the fire by throwing water and proceeds to sweep the legs from underneath the guard with the bucket. *

Appa groans in interest as the masked man offers him some hay.

Inside his cell, Aang hears a commotion and eyes the door with apprehension. Momo hisses at the door as the lock is being turned. Aang gasps as a masked figure enters with dual broadswords. Momo attacks the figure and is easily subdued when the figure reveals Appa in the hallway. The man unlocks Aang’s chains and retreats to Appa without saying a word. Aang asks him who he is, what is going on, and wonders if the man is there to rescue him. The figure does not respond, and they are interrupted by the sound of the alarm. He signals for the Avatar to follow him. *

Aang, Momo, and the masked figure ride Appa through the halls of the ship. They burst through the door to the deck and are surrounded by soldiers. The masked man draws his swords but Aang yells, “yip-yip,” and they take to the sky. Firebenders all around them shoot projectiles the sky bison dodges or are deflected by the swords. The soldiers’ last hope is artillery that they point at the escapees. FIRE! A rocket heads directly towards the bison. The masked figure taps Aang on the shoulder, but Aang is concentrating. The figure shakes him. Aang sees the rocket but doesn’t know what it is. The figure unsheathes his swords and throws them at the rocket causing it to explode and sending the riders tumbling through the sky in the resulting shockwave. The firebenders below argue about who’s idea it was to shoot the rocket. Gaining his senses after the blast, Aang whirlwinds himself onto Appa’s back. They dive and catch the masked man in Aang’s arms. Momo lands on Aang’s shoulders as the mask falls off the man, revealing him to be an unconscious prince Zuko.

At the south pole, the ruins of the former southern capital are jagged and jut harshly from the surrounding icy waste. Zhao investigates the moon scroll as firebenders race to cut blocks of ice. They stack ice block onto ice block to rebuild the portal according to the scroll. When it is finished, it looks like a tunnel that leads into the side of a wall.

Aang lands Appa on the icy terrain. The tracks of snowmobiles run deep and are easy to follow, but that’s not his issue. Zuko lies motionless on the ground. Aang’s gaze follows the tracks into the distance, then returns to the unconscious Zuko. He can’t just leave him here.

At the south pole, Zhao watches the sun set. He orders Princess Yue to open the moon gate. She can’t. Only a waterbender can. All eyes turn towards Katara. They unshackle and unmuzzle her.

Katara approaches the rebuilt portal. It looks rough and raw in the twilight. She waves her hands over the ice. No change. She does again, but nothing happens. Zhao’s face darkens. He barks an order. The water tribe villagers are pushed to their knees as firebender soldiers brandish flames at them. She tries again and again to use her powers on the portal, but still, it does not respond.

Katara cowers. Zhao approaches her, his fury palpable. He suggests she try again. She doesn’t know if she can open the portal. He sneers that he hopes, for her family’s sake, that she is wrong. He snaps his fingers twice and Grangran is dragged forward. Zhao commands her to open the gate, and though Katara tries, she still can’t do it. Zhao scowls. He looks over at the villagers and spies Sokka. He orders Grangran returned to the others and Sokka to be dragged forward next. Katara begs Zhao. He orders her to open the gate. Sokka tells her that it’s okay, and that he loves her. Grangran yells that she believes in Katara. Yue joins them. The whole village shouts encouragements. The sun disappears over the horizon. The light of the moon is the only light in the sky. Katara closes her eyes and waves her hands once again. Nothing happens. Zhao makes a fireball in his fist and approaches Sokka.

A villager shouts and Zhao turns. A soft light creeps over each ice block until the entire arch is shining. The shining abruptly stops and the blocks have fused together. Zhao investigates.

In the darkness of the tunnel, one can see the moon, hanging in blackness, illuminating a path to a distant archway. Zhao laughs, an evil laugh. Yue stands and bids the southerners to follow her to the north, but Zhao stops them. Elite firebenders take hold of Yue, while others put Katara back into shackles and muzzle and lump her in with the villagers. Yue spits at Zhao for turning against his word. Zhao takes her personally into custody and leaves the rest of the water tribe with the elite guard as he and a small team, including Iroh, lead Yue through the portal.

As they walk the moon’s path, Admiral Zhao sinisterly tells General Iroh that they are in the process of writing history, as they will be destroying the last of the Water Tribe civilization. Yue is aghast at Zhao’s machinations, and Zhao has her gagged. Iroh warns Zhao that history is not always kind to its subjects, Zhao condescendingly assures him that this will not be like Iroh's legendary failure at Ba Sing Se; Iroh ominously tells Zhao he hopes not, for Zhao's sake. The firebenders and Yue reach the end of the path and find themselves in the throne room of the northern water tribe. *

Iroh confirms their location and inquires if it is wise to attack during the full moon, as waterbenders draw strength from the moon. Zhao states that he is aware of the problem, and that he is working on a solution. As he reveals a secret door behind the throne, Zhao explains that years earlier, while serving as a young officer in the Earth Kingdom, he stumbled on the secret of the Moon and Ocean Spirit's mortal forms in an underground library. When he declares it is his destiny to kill the moon spirit, Iroh angrily informs him that the spirits are not to be trifled with. Condescendingly, Zhao tells Iroh he has heard tales of his journey into the Spirit World and assures him that the Moon and Ocean Spirits, having made the decision to give up their immortality to be part of the human world, will face the consequences of that decision. *

They descend down the passageway behind the throne to the spirit oasis: a small bamboo forested pool in a glacial atrium. A low voice is heard up ahead. Zhao puts his fingers to his lips and the firebenders sneak in the shadows. Chief Arnook, Yue’s father, prays to the moon for his daughter and his people. The light of the full moon shines brightly above. When he finishes, he asks an older man, Master Pakku, to escort him back. Zhao reveals himself and his prisoner, Princess Yue. Pakku squares up but Arnook orders him to stand down.

Zhao commends the chief for his wisdom and releases Yue to him. Arnook ungags her and Yue tells him that Zhao means to destroy the water tribe by killing the moon spirit. Arnook and Pakku share a look.

Arnook is incredulous that Zhao could kill the moon, whose bed is the sky and the horizon, but Zhao assures him confidently, that the spirits are close, closer than he thinks. He gestures to the pool, two koi fish swim around each other. Yue is in disbelief that Zhao thinks the fish are the spirits, but Arnook and Pakku are silent with secret knowledge.

Meanwhile, at the south pole, Katara breaths through her muzzle, now hoary with frost. A firebender yelps and points at the sky, it’s Aang riding Appa. The firebenders form a defensive perimeter. Katara takes her chance, she ices the locks to the point that they break and she frees herself from her bonds. She begins taking out firebenders as Aang does the same. The firebenders run to their snowmobiles and sleds and retreat. Katara throws off the muzzle and hugs Aang as Sokka inspects the gate. He runs through it, after Yue. The rest of the southerners follow with trepidation. In the palace, Sokka begins to call out. He sees the door ajar behind the throne. Sokka finds it out of place and passes through it. Katara and Aang ensure all the remaining southerners go through the portal. Aang shows her Zuko on Appa and they decide to leave him in the south.

Suddenly, as if he had been conscious for a while, Zuko makes his move and attacks. Katara trounces him. She freezes him in a block of ice and she and Aang and Momo try to pull Appa through the moon portal. Appa resists; after being cooped up in the ship, he is not interested in going through a small door again.

Sokka sneaks down the path to the spirit oasis. Zhao arrogantly applauds his own efforts to fulfill his "destiny", speculating as to which names by which future generations will call him. From the shadows, Sokka makes eye contact with Yue. He retreats to get help.

A water tribe scout on an ice tower watches the fire navy ship’s blockade. It’s nothing unusual.

Katara and Aang desperately pull Appa with a rope onto the moon path. Zuko the ice block begins to steam.

Zhao takes a burlap sack and charges into the water. After a moment, he rises with the fish in the bag. As he hoists it over his head in triumph, the full moon above transforms, turning from white to blood-red. *

The scout sees the red moon. His waterbender comrade in arms reacts: he can no longer waterbend.

On the moon path, the moon and path are red in the blackness. Katara feels weak. She collapses. Aang releases Appa’s rope and helps her up. Appa pulls back into the open air on the south side. Aang hobbles Katara over to the north side and lays her down in the throne room. He tells Momo to watch over her, he has to go back for Appa. The path beneath him cracks and Katara tells him to hurry. Aang runs through the gate to the other side. Before he can make it to the south, a shadow appears in the doorway and fireblasts him back. Prince Zuko who corners Aang in the disintegrating moon path.

Yue begs Zhao to release the moon spirit. The chief holds her and comforts her. Iroh pleads with Zhao to consider his actions: they will bring harm to all, not just those in the Water Tribe. Reinforcing the point, Iroh promises Zhao, "Whatever you do to that spirit, I'll unleash on you ten-fold." Zhao confirms what he knew all along, that Iroh is a traitor. To save the moon spirit, Arnook offers Zhao the unconditional surrender of the northern water tribe.

Water tribe warriors swarm into the throne room and surround the villagers coming through the portal. Sokka appears in the door behind the throne and bids them to follow him. The arch of the moon gate begins to crack and Katara yells for Aang. Zuko’s firebending keeps Aang on the pathway guarding the south door as it splinters here and there.

Zhao confirms with Arnook, that he has his unconditional surrender and releases the fish back into the water. The moon turns white. Everyone, the water tribe scouts, fire navy sailors, Sokka, Katara, Aang, Iroh, and even Zuko is relieved. The floor beneath Aang and Zuko solidifies again and Zuko takes a defensive stance.

Zhao watches the fish swim. Something dark and unsatisfied crosses his mind. Without a hesitation, he fire blasts the white fish.

Iroh watches the fire bolt hit the moon spirit in horror.

On the moon path, the full moon above Aang goes out like a light. The path beneath Aang and Zuko disappears and Aang falls into darkness. Zuko jumps to the southern portal and pulls himself through as the pathway vanishes behind him leaving an empty black tunnel.

Katara yells for Aang, and approaches the portal, but the portal in the north now ends in an icy wall.  Momo scratches desperately at the wall.

The scout blinks in the darkness. He is at a loss. One by one, on the horizon, the fire navy blockade lights their trebuchets. They fling fiery projectiles in waves. The scout blows his horn.

Appa huffs at the gate. Zuko tries again and again to jump through the threshold, but without the moon, the gate is shut. Zuko lights the sky up with his fire blasts.

Iroh bellows and lunges on Zhao. The elite squad do their best to protect Zhao but are subdued by Iroh’s fury. Zhao realizes he might be in trouble and flees up the ice wall, his fingers sinking like molten rods into the ice to climb his way out through the opening above. Iroh falls to his knees and mourns the spirit with the chief and Pakku and Yue. Sokka returns with warriors and villagers. The first round of trebuchet projectiles hit the palace and bits of icy debris fall from the ceiling. Grangran pulls Katara wailing for Aang to the safety of the path to the spirit oasis and down to join the others. The northern water tribe capital is in chaos. The dead white fish is prodded by the living black fish.

Aang floats in darkness thick as water. A giant black koi fish finds him and swallows him.

Katara clutches Momo as a ripple in the water breaks the stillness of the spirit oasis. Aang rises out of the water in the avatar state.

Katara is filled with joy, but Aang does not respond. He rises into the sky. Ice and snow from the land and sky begin to swirl around him and envelope him the form of a giant snow-white koi fish. The fish swims through the air out over the bay and dives into the water between fire navy ships. They are hit with a minor wave, but the sailors braced themselves. The snow fish becomes slush and the fish shape decompresses, filling the seas. Then the shape recollects and rises pulling all the water with it. The ships try to flee but are caught up in the gargantuan shape. The rocky bay beneath is revealed as some ships are beached on the seafloor. The water pillar takes a vaguely humanoid fish shape.

It collapses, and the navy ships are tsunamied away.

Back at the spirit oasis, Iroh notices, with astonishment, that Yue has been touched by the Moon Spirit, and that as a result, some of its life force is within her; Yue affirms the conjecture, then decides that she should try to restore the spirit to life by giving hers to it. Her father, upset by this idea, protests, but she is unmoved by him. Sokka takes her hands into his own and assures her there has to be another way. She calmly replies, "I have to try," and places her hands on the dead fish. *

The fish glows as Yue’s spirit leaves her body, she closes her eyes, exhales one last time, and collapses into Sokka's arms, dead. *

Moments later, Yue's body evaporates, and the fish, suddenly filled with life, swims into the oasis, looking for its partner. Floating, Yue appears above the water as a spirit, clothed in a flowing white dress. She tells Sokka that she will always be with him, kissing him one last time before disappearing; as she vanishes, the moon reappears in the sky, restoring the waterbenders' abilities. *

On the walls of the palace, Zhao sees the moon’s return and screams his frustration.

Aang fused with the Ocean spirit, in the meantime, has laid waste to the Fire Nation's navy but ceases as the moon reappears. The Ocean Spirit acknowledges the moon's restoration and, ending its violent vendetta, places Aang atop the outer wall of the city as it melts into the ocean water. *

Zhao finds a hole in the ceiling of the palace as jumps down. He has no choice but to escape through the moon portal. Except a figure blocks his way, Prince Zuko. They begin to fight. Iroh returns to the throne room and catches their duel. As Zhao and Zuko weave in and out of moonbeams let in by breaks in the ceiling. The beams seem to bend and sway as if attracted to Zhao. They wrap around him like a web of fine hair and he is stuck. Tentacles of light pull him into the air. Zuko, forgetting the duel, tries to help Zhao, reaching out a hand to him, but Zhao stubbornly refuses to take it, and he is pulled through the hole in the roof, where he vanishes in the light of the moon. Iroh puts his arm around Zuko and leads the teen back through the moon portal to the south.

Zuko is already planning, they will camp in the south and wait for the Avatar to return for his bison. Iroh looks at him sadly as Zuko begins to make camp with Appa tied up nearby. With a decisive move, Iroh unleashes a fireball that destroys the moon portal in the south. Zuko is speechless as Iroh retrieves Appa and mounts him and pulls Zuko aboard. Zuko says “uh… yip-yip” and the three lift off.

Back in the north, a drained Aang makes his way to the throne room as the rest return as well. Aang looks distraught at the closed portal’s dead end and whispers Appa’s name. The water tribe surrounds and embraces him as a group, with Katara, Sokka, Grangran, Arnook and Pakku in the center. The fire navy ships retreat out of the north and the moon glows high in the sky.

Post credit scene

In the Fire Nation, Fire Lord Ozai imparts the knowledge of Iroh's treasonous behavior and Zuko's failure to his daughter, Azula, and entrusts her with a special task as she looks up at him, a smile on her face. *

#movies #tv #atla #avatar the last airbender #fanfic #fandom #fix

[the-sapphire-general]

My Thoughts and Feelings About Mighty No. 9

It’s been a long time since I wrote a review for a game I’ve played. Well, I played Mighty No. 9 for a while now, and I finally finished it. And boy, was it…meh? I know tons of people consider it a disappointment and that the game is hated, but after taking time to think, it’s just average. It’s not the worst video game to ever exist, but it’s also not the best game. It’s far from it. Intended to be a spiritual successor to Mega Man, Mighty No. 9 was supposed to be a great game. I’ve done plenty of research about its development and what Comcept’s intentions were at the time. But so much went wrong! I still somewhat like the game, it wasn’t that boring, but I wasn’t oblivious to its flaws. Boy, there’s a lot of them.

Before I go on, I never played a Mega Man game my whole life, so I’m not that familiar with the franchise. However, I checked out a Mega Man X playthrough made by a YouTuber known as Capitalist out of curiosity. People stated that Mighty No. 9 ruined what makes Mega Man so great, and despite not knowing much about the series, I can see why. Everything that Mighty No. 9 has pales in comparison to what Mega Man has in store.

The story had a lot of potential. It takes place in the year 20XX on a futuristic Earth where humans and robots exist together. There’s even a Battle Colosseum for robots. The robots go haywire, and it’s up to Beck to stop them from destroying everything. Along the way, he saves the other eight Mighty Numbers. It all sounds cool, but the way it’s written had me bored. Not much happened, and whenever there were plot points, they seemed like they were shoehorned in and without explanation. Even a few plot points were revealed during conversations as you played through a couple of the levels. The one about William White being the one who created Trinity should have been like a flashback cutscene. Show, don’t tell, to explain how Trinity was a failure. The story was lifeless because there were multiple ideas that weren’t explored. Why the heck does William have issues with Dr. Blackwell? How were the Mighty Numbers and Call created? And some of the plot was just told, and they just felt awkward. At first, we didn’t know Will was at fault for the robot rampage. Heck we never knew he was Trinity’s creator.

Just like the story, the characters weren’t great. Aside from a few noticeable traits, they were bland. They didn’t have enough personality. The Mighty Numbers had one-note types of personalities, and they were annoying. And Call…she had no personality! I really hated Call because she had no personality. She was too emotionless for my taste. Yes, she’s a robot, but did she have to be so robotic, that she had no personality?? In the end, I didn’t care about anyone, not even Brandish. Not much occurred with the characters. They all lacked depth, and it’s sad because they all looked pretty cool.

The gameplay, although I didn’t mind it much, it wasn’t that great compared to Mega Man X. Beck can only shoot in one direction. Not that it’s a problem(?), I mean Mega Man X did the same thing, but the difference between the two games is X looks way more fun than Mighty No. 9 (Mega Man in general looks more fun to play). That I can admit. Also, X can slide and jump on walls. That could have made things so much easier with Beck! There was also supposed to be a tutorial kind of thing in the beginning. It turns out I didn't know a few of the things I can do until I was too late into the game. If I had known I could configure buttons to the abilities I get instead of having to scroll through them, it would have been less of a hassle. Another thing about the gameplay is the ReXelections, powers that Beck can utilize like Mega Man. They were…okay, I guess. Some of them weren’t my favorites. Pyrogen’s ability seemed lame despite its limited use it had when I played the game. The same applies to Cryosphere’s ice ability. Dynatron’s and Countershade’s abilities were used only once, and I never bothered to use them again. Battalion and Aviator had good abilities, and Seismic wasn’t useful to me until the final boss (more on that later…). The only ability I really liked was Brandish’s ability, yet even that power could have been better.

Basically, the abilities were underwhelming. For example, Pyrogen. It’s a fire ability. What can it do? You blow stuff up. Sadly, you have to time it real well to blow stuff up, and it’s hardly of any use (along with the rest of them). I tried using it against Cryo since fire beats ice, but that backfired on me so badly, it cost me a life. This, along with the other abilities, should have been different. Maybe Pyrogen’s fire powers could have involved shooting explosives. Maybe Cryo’s ice could have included a blizzard bazooka or something like that. Avi’s power was okay, but maybe instead of floating down, it could have worked like a helicopter, to fly you over deadly pits (and then hurl the thing helping you fly at enemies). Dynatron’s ability is self-explanatory: intense electric attacks! Battalion’s is fine on its own in my opinion, though I would add a lock-on feature. Seismic’s shield is good, but executing it was clumsy, so that would be something I would fix. Countershade’s sniper ability is also good, but again, a lock-on feature could have helped. Finally, Brandish’s ability is one I like the way it is, but I admit it could have been more awesome. If you were to wield it, waves would fly right at the enemies. See?? I managed to come up with ways that could have made the abilities better. Heck, there are a plethora of idea that could have worked in general. If the abilities you get aren’t fun or lack opportunities to use them, then what’s the point?

As for the levels, they were meh. They generally lacked excitement. Whenever you take damage, it’s sometimes not your fault. Insta-death can occur in some of the levels, and some of them were complete bullshit. A game can be difficult, but it shouldn’t be too difficult or else it’ll just be frustrating. It was also tedious and annoying to go through a lot of the levels without finding any health items. Mega Man X’s enemies left health items, which made the game a bit easier. Mighty No. 9 doesn’t do that. You rarely get health on some of the checkpoints, but they are rarely helpful if you’re so low on health.

Call only got one level, and it’s one of my least favorite levels ever! Her abilities are weak and limited compared to Beck, and she couldn’t AcXelerate into enemies, making gameplay so tedious. And in addition to her lack of a personality due to how painfully robotic she is, during gameplay she kept on saying what she was doing! “Jump!” “Holding.” “Barrier.” That was annoying, I wished she had a mute button. She’s cute in appearance, but everything else about her is just bad. Seriously, ONE level?!!

And Trinity…..*sigh* Her level is fine, but once you get to the boss, it all changes. Yes, the final boss should be difficult, I know! But battling Trinity was a major pain in the ass! Even though I chose the right ReXelections and selected the three buttons for them in order to choose them real-time (something I discovered real late), Trinity kept beating me. The battle was more frustrating than any other boss I’ve fought. It took me nearly two hours (from two different days) to beat that final stage and battle Trinity! You don’t even get taken to the second phase, which is bullshit. With all the other flaws the game had, the final boss was frustrating! Once I finally beat her, I wasn’t satisfied. I was just relieved I was done with the game, so I can finally move on to a more fun game that won’t make me feel like I might lose my mind. It wasn’t my fault! That boss was just annoying. Out of all the bosses, Trinity is the only one I despise! Avi’s battle wasn’t even that hard.

A game can be difficult, but if it’s too hard to the point that it will only make the game not fun, then that’s the problem. A few games that are known for being difficult are the “Devil May Cry” games. Those are difficult, but I would rather play those games than deal with Mighty No. 9’s final boss. Games are allowed to be challenging, and that’s why Devil May Cry is fun, but the difference between DMC and MN9 is that one is poorly executed and unfair. Yes, DMC can be unfair to some, but the thing is the games’ difficulty is connected to your skills. If you lose miserably in, say, “Dante Must Die” mode, that’s on you because your performance probably wasn’t great. All you have to do is improve. Higher difficulty levels are available once unlocked, and you can get the hang of things in the normal difficulty level. MN9’s difficulty, however, is hard. No matter what you do, you’ll struggle. Heck, it has three other difficulties! Hard, Hyper, and Maniac! But since the game is already difficult (and a pain) to play, it’s not worth it. You have to be a pro to tackle those difficulty levels. I’m not a pro, and I admit that without reluctance, so I won’t be doing those difficulty levels for myself. Playing it normally was already a pain (especially with Trinity!! Arrrgh!!). Therefore, Mighty No. 9’s difficulty was the result of poor design, meaning some of the hits (and deaths) you take are bullshit. So Mighty No. 9's difficulty was unfair and sometimes uneven. Countershade's level wasn't that difficult in my opinion. And has anyone realized that some (not all) of the advice it gives you before you enter a level hinted at the weakness?? Such as Dyna's ability being effective during Countershade's battle? But even the advice is useless because with the abilities being the way they are, they just weren't worth using at times. I did more damage using Beck's regular shooting abilities.

In conclusion, Mighty No. 9 gets a 5/10 from me. I can forgive some of the stuff. The music was good, the bosses were okay, and the designs for the characters were tasteful. So I'm showing just a hint of mercy despite the whole Trinity crap. But the gameplay wasn't super exciting, the final boss was frustrating as hell and no satisfaction can be received even after beating Trinity. The story was bland and it glossed over what could have been great storytelling if it wasn't poorly written, and the characters were boring and annoying (looking at you, Call!). Also, there's a boss rush!...I'm NEVER going for it because of Trinity. I can try to master the other bosses, but Trinity is one that I wish to never battle again (unless I want to torture myself out of boredom). I might try the challenges??? I'm not too sure. Despite the game's flaws, I oddly don't mind playing it. I like other games that are disliked by everyone. Last Rebellion and Shadow the Hedgehog are a few examples. Even Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy 7. People have different tastes, you know.

Still...what happened with this game?? Where did they money go??? Where????? Because $4 million dollars should have been enough to develop a fun and cool video game for Mega Man fans and newcomers. I also know that there were plans for a TV show and movie. If they had made better decisions throughout this whole process, Mighty No. 9 could have been great. I would have watched the TV show (or was it an anime?) and movie. Oh, and they had plans for a sequel...the post-credits scene was a sequel hook. But due to how the game turned out, I'm not sure if there will be a sequel, or a TV show/anime, or a movie, or anything. Then again, never say never. Bubsy came back with a new game after Bubsy 3D, and it took 21 years! Though the game wasn't that well-received. The point is if they do want to continue Mighty No. 9, please make better decisions. Reboot the game if you must (not that it's likely at this point), but don't do the same thing you did here. Mighty No. 9 has wasted potential, just like many other video games. Those certain games failed as a result of rushed development, bad decisions, and/or just plain laziness. Mighty No. 9 could have been great, and it's a shame that it didn't reach its full potential.

#mighty no. 9 #mighty no. 9 review

[hellyeahomeland]

[Hi! We’re back. We haven’t done a Director’s Chair feature since “R is for Romeo” so please bear with us as we get back into the swing of it. This week’s episode was directed by Michael Klick, who has been a producer on the show since the very beginning and directed his first episode last year (“The Flag House,” which you can read our Director’s Chair feature on here). The DP for this episode was Giorgio Scali, who, along with David Klein, heads up the photography department on the show.] 

“Standoff” | Directed by Michael Klick

The episode opens not with a shot of Carrie’s face, but of her hands. Her manic energy--she’s restless and can’t stop fidgeting--is further highlighted by what we hear but don’t yet see: those signature Carrie Mathison huffs and puffs. The device reminded us of the reveal of manic Carrie in “The Vest,” as Saul hears her gradually loudening yelling about her green pen before the camera finally reveals her battered and bruised face.

Our first glimpse of the compound in this episode comes as the fleet of FBI vehicles approach. That yellow “Don’t Tread on Me” flag was a major symbol of the American revolution. Notably missing: the American flag.

Next, JJ and a clearly happy dog appear down one half of a forked road. This fork in the road, and the hesitation and impasse associated with that image, come to represent the main thematic elements of this episode, at least as it pertains to Saul and O’Keefe. These two men (themselves with massively divergent paths) face major decisions in this episode and their storyline is wrapped up in their “wait and see” approach to the brewing confrontation on the compound.

As Saul and JJ meet, we get the first of many medium or wide shots that Klick and Scali use in the episode, showing two characters in this kind of symmetrical yet combative stance. Saul’s on one side, and O’Keefe and his “army” are on the other.

We also got some season one vibes from the scene of Carrie and Maggie in Maggie’s kitchen. Carrie’s ensuing panic attack and Maggie’s calm brings us back to the end of “Blind Spot” when Carrie shows up on Maggie’s doorstep, distraught.

Sara’s notes here were simply “cool ass shots.” We don’t really have much more to say but the focus shift in this scene from O’Keefe to Saul was some fancy camerawork. Kudos!

As this is our first Director’s Chair for season seven, let’s talk about how they’re shooting Keane this season. Namely, it’s exactly the same as they shot her last season! Tons of close-ups where she’s just inches away from her adversary (or advisor, as it were) -- literally mano a mano. The camera angle even contributes to the power dynamics at play here, as they typically film Keane slightly from below, so it appears she’s looking down on Wellington.

Keane has always been shown as a principled, rigid politician when it comes to her policies. What’s changed, of course, is what those policies are. The way she talks to Wellington here is almost identical to how she talked to Dar Adal last year: perpetually in confrontation mode, and never backing down.

Nothing to add here but what do we think is in the box in Carrie’s closet labeled “GREY”? All of her grey pantsuits? Her Grey’s Anatomy DVD boxsets? PROP MASTERS OF HOMELAND, PLEASE LET US KNOW.

~IJLTP~

Last year we evaluated the contents of Carrie’s refrigerator, and this season we’re getting even more personal. Just what the heck is in Josie Mathison-Dunn’s medicine cabinet? (Also, guess Bill’s last name is Dunn. We still want to call him Bill Mathison.)

First, some Mario Badescu Skincare products. Sara has literally never heard of this man. We have an aloe, cucumber, and green tea cucumber spray. Also an aloe, herbs, and rosewater facial spray. (Side note: what is “facial spray”? Sara has also never heard of this.) 

A bottle of Murad Razor Burn Rescue at the far left.

That tube in the middle with the happy-go-luck young woman is Benefit Pore Fessional Minimizer. Gail says this smells really good and works wonders. Sara has never heard of this product before but she does get her eyebrows waxed at the Benefit Cosmetics stores in NYC and really likes them and all the millennial pink and calm vibes there.

That tiny blue bottle next to the nail polish (speaking of nail polish, Sara calls BS that a teen as moody as Josie has bright pink and purple nail polish. WWDBD?) is Too Faced Shadow Insurance, which is some sort of eyelid primer. Once again, Sara has never heard of it and Gail hasn’t used it (“I’m a Smashbox girl!”). We do both love that the prop department found a product called “Too Faced.” We see what you did there.

Our thoughts on the cosmetic and facial care portions of Josie’s medicine cabinet can be described thusly:

Sara: I’m sorry but do teenage girls have this many products in their medicine cabinets? Is this a thing? Did she pick this up in Rome? Am I just that out of touch??

Gail: There is no way a teenage girl that owns a shadow primer only has one make-up brush in her arsenal. Sorry, not buying it.

Josie also has three meds in her cabinet. The first is Isotretinoin, which according to the world wide web is used for treating severe acne.

The second bottle is of course Adderall.

We think the third bottle is Methylphenidate (the generic name for Ritalin), which, like Adderall, is used to treat ADHD.

We get the second Carrie mirror shot in as many episodes. This is just one in a long trend on this show (i.e., it is the thirty-seventh but certainly not the last!). And while the mirror and hair length may change, the tone and meaning of them almost never does. She’s steeling herself here--for an inevitable crash, for another day of a waking nightmare, for the descent further into the rabbit hole.

The Saul/O’Keefe confrontation is notable for a few reasons. First, again Klick and Scali shoot almost the entire sequence in a series of medium or wide shots where both characters are contained in the shot yet standing opposite each other. There are almost no shot/reverse shot cuts where we see a frame of just Saul and then one of just O’Keefe. They are literally in a standoff.

The progression of their stance is also interesting. As Saul first approaches O’Keefe, he’s standing on the opposite side of the picnic table. As their conversation continues, he comes around to O’Keefe’s side and sits next to him.

The wider shots in this scene also reveal the imbalance at play and, in hindsight, hint at O’Keefe’s long game. Behind Saul, we see the FBI in the distance, ready to pounce. In a show of power, the FBI has numbers, large vehicles, and a coordinated presence. The playing field isn’t even. O’Keefe only has a handful of supporters, including some young children. Abandoned bicycles, an empty picnic table, and an over-turned red wagon depict a typical rural yard of an American family. This is not a war zone in some faraway place. The country is in a civil war and Klick sets the scene to drive this point home--literally.

Sara picked up on this facial reaction upon first viewing--after Dante says his bipolar ex-girlfriend left him--but couldn’t quite pinpoint what it was. Gail chipped in with a simple explanation: it’s her appreciation of his empathy, which is not something she’s that used to in her daily life. Carrie still views her bipolar disorder as a reason not to be with her--those wounds may be buried, but they exist nonetheless. The jury remains out on whether Dante’s intentions are altruistic or not, but this moment was interesting nonetheless.

The sequence of Carrie resisting being booked was a powerful reminder of early season three, where she is restrained and drugged against her will (though as part of a larger “play”). When you combine this with the images we’ll see weekly in the opening credits, what does this tell us about the path Carrie’s going down?

Here we have yet another shot where the camera is shooting Keane from slightly above. This angle further illustrates the tension (they are literally not seeing each other “eye to eye”) and power dynamics of their relationship. It’s clear that Keane does not see them as equals (nor should she, to be honest).

With each episode this season, Carrie is more isolated and alone. Here she’s locked inside a sterile and dark room all by herself, bolstering her current estrangement from anything resembling a normal life. These shots especially call back to the end of “Tower of David,” when she’s crouched and alone in her room in the hospital. The combination of these images, their heavy parallel to past seasons, and Carrie’s comment to Maggie about a “locked ward” leads to a potent sense of foreboding.

This is a totally gorgeous shot--the blue and red in the background and the way Carrie is lit from behind. Sometimes this show is really visually arresting.

Klick and Scali film Carrie and Dante here just as they shot Saul and O’Keefe earlier in the episode. The wide shot with both characters in frame suggests the same adversarial “standoff” stance, and yet the moment itself seems on the surface healing and supportive. Have we mentioned the show is giving us mixed messages about Dante?

We don’t have to remind you all of the parallels between this scene and the one with Carrie and Quinn at the end of “Still Positive,” but we will anyway. Even the shed in the back is red!

The final shot of the episode, an absolutely beautiful wide shot, again depicts both characters in frame. Dante looks over at Carrie while she stares straight ahead. And despite the light in the background (Quinn’s “light on the headlands, steering [her] clear of the rocks”?), Carrie is still shown in the dark. Again we must ask, is there more going on with Dante than she realizes?

The score used at the end of this episode was originally used at the end of “The Star” (and later at the end of “The Man in the Basement”) when Carrie draws a star on the wall for Brody. The use of it in this scene, along with the visual callbacks to a famous scene with Quinn, combine to form a strange and eerie amalgam of Carrie’s past romances. Brody’s music and Quinn’s words. Where does Dante fit into this equation and what is the show trying to say? For now, those remain open questions.

Finally, the colors in this last shot--red, white, and blue--feel symbolic. Carrie is forever fighting for the country she loves--the country she feels an innate duty to protect--even to her own detriment. In this episode alone she sacrifices her mental health, yet again, to continue on with this battle. As the bright lights illuminate the sky against a brilliant backdrop of the colors of the American flag, the music viewers have come to associate with loss, broken promises, and missed chances swells. 

Our freedom doesn’t come free. And Carrie has chosen her price.

ETA: Ashley would like us to point out that we missed the Clean & Clear in Josie’s cabinet and that cabinets are entirely her domain for all future reference. We deeply and sincerely apologize, Ashley.

#homeland #homelandedit #in the director's chair #michael klick #standoff #by: sara #by: gail #* #PHEW

[aion-rsa]

Iron Fist Season 3 Would Have Been its Peak, Says Finn Jones

https://ift.tt/3pdqQV9

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is fielding a massive multimedia transition with star-studded television projects—launched with the current run of Disney+ series WandaVision—complementing the studio’s theatrical slate. While that initiative has relegated its former small screen endeavor, the Netflix “Street Level” Marvel shows, to the proverbial bin of forgotten toys, Iron Fist star Finn Jones maintains that his nixed Netflix series would have completed a poignant arc, as he reveals with plot details for the never-realized third season.

Iron Fist, like continuity-connected cohorts Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, The Punisher and crossover team-up The Defenders, became the casualty of a shifting landscape when Disney decided to cut out the production and distribution middle men (namely Netflix,) and have Marvel Studios natively produce more directly-connected MCU television projects for its own Disney+ platform. However, Jones—also a Game of Thrones alumnus, who has since moved on to co-star on Apple TV+ series Dickinson—recently dished some intriguing details to Collider on what was planned for Danny Rand/Iron Fist for the show’s unrealized third season.

“I was so excited to get into that. It really was gonna be about Danny finally assuming the role of the Iron Fist, fully accomplished, fully charged up, and fully in control of his shit as well. It was gonna be this amazing story [with] Danny and Ward [Tom Pelphrey’s Ward Meachum] off in foreign lands as a buddy storyline almost,” explains Jones. “And then, you had Colleen [Jessica Henwick’s Colleen Wing] in New York, isolated with this new power, struggling to come to terms with her identity and with this power. At some point, we would have met again and probably formed this crazy power couple [or] superhero relationship.”

Pertinent to that notion, Jones confirms that Raven Metzner, who managed to turn things around as executive producer/showrunner for Season 2, had mapped out where things would be headed for Iron Fist Season 3, which he genuinely thought was moving forward. These plans were close to fruition before the dragon-heart-powered pilgrimage of his Danny Rand/Iron Fist officially came to an abrupt end in October 2018. It’s a shame, since the series—while unlikely to grace any Emmy categories—arguably managed to achieve a level of redemption and growth under Metzner in Season 2 after a meandering inaugural season by expanding its mystical martial arts mythology and having co-star Henwick’s Colleen Wing come into her own in an impressive, super-powered manner when she—as Jones mentioned—inherited Danny’s power of the Iron Fist.

Read more

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The series ended things in Season 2 with a teaser tag scene set in Japan, showcasing the Danny/Ward team in action, with Danny having inexplicably regained his Iron Fist powers—except now in both fists—which he channels through a pair pistols à la Dante from the Devil May Cry video games. Unfortunately, we’ll never get to see more of this buddy-movie-like dynamic. “It’s horrible. It’s like the death of a friend or a close family member,” laments Jones. “You’ve spent years building this other world within yourself and sharing this other person with the whole world. Usually, with films or plays, you get to see that arc through. There’s a journey. But with Iron Fist, it was like we just got to the peak. We were just getting there. We’d just turned the show around. We had just done so much great work, really getting the train back on the tracks.”

Interestingly enough, fans who have stuck by the legacy of the Marvel Netflix shows might just see a champion surface in the codified MCU, as implied by a recent rumor that Charlie Cox’s Daredevil will return on the big screen in the untitled Sony-produced franchise offering, Spider-Man 3, prospectively teaming the sonar-sensing Hell’s Kitchen hero with a fellow New Yorker in Tom Holland’s Wall-Crawler; a rumor that Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige somewhat teased when pressed for an answer. Yet, the potential multiverse implications of that film, along with what’s happening on WandaVision, and what could subsequently occur in the 2022-scheduled sequel, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, renders further speculation a rather perilous endeavor at the moment.

However, the DNA of mysticism and martial arts that Iron Fist specifically established for its abandoned MCU-adjacent territory could prospectively resurface on the big screen with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, which will see up-and-coming actor Simu Liu manifest as the character originated in Marvel’s Master of Kung Fu title in the 1970s. That film is currently scheduled to hit theaters on July 9, although that date might still be a tad too optimistic with the current rate of COVID vaccinations, and the fact that the film still conspicuously (in the middle of February,) hasn’t released an official photo, much less a trailer.

Marvel Comics

Indeed, the mythology of Shang-Chi will be immersed in a dynamic of mythical sorcery similar to Iron Fist, although, in this case, the titular hero—while believed to be the most skilled fighter in the Marvel Universe—does not possess any significant superpowers other than using his chi to perform near-superhuman feats. With such similar themes, the characters have obviously crossed paths in the pages of the comics, which opens interesting possibilities—especially if the rumored Daredevil Spider-Man 3 appearance primes the pump for more Netflix heroes to make the big screen jump.

While it’s doubtful that Finn Jones will be asked to reprise Iron Fist in any capacity, we could see characters and elements from Iron Fist imported to a prospective Shang-Chi sequel; something that could prove auspicious for the once-teased “Daughters of the Dragon” spinoff concept, in which Jessica Henwick’s Colleen Wing, Simone Missick’s Misty Knight and Rosario Dawson’s Claire Temple would have assembled the team from the pages of the Iron Fist comic and subsequent standalone titles. Indeed, the prospect of that trio being retained for a big screen appearance is better than Jones returning as Iron Fist, since that character would more likely be recast (and you can follow me down the rabbit hole of potential MCU implications on that concept).

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Nevertheless, Jones clearly retains a bittersweet recollection of his time as Marvel’s “Living Weapon” on the late Netflix series, a run that only consisted of two seasons of Iron Fist and one season of The Defenders. “Really, Season 3 just had so much promise and it’s a shame to see it squandered and never get to reach its full potential.” He continues, “And then, within three weeks of it being released, all of [the Marvel Netflix shows] were wiped out. It was sad. It was stunted. It felt like losing a dear friend. It’s just a shame. There’s not much else I can say.”

The post Iron Fist Season 3 Would Have Been its Peak, Says Finn Jones appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3rLh3Hg

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

[mosylufanfic]

Ooooh, how about from the '100 Ways to say I Love You' list, #33: "Close your eyes and hold out your hands," for Killervibe. Thank you and good luck!!!

NaNo prompt #4!

Mosylu, what on earth

Make a Wish (and count to three)

A thump out in the cortex jolted Cisco to wakefulness. He blinked once or twice and shook his head hard. He'd dozed off over his table. That was a bad habit. He should stop that. "Hello," he called out. "Who's out there?"

"It's me."

"Caitlin?" he said in surprise. "I thought you went home." She'd packed up an hour ago, making noises about getting to bed early. He'd felt pretty sure he wouldn't see her until well into the next day, but here she was.

She came up into his little lab. It took him a moment to realize what was different about her: she was smiling.

Awkwardly, self-consciously. It even looked a little forced. But she was actually smiling, for the first time since Ronnie's funeral, it seemed like. Two months of that blank expression and he'd gotten way too used to it.

"Hey," he said, blinking once or twice. "Hi. You forget something? Is coma guy awake? What's up?"

"I - um." She shifted her weight.

"What is it?"

She bit her lip. "Close your eyes and hold out your hands," she said.

His brows shot up. "Look, I had an older brother, and I went through elementary school too. Nothing good ever comes from a statement like that."

"Well, this time it will," she said, sounding a little more like her usual self. "Just do it."

He considered whether she was the type to play some nasty trick on him. Especially since all they had was each other. Wells was remote and distracted. Coma guy was . . . in a coma. There were days when Caitlin's face was the only one he saw, and the same for her.

He decided to trust her.

Something soft and weighty and sweet-smelling settled on his palms, and her hands cupped his. "Okay," she said. "you can open your eyes."

He did, and felt his jaw drop.

It was a cupcake. One of the fat red velvet ones from the awesome bakery three streets over from her apartment, with sprinkles on the top and a single skinny birthday candle stuck into the chocolate frosting.

"Happy birthday, Cisco."

"What? It's not - " He thought. "What day is it?"

"The fourteenth of January," she said, pointing at the clock and date on a nearby monitor. "You're twenty-three years old."

"Uh," he said. "Wow. That - I can't believe you remembered."

She shrugged a half-shrug. "I put it in my phone last year."

Last year. Last year, Ronnie had gathered everyone he could snag - including Caitlin, of course - and taken Cisco out for a raucous dinner and bar hopping. A hole gaped wide in his heart for the friend who wasn't here anymore.

He looked up and could tell she was feeling the same way.

She forced a smile again. "I noticed on my way home and I figured you were probably still here, so I went to Cameron's."

His eyes burned and his throat went thick. He'd forgotten it was even coming up. Days just blurred together now. Maybe that was why his mama had called around lunchtime, and his godfather later on, and even Dante had texted him something he hadn't bothered reading.

He'd just figured he'd missed some important moment of Dante's glittering life and was getting yelled at.

Maybe he had. Whatever. He'd wait until tomorrow to listen.

Her smile had seeped away, like rainwater into concrete. "Do you like it?"

"This is amazing," he said. "Caitlin. Wow. Thank you." He set the cupcake down on his table and hugged her. She hugged him back - another rarity these days.

She let him go quickly and said, "You have to light it. And we have to sing."

He found a tiny butane torch and lit the candle. He pursed his lips and she slapped her hand over his mouth. "Not yet!"

He smiled against her palm as she sang "Happy Birthday" off-key and wobbly, but gamely. She didn't drop her hand until she'd warbled the last note, two or three pitches away from where she'd started. "Make a wish," she said then.

So many wishes. So many.

He thought, I want things to get better, and blew out the candle. Together, they watched the thin thread of smoke tendril up from the wick and disappear.

"Got a knife?" he said.

"Why?"

"Well, unless you want to pass this back and forth, trading bites and spit - "

"Cisco! That's your birthday cupcake."

"Exactly. Birthday cake is meant to be shared. Knife?"

She looked like she would protest again, but the red velvet cupcakes from Cameron's were really, really good. She rummaged around his desk, found some packages of plastic takeout utensils, and ripped one open for the knife.

He cut the cupcake in half and even found paper towels to put the two halves on. They ate standing up over his lab table, going, Oh my god, and So good, how are these so good, what does he put in them?

She smiled at him again, and it looked actually real this time, not forced. He wasn't going to say anything stupid and schmoopy in his head like, it was the best birthday present he'd ever gotten.

But, you know. It was up there.

FINIS

#Cisco Ramon #Caitlin Snow #Killervibe #fanfiction #mosylufanfic lives up to her damn name #NaNo prompts #the flash #shasta627

[fangirlingnextgen]

⤛  t h e   r o y a l   t o u r   g u i d e ⤜

- Galice -

“Do you like grilled cheese?” he asks once we’re in the kitchen and I almost laugh.

“Cheese, in general, is appreciated.”

He chuckles back, walking over to the cabinets, and then, fridge to get what he needs. I watch his back leaning on the counter. Part of me still wonders why he’s even hanging out with me, what we’re even doing, but I needed the distraction.

Even now my hand absently touches the cast around my arm. I know Dante feels guilty sometimes when he sees me, which should be enough to remind me he cares–that all of those intrusive thoughts are nothing but that, intrusive–yet doubt still lingers on the corners of my mind. What if the maids are still right about me? That’s the reason Fitz almost found me crying in the hallway in the first place.

I replace the thoughts with hunger and keep the conversation going. “How good are you? Because I’m very demanding about grilled cheese.”

He smiles, beginning to work on our food, “I’ll do my best miss.”

For some reason, the word “miss” sounds different coming from his lips. Polite and formal as he is, yet still sweet somehow. Of course, it’s a stupid feeling. It’s just a word and it can’t possibly be important to him in any way. He’s just not used to using my name.

I peek over his shoulder to see him work and I think I see his shoulders tense as he focuses on the cooking. It’d be awkward if I stepped back abruptly though, so I keep watching, just shifting slightly and hoping it doesn’t really bother him.

“Uh- Almost done..” he says and I step back to go for two plates.

“Smells like it.”

Am I making him nervous? I shake my head at the thought as I walk back to him and place the plates next to the pan to put a sandwich on each one. After, I take them both to the counter and sit down to examine my own. I poke it to feel how crusty the bread is and he leans on the counter to reach for his sandwich and take a bite, “I’m not poisoning you.”

“Shush, it’s part of the inspection,” I mumble, opening the two lids of the sandwich to see the melting cheese slowly stretching. It looks as good as it smells. I pick it up and softly crush it under my fingers before finally taking a bite. He shakes his head, grinning. “Not dead yet I see…Damn, it didn’t work.”

“I must be immune.” I smile, both at his joke and how good this grilled cheese actually is. Mom would love him for this sandwich.

“Really? Hmm… Interesting…because only some are strong enough to be immune.”

I follow his game and say, “Are you implying I’m special?”

“You’re not gonna imply that yourself,” he says, taking another bite from his food, almost sounding like a complaint.

I shrug. “I’m just your average, everyday royal.”

“Yeah sure,” he chuckles.

“Was that sarcasm?”

“So you’re not too average to notice that? Could it be, you’re not average at all?”

“Wow, I recognize sarcasm.” I say, rolling my eyes, yet smiling, “what a trait to define non-averageness.”

“That’s not all but..” he shakes his head, stopping himself and part of me wonders what else he could mean. “Take it or leave it, Princess.”

He finishes his sandwich and goes to wash his plate at the sink, I follow suit a few minutes later, asking for him to give me the sponge so I can clean mine. Instead of doing that, however, he takes the plate to wash it himself.

“You don’t have to-” I begin but he stops me with a nod at the towel nearby, smirking.

“Don’t worry, you can dry them.”

“Oh…fair enough then.”

I take the towel and it reminds me of visiting uncle David. Washing plates at his house always ends up with some sort of improvised musical number. Thinking of that I end up humming softly and swaying slightly as I dry the first dish and when Fitz hands me the second one a few seconds later I notice a smile on his lips before he clears his throat and corrects himself.

“So uh…We can cross kitchen off the tour.”

“I’d say so yes. What do you want to see next?” I ask when I’m done drying the second dish and placing it back where it goes. He shrugs before taking a little bow.

“You’re the tour-guide miss.”

I’m unable to stop myself from giggling at the word for some reason now. His bow isn’t a sign of respect, but a somewhat endearing gesture for a joke. I realize maybe that’s what he’s trying to do. Cheer me up. The question is: why?  

I try to pick our next spot for the tour at the same time my head tries to figure out an answer to that pressing question. When I finally settle with the music room he gestures for me to walk in front of him with a smile.

“Lead the way.”

I open the doors dramatically and let him get a glimpse inside.

“This is it!”

Taking a look around, he smiles at me and says, “My guess is you like this place.”

I can’t hold back a smirk as I get in the room filled with instruments. Dad has never been into music like mom’s family is, but he always told us when we were younger it was the room with the best acoustics in the palace. Fitz isn’t wrong, this space does hold a lot of memories. Sometimes I still come here by myself to enjoy the silence before I enjoy the decent enough music I can play.

“My mom has always loved music. It used to be an important part of her life before she married Dad.. and even after marrying. In a way, we all grew up with the fascination for it too, even if we didn’t indulge in it.”

“You play anything?” he asks with a head tilt.

“I think pretty much all of us know how to play the piano.”

“The whole family?” He seems amazed by the fact. “That’s impressive.”

“Thanks. Collin prefers listening to music over playing it and Adara is a better singer than a musician–though you can’t tell anyone about that– but I guess managing to get four kids to learn how to play is still impressive.”

“How about you? What do you prefer?”

“I love feeling the beat and melody, be it while playing or listening. Both have gratifying aspects to them… But since I’m usually busy with other things I listen more than play.”

He nods at the piano. “We can pause the tour for a short time maybe? Will you-uh..will you play something for me?”

I blink in surprise. No one’s ever asked me that. No one outside of my family that is. “You want to hear me play?” I notice Fitz blushes even more at the question. Great, you’re making him uncomfortable. He’s just being nice. To fix it I quickly add with a nervous smile, “I mean… sure, we can do that.”

It seems he regrets making the suggestion, awkwardly replying, “You don’t have to..I just thought since- well, I just thought it would be nice?”

“It’s okay!“ I say, too quickly. "Don’t worry about it. It is.”  

As I walk over to the piano I do tell him I’m not the best and point out there’s not much I can do with only one hand, but he brushes my concern aside with a smile as he leans on the piano and points out he can’t play at all.

It makes me a bit nervous even if I’ve played in public before. I’m not sure if it’s the usual pressure I feel or something else, because of him. Either way, I place my hand on the piano without giving it much more thought and take a deep breath. I pray not to mess up too bad. It’ll be a bit harder to play with only one hand if I’m mostly relying on muscle memory–not using both hands could make me mix up. Still, I start the simple melody with my right hand, ignoring my fear and repeating the same three notes over and over again in the right rhythm.  

B, C#, F#.

I skip some of the repetitions of that to get further into the song since at the beginning the right hand only repeats those same notes. I bite my lip to focus on what my other hand would normally do, a way to remember the correct hand movements for the one limb I’m using. Eventually, I sway my head to the melody, slightly nodding to myself as I hit the right keys and pace.

I make a few mistakes with it, I’m sure, but I don’t stop. When I glance briefly at my one-man audience I see Fitz smiling with his eyes closed, enjoying the song even if it’s incomplete. I’m glad his eyes are closed because I feel warmth rise up my cheeks as I stare back at my hand. I feel his eyes on me again a while later, but don’t dare meet his gaze as I play the last part of the song, my hand jumping to different keys quickly before returning to the first three notes.

“That was awesome!” He claps with a wide smile and I blush even more, my ears feeling warm soon enough. Out of habit, I place a strand of hair behind my ear, even if I should hide how red it probably is. I won’t stop myself from thanking him with a shy smile though. “Glad you liked it.”

He only stares at me for another beat, like he realized something great, but then he shakes his head and clears his throat. “Yeah, it was cool. You should find more time to play instead of giving all these tours miss.”

I laugh, ignoring the heat in my face. “Maybe I should, but then I wouldn’t have any spectators.”

“That’s a good point yes.” He scratches the back of his head, awkwardly. “Since you will be a famous pianist someday… do you- Could I uh, call you by your real name?”

He seems so uncertain of what my answer will be it’s almost cute. “I doubt I’ll be famous, but you can call me by name, I really don’t mind…you do know my name, right?”

“Yes!” He smiles brightly and I tilt my head, smiling back at his sudden enthusiasm for something so simple. In his normal voice, he adds, “Yes, Galice.”

I’m not sure why I feel that relentless blush still creeping up my cheeks at what just happened, it’s not like it was that important, but it feels like so. “Yes. Some people call me Gal, but either is fine with me.”

“I’ll just try if I can get the formal things like ‘miss’ and 'Princess’ out,” he chuckles.

“That would be good,” I grin, but part of me also wonders if I want him to stop calling me ‘miss’ occasionally. I’m pretty sure I like how it sounds now.

He shifts on his feet and I notice his cheeks turn a soft red as well.  “Great…So uh, what’s next?”

I only stare at him for a moment in silence as he places his hands behind his back and avoids my gaze. My mind still refuses the idea of me making him nervous, but it feels like that’s what’s happening. I clear my throat and say, “Uh… There’s the gym. I do fencing there.”

“Good, good, let’s uh let’s go there.”

I stand up probably a bit too quickly and laugh awkwardly, knowing my blush won’t leave soon. “Off we go then.”

When I head for the door I look over my shoulder to make sure he is following and indeed he is, but for some reason, he frowns at the floor like he’s trying to solve a puzzle and mutters, “Yes, off we go..”

“So..” I search for something to fill the silence. “Do you like what you’ve seen so far?”

“Eh…yeah sure. I uh- haven’t been out of my room enough I notice.”

“Weren’t you curious?”

“Not as far as the kitchen and library?” He smiles again, sheepishly. I laugh.

“Only the important things must be considered, I see. You should explore more often.” I nudge him playfully before staring back ahead, sure my blush definitely won’t leave if I keep this up.

Fitz scoffs softly, but not actually offended. “Why? I’m doing fine now.”

“Hmm, true, you got a royal to give you the tour. A smart guy like I said before.” He chuckles. “No, I mean- yes, but I did not mean to…”

“You won’t fool me!” I cut him off teasingly and he shakes his head.

“No, I- You are just-… A good tour guide.”

“So you admit you picked me to be your tour guide?”

He smiles sadly. “Guilty.”

I nudge him again. “I’m just joking.”

“Yeah, I know.. I just wanted to cheer you I guess.”

Means I was right. I look away at the realization, unsure of why it makes me more flustered. “Oh, I uh, t-thanks…That’s really nice of you…”

He clears his throat, coughing. “Yeah well, it’s no big deal… So uh you do fencing a lot then?

“I like fencing with my siblings. They’re a lot better than me though,” I admit after clearing my throat too.

“You’re fighting with swords and you’re still standing, you can’t be that bad?”

We smirk at each other before I correct him. “Not swords. Foils.”

“Swords makes it sound cooler,” he says, waving a hand in dismissal, “take advantage of that miss- Gal.”

I roll my eyes ignoring the smile that tugs at my lips as he finally uses my name. “Of course, we wouldn’t like to diminish its coolness,” I ask then if he practices any sport and apparently working at the docks is the closest thing to a workout he can think of. “Docks, huh? How’s that?”

“Fishy,” he smirks and I narrow my eyes at him.

“I’m seriously asking now.”

“Okay okay.” He puts his hands up in surrender. “It’s fine. The people work hard and are friendly, even if I’d love to improve the hygiene, and it pays.”

“Hmm, hygiene how?”

“Diseases spread easily, especially at a place like the docks. The people there mostly didn’t get educated during the times of the castes and don’t really know about health.”

“Oh..” I stare at the hallway. “Yeah… That’s sad to hear. It’s too bad we can’t fix everything as quickly as one would hope.” But dad still works on it every day with other councilmen, that I know. A million projects can be made to improve what was ruined with years of the caste system. It sadly can’t be as fast as one would hope, however.

As we walk his hand brushes softly against mine and I feel all my senses come to life, suddenly aware of everything around me. I try to not give it importance even if I’m sure my ears are bright red, but Fitz is quick to put both hands behind his back after that.

You’re embarrassing him, Gal, stay away.

I push the thought aside so it won’t get the better of me and focus on his next words. “Not everything is the responsibility of the Palace. People like to blame them so they don’t have to take action themselves.” He frowns a little, staring at the hallway too and I’m a bit intrigued by that.

“Usually people don’t think that.”

“Royals are merely human too,” he says with a sweet smile and that makes appreciation flourish in my chest. Not everyone remembers that always. Not even our staff.

“Thank you.”

“Oh I didn’t mean you,” he teases, a grin on his face now. “You’re a tour guide, that’s a whole other level.”  

I let a giggle escape me as I reply, “Right, I’m special. Almost forgot.”

Can’t be sure if he finds my giggling amusing or it’s something else, but he keeps smiling. I hope for a good reason.

“Don’t you dare forget it, miss.”

“Galice, remember?” I correct.

“Right, right! Sorry, I’ll get it.”

p [gonna write the arm stuff soon] ↛ n [the rest of galitz tour]

#rip ok here it is now #galice #galitz #fitz

[pinksweatergettingbetter]

aight

lets ends this

-

i love that he's still trying to cheer her up with her terrible crossover idea

phoenix is such a sweetie

-

“...so we may put this dead lawyer walking out of his misery”

hear hear 

just kill me already

-

“she's now slain two high level clergymen...”

one of which was a confirmed rebel but HEY whatever ITS NOT LIEK YOU KILL THEM IN GENERAL ANYWAY

who gives a fuck this trial is janked

-

“bahlgilpo’kon hell- the realm of eternal agony”

wow eternal agony is the bottom hell??? thats like the first hell in dante’s hells; youre soft as runny shit kooraheenism.

-

“there she will suffer the endless punishment of ja’gar by the galuun of Puhlmo’ten.”

SUBTITLES PLEASE 

-

he was killed during the rite but they only found his body like two days later?!?!

what the fuck!?

...and wait a fucking second, he wasnt there when we were fucking investigating BULLSHIT

BUUULLLLLSSSHHHIIIIIIT!!!

-

two consecutive murders constitutes a serial killer??

-

every time sadmad sighs and shakes his head i lose a year of my life

-

Rayfa’s voice is so fucking unfitting; she’s got the voice of a 30 year old woman and she’s supposed to be a whiny-ass 14 year old

do these people know anything about casting??

is it really that hard to get a 14 year old to say a few lines? i was voice acting (not professionally obvs) when i was 14. i sucked, but i was doing it, and there’ve been younger kids working on real shows.

anyway 

-

welp looks like this mcfuck is using a fake name

someone get on that

-

I'm sorry you’re surrounded by such incompetence, Rayfa. and i mean that. i like you now, youre kinda funny.

-

phoenix: plus, yesterday, someone told me how the divination seance used to work

phoenix fucking sucks at keeping secrets jesus christ holy fuck just SHUT UP ABOUT THE REBELS YOU MORON

-

if he says let it go and move on again I'm going to fucking scream

-

“haha! the police overlooked the clergy tattoo on the back of his neck!”

directly below the stab wound. the clergy tattoo. that has significance in their country.

Why do the Kooraheen Police suck so much ass? They can’t catch a running suspect, and apparently they’re all blind.

-

HOW DOES THE JUDGE NOT FUCKING KNOW A RELIGIOUS SYMBOL FROM HIS OWN FUCKING RELIGION?!?!?

-

[insert nahyuta eats (peach emoji)ass joke]

-

“aren't they utterly different shapes?”

...a... peach... and an upside down peach?!

nahyuta 

im gonna blow your mind

this is called a handstand, here, do it with me

-

lazy ass parents naming their kid “real name”

fuck this joke country

this is some ‘who's on first’ bullshit

-

RAYFA LUSTS FOR BLOOD

-

yeah it was freezing on that mountain, of course your estimate was wrong.

i knew this was coming...

-

hebLINDED HER WITH SCIENCE

BEEP BA BOO BA

-

“this article is small in size but huge in importance!”

just like my d––

-

How... did this work? They did a great job of hiding that wound...

also no blood at the “scene of the crime”

yeah not suspicious at all

-

once again the prosecution blames the detective for something they couldn’t have helped :/

GUARD YOUR ASSHOLE EMA, GUARD YOUR ASSHOLE

HOLY SHIT

INSERT REFERENCE TO ABOVE PEACH JOKE

-

loud ass clock inside a secret hideout? good one, rebels. super well done.

-

ahhhh

now that is clever. i like that

although, considering the length of that statue’s beak, he should’ve been impaled right through his body, so.....

you were close, SOJ

glad to see more clever twists though. 

-

game ruins everything with blatant hints

-

there are other cases where they can tell when two weapons have been used on the same wound

why cant they tell now?

-

stone sharp enough to cut skin??

-

your hideout is fucking death trap

good going rebels

-

youre using serial killer wrong... again

-

thats a lie, nobody likes swiss cheese

-

LAY OFF CHEESE YOU PIECE OF SHIT

ILL RIP YOUR ASS OUT

-

“what you said is total bullshit!! heres what happened; this, this this. and since I said it ,its true! without any proof!!! SO THERE”

-

phoenix: VALID POINT!

sadmad: bullshit excuse

judge: sounds legit, overruled!

-

“jeez just toss me an Axe if its that bad...”

-

“plotting your escapee from this sacred hall?”

yeah well just run out

-

“you would pin a crime upon the dead, who you know tell no tales?”

uh

did you just forget the whole

soul pool thing or

are you just stupid

-

aw baby here we go

-

stop saying 30% you dont know shit

-

oh my god

whoa whats he doing with the magatama

-

“wait... i think i saw something just now...”

what, phoenix

what did you see, hmm?

-

“the power of prayer! yes... it uh... helps you... install listening devices in your secrets base uuhhhhhh...ITS NOT WEIRD

-

“She has a way of putting me at ease...”

(weeps) my babies

-

(sigh) its the wife, get on with it

-

“long years of ascetic training have sharpened my ears”

god the training is more useful to Athena than it is Maya. this is depressing.

-

make like a mollusc and clam up??? who says that???????

-

boy you sure fuckin suck at this Mr. Inmee

-

judging by that KAAHHH Tahrust should have a deep voice, and DD had a deeper male voice blip... why aren't they using it? they've already implemented singing blips and tutting blips, did they forget about the extra deep blips?

or are those reserved for demons?

he is a ghost...

-

...how far along is behleeb anyway? either I'm blind or the sprite artist forgot to give her a baby bump.

hey yeah! she's barely pregnant! her character art shows that! so its not so much of a stretch that she could be running around killing rebels. Plus, she hasn’t been pregnant for two years...

...of course, its not her, it’s rUHEEL NAYMUH, but still. she’s not far along enough to be inconvenienced by her child. 

-

potato potahto tomahto egg salad!!

stop praying at me, nahyuta.

-

dont you fucking dare...

dont you even fucking dare

-

THEY DARED

I SWEAR TO FUCK

i swear to fuck 

so. youre gonna blame maya. for the actions. of YOUR OWN GODDESS. 

WHO’S GREAT AND POWERFUL AND MYSTICAL AND WISE AND PERFECT.... UNLESS SHE’S BEING CHANNELED BY A DIRTY FOREIGNER?

i just i cannot express how angry this makes me. it doesn’t make any fucking sense and it’s complete and utter hypocrisy. it’s even worse than before;  before they were suggesting that the person dressed as Lady Kee’ra was killing rebels in her name, if it wasn’t outright her. Now they’re suggesting it was LITERALLY HER, and remember, these people are UBER RELIGIOUS, and they still have a problem with THEIR IMMORTAL GODDESS IN THE FLESH exacting her divine punishment against people THAT ARE HARMING THEIR COMMUNITY ANYWAY???

yes, vigilantism is dangerous. but it gets a little more fucking complicated when you suggest that it’s the legit actions of an ACTUAL GODDESS.

and even if this is the corrupt government just trying to cover up deaths (which it is) why didn’t they just step in and go “Yeah, another Lady Kee’ra murder. All hail the marvellous goddesses. er diarrhoea kooraheen.”

it would be a lot easier and a lot less messy than taking a kid to court. why do they even want Maya out of the way, anyway? She didn’t know any of the rebels, and she posed no threat to their corrupt government. Yeah, Zealot’s dead, but they literally could have just hired another crazy assassin. 

Unless there’s a REAL GOOD FUCKIN REASON for all of this, I call bullshit, bullshit bULLSHIT

-

i think it’s time to let your head go and move on to another room sadmad

at the same time

-

...plus they legit just forgot their own lore.

maya can’t summon Kee’ra if she doesn’t know what she looks like.

that was so easy i didnt have to even press on statements; thats how easy that contradiction is. thats how easy it is to remember something stated five minutes ago, and how easy it is to remember how your own religion works. you fuckhats.

-

oh hey i just realized Tahrust really does call Behleeb his “lovely wife” 

aw. how nice. if only they didnt decide to scapegoat maya.

doesn't matter your intentions; you die if you scapegoat maya. you die by my blade.

-

you ok pal. is an alarm clock really the source of an evil laugh.

-

“indeed! we leave the alarm switched off at all times!”

why would you even have a clock with an alarm on it in a secret base anyway?? and how did phoenix manage to play it in the hideout if the alarm was switched off? 

-

“those distinctive taiko drums”

fuckin’ finally

ive been waiting for that stupid watch to come back for AAAGEES

of course there was a reason maya would mention traditional japanese instruments...

-

y’know it’s funny that he would even make that fuckup in the first place. if he’s a plumed punisher fan, he should know how the theme song goes. his wife was at least a big fan, meaning he’d probably have heard the opening enough times to know that Taiko drums weren’t part of it. Furthermore, if he was banking on the fact that the two themes sound similar to pass off the deception, then it was a huge mistake on his part to define the sound as Taiko drums; thats just a needless detail that could get him caught out, which it did. 

and if he just didn’t know, well... again, useless detail. always bad. always be vague if you wanna get away with shit.

-

ah... at least in death, Raheel Namer didn’t have to suffer the Plumed Punisher theme song.

-

i love that phoenix refers to the show by it’s full title. that’s adorable.

-

now what’s really confusing me is that that Photo of the fam is stated to have been taken during the Feast of whatever. Which is the same time-frame as Reely Real Name’s death. He’s alive in the photo, Behleeb is in the photo, and the Judge and his family are nowhere to be found. But all those things were huge parts of the case, and they couldn’t have eaten before or after because of the whole ‘you can only eat Ghingil for three hours on that one special day’.

am I missing something or going nuts??

that said I'm so glad i can finally present this photo. it’s been gnawing at me as much as the watch thing.

-

“trademark topknot”

-

OH PLEASE JUST LET IT END

ffjglk dlg ljlgkd   hey Tahrust do me a solid and just tell them how you died ok 

please i have a family

i have stomach ulcers

-

oh

off-brand logic 

i totally forgot that was in this game too

-

wow.

“hmm, there’s really nothing to suggest a murder other than the red water in the spring, which only Maya would see and probably not question (considering this isn’t her religion and she doesn’t fuckin know how that shit works) and said spring probably empties somewhere, since it would be swampy otherwise. let’s see... i can KILL MYSELF TO GIVE THE RED WATER A REASON FOR EXISTING or do literally anything else... WELP, BETTER FUCKIN KILL MYSELF. ALL HAIL THE REBELS!”

...well at least he saved maya from contracted a blood disease.

-

tahrust must be pissed that his death came to naught when his own rebel pals gave the secret key to a guy who sold them out in five seconds.

never gets to meet his child... never gets to see the revolution come to fruition... never gets to live happily with his family... all because he couldn’t think of any other solution to protecting that shitty hovel behind a rock.

kinda tragic.

wish i was less angry

-

“there was no weapon at the inner sanctum...”

did everyone just forget the giant bloody murder statue???

-

pohl’fuckya sadmad

-

babe... oh no... don’t give yourself up like this

thats sad

dont 

i feel the sad now

shit

-

“abbot inmee!! summon a physician at once!!’

HES DEAD

WAY TO RUIN THE MOMENT WITH UNINTENTIONAL COMEDY DUMBASS

-

“but murder sanctioned by the crown is still murder”

what’s murder sanctioned by a goddess? apparently you guys are ok with that one. oh unless it’s a goddess being channeled by a foreigner.

soerry im bitter about that one moving on now

-

he lunged at you from behind the stone slab?? nice trajectory moron

-

hang on a second he put reereenaymee’s body in the plaza before prayer time... with the dagger still in him??

HOW DID NOBODY NOTICE THE FUCKING DAGGER

-

“you need not frame the accused for your crime”

for once Sadmad says something smart

-

honestly... suicide really wasn’t the answer. even if it was to protect your wife there were,,,,, so many other options

for example, realname’s last moments, as we saw, made it look like he was killed in the Plaza of devotion. You could have so easily made it look like he was murdered there, by some rando, during the rite. The kooraheen police fucking suck at their job, so it wouldn’t matter. but no; you had to die, and blame Maya.... because she was foreign. A foreigner who came to you for guidance and shelter. 

-

STOP AGREEING WITH ME SADMAD, I DONT LIKE YOU

-

“You must use your law powers to make sure no more innocent people suffer under this shitty law!!

...like Maya did!! .......because of me!!

-

i love that the excuse is like “there’s no way she could prove it was self defence in this government...” to make it all tear-jerking and point out how horrible and corrupt their legal system is...

...and yet, if we remember Reunion and Turnabout, which also included channeling and self defence... It was EQUALLY impossible for Maya to be cleared of the crime on self-defence charges!!

pot calling the kettle black, japanifornia!

-

“lol sorry for almost getting you killed cause i couldn't think of a better plan than kill myself”

yea thanks tahrust, coo-al

-

“I ask that you look after my wife”

er she’s... going to jail... she’s... been outed as a rebel... you do get that right

-

fuck you Tahrust, you made her cry

-

“now you can watch over me from the world beyond”

he cant actually, since they retconned spirits being conscious in the afterlife. good going, capcom.

-

oh man that cutscene was goofy. except for the crying

fuck you Tahrust

-

Maya: :D hOW y'all doin?!

also according to maya Tahrust didnt leave any regrets behind which means that he totally gives no fucks that his dumbass plan endangered Maya’s life and made his wife cry. Dick.

He doesn't even regret missing the birth of his fuckin child. Ass.

-

Sadmad: I owe a debt to you, one that I will return––

Me: Eat a rotten egg.

Sadmad: Wha-–

Me: Go on, master of putrescence. Eat a whole rotten egg. Consume it shell and all. You heard me. Insert the egg into your mouth and chomp down. Times ticking, I’m waiting.

-

i forgot about the stupid butterflies

-

“So I was thinking, Nick, the legal system here is really stacked agains the defence! It’s really unfair!”

YA DONT SAY

-

listen to this happy music playing as everyone is forced to come to terms with all this sad ass shit. also it appears we just forgot about that tiny matter of the government literally putting hits out. Rayfas dad. is doing this. Nobody gonna address that?? No? Ok

-

Maya: QUIT BEINA LIL BITCH

wait what 

what is this new sprite

eurhg i dont like it put it away

thats not maya thats a husk of evil

-

wow. rayfa didnt even know why maya was here training. the bullshit continues to flow...

-

Maya: deciding what is true and what is false for your people...

the actual truth and lies, right? RIGHT? MAYA???

-

ergh this is so... corny? schlocky? it feels forced

-

“Sorry for almost getting you killed anyway VIVE LA REVOLUTION”

-

Yay! It’s vore man!! i kinda missed his stretchy face.

-

oh well that

thats just a really anticlimactic reveal of Dhurke

like tada! there he is! and he's gone! whatever; he's just been talked about in hushed whispers for the last case or w/e!

-

awww the bailiff thinks he can catch a running rebel!! so cute~

-

“The Steel Samurai vs Dhurke the Rebel!”

MAYA. THE LAST FIVE MINUTES WERE DEVOTED TO EXPLAINING THAT THE REBELS ARE THE GOOD GUYS. WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM???

-

i love that they keep hammering in that “maya has stayed maya”

see guys??? dont you just feel the magic of the trilogy??? ITS THERE GUYS WE SWEAR

-

Welp, thats it for that case. Now back to America, to visit Athena and BK, and hopefully to read a more enjoyable storyline...

#sulking over SOJ #soj spoilers #soj spoilers obvs]

[themermaidstar]

Amihan and Ybrahim: A Love Twice Interrupted

So we all know by now that the actress of Amihan, Kylie Padilla, is now 3-months pregnant with her now-fiancè’s baby, and how it has changed the whole ball game of Encantadia. As a result, Amihan was killed off, sacrificing herself to save her loved ones, leaving behind her three sisters, her daughters, her beloved, and her legacy.

Thus was the end of a fictional love story that has barely begun, that is the tragic love story between the Prince of Sapiro and the Queen of Lireo. At least for now, it has reached a stop, with very little assurance of moving forward.

We all knew from the very beginning that YbraMihan was never the intended canon of the show, thanks to the original 2005 run of Encantadia, wherein as every Enca fan knows, Ybarro and Alena’s love story was a prominent element to the whole show with the tagline “Pag-Ibig Hanggang Wakas”.

I have mentioned several times in my Enca posts and comments that I was a big fan of AleBarro during the original run, and why shouldn’t I be?

Their love for each other has been one of the main focuses of the story, Ybarro and Alena’s love for each other never wavered even when several obstacles stood their way, not to mention the actors themselves were in a relationship back then. It was the perfect, dreamy love story that came from fairy tales.

One of the foils? Alena’s older sister, Amihan, who also happens to be the main character and the mother of his child through Emre’s blessing, had also fallen in love with Ybarro.

While Ybarro back then did not display any clear confirmation regarding his feelings for her, Amihan on the other hand could not help but fall for her sister’s lover, albeit unintentionally, and had not loved another man throughout her whole life.

Fortunately for Alena, Amihan loves her sister and cares about her happiness more than her own desires. This also stems from the fact that she is Queen of Lireo, a highly-esteemed position which strictly does not allow her to marry.

And I will admit myself that back then, I was never one who favors the protagonists in a lot of shows. So I was glad that for once, the “prince” did not end up with the main protagonist, a welcome change from typical Filipino teleseryes.

11-year-old me didn’t understand that it wasn’t because Amihan’s the main protagonist that she deserved the “prince”, but because of the genuine development they had as they stayed by each others’ side.

Amihan was willing to sacrifice even her own life to bring joy and safety to her family and kingdom, and that is exactly what she did in tonight’s episode.

Thus, Amihan and Ybrahim’s love story did not come to fruitition during the 2005 run, and we will never know if their love story would’ve truly blossom had Amihan given in to her desires and gave Ybrahim a chance to freely fall in love with her.

It can be argued that even back then, YbraMihan had attracted more fans than AleBarro did despite the outcome. Why the writers did not lean towards the majority of the fans’ clamors, we’ll never know for sure.

So as soon as the requel started, the fans did not hold any hope for Ybarro and Amihan becoming canon, and understandably so. Why would they subject themselves to pain when they know that it was never meant to be in the first place?

I’m also going to take a wild guess and say that perhaps one of the reasons why Ruru Madrid was chosen to play Ybarro aside from being part of the GabRu love team was because he was still a fairly young, teenage actor who couldn’t possibly have that much chemistry with the older, more experienced actress like Kylie.

Even during their first meeting in the dream, I did not feel that certain spark between them unlike Iza Calzado and Dingdong Dantes back in the day, who even I admitted had great chemistry despite not shipping them.

Unfortunately, I did not feel the powerful spark between Alena and Ybarro the way I did with Karylle and Dingdong. Perhaps it was because of how their first meeting was executed, it seemed a little too teeny-bopper and, frankly, cringe-worthy for me. Their following scenes after that did not help at all. Karylle and Dingdong’s version had a certain maturity along with their natural chemistry. Gabbi and Ruru did not have it, at least in my eyes it didn’t on this show. And that for me was one of the biggest disappointments I had in the beginning of the requel, because I expected the most from them.

So for awhile, I did not actively ship anyone during the requel, nor did I follow the show religiously because I didn’t like some of the changes made into the story and the vast introductions of many new characters. I casually shipped AleBarro just because they were the main couple and for sentimental reasons.

There’s also the fact that Ybarro and Amihan were given some sort of tension against each other that the original did not have. In this new run, Amihan found out about Ybarro being her child’s father, knowing that he is also Alena’s lover. So she asked him to leave them alone, he begrudgingly followed her orders and ended his relationship with Alena. At that moment, I disliked Amihan even more, adding to the fact that I initially wasn’t impressed with Kylie’s acting.

Then here comes the Fall of Lireo, wherein Amihan was betrayed and dethroned and was forced to go into hiding. And who was with her during that difficult time? Lo and behold, it was Ybarro.

It was during that “Almost Kiss” episode that I began to fall for their pairing. I saw the spark that wasn’t there before the fall. I didn’t understand how it came to this at first, since I did skip some episodes, but I was alarmed at how my heart jumped as Amihan and Ybarro drew closer to each other.

Like, since when did Ybarro actually have romantic feelings for Amihan? How did it happen? Why do they suddenly have this undeniable chemistry between them?

As I went back a few episodes, I realized how these two have become each others’ support, how they shared their grief about their personal failures with each other, how they began to set aside their past tensions and understand each other instead. Most of all, they helped each other grow in ways they didn’t expect they needed. They were nothing but genuine to each other, and better yet, the natural flow of their relationship and their explosive chemisty held that maturity that GabRu’s AleBarro lacked.

And while it was short, it was beautiful to watch.

So then began my hope for them to become canon and my abandonment of the AleBarro ship. And to my relief, the writers began listening to the majority and turned the story towards an YbraMihan endgame instead of the original AleBarro endgame.

The slow burn, the will-they-or-won’t-they moments, the insecurity of having Alena return because Ybarro might return to her just like that, the growing love they had for each other that they tried to discourage, the way they genuinely supported each other when the other needed help, the happy family moments with Lira… the journey of YbraMihan gave me that sort of excitement that I haven’t felt in a long time for Filipino love teams.

But first, let me explain why I dislike fixed Filipino Love Teams. When a certain popular pairing are given a show of their own, you know that no matter what the struggles are, whether their development in reality would no longer be healthy nor realistic, that certain love team will still end up together in the end. Even if there was a third (or fourth) party who had grown to have a healthier connection with the main protagonist, most of the time they are friendzoned or turned into a secretly evil psychopath who would desperately do anything to steal the protagonist’s love.

Fortunately, Amihan and Ybrahim, or rather Kylie and Ruru, are not that kind of love team. In fact, for a long time their pairing was not recognized or given credit by both the actors and the station itself, perhaps out of respect for the original and intended love team. Fans had to fight hard and struggle to make their love for YbraMihan and the pairing’s worth recognized, and just a month ago, we finally had that validity.

In the story, Alena realized that Ybrahim and Amihan are in love with each other, thus she let him go which finally gave them the chance to follow their true heart’s desire, and therefore a chance to finally accomplish the love story they deserved in the original run. Despite being Queen, Amihan slowly began to outwardly show her affections to Ybrahim, just as much as how Ybrahim finds it harder to leave her side.

And then that accidental kiss happened, thanks to their “pasaway” but good-intentioned daughter Lira. That sealed the deal, and with the following “lechon” moments thanks to Direk Mark, who’s become quite close with the YbraMihan fans, it really seemed as if them becoming endgame was finally going to happen, much to the utmost delight of the original YbraMihan fans who never lost hope for 11 years.

But then, real life happened. Kylie was revealed to be pregnant, thus creating a problem for the staff and the story’s run. Because she needed rest, Kylie had to be either let off completely or minimize her exposure to a certain extent. Despite the loopholes that would be caused by Amihan’s disappearance, it is unfortunate that the easiest way to solve their problem is to kill her off, even if there are other ways to make her stay possible.

And so, another attempt to let Amihan and Ybrahim have their happy ending failed once again. What hurts more is that it’s not because the characters themselves were no longer good for each other. It’s because the outside world didn’t allow it.

Whether or not their love story has truly come to an end in this requel, it is yet to be determined. Unfortunately for us, chances for the ending we’ve hoped for are down to an extreme low.

Since Ybrahim still needs an heir for Sapiro, the easiest way for that would be to have him fall in love with Alena again, thus following the original canon wherein they bore their second child, Armea. While I personally would not like this to happen because it would only ruin Ybrahim’s character and Alena’s growth as an independent sanggre, it would not be far-fetched to believe that this outcome would come true.

Believe me, I’ve been disappointed way too many times for the past year about my favorite pairings’ canon.

A timeskip would be the best route for AleBarro to fall in love again if Book 1 is nearing its close, but even so, their love story will never be able to hold a candle to the one YbraMihan had.

Perhaps fate wants us to be patient a little longer, just like how Ybrahim and Amihan waited for the right time to reveal their love for each other. Maybe another requel a decade from now will give us just that. But at least we can say that the requel put YbraMihan’s love story a step forward, even if it hasn’t reached its goal. Maybe not yet.

I didn’t think that I would appreciate the requel’s theme song “Maghihintay” this much. Pinagtagpuan, pinalayo, pero maghihintay pa rin kahit na umabot pa sa dulo ng huling paghinga. That title and message, although unintentional, speaks volumes about YbraMihan’s love.

Despite everything, there’s still so much to be grateful for. We have all these beautiful scenes between these two that has made our heart jump for joy. Their second dream-meeting, their desperate hand-holds, their recurring “Mahal Kong Reyna/Rehav” scenes, their HHWF (hand-holding while fighting) and EEOWF (embracing each other while fighting), their comforting backhugs, and most recently, their most awaited confession and first real kiss.

All these scenes we have the opportunity to rewatch over and over again. We finally have that hard-earned proof that Ybrahim and Amihan are perfect for each other, had outside circumstances not interfere.

So even if it pains me to know that their love story has most likely come to an end, I’m still grateful to all who made their love story possible.

To Kylie and Ruru, thank you both for being such wonderful and professional actors with unforced, unexpected chemistry so astounding, it has captured the hearts of so many including myself. I pray that this won’t be the last time you’ll both work together as a love team.

To the writers and staff of Encantadia who allowed us to have our moments of happiness even when it wasn’t in the original plan, thank you for the efforts and hard work in making Encantadia’s requel surpass the original, and I sincerely hope that whatever new plans you have for the story will be good and acceptable to all fans.

To all YbraMihan fans who put their heart and soul into making these happy moments possible, thank you for never giving up. Kapit lang, guys! We’re not #teammasokista or the fastest growing fandom for nothing!

And so the waiting game starts once again…

#encantadia #encantadia 2016 #ybramihan #amihan #ybrahim #ybarro #my filipino otp

[ciathyzareposts]

Game 340: Fantasyland 2041 (1981)

          Fantasyland 2041

United States

Crystalware (developer and original publisher); Epyx (later publisher)

Released in 1981 for Apple II and Atari 800

Date Started: 9 October 2019

               I had already passed through the 1980s at least twice before someone recorded Crystalware’s catalogue on MobyGames. The company was so prolific that it’s hard to believe that its absence on my blog went unremarked for so long. Between 1980 and 1982, the company–founded by John and Patty Bell–produced at least seven games with enough RPG elements to make my list, including the already-covered House of Usher (1980) and Beneath the Pyramids (1980). They may have produced the first Japanese RPG, with Dragon Lair (1982) appearing the same year as the better-known The Dragon & Princess.

Fantasyland 2041 (the manual tags the title with an A.D. but the title screen does not) is clearly meant to be the apogee of John Bell’s contributions to the genre as an author if not as a publisher. He even writes in the manual that, “This will probably be the last great Fantasy that I write.” The game combines themes from several mythologies and shipped on seven disks, which must have been some kind of record for 1981. It’s too bad that Bell wasn’t writing in a technological era that could better accommodate his ambitions.            

The game had epic ambitions, but these were not epic platforms.

       Thematically, Fantasyland combines elements from Disney World, the film Westworld (1973), and the television series Fantasy Island (1977-1984). It takes place in a giant live-action-role-playing theme park, presented as the natural future of Crystal Computing, although one which the owners (“John B.” and his “pretty young Swedish wife, Patty”) have been forced by “religious zealots” to set up in the Australian Outback. The entrance fee is $3 million.

The park consists of seven sections, each contained on its own diskette: the introductory Hall of Heroes, Congoland, Arabian Adventure, King Arthur, Olympus, Captain Nemo, and Dante’s Inferno. The ostensible goal is to rescue Guinevere (if you’re a male) or Lancelot (if you’re female), but beneath everything is a Great Mystery, and Crystalware offered $1,000 to the first people to solve it, with separate awards going to Apple and Atari victors.

The game begins with your little character standing at the entrance to the Hall of Heroes, although it tries to have things both ways by presenting what looks like a first-person view but then having the character walk “up” past the doorway, past the roof, and past the screen text to enter the opening that goes to the “real” hall. The background continuously scrolls rather than presenting as discrete screens.          

The game often suggests a first-person perspective even though the character walks around the screen from a top-down perspective.

          The rooms beyond the entrance are full of objects and companions that you can buy for various amounts of money. (You start with 5,000 gold pieces.) In the first room alone, I was offered a diving suit, a diver, a horse, a Zulu warrior, a zombie, rations, a submarine called the Tari, fuel, a blowgun, a samurai, a cabin boy, an archer, a knight, a crossbow, and a tunic.          

Maybe later.

          The items and positions are randomized for each new game. After a few false starts, I learned that you want to purchase as many resources as you can, and as many companions as you need to carry them, in the Hall of Heroes. You continue to find treasure and to get opportunities to spend it later in the game. You have to make sure you buy plenty of rations, or you and your companions will immediately starve to death.          

Some of my inventory after initial purchases.

          I had expected the other lands to branch off the Hall of Heroes like spokes, but instead you explore them in a linear order, starting with Congoland. The area consists of around 12 screens of various terrain features, offered in the manual as “jungles,” “mountains,” and ���swamps.” As you explore, you can find treasure chests with gold or valuables (e.g., bone necklaces, emeralds, diamonds) that you can later sell. Mountainous areas feature crevices in which you can lose your equipment and companions, and swamps feature sinkholes that perform the same function. Occasionally, you have to have a particular item to progress; for instance, a plank or boat to cross a river or a lantern to see in a cavern.         

Losing a gem in the mountains of Congoland.

          Controls are even more basic than the previous Crystalware games. The joystick moves the party, and the only keyboard commands that you use often (at least in the starting area) are A)ttack and F)lee when encountered by enemy parties, P)ick up, D)rop, U)se, and T)rade.

You get attacked a lot as you explore, by area-appropriate enemies like tigers, gorillas, headhunters, and Zulu warriors. The character doesn’t really fight in these battles, instead trusting in his army of companions. (If they all die, the character dies soon afterwards.) Their numbers plus their weapons and armor make up the army’s combined strength, pitted each round against the enemies’, with round-by-round losses on both sides fairly formulaic depending on the variances in strength. Victories don’t really confer any benefit to the party except the opportunity to loot enemy equipment, so I think it’s a good idea to flee from most battles. Overall, the combat system is rather underdeveloped. Coupled with the inventory system and the way certain items are needed in certain places, the game feels not unlike Robert Clardy’s Wilderness Campaign (1979).             

My party squares off against some natives on the other side of a river.

          One repeated encounter is with a “witch doctor,” who will join you if you defeat him in the first round of battle. He comes with a shrunken head and earth magic, which you can use like an item of equipment. He can die in combat, but if he does, eventually another will approach you.

Eventually, you cross a river in the northeast (you may have to fight a pack of piranhas) and make your way to Kabunga Village. There, you can stop at the various huts to sell valuables and buy adventuring equipment and companions, including most of what you need in Congoland specifically. North of Kabunga Village is a “banana grove” where every tree offers some rations.           

Trading in Kabunga Village.

        In the far northeast corner is the entrance to King Solomon’s mines, a maze for which you need a lantern or else you lose an item every few steps.            

In case we catch malaria.

          It took me several abandoned characters and hours before I understood the game enough to make it to the mines. The manual recommends that you “conquer the sorcerer of Congoland” before you enter the mines. I wasted a lot of time looking for him before I realized that’s simply a fancy name for the witch doctor that you encounter repeatedly.

The mines contain the same sorts of treasure and encounters as the wilderness area. At the center, I found King Solomon’s Temple with the spirit of Solomon blocking a door and the number “666” on the floor. Using the witch doctor’s earth magic made the ghost disappear, allowing me to enter the chamber beyond and transition to Cathay, the opening village of Arabian Adventure.            

The final screen of Congoland.

         Before I continue, let’s talk about the manual and the so-called Great Mystery. I think I explored Congoland comprehensively, and I didn’t find anything with any text except for the “666,” although there might have been more to find in Solomon’s Mine. I suspect that solving the Great Mystery is going to have something to do with the manual and the stories it relates about six sample adventurers and their initial explorations of each land. The first section relates the story of “Tisha: Queen of the Jungle,” who gets this riddle as she enters Congoland:                

The treasures of Solomon, his Gods, his worth 10,000 wives and concubines to make a temple fair A young lad who he deeply loved with long and flowing hair Bagies burnt on hilltop fires, a nation plunges down A thousand temples to Pagan Gods the King has lost the crown A magic ring the demons shrink and on that ring a sign The eater of heads a mystery is hidden in the rhyme One two three four five six seven — 666 or 777 22 clues from here to there–from the bottom neath the squid To the Dragon’s Lair

            Other than the 666, which I found on the floor of Solomon’s Temple, none of the imagery in the poem seems to correspond to the features in Congoland. There’s a similar poem to go with “Thomas of Arabia’s” adventures in the game’s version of the middle east.

Arabian Adventure switches background and text color but otherwise plays much like Congoland. You can purchase goods and companions in Cathay and in the city of Baghdad to the far northwest. In between are treasure chests, sandstorms that make you lose inventory, oases where you can gather food, and a curiously large group of locked doors that you can unlock with keys found in the chests. Monsters include scorpions and “Turks.”          

Reaching Baghdad ends this level.

           A couple of chests refer you to the manual to look up, for instance, “Treasure #5.” This turns out to be a giant golden Buddha that I can’t even begin to carry. The use of treasure numbers with manual descriptions was earliest seen in the Dunjonquest series, and it’s possible that the Crystalware titles owe more to Dunjonquest than I have previously speculated.          

Six giant golden Buddhas on the outskirts of Cathay.

          You escape the Arabian Adventure via a door in Baghdad. It’s blocked by a genie who only moves when you use the air magic of your own genie. The door leads the player to King Arthur’s realm and the third adventure and game disk.           

I suspect the “sorcerer” will end up playing the same role as the witch doctor and the genie.

          I have a feeling it’s not going to be too hard to simply whisk through all the levels, find Guinevere, and “win” the game, but without figuring out the Great Mystery. So I’m going to slow down and repeat the first two levels and see if I can pick up any more clues.

Fantasyland isn’t really an RPG by my definitions. There’s no character development and no “personal” inventory. Nonetheless, it’s an intriguing quasi-RPG from the days before RPG standards, and I’m impressed by its ambitions even as I’m frustrated by its limitations.

Time so far: 3 hours

source http://reposts.ciathyza.com/game-340-fantasyland-2041-1981/

#retro games #dos games #retro #crpg #adventure #amiga #oldcomputers #8bit #16bit #blog #repost