#honestly this was supposed to be in the original timeline but I just can’t not add Gregory when I draw CC because you just can’t separate t

[cheesecakeluvrs]

Rogue and Gambits relationship in the original is just an endless cycle

In the original Rogue and Gambit got jealous over the other’s relationships, like with Bella Donna and Cody but Rogue and Erik are a little different. Remy and Rogue always found their way back to each other, they never started an official relationship but after they leave their sort of partner there is always a romantic tension with them whether it be them touching each other while walking away or just comforting each other

To Rogue this endless just always finding your way back to Remy but still not being able to be with him was just getting too old. As much as they would both love a relationship to Rogue she doesn’t believe that they are capable of being in one. That scene before that dance with Remy was her finally cutting things off with him because they can’t just be doing the same things, they can’t go on forever doing this but never being in a relationship

To Remy as much as his actions could be interpreted as “waiting for her” they don’t know and honestly do not believe that she will be able to touch anybody so his only option to be with the love is his life is desperately try to convince her that you don’t need intimacy. I feel like with the scenes of them leading up to episode 5 it is Remy realizing that this may be different from Cody. Erik most likely will not turn into a bug alien and Rogue will not come flying back to him. We know for sure that Rogue and Gambit would most definitely start a relationship if Rogue learned to control her powers but from Remy’s point of view that is never. He knows that she doesn’t think they can be in a relationship if they can’t touch and despite his efforts he probably won’t be able to convince her. It has worked in his favor that no other relationships have worked out but in ‘97 it kicked in that this can’t just go on forever

I just love tragic love stories where the main problem is something that the characters can’t control so it makes it all that much worse. Everyone is saying that Cable will fix the timeline but I just don’t think that’s going to happen unless there is some big sacrifice for it to work. Since the main villain is Bastion I don’t think they’re going to do death Gambit with apocalypse. The only way I could see Gambit coming back is with a sentinel Gambit but with how important his death is supposed to be I wouldn’t be surprised if he never came back. I’m just interested in who or what Rogue will get closure from because she most definitely needs it. Anyways~ sorry for going off at the end but yeah I firmly believe that Gambit is gone and I honestly like the choice, what do you think will happen with Gambit?

#x men 97 #x men the animated series #x men #xmen #romy #rogue and gambit #gambit and rogue #rogue #rogue x gambit #gambit x rogue #gambit #remy lebeau #anna marie lebeau

[pixlokita]

This AU is old as heck but deserves a redraw :> anyway puppy wolf CC because ye 🐺✨

#Gave him a tail and glowy blue eyes :Tc #greg already had the radioactive warm tone eyes 😔 #fnaf #five nights at freddy's #fnaf 4 #fnaf au #evan afton #crying child #gregory fnaf #uhhhhh #?? #honestly this was supposed to be in the original timeline but I just can’t not add Gregory when I draw CC because you just can’t separate t #:c can’t separate the besties ever #not even in different AUs or canon #werewolf #werewolf tag #okay #more like baby bear AU style instead of intentionally ugly wolf :> because heck it #he looked like an alpaca before #werepup

[nevertheless-moving]

unable to stop dwelling on the discworld trouser leg of time where, in the penultimate fight scene in Nightwatch, Carcer manages to kill teenage Sam Vimes.

Which means that the future that Duke Vimes came from can no longer exist, which means he can’t go home. Meanwhile you’ve got a bunch of history monks with stored up temporal energy, a prepared space outside of time, and the need to do some desperate damage control before the Auditors get involved. Death shows up, reality is unweaving, Sam is reading Carcer his discworld miranda rights because what else is he supposed to do.

and finally, with little other option, the monks de-age Sam so he fits the time period and send him back out into the fray.

(they didn't call it deageing of course. His memory is hazy, splintered during that terrible in between moment, They....took the time out of him? Sanded away the edges of his self for a terrible, workable fit? It...wasn't a good feeling.)

Just—damn. Sam Vimes having to live his whole crapsack life over again, but this time as his disillusioned-reillusioned, unwillingly-character-developed, noir-epic, Duke of Ankh, Commander Sir Samuel Vimes self. 

Younger (Older? He's never felt so Old, His steps so Childlike, reality twisting in his gut like one of Dibbler's pies) Sam Vimes walking around in a haze after the revolution. Desperate to go home, knowing he can’t. Wanting to drink. Knowing he can’t.

The whole precinct feels pity, he really took Keel’s death hard, hardly speaks except to do his job. Eventually he has to grit his teeth and start being present, because what else is there to do?

Resists the urge to drink until Colon takes the whole watch out to celebrate because -he’s going to be a father!

Come on Sammy, one drink won’t kill you— and after the first drink he’s cracking jokes and after the second hes smiling and after the third hes honestly the life of the party and sometime after that he’s crying about how he was going to be a father and my wife would be ashamed if she saw me drinking like this and— 

Oh shit, Did anyone else know he had a wife?? A PREGNANT wife??? What—aren’t you like 12—no you're 17 now aren't you but when did—

You guys n’ver met ’er—oh gods none if you ev’n know ‘er, is jus’ me...

What—when did you lose—

I lost her the same damn day I los’ ev’rythin else, whadya think...bleeding Carcer...the fuckin revolution...

So! That! Sam only vaguely remembers the night, but rumors travel faster than light on the disc, so by the next day the whole damn city knows about poor Sam brung low by the loss of his poor, tragic, pregnant wife, so young to be a widower, and the Seamstresses nod because they already knew, don’t ask them how, somethings you just have to know in that trade.

And his mother—I don’t know, sue me, I’m a time travel fiend but there’s something deeply intriguing about a man meeting his dead parent, who is somewhat younger than him, and stepping into the old relationship like a badly fitting thing that's supposed to fit well. She would know, right? How would she deal with her son’s impossible grief? Maybe she wouldn’t know—he spent most of the time out of the house, running with different street gangs, maybe he avoids her until she dies and lives with the guilt twice over. God, we don’t even know her name. There’s just so much narrative and emotional potential that I don’t even know where to start.

When he’s on duty, which is most time - it’s agonizing because at first he remembers cases, saves lives that would have been lost. But the more time passes, the hazier his memory because in the original timeline he was becoming an alcoholic. Fuck! A kid dies and he could have saved her if he hadn’t been such a drunk, if he had just remembered where the asshole lived, but it’s all a haze, and he wants to drown out his guilt, but that’s what caused this in the first place.

Good young Sammy, who spends his rare off-time in dusty libraries (and yes, the irony that he’s apparently Carrot now is not lost on him) reading gods-only-know.

It’s not like he can ask the wizards for help, cutthroat and vicious as they are now in the not-so-distant-past.

Good young Sam, who...talks to the Broken Drum’s pet Bouncer like he’s a real person and not a dumb rock? That’s a bit weird, but he’s a bit of a funny guy.

Good old Sam, who believed the testimony of the dwarf who said the humans were trying to rob him and let the dwarf go??

the PROBLEMS this man would cause, good grief. Can you imagine a moderately progressive middle aged man with some degree of begrudging diversity and equity training that he did, for all his sins, pay attention to, suddenly going back to like, 1990, going back just 30 years, and going...oh damn this is kind of fucked up, no man you can’t say that, holy shit.

Except Sam’s lived through even more rapidly shifting social moroes! There’s no seamstress guild, there’s no women allowed inside the university, there’s no black ribboner’s society. People hunted trolls for their teeth! But Sam can’t just unlearn everything, and he can’t shut up, and he has no real luck and anyway he would absolutely get himself (temporarily) fired.

FUCK. Sam has no idea what to do with that. None. Zero clue. Wanders around in a haze until that dwarf he saved from police brutality finds him and insists on repaying the debt. No, he insists, do you have any idea what debt means to a dwarf?

“Sort-of?” he replies hesitantly, and that honest admission of incomplete knowledge shows a hell of a lot more respect and understanding than any self proclaimed dwarf-expert ever did.

Gets a job as a surface man, hauling rocks into the city. It’s backbreaking work, but, in true Discworld fashion, it’s also one hell of a workout (again the irony of being Carrot is not lost him. he freezes for a minute while hauling a rock cart, when he remembers he's technically Lost Nobility too, in a strict sense, but someone curses at him in the street and he's comfortingly grounded)

And here is where this au slides into a SPECTACULAR romantic comedy, BEAR WITH ME. Because in his time on the Watch he’s already done noir, action adventure, war story, detective who dunnit, psychological horror, but guards guards only allowed him to be a romance protagonist in an extremely limited context.

Give me righteous, twenty-something-looking, can’t-say-he-doesn’t-have-style, young Sam Vimes, not an alcoholic,  being fed three square meals a day by his dwarven forced found family, hauling rocks. He is startled to find him bumping his head on a low hanging bar that he doesn’t think used to be there, eventually realizing that he’s an inch or two taller than he remembers. Huh. Guess all that bearhuggers really did stunt his growth.

Still doesn’t get what some of the looks from women he’s getting are about, sure, he’s dirty but so is everyone else. Fine, he took his shirt off, but it’s hot out, there’s far wrinklier than him hauling heavy loads, get a life. 

Happens to glance in the Ankh one day when it’s particularly slow and shiny and is startled to realize that he might be turning heads for a different reason. Oh. Right, not that he was ever a heartbreaker, but he did alright for himself... when he was a younger and his face hadn’t been broken so many times. Which...it isn't now.

Is mildly disturbed by the revelation.

Especially once things blow over at the precinct and what with high mortality rates, he ends up with getting hired again. The boys are delighted to have him back, nevermind that he’s an odd one, noone is ever quite in your corner like Vimsey, absence makes the heart fonder, no one else works that hard, and he’s not even competition for promotion. All around great guy, we should set him up with somebody and just, no.

It just keeps getting worse! He’s literate! He’s a feminist! He believes abuse victims! He’s got a tragic backstory! He’s unreasonably good in a fistfight! He’s kind to animals! Word gets around that there’s a good man on the watch and he’s just waiting for a good woman to come snap him up. The widower excuse doesn’t hold people off completely, and for some it’s its own sort-of appeal. 

Things REALLY become stressful after he rescues that carriage full of noblewoman.

What’s he supposed to do? Let them get robbed? Or worse? Chasing down and beating up 10 goons is as easy as beating up one, when they’re that stupid, getting separated like that, drunk and distracted, and he knows these streets better than anyone, really it’s nothing. And oh lord he’s Modest too.

I mean, they were genuinely greatful, as genuine as people like that are capable of being, the skill having grown rusty. And then there is something...magnetic about the man. An air of command.

So, soon enough you get Lady Marigold of Marigrave calling on Treckle Road for that gallant young officer who rescued them, she really needs to thank him. And Viscountess Elanor Thitzferal specifically requesting that he guard her at her next soiree. And Baroness Julieta van Shoeholten insisting that he come to her home while her husband’s away, for... manly protection.

Aaaah just zero sympathy from the guys. None. 'It’s become a competition, they’re just trying to see who can get me into bed first, it’s like I’m a piece of meat, you can’t send me sir, the Marquess greeted me in a nightee last time you made me go to—' and 'small gods Vimes are you even listening to yourself, shut the hell up'.

Simultaneous to this, (again this is several years into the timeline) swamp dragon accessories come into style. Which means abandoned swamp dragons scrounging on the street. Vimes takes one back to his apartment, blows his paycheck on dragon medicine, and eventually, heart in his chest, brings it to the Ramkin estate. The sunshine orphanage doesn’t even exist yet and he’s just standing outside the gates like an idiot, what is he thinking. Turns around, but her carriage is pulling up and—

well. they meet. it's cute. he's never felt so young. he's never felt so old, too old for her, too poor—

and certainly her thoughts linger too long on the awkward, kindly, handsome young commoner, but is it any wonder she doesn't quite connect it to the stern, dangerous, sexy young guard the ladies seem to be in some quiet, cuthroat competition over?

i have this gorgeous, absurd scene in my head in which Vimes is strong armed into standing guard at some high society soiree and one of the pushiest ladies insists he dance with here, or, if he prefers, if he's not confident about his skills, he can dance with her in-private at her home and he’s like [grinding teeth, looking for a way out, seeinf one] “I would be honored to dance with you.”

Steps right into some ultra-complex dance with multiple partner swaps (she never thought he'd pick this one, devilishly intimidating to one not strictly trained, and you barely spend anytime with your first partner).

But he does alright. Better than alright, for a common man, sometimes misstepping but his hands and feet always end up where they need to be. Raises several eyebrows part way into the song because he's throuwing in some slightly scandalous, no innovative, extra lifts and twirls that wouldn't become fashionable for another decade or two. Who even is that guy? Some out of towner? No, no he's in a guards uniform...how very strange.

Gets to Sybll and she's used to embarrassment during these dances, she tries to get out of them when she can... but can't always. Men awkwardly skipping the lifts, or worse, trying and failing. But him — oh it's him, the one who helped little Erold, and looked at her like—like—well like she was someone beautiful. And he's doing it again, and he's strong and there's a quiet moment where she's in the air, they lock eyes, and the rest of the room melts away.

And then the partners change again, the moment ended.

Just...living throught it all again. To the left, a dance he almost knows the steps to, throwing others off balance with erratic moves , honest mistakes, and delibrate stepping on toes. Improvising. Ruining. Improving. Getting far, far too much attention.

Hes almost excited when the first assassains start coming after him. It's like a hobby.

Everyone tells him he should get a hobby.

Interactions with young vetinari...I don't have the energy to write it all down, the slow circling in on each other, both burning with the need to fix the city, save it, their city.

needless to say he ends up fired again, life under real threat after offending some high lord.

Conveniently enough he has an employment opportunity- bodyguard to fucking Vetinari on his 'grand sneer.' The bastard knows vimes isn't what he seems, though sam is pretty sure that he doesnt know the exacts.

Vetinari hypothesis:(the ghost of keel? Keels son, with some hereditary curse? Or a larger spirit of justice possessing a string of unrelated souls? He knows things he shouldn't- mind reader? Fortune teller? Havelock once arranged for a wizard to bump into him on the street, the magical fool gave an odd double look and then muttered something about destiny looping in on itself giving him a headache. Destiny? Lost noble? And hes far too familiar with sybyl, one of the few bearable noblewomen in this city. And his thoughts on guilds, when havelock can trip him into speaking... Most of all, if hes reading him at all correctly (for all the mystery hes not that hard to read, unless thats a very clever cover) then it seems that behind those dark haunted eyes is Respect. Loyalty. For vetinari. What an interesting man. A puzzling asset. An intriguing threat. )

Did I mention the timeline is changing, healing slowly around the place where it was torn? Healing enough around scars to perhaps get some flexibility back, with some painful stretches and...massaging of said scar tissue?

And hes heading to unresting uberwald, a place where a werewolf pack still hunts humans and, truely unrelated but perhaps equally exhausting, an eldritch spirit of vengeance just might be looking to stretch its legs in a hapless vessel?

Opening drabble Vimes Vetinari Meta (Unwell)

#discworld #sam vimes #discworld au #nightwatch au #i literally drafted this post in December 2021 #and i know it was living in my head for years already at that point #i have more somewhere aging like cheese in the back of my mind #discworld fanfic #night watch #Let this be free from my mind #Perhaps someone else will write it #BE FREE ANCIENT AU OF MY SOUL #For all my obsession with discworld I have but this one (1) AU though it tears at me like the seam of a pair of pants #The songs I have permanently associated with this au are slightly bonkers by the way #My au #Seriously there's like two full novels worth of content up here. Sybyll running away from home and living as a commoner #To mirror Sam joining upper class in original timeline you see? #Some early discworld murder Wizard nonsense when they try to poke at the temporal anomaly and the universe goes brrrr #Eventually catching up with color of Magic city burning bs and vimes is mad as fuck #Weird year that never was protecting people during sourcery #And when we start catching up with where he left #Oh ho ho you can't to forward to something that doesn't exist but maybe you can go sideways to a place that's got a tear in it #A sam vimes shaped tear #And his pregnant wife from 30 years ago in the other trouser leg #AND that's not even mentioning how carcers trial got taken to a...higher court

[msfcatlover]

msfcatlover: @the-overanalyzer What do you want to know? I have /many/ thoughts for this, and I don’t really know which ones to start with.

the-overanalyzer: @msfcatlover Honestly all of it, this is *such* a neat idea.

All my thoughts? Okay, I’ll do my best.

First, sources. I think my love for the memory-sending version of the time travel fixit trope is blatantly obvious, and I read a lot of them. Then one day, just after I started really getting into Batfam stuff, I read this TMA fic called “Deja Vu” by CirrusGrey (fantastic writer, btw, everyone who likes TMA stuff should check out their fics,) which has all 4 members of the original archives crew getting sent back from their moment of death to just before the series started; the thing is, they all have different amounts of information, so they all have very different priorities. Like, Tim thinks the Unknowing is the biggest threat, so he buckles down trying to stop that, Sasha thinks she just had a weird dream because she died before they really knew anything about what was going on, etc. They might as well be coming from completely different futures, their concepts of reality are so different!

Which got me thinking: What if they were? What if you genuinely had a fixit in the memory time travel vein with multiple protagonists being sent back to before everything went awful, but every single one of them is from a different basically apocalyptic future, so they all have completely different priorities on what needs to be fixed? All tripping over eachother’s plans, not realizing they’re not alone… and at the same time, being so truly, completely alone, because they’re the sole survivors of their individual timelines, and no one really knows what they’ve gone through; even the people they love most and want to rely on are going to be dramatically different from any version of those people each of them ever knew.

And, um, the Batfam is kinda perfect for that setup, isn’t it? But, obviously, I can’t find that fic. It doesn’t seem to exist. (Although, if you like the concept of multiple characters trying to fix the same timeline, “Time to Protect You” is a really excellent read. Also, if you like Dick having a worse adoption addiction than Bruce does, read “Time to Protect You.” It’s fun.)

Ever since I had that thought, I have been brainstorming. This. Monster. Because, y’see, I have to at least rough-draft each of their future timelines to know what each of their priorities would be. So there’s like, five full fics worth of content in the backstory for this fic. (I have made myself cry doing this. More than once. Lotta… lotta funerals & heroic self-sacrifices while loved ones watch helplessly in these WIP notes. And one formal “identify the body” scene that is somehow worse than all of them.) And that’s before they all start meddling in the timeline!

But you asked this on the Damian post. So, everything about Damian?

…This is gonna get long.

.

Damian is undergoing one of the most dramatic time shifts of all of them; he was in his late 20s when he got sent back. Since all 5 affected Robins are being sent back to the day Jason & Bruce were supposed to meet, that puts Damian somewhere between 4-6yrs old on arrival.

Another fic I really love from the TMA fandom (whose title I can heartbreakingly not remember right now) had Jon sent back to his first supernatural encounter, and one of the things that fic emphasized was this dichotomy between Jon’s decades of lived experience and the fact that he still has the body of a child. Which means he has the brain chemistry of a child. Which is going to impact his behavior.

So, in my story Damian’s not just a 28yr old stuck in a 5yr old body trying to get people to take him seriously, he is a 5yr old with 28yrs worth of memories, and that is a huge difference. (That’s not going to show much in this post, since I’m summarizing grand scale things with a few short scenes, and also Damian’s instincts are different from most 5yr olds thanks to, erm, everything. It would mostly be in the minutia of his behavior. But it is important to me.)

.

Is the rest of the family worried about Damian? Yes, obviously, that’s their baby brother. But none of them can rescue him alone (most of them need to completely retrain their bodies, even before gaining allies & equipment,) and as depressing as it is, they all believe he should be relatively safe where he is until they can assemble what they need to go bring him home. After all, both Ra’s & Talia need Damian healthy & intact for their plans to go forward.

Damian on the other hand, is now stranded on the other side of the world from all of his most trusted allies (even if they don’t know him yet,) and trying to hide his sudden shift in personality & priorities while surrounded by people who are very invested in his personal development. Hell, even Damian’s workouts & warmup routines have changed since he was a kid; how is he supposed to explain where he learned Dick’s balance exercises or Tim’s post-computer hand/wrist stretches? And on the other hand, Damian’s not used to a body with these proportions; how is he supposed to do anything like this?

(Damian did come back at the tail end of a fever that left him bedridden for a long while, so at least he has a short-term solution for that last problem.)

And remember: none of them know the others came back. As far as Damian’s concerned, he’s on his own.

.

What Damian does is steal tiny bits of equipment to dissect for parts, and recreates the sound-emitter from Jimmy Olsen’s watch. It’s a huge gamble, because Damian can’t test it. The sound should be outside of human hearing range, but if anyone hears/detects it before Damian’s ready to escape, he’ll be caught. Even if the emitter does work, Damian can’t risk calling Superman to Nanda Parbat; the League has measures against kryptonians (Superman’s timeline is somehow even messier than the Bats’ at this point, so I’m going with Clark & Kara both being fully established heroes already,) so if Superman did come to investigate, he could get hurt or captured, and if Clark gets away or stops to analyze where the sound is coming from then he might realize it’s just a test and assume it’s some sort of trap when Damian does set it off

Basically, Damian has one shot at this, and he just has to trust his own tinkering skills are good enough because a test-run could ruin everything.

.

Damian’s future was an alien invasion that left the Earth like a wasteland, the remaining heroes leading the resistance. He had more relaxing nights then than he has now, constantly monitoring his own words & actions, surrounded by enemies, with no allies to fall back on, in a body that seems more weak & helpless than it ever has before.

(Part of me also thinks Damian might’ve lost a limb in that war? It’s tripping him out—possibly literally—to have it back, when it’s only been phantom pain for so long.)

So, y’know, it’s not just that Superman is the only hero Damian can call who will both probably hear him, get there in time to actually be backup, and won’t be immediately suspicious of Damian (probably.) It’s also that Damian needs access to interstellar resources if he’s ever going to stop that invasion, and even with nearly 2 decades to plan it, the better Damian’s starting point the faster he can do that. (It definitely has nothing at all to do with how much Damian’s missed Clark, Jon, Lois, the whole extended family… it’s been years since Damian’s spoken to any of them, even the survivors off fighting on other fronts. And there were not a lot of survivors; the enemy knew to target their most powerful warriors first.)

.

People who say you can’t lie to kryptonians are idiots who don’t know them. Here’s the secret: have a good excuse for a raised breath/heart rate and make sure the emotions of your lie match what you’re actually feeling in that moment. A stutter, skip, or mild increase will be lost in the racing, and all your pheromones will agree with your words. Easy. (Cass could tell the difference, but she’s not here, is she? Damian has no idea where she is—but she’ll be fine. It took a crashing spaceship to kill Cassandra Wayne, and she survived just fine on her own before joining the family. Damian doesn’t need to worry. She’s fine. She’ll definitely be fine.)

Damian waits for the next time they move him, waits for the first big city, and makes a break for it. He slips through the guards’ fingers with skills they didn’t know he has, and proceeds to make one of the most illogical choices for a normal escape attempt: Damian heads for the tallest building he can get to the top of. As soon as he reaches the roof, even before picking the lock, Damian activates his emitter. He barricades the door behind him, and stands there, buffeted by wind, struggling to stay upright.

Damian can’t hear the emitter. Damian can’t hear his own voice when he raises it against the wind, yelling to Superman for help. Damian thinks he can hear his guards running up behind the door, but that’s impossible; it must be his own blood pounding in his ears.

The wind changes direction, and Superman is there.

Damian knows the picture he paints: a too-small child with too much scar tissue, eyes wide & wild, panting & terrified, still dirty from the run through the city below, clutching a device he shouldn’t have. (A stranger Superman has no reason to trust, even though Clark was always more credulous than any of the Bats. A boy wearing League garb under his clothes, even if Clark might not recognize it.)

(Damian doesn’t remember Clark ever being this big, but it is Clark, cracking through the Superman mask in confusion & concern.)

Damian’s never been one to leave things half-finished. “Please,” Damian begs, glancing back at the door behind him, “I’m running from the Shadows. They’re after me, they’ll be here any moment, they’ll kill me if they do! Please, help me!”

The door jumps in its frame. The barricade holds.

Clark opens his arms. “Of course, son. Where do you want to go?”

Damian leaps into Clark’s arms (and oh, oh, he has missed this. The soft strength & nearly overpowering warmth all kryptonians have. Arms that fold around Damian’s back like a shield—because they are, because Clark & Jon & Kara & Kon know their own strength and would rather risk being hurt themselves than let their charges be hurt. Being held by his uncle, who died over a decade ago and has never met Damian, but still holds on like Damian is something precious & important. Yes, Damian can admit he missed this.)

“Anywhere,” Damian whispers, wrapping his arms around his uncle’s neck. “Anywhere they can’t find me.”

(That last part is lost to the rush of speed, but Damian knows Clark heard it anyway.)

.

Here’s what Damian is counting on: Clark Kent is not a stupid man, even if he can be swept away by his emotions. Superman does not often fight the League of Shadows and will not know where necessarily would be safe from them, so he will take Damian to a secret base. Superman would not expose another hero’s identity without asking first, so it will either be a Justice League base or somewhere safe for Clark. Damian is still dressed like an assassin under his travel clothes and is still very much armed, so hopefully Clark would not bring Damian anywhere Damian might pose a threat.

So, a Justice League base, the Fortress of Solitude, or (if Clark is critically underestimating Damian) the farm.

Damian knows he’s struck gold when temperature drops. The Fortress makes this so much easier than having to find some way to hide Damian’s connection to Batman from the entire Justice League, and Damian never wants to bring trouble to Ma Kent’s doorstep. Damian’s relief is genuine, and he doesn’t bother trying to hide it when Clark sets him down.

The next part is the tricky bit: Damian has to sell his cover. A League-trained child assassin defecting would not know much of the outside world, would not know what was expected of him. Damian knows all that from experience. After months of hiding in Nanda Parbat, it’s not hard to slip back into that mindset, those mannerisms. They’re almost comfortable; hopefully the cold & alien environment will cover for the rest. Damian drops to his knees as he would before any significant authority (his mother, his grandfather, his family when he needed them to understand his remorse was full-hearted & genuine,) and begins with, “Thank you. I owe you my life.”

.

From there, Damian begins spinning the web that he hopes will save the world, rather than collapse & take Damian down with it. Truths & half-truths, genuine emotions, flickers of vulnerability, and a demeanor far too formal & professional to belong to anyone having a proper childhood. Fear of both the League & its enemies, any of whom would kill to have Damian back. Full, open acknowledgment of the suspicions Clark really ought to have, because the second Clark mentions the League to anyone who knows, Clark will receive the full run-down of how dangerous any League operative is.

(Damian insists on being locked up, telling Superman that his allies will only suspect Damian more—rightfully!—if he’s not. Clark is horrified by the idea of imprisoning a child who can’t be older than 6. They compromise with a guest room in the Fortress, the alien architecture as good as any lock any hero could cook up.)

(Damian insists on being disarmed, despite his own obvious discomfort with doing so. Clark tries to tell Damian that’s not necessary, and Damian points out how easy it would’ve been to slip a kryptonite blade into Superman’s chest from the second he let Damian into his arms. Clark looks a little green himself, and lets Damian finish.)

(Damian does not lie about lineage, at least not on his mother’s side. He does make it very clear he is not interested in meeting his father, confirms that his father is a very dangerous man, and heavily implies that his father’s displeasure with Damian’s upbringing might be dangerous to Damian himself. Damian also heavily implies his father knows of Damian’s existence and chose to be distant, drawing on the lingering, long-stifled bitterness of those early awkward days at the manor—wounds that don’t hurt anymore, not really, but that Damian can never forget—to really sell it.)

(Damian knows better than to try to convince anyone he’s had some sort of miraculous change of heart. No hero with experience with the League will see that as anything but a trap. Damian instead simply says he doesn’t like killing, expresses discomfort when pressed on his morals, and implies his escape has to do with a personal betrayal of some kind. Much easier to believe.)

.

The most direct lie Damian tells is that he got the frequency from his grandfather’s notes on known kryptonian biology. Damian drowns that in his own self-chastisement, admitting the inability to test the device in any way that mattered and Damian’s lack of an exit if the plan went wrong. Damian calls himself reckless & stupid for not having a backup. Clark catches Damian’s eye, and tells Damian he’s wrong; that Damian’s not stupid, Damian’s very clever for putting that together.

“You did good, son,” Clark says, Superman gone and replaced with only the kindness & pain of a man with a heart too big for this world, and a father with a boy not that much younger than Damian. “You did the best you could with what you had, and what you pulled off was pretty amazing. I’m sorry you had to go through that alone.”

“…Oh,” Damian says. He blinks. He breathes. And for the first time since Dick died, Damian cries. For everything he’s done, and everything he’s lost. For the family he’ll never have, and the childhood he never did. For a world that will—hopefully—never be. No wailing, no screams. Just soft, hitching breaths and tears that don’t seem to stop.

Clark pulls him close, and Damian buries his face in his uncle’s chest. And cries.

.

Damian knows the picture he paints:

Here is a boy, running for his life. A dangerous boy. A frightened boy. A boy who’s so alone, he has to rely on alien strangers for help. A boy desperate to be trusted, to not be seen as a threat. A boy who already knows there’s nowhere safe for him in the world.

An abused child will tug at any hero’s heartstrings. But Damian knows exactly which ones to pluck to stay safe under Clark Kent’s cape.

It’s intentional. It’s manipulative. It needs to be done. Damian has 17yrs to win trust, to build a network, to stop the invasion. The longer he can stay off the Bats’ radar, the better. He knows he has to play the long game.

(It doesn’t matter that it’s all true.)

#the-overanalyzer #damian wayne #damian al ghul #iwctw (time travel) #time travel fixit #batfam #batman #superman #superfam #superdad #my writing #mine #// #AND THAT'S ALL I'VE GOT SO FAR #As always #my main motive is making characters cry #...Meanwhile in Gotham! Dick is panicking. Jason's MIA. Tim's trying to join a cult. And Steph's PTSD is keeping her from talking to anyone.

[just-horrible-things]

‘Verse: Box Boy Universe Story: A Girl Called Spider Timeline: Early training

Crying [ First | Next ]

Rayce sits at the backmost table in the canteen, glumly dunking shortbread in his coffee. He keeps losing bits, and he knows they’re piling up as sludge at the bottom of the mug. It's making the prospect of actually drinking the coffee less and less appealing.

He barely notices his supervisor approaching until Mitchell sits opposite him, holding a mug of his own. Rayce offers him the – now substantially depleted – pack of shortbread, and gets a puzzled look in return.

“What’s eating you, kiddo?” “Hm?” “You’ve been sat there with the same coffee since I came in to eat twenty minutes ago. What’s on your mind?” “Oh.” Has it been that long? “Just work stuff.” “You know you can bring your problems to me, right?” Mitchell takes a biscuit from the pack, inspects it for a moment like he’s never seen one before, and takes a bite – without dunking it in his coffee. “Yeah,” Rayce sighs, “I know. I just… wanted to see if I could figure it out myself, you know? Professional growth or something.” Mitchell grunts acknowledgment.

Rayce sips his coffee, careful not to drink too deep. It’s kinda cold. Maybe it has been twenty minutes.

“It’s, uh, 261,” he admits at length. “She was doing so well, but last week she started crying when I touch her, and it’s getting worse not better. She’s just crying all the time now. I’ve tried punishing it, I’ve tried slowing down – I know we’re not supposed to worry too much but – it felt like I was really making progress, you know?” Mitchell looks at Rayce, then shakes his head and laughs. “You are definitely worrying too much. It’s just a phase, a lot of them go through it. She’ll get over it. She’s just… adjusting. She’ll be a better pet when she comes out the other side, trust me.”

It’s a relief to hear it, honestly. Rayce was a little afraid he’d somehow broken her – and not in the good way.

“Alright,” he says. “Yeah, I knew I was worrying too much. Just… what do I do with it? Punish it? Ignore it? Back off?” Mitchell scratches his chin idly. “Chill out about it, for a start,” he suggests. “You’re not gonna mess it up that badly.” Rayce grunts. He takes another shortbread, and rotates it between his fingers trying to decide whether to dunk it in the lukewarm coffee.

“How does she take it,” Mitchell asks, “when you tell her to stop crying?” “Oh, she’s sorry. She’s still being sweet, still doing what she’s told – well, trying to. She just cries worse after I shocked her for it... I don’t know whether to just power through? Maybe it’d stop eventually? I feel like if I ease off maybe it’d help her learn, and we could build the intensity back up slowly. But then again, I don’t want to reward her for crying…” “You’re definitely overthinking it. The most important thing is to pick a plan and stick to it. They need consistency.” Rayce sighs heavily.

“This is your first rodeo as primary, isn’t it?” “Well, second, really,” Rayce answers, “but the other one was nearly finished, so she was easy. Her original primary had a baby, so I took over for the last few weeks.” “You just need to stop panicking. C’mon, pull yourself together, kid. How long have you been here now? Stop crying into your coffee, you’ve got nothing to worry about.” “Yeah, yeah, I know, I know.”

“You want to know how I’d proceed? Business as usual. You can’t stop doing the things that make her cry, that’d be rewarding it. But you don’t have to fry her. So long as she keeps trying to learn, you can reward that by being patient. Punish her if she stops putting in the effort. And just keep on with the rest of her training. Nine times out of ten, the crying stops on its own.”

—

The tears start up again as soon as he lets himself into the cell. His pretty girl responds promptly, already moving by the time the door is open, into the centre of the room to sit on her knees. Her hands fold neatly in her lap.

She looks up at him through wet lashes. Her lips are slightly parted like they’re meant to be,  but they tremble. A crease forms between her brows, fades as she consciously smooths it out, and forms again. And tears roll steadily down her cheeks to form dark spots on her t-shirt.

“Good morning, Handler,” she whispers. It’s evening, but it doesn’t matter. She was asleep, probably, so she thinks it’s morning. “I-I’m sorry, Handler, I’m sorry.” “You’re crying again,” Rayce observes tiredly. “Yes, Handler,” she agrees. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I don’t know how to stop.”

She doesn’t beg him not to shock her. She knows better than that. But he sees her tiny flinches at every movement of his hands.

“You’ll learn,” he says, trying to channel Mitchell’s confidence. “It’s alright. You’re just going through a phase.” She blinks up at him, drips falling from her eyelashes. “I’ll learn,” she repeats back. “H-how do I learn, Handler?” “Just practice,” he answers. “You’ll get the hang of it.” “Do you promise?” she sniffles. Then, “sorry, I’m sorry, I don’t get to ask –” “I promise,” he says. “But you’re right, you don’t get to ask. Now c’mere. We’re going to the training room.”

She does as she’s told. She follows. She does everything she’s told. She doesn’t flinch, or try to pull away from touch. She tries to make the right faces. 

The tears don’t stop.

But… she doesn’t break down into sobbing either. Much better than yesterday. Rayce can hear her taking deep breaths, holding them, and letting them out shakily. She’s trying. He doesn’t have to punish her.

“M-may I talk, Handler?” she asks when he’s done with the warmup round. “Go ahead,” he allows. “I just want to be good,” she whispers. “I just – I am sorry for crying, I am. I don’t want to cry. I can’t stop.” “I know,” Rayce says, petting her between her shoulder blades. “I know, you’ll get there.” “I want to be good,” she repeats.

It’s become her mantra lately. It’s a good mantra for a Pet.

“It’s just a phase,” Rayce tells her. “It happens to a lot of trainees. You’ll come out the other side.” “I want to,” she agrees, voice wobbly. “It just might take a little while, okay? You’re going to keep practicing until gets easy.”

“If…” she wavers, “i-if you keep punishing me, Handler, with the collar…” Rayce gives her a warning frown, but she forges on nervously. “Will it fix it? Will I stop crying? I don’t care, I just want it to stop –” “That’s for me to decide,” he tells her sharply. “Sorry, Handler,” she flinches, chastened. “I just – w-wanted to say that I don’t mind, if it makes me good…” “Are you trying to do my job for me, trainee?” “No, Handler, I’m sorry Handler.” “Does it matter what you want, or mind?” “No, Handler. I’m sorry.” “... Just trust me, okay? You keep practicing, and it will stop.” She nods, shoulders shaking with another suppressed sob, and nuzzles her face against his chest.

Mitchell had better be right about this one.

[Next]

#my writing #bbu #noncon tw #a girl called spider #654261: spider #handler rayce #in which we see a completely different perspective on spider to her own

[darkmasterofcupcakes]

....I hate to say it, but while the audience knows that Eclipsa and Globgor would have never hurt anyone and just wanted to be left in peace with their child....I honestly can somewhat understand the perspective of everyone involved with the whole thing of covering up Meteora’s existence and even, to an extent imprisoning her parents...or, at least, Globgor.

I mean, with Globgor, it’s not even speculation that he was someone who apparently killed Mewmen with what seems to have been no remorse, and according to Eclipsa, he stopped “just for her”. Which, to be blunt, doesn’t necessarily mean he realized it was wrong. And even in the present, Eclipsa, the person who had the most faith in him....still seems to be genuinely afraid he’ll go back to his old ways. 

Now, imagine being the MHC, and learning that this person who is known by basically everyone as a figurative monster as well as a literal one, had a child with one of the most powerful magic-users in Mewni’s known history. Not only do you have no idea if or when this monster will try and attack innocent people, but you have no idea what this child will be capable of as she grows up, especially if she gets access to magic.

And I’m gonna be blunt - while Shastacan is supposed to be seen as a hate-sink for how he talks about and treats baby Meteora....The man was in no way obligated to care about her, much less raise her. If your partner has relations with someone else, and ends up with a child from it, you are in no way, shape, or form, under any obligation to love that child. You shouldn’t intentionally mistreat them, but you don’t have to love them, and especially shouldn’t feel completely obligated to raise them, particularly in a case like this where the child is a literal infant and normally wouldn’t remember anything about what happened before they were put up for adoption (because obviously if you can’t or won’t raise the kid for any reason, you shouldn’t have flat out abandon them).

And, when it comes to putting Meteora up for adoption....I really don’t know if I can really blame anyone for what happened to Meteora? Because, really, the only reason her first life turned out horrible was because of how she was raised by St. Olga. And we have no idea if any of them knew how she was going to be raised, or if they gave St. Olga any instruction beyond, presumably, keeping her away from Mewni and making sure she didn’t learn her original identity. 

I mean, the MHC weren’t even present during the scene where Meteora is given to St. Olga. They say they swapped her out with a peasant girl when confronted about it, but that could just as easily mean they gave the baby to Shastcan to decide what to do with her and once that was handled (and especially once Shastcan was dead, though I still don’t know the timeline for that since it makes little sense), they found Festivia and claimed her as Eclipsa’s child and the new Queen. We have no idea if they had any clue as to what actually happened to Meteora, especially since, from what I remember, nobody ever talks about St. Olga or Miss Heinous and none of them see her as Miss Heinous, throughout the whole series. 

#Star vs the Forces of Evil #SVTFOE #Magic High Commission #MHC #King Shastacan #Meteora Butterfly #Long Post

[lavenoon]

Guh Taking Flight was so good I can’t even. Seeing how different the dynamic was at verses where it ends was just- like dang. Robin seeing Dusk go through the same things they did as a rookie and having a choice to either let him suffer like they did or intervene. YES ROBIN BREAK THE CYCLE EVEN IF YOURE PISSED. The defending scene was definitely different than what I thought. Props to Robin for being a great shot I guess. Poor Dusk was just standing there like ���. I doubt he was expecting that. Ugh and then their little chat. It hurt my heart. Seeing him so upset just- ah! Robin’s little inner dialogue of ‘plus nobody likes you’ it just makes me so sad! Like I know it’s supposed to but just seeing it come back again and again…man. There’s so much more that I want to say but my dinners sitting in the microwave and I’m starving. SO, long story short- awesome chapter, awesome writing, you’re amazing, have a good day and take care of yourself

Ahaha yes, it was a lot of fun depicting the start of their dynamic, since before I had mostly dabbled in the more established "rivalry" slash friendship later on in the timeline! (and then of course, everything post reveal!) Getting to really pry into Robin's mind and show why they are the way they are, why in any timeline the senior agents are just rougher around the edges and struggle to trust, that was a lot of fun!

The defending scene definitely changed from how I originally depicted it here - though I will simply say that that post can just be a different instance. With my non-chronological approach, a few concepts just end up different, and I knew it would mean a lot more if Robin already had to confront that fear of losing their rank, is confronting it, and still chooses to defend Dusk. Because it's the right thing to do.

Because no one did it for them.

They're not without their scars, and they isolated themself to avoid rejection and now, with Dusk and the honestly fun interactions, they suddenly have to face the fact that isolation may be better than rejection, but they're lonely and they very much enjoy being around people if those people don't treat them like a joke.

Dusk doesn't know everything going on in Robin's mind - or he wouldn't have asked. But he saw their reaction when he asked if they gave up on fun, he saw the sticker, and he realizes that they went through years of this treatment alone. He's not happy about it, and he's not about to make huge concessions - he's a sarcastic little fuck when he asks them to explain! But he does see their struggle for what it is, and appreciates their company, so he does indulge, he does go back to "bothering" them, riling them up and making them laugh.

And thus a rivalry is born, now that both are star ranked agents!

#answer let luce #sweetgrimm #accidentally undercover #there's the unrealism of everyone at the agency just being losers who hate fun #so our protagonists can be the cool and clever misunderstood outsiders who find each other #there's some reasoning of course with the competitive workforce n stuff #but yeah everyone else at EVOC hates fun <3 #it'll be a lot of fun writing Sun's companion piece #because he meets Robin in that tired phase where they mope over losing that little friendship with Dusk #fun fun times! no clue when I'll get to write it! it's next on my list but yeah we'll see #thank you for reading; glad you enjoyed <3

[ramblings-of-a-mad-cat]

The Snake Who Lived and The Order of The Phoenix

What if Harry was sorted into Slytherin?

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

Voldemort managed to return to power despite Harry not being a Champion, and he even retained the support of Crouch Junior! Let's see where this goes.

I didn’t really go into detail about Harry’s reaction to the House of Black, because for all we know, he may not have even seen it until this year. Or he may have. But either way, his reaction is the same. It’s alright, the severed elf heads and the screaming racist portrait notwithstanding. Having watched Dobby suffer for years and not having a muggle-born friend who Kreacher regularly insults, Harry might ask Sirius to consider being a bit nicer to him. Remus definitely would too, so they can gang up on him and pressure him into being a better person. Giving small gestures to Kreacher, like letting him keep some of the trinkets they would have otherwise thrown out. Like say, a big gold locket…? Perhaps. And perhaps Sirius won’t kick Kreacher out over the holidays. Hmmm. 

Remus initially hides the copies of the Daily Prophet that smear Harry, but Sirius finds them and it leads to a small argument before they show Harry. Everyone is mad, but regardless of what Dumbledore says, Sirius will never just keep Harry in the dark. For his own good or otherwise. 

I’m really not seeing how The Dementor attack can even happen here. Even during the time that Harry spends at Privet Drive, Sirius would be there as Padoot. The Dursleys are likely confunded or fed some kind of calming potion so that they accept the big doggo, but the point is that if Harry went out for a walk, Sirius is likely to be with him. Voldemort can’t do anything because of The Blood Wards, but Umbridge is going to have to get more creative. Or is she…? Okay, I have a solution. Harry is still training in Animagery, right? Suppose he successfully completes his training this summer? And when I say that, I mean he and his guardians manage to brew the potion and he takes it. As for his form, I mean…probably just a Stag. I see no reason to deviate from that. So yeah, he turns into a Stag. He has no plans to register, and that, my friends, will be his undoing. The Ministry conducts a bogus raid on the House of Black and likely finds (or plants) enough evidence for them to bring Harry in on suspicion of being an unregistered Animagus. Might seem like I’m reaching a bit, but honestly, they’re reaching too. Umbridge and Fudge were always going to find a way to put Harry on Trial/try to have him expelled, The Patronus was just how they did it in the original timeline. With that in mind, the “how” is secondary here. 

The problem then becomes everything else they have on him. So yeah, in this timeline, The Hearing… It doesn’t go well. I just can’t imagine the Wizengamot voting in majority to clear Harry of all charges, not with the record he’s accumulated. Even with Dumbledore there to stir the pot, I see Harry getting convicted, and expelled from Hogwarts. Well holy shit, talk about a Butterfly Effect, am I right? Now relax, because Dumbledore isn’t going to take this lying down, but for the time being, Harry is in serious trouble. One plus side is that he runs into Lucius Malfoy as in the original timeline (he was lurking outside the trial to begin with) and guess what? He’s able to pass Lucius a book that contains a sock, telling him the book belongs to Draco. Like the fool that he is, Lucius passes the book to Dobby, and even though Harry’s scar prickles in the passage, he seizes his chance, telling Dobby to check inside. This causes a scene at the Ministry, which is an added benefit as he made Lucius look like the fool that he is, though a lot of the Ministry officials who witnessed this feel that Harry was dirty and underhanded - again, they don’t see anything wrong with House Elf enslavement. 

So here’s a major problem: It seems to be tradition (or a rule, who knows) that students who get expelled from Hogwarts then have their wands destroyed as part of the process/punishment. It was done to Hagrid, and it was threatened to be done to Harry in the OG timeline. (Not sure if it was done to Newt.) I don’t know why the Ministry can just do this, as it’s not like the wands are school property or anything, and being expelled from school isn’t the same thing as losing your ‘license’ to practice magic…or I guess maybe it is? God, they live in a society. But see, that’s the problem: Harry’s not going to turn his wand over, especially if he’s not allowed to just get another one - and that seems to be the rule, otherwise why would Hagrid have to keep using the concealed, broken pieces of his first wand?

I can see this evolving into a whole altercation. Ministry officials show up to do it, and Harry refuses to relinquish his wand. Sirius and Remus step in between Harry and the Ministry goons, who drop some lines about asking Sirius if he’d like to go back to prison. Just then, a letter arrives from Dumbledore, revealing that The Ministry has agreed to allow Harry to return to Hogwarts on a trial basis, but he’ll have to have a Supervisor who determines if he’s behaving himself. He’ll be constantly monitored and one toe out of line will lead him right back to door number one. Hey guys. Guys. Guys. Guess who his Supervisor is. I bet you already know, and I bet you’re all groaning. That’s right, it’s the hopping, giggling toad herself, Dolores Umbridge. Oh, Harry is in for hell. And given how Draco is a Prefect as well, and therefore also in charge of him? Oh, by the end of this year, Harry’s going to wish he had just turned his wand over in the first place. 

But here’s a wrinkle. If she’s Harry’s Supervisor, she can’t exactly teach Defense Against The Dark Arts, can she? Hey, guess who has an idea! I have an idea. The new Educational Decree permits the Ministry to select a teacher for Dumbledore, but only if he fails to find one himself. But Sirius is not happy about the idea of Umbridge shadowing Harry everywhere he goes and making him miserable. Would Professor Black please stand up? Yep, that’s right, he’s going to volunteer to teach Defense Against The Dark Arts, (despite both Remus and Harry being wary of the jinx) and Umbridge and the Ministry will hate it. But what can they do? He’s been cleared of all charges, and Fudge is regretting the hell out of that. 

The Weasleys would, at some point, come to stay at Grimmauld Place like they did in the OG timeline, because Sirius still volunteers it as a base of operations for The Order. But I’d say that overall, he’s in a much healthier mental state in this version of OOTP, as a free man. Harry gets to see Ron and Ginny, and learn about Percy’s estrangement from the family, to say nothing of Fred and George’s depression. Ron is a Prefect and Harry can’t really be jealous given how he dodged expulsion by the skin of his teeth and isn’t exactly winning any Badges these days. (Man, can you imagine Harry trying to go out on dates with Ginny, with Umbridge lurking in the corner and hem-hemming all the time? God, he’s in for a rough year…) 

Let’s check in on Voldemort. Or at least on his plans, which we hear from Snape at Order meetings, once they start happening. No big blow-up argument between Molly and Sirius as there’s no real call for it in this timeline, but frankly Sirius just tells Harry everything anyway, once the others are gone. Voldemort has the Philosopher’s Stone. He’s trying to gather followers, but he’s also after the mysterious “weapon.” (To this day, I don’t know why they describe the Prophecy as a weapon but alright.) Snape has also been able to confirm the return of Crouch Junior, though nobody has any clue how that’s possible, and everyone is now really afraid of Voldemort’s seemingly literal death-defying powers. 

Harry has an idea, and he calls out to Dobby. Who is now a free Elf, and is overjoyed to see Harry again, feeling absolutely indebted to him. I think he asks to become Harry’s Elf at this point and Harry doesn’t really have any reason to say no. Rest assured, this isn’t going to last for long. I’m just thinking that Dobby only found work at Hogwarts when he was with Winkie, and that hasn’t happened so far. But it will. Because Harry’s going to ask Dobby to find Winkie, and question her about Crouch Junior. 

Luna Lovegood. Harry might actually already know her at this point, if she’s Ginny’s friend. Actually, no, I don’t think Ginny and Luna were as close as they got until the D.A. started, but either way, Harry meets her on the train. She shows him the Quibbler, and I want to say that it has some article about how Voldemort is secretly possessing Harry using an obscure magical fungus, and not even Harry himself knows it. Because the Quibbler is always right when you look past the silly, extraneous details. 

Return to Hogwarts, except no reaction to the Thestrals this time as Harry still can’t see them. The Sorting Hat sings a new song, and Harry endures jabs from Draco. Indeed, a lot of people are whispering and buzzing about him after the Hearing over the summer. When he gets up to leave as everyone is dismissed, Umbridge is right there, and in her sickeningly sweet girlish voice, suggests they take a walk. When they do, she outlines the new regime: He is going to behave himself. If he doesn’t, she’ll be forced to punish him, and make sure he learns his lesson. All with those high pitched giggles. She tells him that she’ll be watching closely and from now on, she will escort him everywhere. Hogsmeade weekends and other entertaining activities will be at her discretion. Harry feels as though he’s going to be sick, and doesn’t shake her off until he reaches the Slytherin Common Room.

Indeed, Umbridge is everywhere. She even sits in on Harry’s classes, causing a considerable amount of buzzing and invoking the ire of several teachers. Included but not limited to McGonagall, Snape, and of course Sirius. Indeed, he causes a scene when he holds Harry back after class to talk to him, and when Umbridge won’t leave, he says he’ll take this before Dumbledore. Umbridge responds that she answers to someone above Dumbledore. Sirius offers a tired smile and remarks that there is no such person. Is it commentary on his society, a spark of actual loyalty to the man, or is he just trying to frighten Umbridge and get under her skin? (Remember, Umbridge also helped pass Anti-Werewolf laws.) Either way, this is about to get very funny, as Sirius transforms into Padfoot and uses that as motivation to make Umbridge go away, at least for a little bit, though she says she’s going to write to the Minister. 

Sirius and Harry have a conversation similar to the “Have a biscuit, Potter” scene in the OG timeline, except it’s much more open as Sirius sympathizes with Harry and urges him to just play along for the time being, as he, Sirius, works on a way to try and get rid of The Toad. 

But The Toad will have her revenge. She doesn’t like that Sirius is teaching his students actual defensive magic, or that his class sometimes gets side-tracked as his students ask him what Azkaban was like. Furthermore, she makes good on her promise to “punish” Harry for wrongdoing, which apparently includes having a private conversation with a teacher, who is also his Godfather. Doesn’t matter. She takes Harry back to the Slytherin Dungeon and makes him write with the Blood Quill. In this case, he writes “I will not sneak about.” Or something to that effect. But Draco catches sight of what’s happening before Umbridge sends him away. I mean, he is a Prefect, and it’s just like him to spy on Harry, so I can see this happening. Ready for a surprise, though? Draco is appalled. 

I mean, I’m not saying he voices this opinion or does anything about it. I’m not sure he’d ever admit that his initial gut reaction was of disgust, but it was. Draco is an entitled, spoiled bully who doesn’t have a clue…but he’s not a sadist. He doesn’t like violence, he doesn’t like actually physically hurting others. Sure, he was excited about Hermione’s death, but it’s not like he saw her mangled body. If he had, I think he might have changed his tune. It’s so much easier to align yourself with bigotry if you don’t actually see all the blood that gets spilled. Draco hates Harry but seeing him be literally tortured is going to affect him and not in a good way. On some level, he knows that it’s wrong. He just can’t face it. At least not yet. 

Harry’s a stubborn stag, and if we assume that Dumbledore is still ghosting him in this timeline, (and he’d have even more reason to) then he’s not going to tell Dumbledore or anyone else. I’d say it’s even more likely that he takes Umbridge’s control of his life as a personal challenge. She won’t let him play Quidditch, she won’t let him see Ginny, and so on. Not until he “earns” it, and earning it is going to take a number of late nights of carving “I will not sneak about” on his hand. Never mind that it’s O.W.L. year and he has homework as well. Meanwhile, Ron becomes Keeper alongside Ginny as Chaser on the Gryffindor team. 

So, the D.A. is unlikely to be formed in this timeline. There’s just no need for it. They have an adept teacher for Defense Against The Dark Arts. But he’s about to be seriously crippled, as another Educational Decree passes, limiting the D.A.D.A. teacher to defensive magical theory and essentially rewriting the entire curriculum to be useless. This is a problem…or it would be, except this is Sirius we’re talking about, and he blatantly ignores this new Decree, which is a whole other problem by itself. To this end, he tries to ban Umbridge from shadowing his classes, and both McGonagall and Snape back him. Sirius and Snape on the same side? It’s more likely than you think. Finally, Dumbledore steps in, and informs Umbridge (and Fudge) that during class hours, it is the responsibility of the teacher to keep Harry in check, and that Umbridge is no longer welcome to sit in on his classes. She tries anyway, and various enchantments kick her out, to increasingly hilarious effects. 

So in essence, there is a “D.A.” of sorts, but not really as Sirius is the one running it, and it’s just his normal classes, (complete with Remus coming in for the occasional guest lecture) which he instructs his students not to talk about - though of course they do, but Umbridge can’t really prove anything. She questions Harry, who rebuffs her, and hey, guess what? “I must not tell lies.” is back. Or maybe just “I will tell the truth.” On his other hand. But by this point, it’s getting harder and harder for Harry to hide his hands. He’s been wearing gloves and just claiming his hands get cold, but it’s creating awkward situations. Theodore has already glimpsed his hands, but agreed to remain silent. In a dark moment, he “jokingly” suggests The Killing Curse, but drops it when Harry looks disturbed. 

You know who gets Harry to come forward, though? At long last? I think it’s Draco, actually. I think for the first time in five years, Harry and Draco have a real heart to heart. Well, that’s putting it a little bit strong. Here’s how I imagine it: Draco wants to talk to Harry about why he’s wearing the gloves, but cannot express that this is what he wants to talk about. So he makes a few attempts to initiate conversation in the ways he knows how. Gloating about how he is once again the Slytherin Seeker, picking on Dobby when Dobby comes to see Harry - which reminds me, Umbridge hates both him and Crookshanks and tries to have both of them sent away. She fails with Crookshanks, but it’s agreed that students shouldn’t have personal elves, so his news will have to wait. Either way, Harry snaps at Draco and tells him to “go tell Umbridge on him” if he wants to do some real damage. 

Harry sees the pain in Draco’s eyes, and for just a moment, the mask slips. Draco snaps back, asking why Harry hasn’t just said something, gone to his precious Godfather or to Dumbledore and told them what Umbridge is doing. That Harry is Dumbledore’s favorite and Umbridge is clearly in the wrong. Tempers are running high, and Harry fires back that it’s not about being right or wrong - he has to win. Running to Sirius or especially Dumbledore is, I think, akin to giving up - at least in Harry’s mind. Draco is stunned and actually a little impressed. Tells Harry “That’s the most Slytherin thing I’ve ever heard you say, Potter…” Draco parts Harry’s company by telling him that, if Umbridge is doing this to him, odds are she’s done it to other people in the past. 

Harry is so thick and I love him for it. I’m just now realizing how much effort and energy he is dedicating to this war with Umbridge when there are much bigger fish to fry, but you all know this is exactly what he’d do. Speaking of those bigger fish, Dobby comes out when the coast is clear and updates Harry on Winkie. He got her a job in the Kitchens, but she clamped up about her previous masters. Dobby freely offers to do some unkind things to Umbridge with his Elf magic, the next time she hurts him. But Harry again rejects the help, instead freeing Dobby by giving him a Slytherin scarf, and encouraging him to take a job in the Kitchens as well. If nothing else, he doesn’t want to get in more trouble. He’ll have to take Umbridge down another way. And Draco’s words have given him an idea of how to do it. 

I said he’d come forward before, and maybe he would, but…no. Here’s the thing. Guess who else is keeping tabs on Harry and then hears raised voices in the Slytherin Common Room? Why, the Head of Slytherin of course. Umbridge was careful. She deliberately waited till the dead of night to give Harry his “punishments.” She memorized Snape’s schedule. Harry has not done this. It doesn’t occur to him that he’ll be overheard. But once Draco and Dobby are gone, Snape emerges from the shadows to interrogate him ferociously about how long this has been going on. He’s mad. He’s very mad, and he’s taking it out on Harry, which is hilarious because the anger is on Harry’s behalf. However, Harry knows what to do now, and he speaks up, finally talking in Snape’s language. 

“My Dad. My Dad used to make your life hell, didn’t he? Him and Sirius, all the time. Remus told me. Professor, this is my hell. Umbridge is my James Potter. These are demons I have to face alone. If I can’t handle the likes of her, then I don’t stand a chance against Voldemort.” 

Snape, like Draco, is genuinely moved by Harry’s sentiments, even if he’d sooner die than admit it. Harry is learning to talk, and think, like a real Slytherin. 

I said Harry knows what to do, and he does. Asking for help would be a show of weakness in this fight. But there’s a valley between asking for help and exploiting a resource, and that valley comes down to how much a person means to Harry. He won’t ask Sirius or Dumbledore or Dobby to help him take down Umbridge…but a stranger, or even someone he dislikes? That’s another story, and it so happens that one of his enemies is in a perfect position to systematically destroy Umbridge. This enemy has no loyalty or integrity, they have no reason to help Harry, but they serve their own interests and making gold is one of those interests. I am talking, of course, about Rita Skeeter. 

But how is he going to meet with her? I think he enlists a little help from Fred and George, recruiting Ron into the plan during Charms class, who then passes the message onto them, and they use one of the secret passages to deliver a classic to Harry at the Slytherin Common Room. A package of the prototype “Fainting Fancies.” He then has Daphne offer one to Umbridge on the morning of a Hogsmeade visit. She’s down for the count, and Daphne and Tracey move her into a nearby broom cupboard, locking it so she won’t be discovered. 

So Harry makes his way to The Hog’s Head, let’s say, to meet with Rita. I’d assume they’ve been writing to each other through Ron and Hedwig. Harry doesn’t even need to blackmail her (not that he knows her secret anyway) he just needs to take a page from the Malfoy book and pay her off handsomely. He doesn’t know she’s an Animagus but he does know that she has some method of spying on people or otherwise learning their secrets that is as of yet, undetectable. It is an educated guess that Umbridge has skeletons in her closet, and if Rita can unearth them, she can put them out into the world. But she offers an alternative solution. Don’t publish, blackmail. (So long as she gets paid a small fortune, it’s all the same to her.) Harry agrees with this plan. 

Is it cheating to use Pottermore content? I mean, it’s all canon, right? Well, *casts a cursory glance at McGonagall* perhaps not all of it…but I don’t see a film series rewriting Umbridge’s backstory anytime soon. If you didn’t know, her mother was a muggle and her brother a squib. And boy oh boy, does she hate being reminded of that. She doesn’t want anyone to know. With Rita’s help, Harry discovers these treats, as well as learning that her “Blood Quills” are 100% illegal. (I mean..they’ve got to be, right? It’s only a head-canon but, come on.)  She also discovers that Umbridge was behind the bogus raid on Grimmauld Place. She relays all this, probably through a fireplace phone conversation in the Slytherin Dungeons after hours. This isn’t enough on its own though, Harry is going to need proof. The word of Harry Potter, especially against a Ministry official,  is all but worthless right now. 

Quidditch time. Harry isn’t in the game and he doesn’t even get to attend, but Ron’s stage fright acts up and the Weasley is Our King meme is born, though it will still be a while before he reclaims it. Hagrid returns and Ron and Ginny are the ones who visit him to learn about the Giants, as obviously, Harry’s got a shadow. After Umbridge woke up in the closet and was discovered, she raced back to the Common Room but Harry beat her there, innocently asking where she’d been. But Umbridge knew Harry was behind it and gave him more Blood Quill lessons. She’s been cracking down on him harder and he knows he’s going to need to think of something clever, as he likely can’t slip away a second time to collect the evidence. 

It’s during a Potions lesson that the idea falls into place. Polyjuice Potion. He needs to use Polyjuice Potion. A bait and switch. He can’t have his Slytherin friends brewing it, not with Umbridge popping in and out. Ron is rubbish at Potions and Ginny is probably decent, but do you know who I think Harry goes to for help, possibly at her advice? Luna. Or maybe just all three of them, why not? They brew Polyjuice in the Third Floor Corridor, which is now deserted. On the day of the next Hogsmeade visit, Harry and Ron swap places and take each other’s identities before Umbridge shows up. 

Ron waits for Umbridge. She never turns up. Harry ventures back to Hogsmeade, meeting with Rita in the agreed-upon place, where she’s supposed to have vials of Pensieve memories that confirm her stories. But something is wrong. She doesn’t seem to have anything on her person. Harry realizes too late that this is a set-up, as Umbridge appears from around the corner, having waited for Harry to say enough to damn himself. She binds him and takes him by side-along apparition to the Ministry. 

See, The Hog’s Head was a bad idea. We know people can listen in there. I also wouldn’t be surprised if The Ministry wasn’t looking into Rita after the whole Cedric Conspiracy last year. If Umbridge discovered Rita’s dirty little secret, she could use that to leverage her into stabbing Harry in the back, as it’s Harry that Umbridge actually wants. She brings him before Fudge who gloats that he’s done it now, and his time at Hogwarts is over. Furious, Harry throws off his gloves and tells him that they’ll have to try harder than that to silence him. Fudge is confused, then disturbed, as he realizes what Harry’s hand wounds are, but he blusters and quickly dismisses it as not the point. 

Meanwhile, Ron goes to Sirius, as neither Harry nor Umbridge have been seen all day and it just doesn’t smell right. Surprisingly, Draco does the same thing in approaching Snape. Ron admits Harry’s plan to Sirius, who is impressed in spite of himself. Snape and Draco discuss Umbridge and her “methods” speculating on just how far she might go. Sirius and Snape run into each other and their mutual dislike becomes a problem, before McGonagall happens upon them both and extracts an explanation. She sends them to inform Dumbledore as she ventures to Hogsmeade herself, but everyone is long gone. 

Right as Dumbledore is being informed, he gets an owl informing him that Harry is to be expelled and his wand destroyed. He, Sirius, and Snape immediately take a floo-powder journey right into Fudge’s office. A huge argument ensues, and Umbridge’s black quill usage comes out. Sirius is about ready to kill her on the spot, though he also wants to know why Harry didn’t tell him. That will cause some drama. Umbridge is, much to her fury and dismay, subsequently dismissed as Harry’s Supervisor. Sirius tries to argue the whole Supervisor concept away, or that he can just do it himself, but Fudge steamrolls over this and says he’ll be in touch soon to appoint the new Supervisor, and that Umbridge will be investigated. 

I think this is where she snaps and tries to attack Harry, but Dumbledore is there so she gets blasted into kingdom come. Well, more like the nearby office wall, but still. Well, that’s it for Umbridge. Least for now. Harry is taken back to Grimmauld Place for the winter holiday as Remus and Sirius obviously dote on him. Sirius still wants to know why Harry never said anything about the Blood Quill, and Harry doesn’t really have an answer. He tries to convey that he wanted to win, but Sirius and Remus don’t really get it. 

Harry has the Dream, of Nagini attacking Arthur. The Weasleys come over, and they basically stay for Christmas after the fact. Harry is able to call Dobby to help seek and locate Arthur, bringing him to St. Mungo’s. Like before, Sirius has to stop Fred and George from tearing off to the hospital to see him, but they do eventually all go. They see Arthur, and they also meet Neville’s parents. Harry and everyone else is sickened, naturally, and Harry once again pleads with Dobby to find out as much as he can about how Crouch Junior can be alive. Oh, and the adults all have a conversation about what Harry’s dream means, leading to them dropping the line about Voldemort possessing Harry. Except this time, it’s Sirius and Remus, most likely, who are talking about it. Well, that’s gonna shatter the hell out of him. 

See, Ginny’s able to pull him from his slump even sooner this time, but it will still linger in the back of his mind. They’ve both been Possessed by Voldemort so they share that trauma, and it helps them bond even further. But Harry is hurt that Remus and Sirius would have a conversation like this behind his back. What’s more, he’s wrestling with a greater fear that comes to a head when he faces that Boggart that’s been lingering upstairs. I can’t remember if I have this as being the first time Harry faces a Boggart, but if it’s not, I totally should have done that, because Harry’s Boggart is himself as a Dark Wizard. It’s a little like the OOTP movie, now that I think about it. I feel like Remus is the one to see it, but Harry refuses to talk about it short of asking Remus not to tell anyone. 

Hey, remember when Snape turned up to inform Harry he’d be getting Occlumency lessons? Well, those lessons are totally still happening, but I don’t think Snape is the one to inform Harry personally. I think that job would be relegated to Harry’s new Supervisor - Kingsley Shacklebolt. Well, Harry’s life just got a whole lot easier. My first instinct was Rufus Scrimgeour, and honestly that sounds like it would be far more interesting, but *deep sigh* I promised myself I would do this based on what is most likely to happen, and realistically, Scrimgeour is way too busy to take on an assignment like this. He’s the head of the Auror Office at this point, so no. While it’s true that Fudge wouldn’t want one of “Dumbledore’s people” watching Harry, he has no idea that Kingsley is a member of the Order, Kingsley hid that very well. Either way, he’s here to notify Harry of the arrangement, so he might as well also tell him about the Occlumency, right? If Snape doesn’t have to go, why would he?

The mass breakout happens. This doesn’t really affect our heroes directly beyond freeing the one, the only, Bellatrix Lestrange. But that will have a greater impact later. The Ministry, unable to blame Sirius in this timeline, chooses to use Umbridge as a scapegoat and claim she was probably involved. Oh, I’ve just thought of something else - Wormtail. He’s in Azkaban right now, isn’t he? Yeah, he’ll escape too, though whether or not he joins Voldemort or just goes right back into hiding as a rat is a different question. 

Here’s something else to think about. Harry should be getting his position on the Slytherin Quidditch team back, right? Well, I’d theorize that the Slytherin Captain offers to redo Tryouts (I mean, Harry’s got a damn Firebolt) but Harry, in a surprise move, turns the offer down and says that Draco should be Seeker. After all the stress of dealing with Umbridge, I think Harry has had enough of dealing with enemies. He and Draco may never be friends but they don’t have to be foes - and there was a glimmer of potential in their last conversation. Not sure if Draco would take the gesture well, though. He might think of it as charity. Unless Harry doubles back to say something to the effect of “now we’re even.” 

Moving forward, man, a lot of stuff from the original timeline just isn’t going to happen. The D.A. isn’t here, and neither is Umbridge, so that’s not getting busted. No conflict with Marietta. No High Inquisitor either, so Trelawney doesn’t get sacked and Firenze might just be stuck with nothing. There’s still the “The Beetle at Bay” but, nope, we covered that earlier in the story. I mean Harry can have a Valentine's Day date with Ginny but I assume it would go well. Ron likely isn’t going to wind up with anyone in this AU, just by the by. I can’t envision him with anyone other than Hermione, though Ron/Lavender could still happen, and there are clues that Luna might have fancied him…we’ll come back to that. In the meantime, we need to talk about Occlumency. 

Harry has taken his first steps toward trying to understand Snape and see him in a better light. Snape has always struggled to respect Harry as a member of his House, but his recent comparison between James and Umbridge (something a Gryffindor Harry would NEVER have done, not even for tactical advantage) has really messed with Snape’s head and now he doesn’t know what to think of the boy. But perhaps these lessons will help him figure it out. Snape is more disturbed than he lets on at Harry’s memories of the Dursleys, including the one where he hexed them - and then it’s immediately followed by the time he Crucio’d Sirius. Snape tries to ask him about this, but Harry clamps up and looks so distressed that Snape pushes forward and attacks again. He sees Harry’s Boggart. But before he can concentrate on that, he sees the Door from Harry’s dreams (Oh yeah, he’s still having those, did I mention that?) as Harry recognizes it at long last. 

Meanwhile, Harry doesn’t trust Kingsley at all. I mean, he likes him just fine, as Kingsley is a cool guy. But Harry doesn’t know him, and he’s not about to start trusting a stranger whose sole purpose at Hogwarts is to keep an eye on him. Though Kingsley isn’t nearly so “hands-on” and he doesn’t “punish” Harry. Like I said, I think Harry was able to have his romantic Valentine's Day with Ginny. I’m sure Kingsley is more than willing to clear off for stuff like that. But still, between him, Snape, and Sirius - Harry isn’t exactly going to be getting up to any mischief. 

Snape’s Worst Memory would normally happen here, and it’s a pretty damn crucial cornerstone of Harry and Snape’s rivalry as well as Snape’s character as a whole. But I just don’t know if I can see it happening here. See, what motivated Harry to look into the Pensieve in the original timeline was mistrust in Snape, and in this version…against all odds, Harry pretty much does trust Snape right now. Also, Remus and Sirius have already given him a somewhat sanitized version of events, and combined with Snape’s biased version, Harry has more or less put the pieces together on what sort of person James was. I think this means Harry just…continues getting Occlumency lessons? They’re not exactly pleasant but Snape is learning more about Harry’s inner turmoil and it’s making him falter ever so slightly. 

Career Advice time, oh yeah. I have…no idea what Harry would want to do with his life at this point. Because it was only Crouch Junior’s advice that planted the idea of becoming an Auror in Harry’s mind. He never really entertained the idea of being anything else. It’s pretty clear that he was meant to teach Defense Against The Dark Arts, but that hasn’t really been shown off in this timeline much. But what’s extra funny is that Harry has Career Advice with Snape. Imagine if he told Snape that he wanted to teach D.A.D.A. too, oh, that’s hilarious. On the other hand, if he was in any way influenced by Kingsley, he might still want to take the Auror’s path. He could always go pro for Quidditch, having been influenced by Victor Krum, but hell, he just turned down a Seeker Tryout. I don’t see that in the cards for him. I think Snape would likely steer him in the direction of becoming an Auror, probably out of some self-loathing and instinct for Harry, that Snape is thinking “Don’t be like me.” 

No fireworks, and no swamp. Fred and George are totally still inventing, but they’re doing so with no budget, and they have no tyrant to oppose. So it’s just casual stuff. The Quidditch Final arrives and with it, Ron officially reclaims the Weasley is Our King joke and is properly crowned. As with before, Harry’s not playing, but unlike before, I don’t think Hagrid ushers him away. He’d definitely still take him into the Forest to meet Grawp at some point, but with Umbridge gone and Hagrid’s job not on the line, he doesn’t really need to sneak as much. Harry is definitely stunned and slightly terrified of Hagrid’s brother, but Grawp is as adorable as ever. “GRAWP WANT HAGGER!” Bless his enormous heart. Either way, Harry celebrates the win over Ravenclaw with Ron and Ginny. 

I think at around this point, Rita Skeeter would release an article discussing Harry’s childhood memories and - for a real stunner - his Boggart. If she’s still at large, it only makes sense that she’d keep pulling the same crap until she gets caught. Harry shows Snape the article and Snape is momentarily blind with rage at Harry for “taking this interview” but Harry, well and truly familiar with Snape’s bullshit by now, just cuts him off to say that he didn’t give Rita any interviews about his Occlumency lessons. That she must have been spying somehow. They resolve to catch her in the act, and stage another Occlumency lesson where they discuss false memories. (Just for giggles, let’s say they consist of Harry having a midnight duel in first year, brewing polyjuice potion in his second year, and eating some gillyweed just last year.) If all goes to plan, they’ll have proven Rita is spying, and will be able to turn the tables on her. 

Now it’s time for O.W.L.s. The pace has really slowed down, huh? But fortunately, it’s about to pick right back up. At least. I think. I dunno, I’ve got to figure this out. Because it’s time to discuss Voldemort’s plan, and how he would go about things. In the original universe, he uses the mental connection to stage Sirius getting abducted and tortured. He needs to motivate Harry to venture to the Hall of Prophecy in the Department of Mysteries and pick up Trelawney’s Prophecy as he and Voldemort are the only ones who can. That’s not going to work this time. Sirius is at Hogwarts. Voldemort needs someone Harry loves and cares about, who isn’t in an immediate vicinity where Harry can just check that they’re okay. But part of the reason this plan worked so well in the OG timeline is that Hogwarts had been drained of all the adults Harry trusted. McGonagall was gone, Dumbledore was gone. Harry legit just forgot about Snape, which says a lot. But in this timeline, they’re all here, and Harry trusts them - especially Sirius, who is also involved. Harry can ask any of them for help, especially since Umbridge is gone. 

Voldemort’s plan only worked because Umbridge had chipped away at Harry’s life piece by piece over the previous ten months. But speaking of Umbridge, she’s going to be the key. I don’t think she took defeat very well, I don’t think she had any intention of just letting the matter go. She would definitely want revenge on Harry, and who’s making the best offer? Well, there’s a rich and esteemed pureblood man with a lot of connections and ties to the Ministry. Yes, I can see Lucius reaching out at Voldemort’s behest to the disgraced Umbridge, and leading her into a trap rather like Wormtail did for Bertha Jorkins in the original universe. Voldemort is going to torture the hell out of Umbridge and break her mind - she spent a great deal of time with Harry and Voldemort wants that intel. Now, why not just possess Umbridge and use her to access the Ministry? Simple. They turned her into a scapegoat. She doesn’t have a job anymore. So she’s useless apart from information, and by the time Voldemort is done with her, Umbridge is little more than a husk. I’d feel bad, but then again, it is Umbridge. Either way, Voldemort now knows all of Harry’s pressure points. Ron. Ginny. Sirius. Hagrid. 

Of course, the alternative solution here is for him to try and Possess Harry again, but for whatever reason, this is the one time in the books where Voldemort just can’t do that. Apparently he’s unable to Possess Harry without feeling excruciating pain because Harry can love. Which um. I’m pretty sure Voldemort’s Possessed other people who can also feel love (like Ginny for instance) but okay. I guess that’s out. Again, it’s #NotMyPlothole, but I’ll respect the canon. 

Actually, wait. There’s a precedent here that works. Voldemort can Possess Ginny. He’s done it before. That’s a way to get Harry to the Department of Mysteries. Even if he’s out of range to do it, he can always send Lucius onto the grounds to do a little Imperius work. So while Harry is undergoing O.W.L.s, Ginny gets possessed and later tries to convince Harry to go investigate the Black Door himself. However, Harry’s scar suddenly erupts with pain and Voldemort realizes his mistake. He warns Harry that he must come to the Department of Mysteries, alone, or he will never see Ginny again. By the time Harry can rise from the floor, by the time the pain stops, Ginny-mort is gone. 

Harry must now find a way to outwit all of the adults in the castle who’d have the means to stop him from rescuing Ginny. But he believes he has to do this alone, just as he felt the same about Umbridge. Voldemort is not one to make idle threats. Like a true Slytherin, he lies to get Kingsley off his tail, warning him that Sirius is acting shady and Harry thinks he might be Possessed. Course, Dumbledore still has The Marauder’s Map, but that shouldn’t be too significant an issue. Assuming he’s even watching, it will be too late by the time he realizes Harry is gone, unless he can guess where Harry’s going. 

No Thestral ride this time, and no Firebolt ride either. Harry likely wouldn’t know how to get to the Ministry by flight, and he doesn’t need to. He has the Slytherin Common Room’s fireplace - as the fires at Hogwarts aren’t being watched in this timeline. But first he needs to get everyone out. Fred and George will need to help him here, possibly with an earlier version of some of those fireworks. No way to be sure who all would be in The Common Room but as it’s studying time for the Fifth Years, at least one of Harry’s House-mates would likely be there, figure out that he’s up to something, and go warn Snape. Either to hinder Harry’s efforts or because they’re genuinely concerned for him.

Harry arrives at The Ministry, and at this point he’s likely expecting to finally be expelled for good this time, when this is all over. He ditched his Supervisor to skip school and all. But he doesn’t care. He has to save Ginny. He stumbles his way through the various rooms in the Department of Mysteries as before. No way to be certain that he’d check the same ones, but I don’t see any of them tripping him up, really. Except maybe the Death Chamber, but he could snap out of that for Ginny’s sake. Then again, this time, does he know what he’s looking for? Actually he could. The Door in his dreams did eventually open. Alternatively, he could use his Scar to navigate, and follow the increasing pain. Or maybe Voldemort just has Lucius stationed at the entrance to escort Harry at wand-point. Either way, he makes it to the Hall of Prophecy. Ginny is there, already bound, and so are The Death Eaters - including but not limited to Lucius, Bellatrix, and Crouch Junior. 

One point of note. I don’t think Ginny’s Possession is going to be fatal or even really harm her much at all, since it was so brief. Compared to Quirrell, Moody, and Crouch Senior who Voldemort Possessed for months on end. Another point of note, and this will be important later. I suspect Rita Skeeter’s next article would come out at around this time. Where, sure enough, she talks all about the fake memories that Harry and Snape discussed during their staged Legilimency lesson. So now Harry and associates know that Rita is spying on him. Now they’re sure. They’ve just got bigger problems to deal with first. We’ll be coming back to this. 

Back at the Ministry, Harry is kind of screwed. It’s rather like the movie where he’s got little choice but to retrieve the Prophecy and hand it over, despite Ginny telling him “don’t you dare-” etc. So what’s going to save him? Actually, I think Crouch and Bellatrix get into a spat over who will accept the Prophecy from Harry and bring it back to Voldemort. That’s something to think about - they both consider themselves Voldemort’s favorite, and in this timeline, they’re both here. They’ve both endured hardships and likely think that makes them superior to each other. They’re going to be competing nonstop, much to the chagrin of the other Death Eaters. Course, neither of them will let Lucius be the one to take the Prophecy. He’s not important enough. Harry waits for an opening, but this time he doesn’t have a crew of six to back him up, at least not yet. 

Back at the castle, Kingsley and Sirius are arguing as Sirius tries to figure out what’s going on. Snape, meanwhile, has been informed of the commotion in the Slytherin Common Room and now Harry has turned up missing. Again. Kingsley realizes he’s been had. The staff all meet to figure out what’s going on, as Dumbledore pours over the Map. This is when Sirius realizes he has it, and he’s not exactly happy about that. However, they eventually realize that Ginny is missing too. Secret unauthorized Hogsmeade date perhaps? Well, they check in with Rosmerta and Aberforth, but Dumbledore already knew that idea was too good to be true. 

Snape is the one to figure it out, having seen inside Harry’s mind and seen his dreams. He realizes Harry has gone to investigate the Department of Mysteries and curses the boy for his stupidity, leading to a fight with Sirius, before McGonagall and Dumbledore have to calm everyone down. Kingsley leaves to find Harry before other Ministry officials do, but Sirius insists on coming along. Dumbledore, following his instincts, requests that they bring more members of The Order. 

In the Hall of Prophecy, Harry has figured out what to do. With his best baseball arm, he flings the Prophecy into the darkness, and as the Death Eaters chase after it, he frees Ginny from her binds and the two of them make a break for it. It’s safe to say the Prophecy breaks when Harry throws it, though. I guess that thread of fate just cannot be severed. What follows is a game of cat and mouse where the Death Eaters chase Harry and Ginny through the various rooms. This would be around the point where The Order shows up. Some of them, anyway. 

We’ve got Sirius and Kingsley, and presumably Remus as well as maybe Tonks. (oh yeah, she’s still in the series, Harry just hasn’t met her before) but that’s about it. Moody’s dead. Dumbledore and Snape are still at Hogwarts. Keep in mind, they aren’t going to realize this is a Death Eater trap until it’s too late. The Order thinks they’re just picking up Harry from another day of his causing trouble. The numbers are not in their favor and they’re about to walk into an ambush, basically. 

What’s also curious is that one of the Death Eaters here is Theodore’s father. Along with Lucius, and Crabbe and Goyle’s dads too. That’s a series of gut punches for Harry. He didn’t actually know until now that Lucius was a Death Eater (though he likely suspected it) as the Graveyard scene never happened this time. Then there’s Dolohov, who cast some horrid curse with violet fire that nearly killed Hermione. But it failed because she had already Silencio’d him. Easy enough to just translate that onto Ginny but it feels almost too easy. Whatever, it’s a minor detail. We all know what happens next. 

Sorry, but it just has to happen. I can see no reason why it wouldn’t still go down the same way, and given how Sirius took up the Defense Against The Dark Arts position…yeah, something was going to have to remove him from this equation anyway. 

So, yeah. Bellatrix gets into a duel with Sirius and ultimately kills him, knocking him through the Veil. Remus has to stop Harry from jumping in after him, and has to break down that Sirius is gone. Poor Remus, man, he just cannot catch a break, can he? Either way, the duel continues and as before, Harry breaks free from Remus’ hold and pursues Bellatrix into the room with all the statues. Now for the million galleon question. Does Harry kill her? Or try, anyway? He…might. He wanted to kill her in the original timeline, and in this one he’s a hell of a lot closer to Sirius, what with seeing him every day and living with him since the end of POA. Not to mention the guilt he always felt about Crucio-ing Sirius before he knew the truth. So I dunno if I see him actually using Crucio again, not after that incident. But he could at least attempt Avada Kedavra. Perhaps he misses? The statues aren’t exactly going to protect Bellatrix though, and she certainly wouldn’t see it coming. 

It feels like Harry is just going darker and darker and I don’t think that would happen just because he’s in Slytherin, but I do think that given who Harry is, and the destiny the world forces on him, getting sorted into Slytherin has created a massive contradiction in his own heart and in the eyes of everyone who sees him, and he doesn’t know how to deal with that. He’s in Voldemort’s House, and all of his loved ones are in that House’s rival, as were his parents. How is he supposed to handle that? 

I think I know what happens. I think Harry does kill Bellatrix. Because like I said, she’s not going to see it coming. She didn’t see Crucio coming in the original timeline and while Harry might not “mean” it with true malice, I think that only really applies to the Cruciatus Curse. There’s no spectrum like that for killing someone with Avada Kedavra. They either die or they don’t, and no one apart from Harry has ever survived that curse. Again, I don’t see him using Crucio on someone after the Shrieking Shack incident, and with how much closer he is to Sirius…yep, Bellatrix is dead as a doornail. 

Voldemort arrives, and Harry initially doesn’t even know who he is. He’s never seen him before. But his scar is exploding with pain and there’s this strange man, eerie and haunted-looking, yet with the ghost of features that were likely once handsome and perhaps still are from certain lights. I’m picturing first-war era Voldemort, know what I’m saying? Voldemort is consumed with rage upon seeing that Harry has slain one of his most devoted followers, and he attacks, attempting to kill Harry. The statutes…probably? Still protect him? I’m not sure why they wouldn’t. 

More importantly, this is the first time Harry has dueled Voldemort. Yew versus Holly, and we all know what that means. The Death Eaters and the Order members plus Ginny likely all stumble on the effects of Priori Incantatem. I’m assuming Harry still “wins” this duel by sending the gold beads back into Voldemort’s wand and conjuring images of his parents. Like I don’t see why any of that would change. Remus is choked up to see them, especially since Sirius just died (and I bet both he and Harry were hoping to see him too and wondering why they didn’t.) But the echoes help Harry retreat, grab Ginny and Remus, and tell him to get them out of here. He disapparates them back to Grimmauld Place. 

Interesting point of note. Had Harry lost the Priori Incantatem battle of wills, an echo of Bellatrix would have appeared and likely assisted Voldemort instead. And hey, that could still happen, and it would be extremely interesting, especially if she reveals to everyone who killed her. But, Harry won the bout in the original timeline. And I don’t see a reason why he wouldn’t this time. Either way, I think it’s safe to say Remus splinches the ever loving crap out of himself because imagine trying to apparate in a warzone after watching your oldest friend die, and seeing ghosts of two of your other close friends? Yeah, Remus is not gonna be able to concentrate in those conditions, and he’s gonna be laid up for a while as Healers fix him up. 

Voldemort has work to do. He gathers his followers and they disapparate, bringing Bellatrix’s body with them. They want to leave no evidence of their return, and this time, the heroes did not win. They only escaped, and they didn’t have Dumbledore or anything. So this battle being what definitely proves Voldemort’s return is…kind of not really going to stick this time. Sirius is dead as well, but there’s no body, and no way to prove Bellatrix killed him in the first place. There is evidence that someone broke into the Department of Mysteries and destroyed Ministry property, but that’s it. Voldemort also does not tell The Death Eaters how Bellatrix died. He wants them to think of Harry’s survival at Godric’s Hollow as a fluke. 

The question of casualties is a tricky one, because it would be so easy to just say that certain characters died in this battle, but the truth is I just can’t be sure. The Order didn’t know they were heading into a fight, and Harry also didn’t have The D.A. with him. How can I know for sure that other people would die or choose who that might be? On the other hand, is it unrealistic to say that Sirius and Bellatrix are the only casualties? Or is that enough? Tonks was injured in the battle, should I just say she was killed off instead? Or is that not fair? Hm, as a compromise, I just won’t feature her much at all going forward, and I’m totally not just doing that because I dislike Remadora. Nah, let’s just say Tonks was also killed in the battle. That she was struck by that curse that hit Hermione in the original timeline. It’s harsh, but it's also realistic. Man, The Black family really took a hit, huh? 

Harry likely doesn’t even return to school at this point, since exams were already pretty much over anyway. But he is brought in, possibly to Dumbledore’s office, to be questioned by Kingsley about what happened before they got there. Kingsley is gentle as obviously, Harry is still in mourning. Harry falters and Dumbledore fills in the blanks with a story about how Voldemort killed Bellatrix for failing to procure the Prophecy and for taking out Sirius, who could have otherwise been valuable leverage against Harry. This is also the story Voldemort would tell his Death Eaters. Harry gratefully goes along with this story, and while Kingsley isn’t really buying it, he accepts it and leaves. Snape is also in the corner and he attempts to use Legilimency on Harry, but Harry has been trained better this time and he brings up the Occlumency barriers. Snape is both frustrated and ever so slightly proud, but that’s a small part of his soul that he will never acknowledge. 

Dumbledore dismisses everyone else to talk to Harry alone, and this talk includes many subjects. It covers everything from the original chat they had in the OOTP book. Though Dumbledore also makes it clear that he knows what Harry did and such behavior is unacceptable. That he is letting it pass because he has to, because there are more important matters to deal with. But, if Harry carries on like he is now, he could wind up in Azkaban or worse. He could turn out to be just as bad as Voldemort. As of this point, the Ministry agrees to lift the whole “Supervisor” requirement, but I think this may also be where Harry begins to question if Aurorship is really for him. I mean, he hasn’t exactly made friends with The Ministry. 

Let’s talk about Ginny for a second. She was taken into The Department of Mysteries and could have died in a dangerous battle, all because of Harry. Now, it wasn’t really his fault, and he also did everything in his power to save her, but the point stands nonetheless. I’m not sure how Arthur and Molly feel about Harry at this point, my guess is that their feelings are not positive, but even if they do like him…I think this is going to be their breaking point. Though Harry did save Arthur’s life and he can point that out. Actually, maybe they do like Harry, but are just very concerned for their children. They’d try to forbid Ron and Ginny from associating with him for their own safety. Well, Molly would. It’s not actually gonna happen, though. Seriously, have they met Ginny? She and Ron will be at Hogwarts and basically outside of Molly’s jurisdiction. She could ask the teachers to keep Harry away from her kids if she really wanted to, but dealing with Harry Potter is already such a headache for most of them, and they can see that he doesn’t really mean any harm, so I don’t think they’d really take to that assignment. 

For her part, I think Ginny is freshly traumatized from having been Possessed again, and she and Harry can talk about that. Might cause distance between them or it might bring them even closer, who knows. I guess we’ll have to see in subsequent installments. 

That about sums everything up. There are loose ends, like Harry’s potentially growing relationships with Snape and Draco, but those will also have to be tackled in future installments. Same goes for Rita Skeeter. Oh! Here’s an interesting thought. Lucius did not get arrested this time, and altogether the fiasco was not his fault. It was Crouch and Bellatrix who got distracted, and with Bellatrix dead, there’s only one person for Voldemort to blame. He’s not going to kill Crouch but this may have consequences in the future. One of which being that Draco probably doesn’t get inducted into The Death Eaters. That was only done to punish Lucius…oh, this is going to be fun. 

Things are darkening more and more, though I s'pose OOTP was always a gloomy installment in the first place. Let's see how things play out in Year 6!

#Harry Potter #The Snake Who Lived #Harry Potter AU #Slytherin House #Slytherin Harry #Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix #Sirius Black #Dolores Umbridge #Rita Skeeter #Draco Malfoy #Severus Snape #Harry James Potter #Ron Weasley #Remus Lupin

[back2themax]

genisys should’ve went harder

Looking back at the shattered remains of Terminator Tumblr that I sit, nearly alone, In. It looks like I may be in the minority of people who actually liked Genisys as a movie? I thought it was pretty good - like Salvation it has a lot of interesting lore elements and character moments but they’re usually lost to dumb  decisions or distracting the audience with stuff that goes Boom.

Honestly there was several elements in this movie that I really loved and I just wish they actually expanded on instead of the weird as fuck emotional manipulation baby skynet?? I just. Why. Why. Why. Why. Not to mention the fact it was somehow in the OG timeline despite being from one not yet created etc - anyways here’s me rambling about what I liked and what they should’ve done.

What about John’s feelings?-

This movie actually gets John right. For the first five minutes at least, swap it out with the og actors and I can truely believe it’s what happened before Kyle went through. This sort of great leader but also team dad vibe he had. (Also losing my mind he has the full side scar, but also distinctly the same type on his lip as Kyle in the og)

Then… it’s not John Connor anymore- I mean this literally as he’s outright killed and has his mind taken over by Skynet. He’s this “Zombie Terminator” thing that’s sent back to ensure everything happens, and recrute or kill his parents.

Motherfucker that is the perfect opportunity to add a scene or two of weakness, of him angsting privately or outright not understand why they’re scarred and resisting. Not understanding how this is a good thing and they’re trying to kill him. Have some of his calling not just be manipulation but genuine pain and confusion. His parents are trying to kill him. This is the one time he’s seeing them together and alive. The one time he actually knows who his father is and it’s practically his right hand man. It should be perfect…. But they’re resisting.

Have these moments where johns trying to fight the programming. That he’s not completely lost. That he’s fighting every fucking second it makes him hurt them. That he snaps in and out of it, he kicks cries and screams before it takes his mind back. One of the things I couldn’t accept in this movie is that it didn’t give us glimpses of John. Like he wouldn’t be fighting it, like he wouldn’t be hurt - they’re trying to play it off like he was completely gone and I can’t accept that.

Lack of connection-

Ok so besides it being the worst casting of Kyle Reese known to fucking man. (Seriously why is this J Crew MCU looking ass man playing a guy who was generally sort of scrawny and had scruffy hair. The buzz cut makes it worse. He’s supposed to be from the OG timeline but looks nothing like it. Did you guys even try?!)

Despite being perfectly set up for a LOT of angst and deep character moments, meaningful exchanges etc… they’re really wasn’t anything. As much as I love teen angst Sarah™️. It was mainly them snapping, battle plan, run and fight. There was no padding. No heart to heart. Even the moments I’m sure they meant to be emotional just didn’t stike as hard, it was more of a exposition dump than emotion! The orignal had these good little moments when they hid or the fucking amazing deleted scenes between Sarah and Kyle,

Some points they could’ve and should’ve expanded on and were right there but they did nothing-

Kyle is even more lost then he was in the original. It’s not only another time but another reality all together. Everything he knows and thought he knew about the past is g o n e. have this as a emotional crux instead of Sarah yelling at him for not getting it

Have Sarah angst and be furious about the timeline that could’ve been. That she could’ve grown up happy, had friends , collage, a life that wasn’t weapons and preparation. that the future could’ve been blind to here until it happens.

Equally have Kyle grapple with the fact in this world he grows up normally. A regular fucking kid with parents , a house, trees, grass and everything. No war. No bombs. Nothing. He fucking meets this younger alternate self in a way that is WAY to casual- this kid has everything you should’ve and your like “yea ok here’s a pamphlet” I just- if I was a PTSD filled , trauma holding future war vet and saw a child me getting what I’d never have I’d ensure the kid has everything while mourning what I never had.idk they really didn’t push this as far as they did.

Pops. Not much to add just much more of him. I feel Sarah would’ve done the chip thing thatJohn did. Make him a bit more open and them both less cold. Proud robo dad V2 just😭

Have John also realize he’s from a nonexistant timeline. As he says this to pops but pops is from this timeline?? So if anything idve said it to Reese but idk

This was lightly pushed in the movie and had a real kick behind it but Kyle getting his head around John being his son. How he was much more protective from both a fanboy standpoint r and understanding he was actually his kid. This could’ve been used more or at least having it away Sarah in some sort of way bedsides her stubbornness.

#Kyle and John and they’re wild amount of daddy issues #80s movies #terminator #the terminator #the terminator 1984 #sarah connor #kyle reese #john connor #terminator genisys #terminator movies #terminator franchise #T2 #terminator 2 #terminator 2 judgement day #t 1000 #t 800 #t3000

[rocksrntpeople]

MCU Rewatch - The Incredible Hulk

There are many people who are begging for a proper go at the origin story for the Hulk. The Incredible Hulk shows how Bruce Banner, a brilliant scientist, got wrapped up in his own hubris (and the U.S. military), had a horrible accident, went on the run (from the U.S. military),  and finally ended up in Brazil where he got a job and anger management training. All in all, a pretty good introduction for the Hulk on paper. On the screen? This all happens within about 45 seconds.

So you watch this intro and then see Banner sipping a drink and taking a deep breath, and it just feels like the movie is staring you right in the eyes, whispering, Fin.

WHAT THE FUCK.

What the fuck else am I supposed to watch now? You just told me all of the interesting bits, minus the interesting part. I felt like Mason in Black Ops, just getting flashed with images that I just know mean something, are part of something I heard about long ago, but I just can’t tell what it all means.

So this movie begins with visual torture and is immediately followed up by about a hundred questions that are way more interesting than anything that’s actually part of the plot.

What was the incident that happened 158 days earlier? The lab, or something closer to Banner’s current location?

Who the hell is his trainer? Does he know he’s the Hulk? Did he find him after an incident?

Matter of fact, how long has it been since he ran away?

Who is that gorgeous chick??

Literally none of these questions are answered. There are different implied timelines for the initial incident, with both 5 months and 3 years thrown around. My guess is that his initial incident happened 3 years ago and 5 months earlier was whatever happened that got him in Brazil. It’s honestly not even worth Googling.

After you’ve been pumped through the first, and most engaging, half hour of the movie, suffering from story whiplash and generally confused as to where the movie thinks it's going…

…you’ll finally arrive at the point where the movie begins to beat you over the head with the fact that Bruce Banner is Hulk.

Yay.

Where Iron Man was perfectly orchestrated to amplify everything about him through small details that really fit his personality and his world, The Incredible Hulk manages to mirror Banner’s slapped-in existence in some random ghetto. 

I mean, how many Hulk-green pieces of cloth are actually hanging in the world? Because I think at least half of them are in this specific Brazilian slum. I mean, even the fucking soda being bottled is god damn gamma green. I bet the producers were like, “Oh yeah, that looks sick with the blood in it; just like how Hulk happened probably!”

And honestly, the rest of the movie is BORING. Holy shit, this is a clear example of what superhero movies were before Iron Man. Both movies were in production at the same time, as they released within months of each other, so it seems pretty clear that the whole Marvel team weren’t sure how this whole, “just make it like the comic book” thing was gonna work out with Iron Man. 

Probably shouldn’t have countered with one of the least relatable characters in Marvel who’d also just had a horrific flop of a movie less than ten years earlier, huh?

I mean, obviously some people are going to enjoy the rest of this movie. I’ve mentioned before that I’m actually not a huge fan of action movies. They’re boring. I see why people watch them; it’s the same reason I still love isekai anime; but they’re all the same:

“Omg, some military guy is doing something horrible and one guy is simultaneously wrapped up in it and the target of this military guy, and since this is an action flick, literally no one on the planet — no law enforcement, no governments, no other high-ranking military guy — can stop them except for this unassuming guy who, again, helped (or at least failed to stop) the military guy be evil in the first place.”

The Incredible Hulk does all of this and then has the added bonus of trying to redeem the military guy who almost kidnapped a man and threw him in a hole because he refused to commit crimes against humanity.

Yep, they find an even eviler guy who wants raw power to combat Hulk and lead a new age of super-soldier slaves that definitely would never be approved by anyone and would definitely violate the Geneva convention.

Also, can we talk about the “raw power” trope. Who the fuck wants raw anything?! Even fucking raw dogging ends up with a disease or a kid half the time, so what the fuck is with this “raw power” shit? Does anyone actually think that if they were the strongest person on the planet, but looked like a horrifying monster, that they would be able to do anything significant besides get killed? What’s the end goal there? You become all-powerful, a horrifying monster, win everything and then…go to Disney? Guess what fuckwit, you’re too big to even get through the gates. Have fun with sex too; you weigh like 3 tons now, so hopefully they make car sized fleshlights. Oh, and don’t even ask how much you have drink and smoke just to get a quick hit of vertigo.

This is the kind of shit that completely takes me out of action movies, but not out of superhero movies (because they often answer these kinds of questions, or at least don’t ignore them! We’ll talk about this more when Thanos shows up). And it’s this kind of shit that makes The Incredible Hulk incredibly bad.

On top of all of this. On top of all of the in-your-face symbolism, the dual villains who have completely lost touch with reality and how the world works, the lack of ingenuity and originality, and the missing origins for this origin story.

This movie was horribly cast.

Liv Tyler, William Hurt, Edward Norton, Lou fucking Ferrigno — it’s tough to see how this cast could fail, but they managed it.

Honestly, their acting wasn’t bad, it just totally didn’t fit…with anything! There was no chemistry between any characters, good or bad. The most human interaction we see is when he’s quietly working in the bottling factory. Even as he’s being interrogated and threatened, Norton doesn’t look anything but confident that he’s going to have lunch with Hurt later.

Overall, this movie was plagued by fear. Fear that people didn’t want another Hulk movie, fear that Iron Man would be a total misfire, fear that without big names behind the film nobody would be willing to watch it, fear that the origin story of the Hulk had been overdone.

In truth, Hulk’s story was essentially perfected in the minds of millions with the TV show from the 70’s. Even though many of us are not fans, when this movie came out that’s all anyone was talking about (we had societally agreed not to discuss Hulk); it’s part of the reason they got Lou Ferrigno again, to garner trust with the fans. But, it’s tough to beat perceived perfection, as we will all probably find out when they start trying to remake these movies in a few decades. Tbf though, they could have tried a little harder.

In addition to this, the unreasonably-angry-and-overbearing-military-guy trope is on its way out. It’s just totally unrealistic and annoying to have so much power being put behind such blatant disregard for diplomacy, money, and the most basic sense of humanity, plus of course they always have to throw in a woman to be verbally/physically abused by this character archetype and that’s just not fun to watch (it never was).

While I now agree that Hulk has been done dirty by the MCU as far as origins go, there’s no way to go back now. A new origin movie would flop almost as much as the Black Widow movie and have about as much substance. We can always hope for a redemptive movie for Hulk; there are only about a hundred reasons why the Hulk should not have a standalone movie at all.

My verdict: 2/10 

If you want to stay true to the MCU and/or if you have someone in your life who isn’t into superhero movies but likes action films, watch The Incredible Hulk as part of an MCU rewatch. If you aren’t doing a full rewatch, just watch the first 2 minutes and you’ll have a better experience.

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Next week is Iron Man 2. We do see him at the end of The Incredible Hulk, where he mentions “putting together a team”, apparently inviting this military guy? But not really, because why the fuck would he even be in cahoots with a big weapons enthusiast?? Also, spoiler alert: this general is not in the Avengers.

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Anyways, I truly remember nothing about Iron Man 2 so…

I’m sure it’s fine.

#the incredible hulk #hulk #incredible hulk movie #hulk 2008 #mcu rewatch #mcu #marvel #edward norton #Iron Man

[bisexualmikisayaka]

when examining the timeline created by every show, the suspension of disbelief has to get higher and higher. it was kind of funny with tcw - the hoops that the writing room had to go through in order to not ever let anakin and grievous meet, for example - but the more each of these new shows takes place within a past timeline and not in the future, the thinner and thinner it stretches.

something like the mandalorian, which was set in the largely unexamined post-ot, pre-st period focusing on a character we’d never seen before, worked. that was something that wasn’t as hard to stretch because it was a corner of the universe where the skywalker saga wasn’t relevant, and nobody we knew was cropping up to make how it fit into the established sequence of events confusing (until we hit the later seasons). rebels, in its beginning-of-the-rebellion-super-early-ot period, was able to get away with the same thing for the same reasons, although it starts to lose you a little bit when incorporating guys like yoda (like, why the hell wouldn’t he tell luke about ezra? and speaking of luke, how could he not know about the ghost crew?). 

kenobi is the breaking point. are we supposed to believe that leia developed selective hearing when reva was yelling obi-wan’s name in the cargo ship area, or that she suddenly couldn’t read when his name and face was broadcasted all over daiyu? would a person like her really never ask bail or breha “hey, who was that jedi who rescued me when i was ten?” so how does the ANH message still work? it’s pretty solidly implied they’ve never met one another before and all she knows of him are her father’s stories. there’s also the implication that obi wan and anakin are going to encounter one another. they are going to fight. what does that do to their ANH battle? they’ve also seemingly killed off the grand inquisitor, and despite my joke post earlier about replacing him with rebels!TGI, it also completely fucks with their established timeline if he’s as dead as that shot made him seem. i’d be worried about a complete rebels decanonization if they hadn’t already cast sabine and ezra for the live action ahsoka show, as well as everything with bo-katan and the darksaber in the mandalorian. 

i don’t know what they’re trying to achieve with this. my thought would be that they’re trying to set us up for a remake of the original trilogy, but i don’t know that disney could pull it off. they’re already flooding the market with these shows, we’ve got to be approaching critical mass the way we’ve pretty much hit it with marvel. people are going to get tired. also, the original trilogy is the cornerstone of the star wars universe, and there is a very vocal portion of the fanbase who are fervent defenders of their superiority and... purity, for lack of a better word. i can’t imagine that a remake would go over well with them, especially given the way disney’s partial to bending if enough people get loud enough. and honestly, i can’t imagine that a remake would have the same popularity that scored the original this extended universe. 

whatever direction this show goes, i think it just really shows the dire need for... something new in the star wars universe. legends did that - having never read them, i can’t speak to the quality of their writing, but at least there were comic runs following skywalkers tens of generations after luke and his kids. this current team at disney can’t keep playing in the same sandbox because eventually they’re going to run into the exact same walls again and again and again, and the way things are going, i don’t think anybody is going to be happy with whatever they do to surpass them. 

#also like... so many of these shows are just. formulaic? #'wanted man on the run with small child' is just. an undisputed filoni staple at this point #and god knows ive complained about the filoni-favreau circlejerk enough on this blog #idk. idk! #i feel like there's a way to disregard canon and still come up with exciting and interesting concepts #(see: visions) #but this show... isn't really. doing that. and i don't think it will #and i don't know that any of the ones in the future will either! #star wars #star wars critical #star wars meta #kenobi #kenobi spoilers

[sunriseverse]

I was reading up on your sunrise universe and honestly, what comes to mind is that it seems almost solid enough to be its own thing rather than a fanfic/au of an existing canon?

I know it'd be some more work to make it become a thing of its own entirely but is that something you've considered maybe?

you probably meant this as encouraging, and i appreciate the sentiment, but…………….sunrise is an au for a reason. even if i renamed all the characters, it would be obvious that they came from dmbj as a source material. you can’t have the hive incursion without the zhang or wang zanghai. you can’t have rangers without xiaoge. you can’t have anchoring without the iron triangle—and to say nothing of the sha hai timeline, which is predicated on all of the above.

sunrise is a very fleshed-out au, yes, but it’s just that: an au. it, by necessity, requires some canon framework to function. and that’s not a bad thing! it’s doing what it’s meant to do—but what it’s meant to do is be an au, not an original novel. if i wanted to make an original novel out of it (which i have considered before, and then ultimately discarded), i would have to do a lot of restructuring and reinvention and backtracking and patchwork for even the faintest hope of it being able to stand on its own without having obviously been fanfic in its original form, and while you can debate the entire day whether this is a good thing or not, it is, ultimately, not something i want.

also, i’ll be honest—if i published something set in the sunrise verse, but which lacked any obvious reference to dmbj properties, it would be very, very easy for someone to trace that back to my online presence, and i have less than zero interest in my online and offline personas ever being linked together. the only way i can see to avoid this is by wiping everything related to the verse off of the internet—deleting all my writing, my art, and my posts—, erasing the ability for others to learn about and enjoy this verse that i’ve grown to love so much, and that’s not something i want to do, either.

so, in the end, i suppose my answer is this: as flattering as your confidence in me and my writing is, i would rather spend my free time reading reams of research material to make my fanfic au more vibrant for free than attempt to publish it—more fool me, perhaps, but we all have our idiosyncrasies.

#ask #i appreciate the belief in me! but for the reasons above it won’t happen，most likely #sunrise verse #tagging for organisation #c.txt

[farmverse]

andif i posted writing. what th

cw; adult discussing his own hypersexuality and as a teenager, mentions of teen pregnancy

“My history is… complicated,” he says lamely. His new jeans are still stiff. He hasn’t properly worn in his boots yet. His only options with his jacket are to keep it on or hold it in his lap, and his prosthetic makes taking it off and putting it back on easier said than done anyway, but it’s uncomfortably warm in the uncomfortably quiet room.

“What isn’t, these days?” The man sitting across from him reminds him almost of his mother. His laminated nametag reads Dr. Marvin Campbell, and his blond hair is starting to thin, covered with a white little hat that Farm forgets the name of. “With that Scarab guy showing up and attacking the city, I mean. Since then, nothing has been the same.”

Farm examines his fingernails. Over the years, he’s mastered the art of biting them cleanly and evenly, since he can’t hold a set of clippers with the claw of his prosthesis. “My complications go back further than that, I’m afraid. I’m… like that Scarab guy, in a way.”

“That’s right — you and your family came from another timeline…” Dr. Campbell’s fingers move lightning-quick over his exceedingly loud keyboard. Maybe the horrible sound is supposed to help him type faster. “Your original world had magic, didn’t it?”

“Not always.” Farm’s kids aren’t here, so he doesn’t bother censoring himself. “I didn’t fuck with it. Tried to stay as far away as I could. At first, I just didn’t believe in it, but…”

Boy, that old fartbag sure proved you wrong, huh!

Technically, the so-called “Vampire Queen” hadn’t done much. That had been Finn.

Farm.

The crown.

And me!

Farm flexes his left hand forcefully, then shakes it out in an attempt to banish his nerves. It sort of works. Almost.

“…It did some shit to me that I’ve… just had to learn to deal with. And I didn’t always do the best or smartest thing. I-I know that. But I’ve… I’ve done my best. Tried to give my kids a safe childhood. Keep them clothed and fed and happy.”

“And that’s commendable. You should be proud of that, Farm.”

He wants to believe it, but it feels empty.

“…But I’ve also done some things I’m not proud of.” He sighs heavily. “When I was a teenager, I put on a magic crown that granted me ice powers and fractured my psyche. I… hurt a lot of people. My own family included. And, afterwards, I made some particularly bad choices.” He shifts. “I think I felt like… I had ruined the morale of the people around me. So I had to boost it, somehow. And, one thing led to another…”

“What do you mean by that?”

“…Please don’t make me say it.”

“I just want to make sure we’re on the same page, here.”

Farm meets Dr. Campbell’s gaze, at once both reluctant and deliberate. “I told people to use me however they wanted. And they did. And I-” (Fuck, why is his throat choking?)

Dr. Campbell is so fucking patient. The look he’s giving Farm now is the same look Minerva Mertens gave him when he first tried to tell her at sixteen that she was going to be a grandmother. But he’d thrown up and stumbled out, and she had never known.

Deep breath. Slow down. Cool off. You got this.

When he tries to speak again, he manages to keep his voice level. “…I gave birth to my first son when I was seventeen. I still don’t know who his other parent is.”

There’s a brief pause before the next question. “How old is he now?”

The question nearly makes him flinch. Its silly, really. But he answers anyway, because to hide away from it would just be pathetic. “He’s almost fourteen. Does great in school, polite, good-hearted — he’s the reason we moved here, honestly. If he and Dez hadn’t snuck out, we’d probably all still be in Farmworld.”

“Farmworld?”

Farm blushes a little. “Uh, my original timeline.” He rubs the back of his neck, idly tucking his light hair back under his cap. “Fionna came up with the name, and it stuck.”

Dr. Campbell laughs. There’s a moment of recognition, like he’s just speaking with a friend’s father, before the veneer of professionalism goes back up over the conversation.

#yeah. um. no real plot. just a way to get my feelings out ig. #benefits of a creative system i guess? #there are so many small and dumb things hidden in here. anyway #farm speaking #farm tag #scrapbook #art time #fictblr

[aragornsrockcollection]

Since all I’ve been doing is reblogging people dragging lotr prime, I would like to make something clear:

Every single thing they’ve fucked up, they could make a solid LotR show even with. I would hate it on principle, but they could do it.

Long post, detailing how this is possible but how they will still not do it beneath cut.

I love Elrond, but Peter Jackson proved you can have a very out of character Elrond and still tell LotR well, so politically ambitious (🤮) Elrond won’t sink this ship.

The extreme heteronormativity cowardice they’re showing with short-haired male elves and beardless female dwarves aren’t going to break this show, just my goddamn heart.

Girlboss Galadriel in Feanorian plate armor… when plate really shouldn’t be on ANYONE even by the end of the third age, fine, whatever.

Lots of original characters? You need them, otherwise there would be like two named characters per city, and entire cultures of middle earth would be gone. You definitely need at least nine men whose names we do not know.

Hobbits in the second age? Honestly, hobbits at sneaky, all they need to do is be just big enough to pass for short men and not draw the specific attention of anyone who writes shit down.

Celebrimbor and Galadriel’s relative ages? It’s so sexist, I hate it, but maybe Edwards is just that good an actor, I wouldn’t have said Hugo Weaving was particularly ageless, and I’d take Cate Blanchet if they cast her as she is now in a heartbeat. Suspension of disbelief is pretty powerful.

Condensed timeline? It can be done, it’s just a needle that needs to be very carefully threaded.

No, what’s going to absolutely kill this show dead, absolutely flatline it, is going to be a lack of thematic consistency and vision.

Tolkien needs to feel like you were dropped into a myth, a chain of events that’s connected to a time before the sun rose. An absolute leviathan of history peaking through the mist at you, ready to rear up and provide sudden aid or sudden doom from unexpected places.

People are walking around who spoke to gods and can reform the earth with song, and there are still dark unknowable things that the likes of them can’t anticipate. You are being crushed by a mountain of history, but even as just a note in this vast song, you can hope and move forwards.

Peter Jackson’s movies worked, because you felt like the characters were a part of something huge that was ending, and you felt that against all odds hope could prevail, even at a high cost. It hit the themes, and gave us actors who gave a shit, and that’s why I still watch the absolutely terrible green ghost effects in Return of the King and get utterly hype when the scooby-doo villain says “THAT LINE WAS BROKEN” and Aragorn replies “IT HAS BEEN REMADE!”

What is the story of the rings of power going to be about? Where is that sad mix of ancient power, and wisdom forgotten? The second age distilled is very much about the perils of hubris, who is holding down the fight against that?

What is moral of this story, where is the pathos?

I was not a fan of game of thrones, cause all of their interesting characters (and they were interesting!) didn’t add up to a story that MEANT anything. And that was done for this fake realism of gore and political agendas. In game of thrones even good people are vile in their own way.

In LotR even vile people were not always so, and redemption is always RIGHT THERE even if you know they won’t reach up and grab it. Tolkien writes stories where pity can be found for a slimey gremlin who CANONICALLY HAS EATEN BABIES, and compassion is not only right, but necessary.

Do we think Galadriel in Feanorian armor is going to stand for that? Cause it’s supposed to be Elrond. It’s supposed to be the half-elf who chooses to preserve knowledge over power, and uses his immortality to bear witness and heal what wrongs he may, and refuses to become embittered despite his losses.

This isn’t going to be a myth, it’s going to be a Disney ride. Shiny, plastic, with calculated thrills and twists and smoke machines instead of mist.

The Hobbit was a bit like that, but The Hobbit at least tried to hit that note of wonder, it was just not tight enough to get there. And the character designs were fun. At the time I think I said “All this filler was worth it to hear that ring theme hit under the misty mountains for the first time.”

This show doesn’t even know what it needs to try to be. It is, in fact, actively trying to be something else.

#lotr #the rings of power #tw: fucking lotr prime #tolkien

[gale-gentlepenguin]

What if idea: after ladybug beats chat blanc chat noir reveals his identity

(What if Ladybug found out Chat noir's identity in Chat blanc?)

Okay so this has been on the back burner for a while. I was trying to think of a way that it would make sense. So I think I got something.

-The events of the fight with Chat blanc go the same. Ladybug gets the bell and purifies the akuma. Chat blanc turns back into chat noir.

-But unlike before, Chat noir was reset to the state he was in BEFORE he got akumatized. As in, he already used Cataclysm and his timer was almost up.

-Chat noir greeted Marinette just as his transformation wore off.

-Ladybug and Bunnyx did not expect that.

-Chat noir was Adrien agreste!

-Bunnyx is sort of uncertain of what to do. This was not an event she lived through. Was this something Marinette was supposed to know.

-Marinette heard her timer tick and snapped back to reality. She didn't have time to be stunned. Adrien/Chat noir's timeline was still damaged. And if she used miraculous Ladybug now... that may fix this timeline, but not her timeline.

-Marinette realizes what she had to do.

-"Don't worry Chatton, I will fix everything. She hugs him.

-"I know you will." He says with a smile.

-Ladybug kissed Adrien before she left. (might be the only chance to). Adrien was happy to accept it. (I want a ladrien kiss and we know SHE WOULD)

-Ladybug comes to the conclusion she did in the original on how to fix the situation and she erases her name on the gift. She casts Miraculous healing and the timelines are fixed.

-Ladybug sees Adrien and while she has the urge to kiss him, decides on a different lie.

-"I was approached by an admirer to give this to you. Since I was swinging by."

"She said, Happy fifth names day." Ladybug hands him the gift and leaves.

-Adrien figures that the person giving the gift was Ladybug, but he had NO IDEA who it was.

-Ladybug asks Bunnyx if things are stable. Bunnyx gives the thumbs up.

-"So Adrien figured out my identity and we fell in love. Which Hawkmoth took advantage of? Which resulted in the destruction of Paris? Does this mean I can never be with him?"

-Bunnyx scratched her head. This was not expected, but FUTURE Ladybug didn't really tell Bunnyx the details of this. She just said that one day she needed to help her past self stop the biggest threat to the universe. No other explanation. So Bunnyx decides to at least correct a misconception. If she was wrong she can always just redo it.

-"Its... its a lot more complicated then that. Chat noir finds out who you are and doesn't tell you right away which kind of complicates matters. I can't give too many spoilers on that... Just know Chat blanc wasn't entirely accurate on that whole 'Your guys love destroys Paris'. Its more of Adrien's Dad is a jerk and that caused stuff to go down hill. Anything more than that would be spoilers."

-Ladybug nods.

-"So I am supposed to know who Chat noir is? Wont this result in the same drama as before?"

-"Honestly I am in the dark about this as much as you. How about this. If something you do does result in some disastrous consequences. I will come back in time and stop it. Deal?"

-Ladybug laughs a bit, Deal.

-Bunnyx is about to leave.

-"Wait, should I tell Adrien that I know?"

-Bunnyx shrugs.

-"Its your call little bug. You gotta do what you think is best. I will only be there to correct it if it ends up catastrophic."

-Ladybug is left on the roof, contemplating what to do.

_____________________________________________________________

And here are the lovely options we can take this what if. Vote in the replies.

_____________________

1. Ladybug tells Chat noir she knows who he is.

2. Ladybug tells Fu that she knows Chat noir's identity and asks what to do.

3. Ladybug doesn't tell anyone. Deciding not to try and alter the present.

4. Ladybug tells them both and asks what to do.

#ml #ml what if #alt chat blanc #Ladybug knows au #miraculous ladybug #ml au idea

[transformers-fan-continuities]

Spotlight: Ties That Bind

This one’s a doozy folks! If you missed the last spotlight you can go read it here, but strap in for The Ties That Bind, an absolutely brilliant take on humanformers. It’s hosted here at @tiesthatbind-tf​ created by @artsy-hobbitses​!

Q) Give us a run down of your cont! What's it about, what's it called, what's it like?

Ties That Bind is a humanformers-based original continuity which is part Science Fiction and part Alternate History where the invasion of Quintessons and introduction of their technology to Earth in 1920 sets the world and humankind on a completely different trajectory. The active narrative spans a period from 1920 to 2070, covering the First and Second Quintesson Wars, the interplanetary Antillan War (leading to the creation of Unicron on Mars) and the Great War which involves the Autobots, Decepticons and Functionist stalwarts, and how it affects the characters.

The cast is pretty sprawling and the narrative is mostly centred around human drama with bits of humor interspaced and a dash of horror (mostly centred around how the previous government often chose to utilize the technology left behind from the Quintesson Wars to create new systems of oppression, which affected many of the characters, in the name of worldwide rebuilding efforts).

Q) What characters take the lead here? Any personal favorites?

I will admit to this continuity being very much heavy on the relationship between Old Bastards  Optimus Prime and Megatron, which is given considerable weight as they were best friends who had known each other since childhood and were deeply intrinsic to each other’s growths as individuals, which makes it all the worse when guilt and betrayal enter the party. Despite being captains in two corners of this battle, there’s a part of them that just cannot let go of their pasts together and they need to reconcile with how this will affect their agenda (Megatron) and how they lead their team (Optimus) who don’t necessarily share their history.

Other characters with significant development include:

Starscream, a Cold Construct in a toxic working relationship with Megatron with whom he is hiding a dark secret, who struggles to balance the underhanded viciousness he believes he needs to gain power and his innate desire from his Senate days to make the world a better place. 

Windblade, a Camien native who fights her government’s apathy concerning the situation on Earth which they see as unsalvageable compared to their more Utopian society. 

Prowl, a Cold Construct raised from childhood to be a cop in a police state, who finds out that he was brainwashed several times  to ensure his obedience and efficacy as a government asset and is now working to reclaim some semblance of the humanity he was never allowed to feel and figure out how much of him is who he really is and how much is programming.

Hound, a sheltered Beastman who joined the fight to ensure that Beastmen the world over would have the same rights he did in his homeland of Shetland Isle, but is forcefully stripped of his humanity and faced with his animal side during the war and has to relearn what personhood means amid his trauma.

Q) Is there a bigger point to this, like a theme or some catharsis? Or is it just fluffy fun?

God with the amount of time I spent sleepless trying to figure out how the logistics of this or the semantics of that were supposed to work in universe, I cannot for the life of me say it’s fluffy fun, but I can’t exactly say it hasn’t been pretty engaging either!

There’s elements of war being messy for everyone involved where there doesn’t seem to be a clear line between friend and foe at times, but I think for most part it prescribes to  Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s belief that people are inherently good, but are corrupted by the evils of society. Despite its dark themes (Including but not limited to child abuse, torture, illegal experimenation  and brainwashing), love and friendships do prevail, kindness does beget kindness, found families are made, even the smallest actions matter, and things do get better because there are people on both sides who genuinely want to, and strive to make it better.

With Cold Constructs and Beastmen, it also delves heavily into what it means to be human; to have agency and personhood.

There’s also a strong undercurrent of taking responsibility for one’s actions, even if they were made with the best of intentions (Avoidance of this is what eats up Starscream and Megatron from the inside, and what Starscream eventually embraces).

Q) How long have you been working on it?

There’s two answers to this!

I’ve had a Humanformers-related universe going all the way back to 2007 around the time the first Bayformers came out---basically I had a choice between learning to draw cars or draw people (I was an anthro artist back then) and I immediately chose people.

The 2007 draft however had no worldbuilding or connective storylines and was mostly a fun little venture into character design and practice which were actually instrumental to me experimenting and learning how to draw humans properly.

I left the fandom for about a decade and when I came back to it in late 2020 around September via the War for Cybertron series on Netflix, I immediately got hooked on the 2005 IDW comics I missed out on and wanted to get around to updating my old designs as well find a way to translate several of the concepts I wanted to explore in a human sense, so the 2020 update became its own full-fledged original continuity with detailed worldbuilding and history.

You can see the artistic evolution of several characters from their original incarnation below!

Q) It’s incredible to see your artistic improvement too! Give us a behind-the-scenes look! Show us a secret ;))

Say hello to my workspace! I’ve been working exclusively on the Ipad Pro since late 2016, which is fantastic because I can basically whip up concepts and sketches on the go anywhere. Nowhere is too out of bounds to work on TTB!

Also, do enjoy this sneak peek at true!form Rung, whose synthezoid human body took years to perfect.

Q) YESSSSS alright I must admit this is one of my favorite Rungs, and certainly my fave within TTB. Amazing. Phew, anyway. Where did you draw inspiration from? What canons, what other fiction, what parts of real life?

TTB was initially conceived as a faithful retelling of the IDW 2005 narrative before it was transformed into its own continuity and as such, it borrows heavily from concepts and mirrored plot lines introduced in that run! I chose to have the series inspired off it specifically for the amount of history and worldbuilding it introduced to the franchise.

Anime like Gunslinger Girl and Beastars inspired the depictions of Cold Constructs, especially the more harrowing aspects of their upbringing as government assets instead of children, and Beastmen (Beastformers) in TTB.

I haven’t depicted the world itself in my art all too much, but the architecture from Tiger and Bunny, which has sort of a futuristic Art Deco feel to it, is what you’d usually see in major cities. There is an in-universe reason for that---with a Point Of Divergence set in 1920 followed by 25 years (an entire generation) of progress basically being kicked to the curb due to the Quintesson wars, mankind was basically in a time-locked bubble until the end of the wars, and by then their heroes were 1920s-style rebellion leaders, which lead to 1920s fashion (especially among the Manual Working Class---Megatron, Jazz and Optimus all rock 1920s fashion at some point of their lives) and architecture being celebrated and retained as sort of a reminder of how things were before The Invasion. This anime’s background design is also where I adopted the tiered system TTB’s major metropolises are often built on (with each tier being designated to a different working class) from.

The main artistic style itself is a love letter to 90s cartoons, in particular Gargoyles’ deep and drama-driven character narratives and designs as well as The Centurions’ take on body armor logistics.

I also take inspiration, especially armor-wise, from the characters’ given heritage and background. As an example, Hotrod who is depicted as Irish has the flames on his armor done up with Celtic knots. Welsh aristocrat Mirage’s armor bears olden knight-style filigree and has his Autobot logo designed as a coat of arms. Indonesian Soundwave’s armor and Decepticon logo takes cues from Batik and Wayang Kulit while their mask is based off the Barong.

Q) They are absolutely gorgeous! Show off something you're really proud of, a particular favorite part of your cont.

The worldbuilding in general! Most Humanformers I’ve seen tend to treat it like a fun exercise which it is and is definitely valid, but I found myself wanting a full-fledged world to lose myself in and I sought to try and make that world myself by drafting a detailed history and timeline of events which would affect ongoing narratives, having indepth worldbuilding to include almost all societal aspects of the universe and  expanding on the concept of Beastmen and Cold Constructs existing in a human setting.

I’m not so secretly proud of the research and diversity included to make the cast look like the multicultural, globally-based team that they were meant to be instead of being locked to a single region! My original draft from 2007 was, to put it simply, quite culturally monolithic and I wanted to improve on that aspect with TTB.

I’m also proud that I’ve kept to it this far! I’m a notoriously flaky person jumping from one idea/fandom to another and to have kept at this continuity for the better part of ten months is honestly a personal feat.

Art-wise, this scene depicting a young Megatron working alongside Terminus and Impactor (cameo by @weapon-up-wallflower​‘s OC Missit!)  is definitely one of my favorites since it helps build up the world they live in and plays to familial bonds and comfort found in one another despite their less than ideal circumstances.

Q) Everything has come together so beautifully, you absolutely should be proud. What other fan canons do you love and why? Would you like to see them interviewed?

I am dying to hear more from @iscaredspider​’s Sparkpulse continuity! Her designs are MIND-BLOWINGLY GORGEOUS and I want to hear more about what inspired her to work on it!

Also YOU. Yes YOU BLURRITO. LET ME HEAR MORE ABOUT SNAP.

Q) [wails and squirms away in the mortifying ordeal of being known but in a very flattered way] I WILL SOMEDAY I PROMISE aflghsdjg thank you QwQ

Well that was fantastic, Oni, thank you muchly! A magnificent continuity with so much to look forward to! Coming up next is another personal fave of mine, the first inspiration for SNAP, so stick around...

#long post #gore #ties that bind #spotlight #transformers #HUMANFORMERS #transformers au #tf original continuity #transformers fan continuity #transformers redesign #maccadam #i said id post this on sunday but i realize thats a holiday for lots of folks on this site :/