#i mean there is no dialogue and you know the character so don't come whining at me to hide a design you've already seen a few episodes ago

[aecho-again]

Hand over my daughter or perish

#please be normal #please sir #bang brave bang bravern #spoilers #i mean there is no dialogue and you know the character so don't come whining at me to hide a design you've already seen a few episodes ago

[teyamsatan]

lllicit Affairs | Chapter VI: Death by a Thousand Cuts

Pairing: Neteyam x Human/Avatar!Reader

Chapter I Chapter II Chapter III Chapter IV Chapter VI Chapter VII Chapter VIII Chapter IX Chapter X

Synopsis: You and Neteyam both have a dark secret that would change everything between you - and neither of you are willing to share.

Warnings: angst, some fluff, Lo'ak x reader, jealous!Neteyam, both main characters thirsting for each other, mentions of lab work, disease, blood, cursing.

Word Count: 7,2k words

A/N: Chapter 6 is the chapter that sets EVERYTHING in motion for what's to come. There is a LOT to come, a lot of drama and angst, maybe some smut (? 😉) and this chapter is meant as a stepping stone to the beginning of the end. Also, realised I forgot to ever mention, that if the dialogue is ever italicised, that usually means the conversation is in Na'vi, I don't know how I have never made it clearer, but here we are.

Thank you so much for everyone who's been reading and asking to be tagged, I never expected this to gain any traction and I am so grateful for people enjoying it x

My heart, my hips, my body, my love Trying to find a part of me that you didn't touch Gave you too much but it wasn't enough But I'll be all right, it's just a thousand cuts

One second. 

“Just one second, Neteyammm!”, you whined, as he was trying to remove the blanket from your currently very comfortable and very warm body. 

“It’s late, come on! Early bird catches the worm, isn’t that what you people say?”

“Nobody says that, I don’t know who told you this lie.” 

“It was you!!” he says, and he’s laughing at your whinging while trying to remove the blanket. He’s not trying that hard, considering he would make an easy job out of the task if he used a tenth of his actual force, but he couldn’t bear the thought of bringing you any unnecessary distress. You had enough of that in your life, and he wanted to be a source of comfort for you, a shelter in the storm. 

You scooted on one side of the bed close to the edge, and left a big gap which you brought to his attention by patting it aggressively. 

“Press the button on the audio player and lay with me, please? I don’t feel like going out today.”

He couldn’t say no to you, he realises. He would follow you anywhere in this world, do anything you asked of him, regardless how stupid or reckless or crazy it was. He would always follow you, for the rest of time, and he was happy about it. 

A song he liked came on, one that he’s heard you play before and there was no doubt in his mind that he liked it better when you sang it. He circled the bed and lay in it, next to you, in the dark. 

“Thank you, light of my life.” You attached yourself to him, arms sprawled across his bare chest and legs carelessly placed on top of abdomen and hips, and sighed contently. He could feel your warm breaths on his neck, leaving goosebumps in their wake. He turned his head to you and placed a small kiss on top of your head and listened to the soft tune filling up the room. 

“Oh, goddamn, my pain fits in the palm of your freezing hand

Taking mine, but it's been promised to another

Oh, I can't stop you putting roots in my dreamland

My house of stone, your ivy grows and now I'm covered in you”

“You’re annoying.”

“I know I am, but you love me anyway.”

I do, Neteyam thought. I really do…

Things happen in life sometimes, and it makes you lose your ability to react. There was no reaction, definitely no overreaction. You stared at the vial of blood that shattered all across the floor, all across you and your mind was blank. Almost robotically, you made your way to one of the benches and got some paper rolls and the IMS laying next to it. You carefully cleaned all of it, and spit whatever made its way to your mouth to the floor to be removed. When you were sure everything was gone, you went to the sink and removed your goggles and gloves, and scrubbed yourself clean. You felt yourself moving, picking up a bucket of water with some floor cleaner, felt yourself adding disinfectant to it and moping thoroughly, but it was like an out-of-body experience. Like you were merely a puppet executing orders from above. Cleaning everything took about an hour, after which you made your way back to your room slowly, deliberately. 

You didn’t sleep. You spent the whole night looking over everything you and the rest of the scientists have ever found out about this virus. You didn’t know its way of transmission. Maybe you had nothing to worry about, maybe it’s not by blood. You knew it’s not by air, you’ve seen plenty of people infected whose family was fine. So even if you do get infected, the people at the lab should be fine. Your friends would be fine. He would be fine. 

Next, incubation period. That’s a tough one, in-vitro studies show it takes the virus anywhere from 2 to 12 months to show symptoms. You don’t know how that changes in humans. You don’t know any of this shit for humans. You could be perfectly fine, you could die within the month. The thought made your blood run cold. 

You sat in your chair for the remainder of the night. Unmoving, unthinking. 

That’s how Norm found you.

“Hey, Ace. What are you doing up?”

You scrambled for a lie.

“Just woke up, actually. Listen, if you are going to check on the boy, can you please bring my supplies to the tent and tell the Sullys I won’t be in today? I was too exhausted to run any experiments yesterday so I will do it today.” 

“Oh… is everything alright? You haven’t missed a day in the village since you got your Avatar.”

“Yeah, everything’s fine, just worried about the boy and want to get to the bottom of this sooner rather than later, if possible.”

“Alright, I can bring you back some of his blood to run as well?”

“NO!” 

Norm’s eyes widened in shock at your response and you knew you fucked up, you knew you slipped up. Calm yourself… 

“It’s just not necessary at the moment since I have other blood and I don’t want to overwhelm him, if it’s not imperative. I will retrieve some blood when I check on him tomorrow.”

Norm looked at you with a concerned look, but eventually relented.

“Ok, whatever you think, Ace.” 

“Thanks, Norm.” 

“Let me know what you find tonight. I’ll tell Jake, but they might not be happy with you.”

“You can explain it’s an emergency, I’m sure they’ll understand.”

 

You struggled to get up and get your legs to not want to collapse beneath you. Eventually, you made your way to the sink and washed, you scrubbed your face as hard as you could without removing a layer of skin, and your teeth until you felt the familiar taste of metal coat your teeth. You hoped that maybe you tried hard enough, the last 6 hours can just be erased from your life, from world. You hoped it could undo the damage that would plague you for the rest of your most likely very short life. 

Luckily, most scientists seemed to be out. Claire was teaching Na’vi kids English at Grace’s old school that Jake deemed fit to be reopened, Max left with Norm to check on the situation of the village, and most of the Avatars would be out on missions or training with Jake. You made your way to the quiet halls to one of the labs, and prepared for your long day ahead. This will be hard to do by yourself, but not impossible. 

First step, respiratory fluids. You remove a sterile cotton swab and swab your pharynx as thoroughly as possible and place it in a tube. That’s easy enough. Next comes the blood. Finding a vein has always been hard for people to do on you, and it’s not gotten any easier in time, so after poking yourself a few times in the wrong place, you manage to get enough blood to run experiments on. 

Hours of sample preparation, incubation, pipetting and running went by at an excruciatingly slow pace, like the universe was revelling in making every second of torture last forever. You thanked your lucky stars of the progress made in lab equipment and that you didn’t have to spent days on one PCR, like your mum was saying it had to be done back on Earth about a century ago. Regardless, it took most of the day for you to do everything you needed, check for all the proteins and markers you knew were deregulated with this virus, and by the early hours of night, you were done. 

Aș people were starting to return to the hub as another day was nearing its end, you retreated back to your bedroom to work on the data analysis. You did not want to see anyone, did not want to speak to anyone until you knew at least some things. The less you talked, the less lies that had to come out of your mouth, and that seemed ideal to you. 

Inputting the data and having to wait on some software to give you your literal death sentence felt so tragic is was almost comical, and you had to stop and ask yourself if you were some serial killer in a past life to warrant all the pain and misery life seemed adamant to throw at you. For the first time in so long you couldn’t even remember, things were going… well. You were strong, and doing well, and lived outside of the walls of this lab. You had a chance at something more, you had a chance at maybe one day healing and working through your issues and maybe even coming out the other side a better, healthier version of yourself. You had a chance at love.

And there it was… positive. One second.

THE FIVE STAGES OF GRIEF  STAGE I: DENIAL

Your blood became poison in the span of half a day, but at least you now knew it wasn’t transmitted through air. That means no one else would have to suffer because of you. The thought made you weirdly calm, and you realised you didn’t care about your own health all along. No, you weren’t sad anymore, just relieved. A wide smile appeared on your face at the results, and you jumped out of the chair with enthusiasm at the great news. Everybody would be ok. Norm, Max, they would all be ok. You will handle all the virus experiments and blood samples from now on. They wouldn’t have reason to doubt you or question you, not when it made most sense anyway, since you were always in the village and knew the protocols and techniques the best, anyway. You would go on the same way as you had, and no one had to know or suffer because of your mistakes. 

With those thoughts still floating in your mind and a Xanax on your tongue, you made your way to the comfortable bed and crashed without a dream in sight. 

You were up before dawn again, and ready to get started on your day at the village. You were looking forward to gun training with Jake, and finally putting those years of practice to good use. You found Norm deep in thought in the link room, and he didn’t register you walking in until you patted his shoulder and he jumped out of his skin.

 

“Jesus, Ace. You scared the shit out of me.” 

“I noticed. Why so jumpy, Norm?” 

He gave you the quickest look known to man then quickly busied himself with literally anything else. “No reason, just focused on the task at hand.”

“…turning on the linkpod?” 

“No one likes a smartass, you know?” 

“So how was the village yesterday? How is the boy?” 

“He’s alright, still not great, but his vitals are stable for now.” You noticed he did not answer your question about the village, and found slight panic rising in your chest.

“Is everything okay? Did something happen in the village?” 

“No, Ace, everything’s fine. You don’t have to worry about everything, you know. How did the experiments go yesterday?” 

“The virus is not airborne, it seems to be transmitted by blood, so we need to be very careful handling samples.” 

“We always are. But good work, good to have some concrete evidence finally. I’ll look over your analysis soon.”

“You know, I’m not quite done with it, so maybe wait and we can look over it together?”

“Sure, that makes sense.”

You didn’t buy Norm’s pathetic attempts at deflecting the subject of the village, but you did not want to fight him so early in the day, so you guess you had to find out what happened for yourself. You woke up in your Avatar body soon enough, and could already tell the village was already awake and buzzing with the perspective of a new day. The guitar sitting on the ground next to your sleeping mat caught your eye, and you smiled softly at the memory which now seems a life away. Your fingers lingered on the chords and you strummed it gently a few times, enjoying the sounds that seemed to settle in your heart. Adjusting your braids in the small mirror you brought with you a few weeks ago, you made your way out of your tent and straight into Neteyam’s chest with a loud thud. 

“What the fuck?” You say, indignantly and then look up to find Neteyam watching you with an unreadable expression adorning his beautiful face. 

“Hi.” He says, and tries to muster a small smile. 

“Hi…? Is there any particular reason you have decided to attack me first thing in the morning?” 

“I was just coming to get you, I heard the guitar playing. I didn’t think you would be running straight into me. Are you ready? We can spend the morning tracking a herd of Talioang that the hunter party spotted a few clicks south of the village. It will be good practice for you.” 

“…alright? Can I get some food first? I’m famished.”

Neteyam shifted uncomfortably in front of you and looked… nervous, you realised. What the hell was going on with everyone?

“I have food that Ma packed for us, we can eat in the forest? I’d really rather get a move on as soon as possible, this will most likely take most of today, anyway.”

“Is there a particular reason you seem so eager for me to leave? You and Norm have both been acting weird today, and you are both terrible liars.”

Neteyam gave you a hard look. “Let’s go, Y/N. Unlike what you like to think, you don’t need to know everything, and not everything concerns you. Let’s go, now.” Nothing’s changed, you realised bitterly. Last night was just a fluke and you hated yourself in that moment for letting your guard down. 

“You can be a real dick sometimes, Neteyam.” You said and took off without looking at him. 

You ran for about 5 clicks without checking behind you, knowing full well he was following you, your hearing being one of the many senses that heightened in this body. You stopped suddenly at the sight of a huge footprint, one you could identify as the Sturmbeest, or a Talioang, like it was known to the Na’vi. Soon enough, you saw the ground littered with them, and began carefully tracking the beasts.

“Alright. How far would you say they are and which direction?” Neteyam asked, approaching you slowly. He was back to teaching mode, and you tried your best to learn, instead of recoiling and telling him to go to hell, which is what you really wanted to do. 

You touched the ground and felt it with your fingers, trying to assess the moisture level and deepness of the mark. You thought about for a while.

“I’d say they’re quite fresh. Maybe this morning? Taloioang move slowly, about 1 click every hour or two, so I’d say we’ll find them about 2 clicks east?”

He didn’t even have to touch the ground to be able to assess it. He was impressive. 

“Good. Let’s go. We shouldn’t run, they have good hearing and the wind is blowing east, which means they’ll be able to smell us if we’re not careful. We will take a roundabout way and approach them from the south.” 

You both made your way through the forest and it was your turn to follow him, although you stayed close behind and tried to look around you and pick up on clues, tiny sounds and movements, trying to learn, trying to see. “Eyes on the tracks, Y/N.” 

You rolled your eyes, but did as you were told. Eventually, Neteyam let you deem the appropriate time to stray from the tracks and move south to avoid being spotted. Soon enough, you saw the herd of prodigious beings, bathing in a shallow lake. You made your way slowly, sneaking on the ground, with Neteyam close to you, and you felt his arms grazing your sides every inch of the way. 

The herd was protecting the calves, 5 in total, playing and splashing in the clear water. You watched in amazement, just enjoying the view of these seemingly ferocious beasts that in the moment, felt more like a family watching their children play at the local pool. You couldn’t believe the beauty and mild predisposition, the complex nature of these animals whose equivalents were long gone on Earth, long decimated by humans and their needless desire for wealth and acquisition, for mindless cruelty. You felt your stomach drop at the realisation that soon, this could be Pandora, if you didn’t fight will all your being in the upcoming war. 

You felt a sudden gentle pressure on your lower back, a pressure you quickly identified as Neteyam’s hand and you shuddered at the touch. He neared his mouth to your ears, and you felt his warm breath tickling your neck, a sudden warmth pooling in your lower abdomen. 

“You’re not allowed to kill anything yet, but I want you to show me how you would go about it. Show me your bow work, how would you aim from this position.”

You slowly removed your bow from from your person and sat up, in a now crouched stance, and loaded the arrow, doing your best to accommodate for the uncomfortable position you were in and the tight space you were sharing with another person. You held your breath, engaged your core, and aimed as if you were going to release your arrow on the target about 300m away. Neteyam’s large hand touched your upper thigh, by your left hip and squeezed gently. Your arm dropped suddenly and snapped your head in his direction. He didn’t react to your sudden snap, instead talking lowly, so as to not give your location away. “Your leg is not in a position by which you can maximise release. You will have more power in the shot if you place this knee on the ground and lean into it.” 

You wanted to take that hand and either break it or redirect it on other parts of your body that felt like they would explode if they didn’t feel him, have his touch provide the relief that was desperately yearned for, needed. You wanted to scream at him or make him coax the screams out of you like a war-cry, wild and desperate. You wanted to kill him, you wanted him to kill you, slowly and painfully, taking his time on your body until you were falling apart at the seams around him. You hated him, you loved him. You hated him.

You gave him a hard look, an angry look directed at your thigh, and he removed his hand from you. You wondered if he knew, knew what he was doing, wondered if he felt the same way, if he too was struggling to catch his breath at the torture of knowing he can’t have you, claim you, right now, right in this second, right here. You hoped he did, hope it ate him alive, the yearning and the desire. Because that’s what it was doing to you, what he was doing to you. You turned your attention back to the herd and adjusted your position based on his advice. He was right, you could tell right away, as you felt a lot more power when aiming the arrow this time. 

“Much better. We can go now, we will give the location to the hunting party and the will be able to secure us dinner for a couple of weeks from the back of a couple of Ikrans.”

 

You made your way out of their surroundings, and slowly started walking back to the village. After about half an hour, he stopped on a rock and removed the food he was carrying in a pouch. You didn’t join him, preferring to keep your distance and thus a clear mind, not being able to afford being weak around him anymore. 

“I thought you were famished.” He says, with a slight smile. You shook your head and turned around, taking in the views of the forest, distracting yourself with the flowers reaching out their neon green tendrils towards you. You kneeled next to one, and touched them gently, enjoying the way they cupped around your hand and tugged, like they were urging you to come closer so they can spill their long-forgotten dreams to you. You heard him sigh loudly.

“Sorry for being a dick. Just had a fight with mum and dad, and I took it out on you. I shouldn’t have, and I am sorry. Come eat, please? I don’t want you passing out on me, you’re not as easy to carry as you used to be when you were human.” 

You remained on your knees still, focused on only the plants and your gentle tug-of-war. You knew how much pressure Neteyam was under, has been for pretty much his entire life. A prodigy created… or made, no one could really know for sure, he began training when most babies learn to walk, and speak, and play. He has never had a childhood the way Lo’ak, or Kiri, or Tuk, or pretty much any other Na’vi children did, mostly fleeting moments of bliss in between a lot more moments of stress and struggle. He never complained, though. Not out loud, not to anyone else but you, once he realised you were a safe haven from the storm. You didn’t pass judgement, or make him feel bad for sharing his feelings, and he felt like he could tell you all the hardest truths his heart has always craved to speak out loud. You have always wanted to protect him from the world, a world that demanded so much of him, that asked for a sacrifice of which it was undeserving. Being Olo’yektan, leading the people, being the one person everyone relied on was a great honour, a great achievement - one you didn’t think he wanted, but was never given the chance to decline. 

“What happened?” 

You walked slowly towards the rock he was laying on, and sat at its foot, crossing your legs on the slightly damp grass. You grabbed a piece of jerky from the pile of food and slowly chewed through it, humming in appreciation at the smoky taste and rich flavour of the meat. 

Neteyam grimaced and didn’t look at you, choosing to focus instead of his arm guards, picking at something that was clearly not there. “More sacrifices I need to make in the name of the future, of the people.” 

“I see you still haven’t learnt to say no, even after all this time apart.” 

Neteyam’s hand froze in midair, his eyes widening slightly - it was the first time you brought up the year apart. He braced himself for what he thought was the beginning of the end, of you finally demanding answers he didn’t think would ever satisfy you, but no other words left your lips.  

“I can’t say no. I owe my parents everything I have, everything I am. This village, this life, is all I know. My dad gave up on everything he knew to stand up for our people, to make sure we’d get a future worth living, a family worth saving, a world still worth fighting for. He became Olo’yektan despite all that stood against him because he loved my mum, loved us, even then, even before we were born. My grandpa died defending this village, watching home tree get decimated in front of his eyes, with only the people’s safety on his mind and tongue. I see that bow that my mum cherishes like a gift from Eywa herself and I want to be worthy of it, someday. And if it means giving up some things, maybe that’s just how it’s meant to be.” 

“Maybe whatever you’re giving up is making room for something ever better, Neteyam. Sometimes we want something so bad, we can’t see the forest for the trees.” 

He looks at you confused for a second.

“That’s a saying. What I’m trying to say is maybe you are over focused on something you want right now, that you think is the best thing for you, but maybe you just are not focusing on the bigger picture. Maybe in the future, whatever you’re giving up now will make room for something that was much better for you all along.”

Disappointment filled his chest at your words. Neteyam looked at you with deep sadness marking his features, and he could see you were trying to think of things to say that could make him feel better. In all honesty, he wanted - needed - you to tell him to be selfish, and trust his gut, and follow what he knew was right in his heart, but he also knew that being selfish is not a trait that came naturally to you. You have always respected the deep bond Neteyam had to his family and his people and you always used to tell him how proud of him you were for how strong he was, for the lengths he was willing to go to to protect and nurture those bonds. 

You felt an overwhelming sense of grief at the realisation that you will never get to see him become Olo’yektan, see him become the man everybody knew he was. He would never be yours, and although that painful conclusion had settled in your soul and had time to scar in all the time you knew him, a new wound, deeper, bloodier, deadlier, tore your heart apart at the thought you would not even be able to watch from afar. You would have been satisfied with scraps, just watching him rule, and be, and love someone else and imagining it was you. You never thought you’d get more than that anyway, never had any delusions for more. The scraps would have been enough, and now even those were brutally taken from you, like everything else in this life. 

You needed to leave, now. 

“Should we head back? It’s getting late.”

You walked back in deep, uncomfortable silence. Eclipse made the nature shine and glimmer with colours your sadness dulled to muted tones. There was light coming from the village and you realise how badly you wanted to be alone, in your tent and read, or watch a movie or a show, and ignore this world for a little while while you licked your newly-opened wounds. Tonight was a communal dinner around the big bonfire in the centre of the village, and you felt grateful your presence would not be missed in such a crowd. You’ve come to love these dinners, another one of the many ways the tribe connected to the village and to each other, but tonight you couldn’t entertain even the thought long enough to count.

“Can you please tell your family I am sorry, but I will probably head to bed early. I’ll be early for breakfast tomorrow, I promise.” 

“I can do that. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

You nodded absentmindedly and closed the flap of the tent shut.

Neteyam watched as you left him, still reeling from your conversation. Much like you, he just wished to hide in his family’s tent and pretend for a night things are different, that they are better. Actually, if we are talking about wishes, he wishes he could be in your tent. In all honestly, dealing with you on a day to day basis, seeing you, your body, touching it more and longer than he knew he reasonably had to, was making him think thoughts he knew he had no business thinking. In his wildest dreams, he’d be in your tent and making your eyes roll back in the way that drove him crazy. In his wildest dreams, he’d be coaxing sounds out of you that only he would ever hear. In his wildest dreams, your hands all over him would heal him and break him at the same time. He was desperately in need of some relief, and he loathed all decisions in his life that lead to you not being able to be the one to provide it for him. 

He made his way to the bonfire, and greeted all of the Na’vi that respectfully bowed their heads at his arrival. He saw his family at the centre of the crowd, where they normally sat, and joined them silently. They all gave him uneasy looks - all but one. Lo’ak was blatantly glaring at the older Sully, a look of disappointment and disgust marring his normally kind face that reminded Neteyam so much of their dad. 

“Did you tell her?” 

Kiri elbowed Lo’ak in the abdomen, but he didn’t flinch. He did not even bother to acknowledge Kiri, or the low hiss escaping their mum’s lips - his eyes were still boring into Neteyam, unwavering. 

“No.” Neteyam’s expression darkened and in a split second, he became the warrior his dad moulded him into. “And you will not, either, Lo’ak. Do you understand me?” Lo’ak had to look up to look at his brother who was now dangerously towering over him. 

“Oh, the mighty warrior giving out orders, what else is new?” 

“Lo’ak, that’s enough.” Neteyam heard Jake intervene, and he eventually had to physically put his body in between his two sons, who still refused to look away from each other.

“Fnawe’tu (coward).”

 

Neteyam watched his brother turn his back on his family and walk away from the feast, and although he wouldn’t admit it to himself, he knew deep down that Lo’ak was right.

 

You were almost robotically flipping through the directory of movies and tv shows on the laptop that you had with you in the village, not quite ready to go back to the lab and have to deal with the consequences of your newly acquired “condition”. You had all night to do experiments, and lie to yourself that you were fine until you eventually succumbed to a Xanax-induced blackout. You wanted to be in this body just a little while longer, because, in this body, it was easy to forget the realities of your actual life.

You saw a five-fingered hand emerge from the entrance to your tent, and you laughed incredulously at the clown you loved, who seemed to have a knack for improving your dour mood.

“I am here to bother you.” You got up and started making your way towards the entrance of your tent.

“Shouldn’t you be at dinner?” You say, laughing and pulling Lo’ak by the hand, so he stumbles unattractively into you. 

You wrap your arms around him and hug him gently. “Skxawng.” 

“I should, but I am here instead. We haven’t had movie night in so long.” He lay on your sleep mat and you hissed for him to move over. “You’re getting way too comfortable hissing at people.”

“Not people, Lo’ak, you!” You smiled saying that, knowing you were quoting Kiri, and he groaned exasperatedly. 

A few more weeks passed, and you felt the discrepancy between your bodies become more pronounced than it had ever been. It turns out, the incubation period of a Na’vi virus in a human is not long at all, and roughly around last week, you began displaying symptoms. You were taking every drug under the sun to try to soften them, but you had seen one too many good Na’vi people die due to this to know what was lurking underneath the comfortable cushion of drug-induced health. Despite all that, you felt on top of the world in your avatar. You were continuously improving, and, with a little bit of luck, will be completing your first kill soon - the first stepping stone to becoming Taronyu, hunter. If you do that successfully, you will be taking your Iknimaya with other Na’vi apprentices, and finally get your own Ikran. You were buzzing at the thought, and the image of you flying in the sky was enough to push any other worries out of your mind. 

After that weird day that ended with Lo’ak in your tent watching Friends together and teaching him the chords to a song you both loved, things went back to normal, sort of. You couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling that the Sullys were hiding something from you. They exchanged looks, and avoided certain subjects, and you were starting to be worried they guessed you were ill, and were tiptoeing around the subject so as to not upset you. That was a good theory, although it could not explain the heavy tension between Neteyam and Lo’ak that also started that night. 

You saw them bicker and fight your whole life: two opposing personalities, both of whom had misunderstandings about the other. Neteyam could never understand Lo’ak, understand that, despite being the chieftain’s son and the grandson of the Tsahik and former Olo’yektan, people still looked at him like he was not quite full Na’vi. His eyebrows and five fingers made his appearance uncanny enough to always attract whispers and looks, and despite Lo’ak’s apparent devil-may-care attitude, he cared. Neteyam could also not understand anyone who wished to live freely and discover themselves, make decisions and choices that would lead to a happy, fulfilled life, rather than a proud and accomplished one. Finally, Neteyam did not understand that skill and tenacity doesn’t come easy to everybody, and the weight of living in his shadow was bearing heavily on his baby brother’s back. 

On the other hand, Lo’ak never tried to understand the burden Neteyam had to carry, because, in his desire to not appear weak, he took it in strides and never complained. Lo’ak never fully understood the downfalls of what being “the perfect son” brings: no freedom, no childhood, no time, no fun, no choice. He only ever focused on the positives: praise from his family and clan, skill and composure, the title of future Leader of the Omatikaya. He will also never be able to understand the depths of Neteyam’s love for him, who, despite all their differences, would be willing to sacrifice everything, even his own life, to make sure his baby brother would never having to experience these burdens.

This tension felt like more. More than you’ve ever seen, not mended in time, they were always glowering at each other and only speaking to each other if prompted or forced by their increasingly frustrated family. You tried to talk to both of them individually and ask, but you were promptly sent on your way each time. You could tell Lo’ak was itching to spit it out, but every time he got close, he flashed you a look of hurt and fear, and moved on. 

Eventually, you stopped worrying about it. It will come out in time, and you had better things to worry about. Your training became brutal after that day tracking Sturmbeests. Neteyam would come to your tent before dawn, sometimes having to wait for you while you woke up in your Avatar body, and you were always gone past eclipse. You were tracking, joining hunting parties to learn, working on shooting arrows while on Pa’li or in nearly impossible positions (he made you shoot targets hanging upside down from the branches of trees, seriously) and working on guns and practicing with Jake and his soldiers. Jake made you his second-in-command during these sessions, and you enjoyed having the roles reversed and having to watch Neteyam squirm every time you touched his arm, or waist, or thighs, in order to adjust his shooting form. You also taught Lo’ak, sometimes late in the nights, where he would sneak into your tent and ask you questions about guns that he hoped would bring him in his father’s good graces for once in his life. You loved teaching them, and you felt powerful with all the eyes on you, trying to absorb every piece of information coming out of your mouth. 

“In your hands, you are holding a sub machine-gun.” You said and you made your way through the 10 soldiers in your midst. “It can fire up 600 rounds per minute. You have a button on the side of the weapon, as you can see right there”, you stopped and show everyone on your own weapon, “that allows you to choose between semi automatic and fully automatic. What’s the difference, Lo’ak?”

“A semi-automatic guns fires one shot when you pull the trigger, a fully automatic gun fires continuously until you release the trigger.” 

“Tsantu (good guy)!” you said with an intimate smile. Lo’ak was making amazing progress, and you were proud to be even a small reason why. 

Neteyam gave Lo’ak a hard look as he answered your question. He was angry with his brother because of his recent attitude, he thought. That’s the reason. Not at all because you were smiling at him with that dazzling smile that used to be reserved for him years ago, definitely not because he knew Lo’ak was sneaking in your tent at night and doing Eywa-knows-what, a fact which kept Neteyam up nights with images he would do everything in his power to be able to erase from his brain. Neteyam was exhausted. He hasn’t slept since this thing started, not until Lo’ak returned to his tent after his meetings with you, and he was able to look at him in the dim light of the night and gauge for himself if his brother was flushed, or panting, or extra happy for one reason or another. Despite never seeing anything that he could deem suspicious, the images of his baby brother taking for himself what was his, what should be his, haunted him and made him sick to his stomach. 

Coward. Lo’ak words rang in his ears incessantly throughout each day, never being able to fully block them out. 

Neteyam saw you move from Lo’ak and towards him, and tried to remember what they were talking about. Sub-machine guns, right. 

“Now, SMGs are best used in tighter quarters or close to mid-range. The spread will make it inefficient for long-range. If you find yourself on the back of your Ikran shooting at a plane or Valkyrie, make sure you close the gap between you or use your bow, instead.”

“An SMG will have a lot of recoil, making it harder to shoot accurately, but there are a few tips you can use to make to improve your aim and accuracy.”

“First. Always fire in short bursts, if you are firing on automatic mode. A few shots at a time will make sure the kick is not unmanageable. Two, account for the kick and adjust your aim to compensate. Think of shooting an arrow and how you always take the wind, its direction, speed and power in consideration before you actually release. It’s a similar principle. The recoil will make the gun kick upwards, so always aim slightly lower than what you want to hit. Three, don’t aim for the head. Leave that for a bow or an assault/sniper rifle with a scope. Aim for the abdomen and chest, since that is a wider target and more likely to hit. Everyone on the same page?”

Neteyam was forever in awe of you, but it was particularly impressive watching you now. You were confident and powerful and knowledgeable. Neteyam felt bad admitting it, but you were a much better teacher than their dad ever was. Toruk Makto had many incredible qualities, but his patience was definitely not amongst them, and his lessons tend to get a bit derailed by his inability to understand that Na’vi are not predisposed to guns or understanding Sky People technology. You were calm, and kind, and funny, and you made it easy for everyone to follow your instructions. In the span on a few weeks, all of the Na’vi and Avatar soldiers training for the upcoming war became better at pretty much every aspect that they were training in, and I think everyone felt just a bit more comfortable about the conflict that was soon to befall them, with you by their side. 

After the lesson was complete, you left alongside Lo’ak, sparing one last look in Neteyam’s direction. He was already watching you, and you saw a fleeting angry look that was quickly replaced with an expressionless mask. He was getting good at that, you thought. 

“Do you want to do anything? If I have to listen to Kiri talk about all the new types of flowers and plants and shit she keeps finding in the woods, I will lose my mind.”

“Be nice.” 

Kiri has been particularly hyperfixated on her newfound discoveries recently, and you tried your best to pay attention to every time she was describing them, in detail, but in reality you were always so exhausted by the time dinner came around that you were only assimilating about a tenth of all the words coming out of her mouth. You felt bad, and made a mental note to dedicate a couple of days to your friend that you saw less and less each week. 

“Your Iknimaya is getting closer and closer each day, how do you feel?”

“Honestly I haven’t thought about it that much, just taking it one day at a time.”

“I think you should start thinking about it, cause it’s going to happen. You’ve managed to blow everyone’s expectations out of the water. It barely been two months since you got your avatar body, not even my dad did this so fast. You were made for this, Angel.” 

You didn’t know what to say to that. You were grateful for Lo’ak’s faith in you, but with everything happening in your human body, it felt pointless looking towards the future. 

“You will be one of us, soon. I’ve had dreams about this my whole life, you know? It’s like I manifested your Avatar, Norm should be thanking me.” 

“Lo’ak…” 

You didn’t like the turn this conversation took, and felt an uncomfortable twinge settle in your chest at his words. 

“There are perks that come with being an Omatikaya, you know? You can make your bow out of the wood of the Home Tree… and you can choose a mate.” 

Fuck. 

Neteyam was making his way back to the village with the rest of the soldiers, casually chatting to one of the Avatars returning with them. He wasn’t paying attention to the way until his body knocked into one of the Na’vi walking in front of him. Utsou was staring intently at a scene unfolding in front of him, a scene that turned Neteyam’s blood to shards of glass, leaving cuts and bruises along his entire body. It was you, smiling, running your hand up and down Lo’ak’s arm whilst his hand was cupping your face and caressing your cheek. It was such an intimate interaction, it felt wrong to everyone there to even be able to witness it, and Neteyam felt himself becoming nauseous. With the image now seared into his memory and rage turning his breaths to pants, he turned around and left everything - everyone - behind. 

Tag list: @nuhteyam @eywas-heir @fanboyluvr @mashiromochi @puffb4ll @sassy-persona @simp4ff @mommyneytiri @hayhay9091

#neteyam #neteyam x human!reader #neteyam x reader #neteyam fanfic #neteyam reader #neteyam sully #avatar #avatar twow #avatar fanfic #neteyam x avatar!reader #neteyam sully fanfiction #neteyam angst #awow #awow neteyam #loak reader #avatar loak

[another-lost-mc]

what would be your ocs' voicelines be like when the mc has reached a certain intimacy level? (also it's so fucken hard tryna increase their intimacy omg barbatos is my highest n he's only at 18 and i'm alrd DYING out here)

surprise guest interactions + intimacy calls

Featuring: Azra, Karasu, Zekhan

CW: gn!Reader. NSFW (the intimacy calls section). Contains flirting, suggestive content, phone sex.

A/N: Seriously, my fav bias is so obvious when it comes to the intimacy rankings. I have five characters in NB with intimacy in the single-digits. lol Speaking of bias, Karasu and Zee got some extra love in this.

AZRA

Prefers: Glass of Aged Demonus

Also likes: Spicy Rainbow Pizza, Comfort Candy, Backstabbing Sandwich

Surprise Guest Dialogue (max hearts):

1-3x: "I didn't expect you to be so bold."

Final: “I'd like to get to know you better, but perhaps we should go somewhere more private first.”

KARASU

Prefers: Hell's Kitchen Mean Greens Salad

Also likes: Family Pack of Sushi, Barbatos's Tea, Black Coffee of Melancholy

Surprise Guest Dialogue (max hearts):

1-3x: "Oh, is this for me? You're too kind."

Final: "Thinking about you distracts me from my work, but I don't think I mind at all."

ZEKHAN

Prefers: Madame Devian's Hellberry Milkshake

Also likes: Princess's Poison Apple, Human World Cheeseburger, Black Coffee of Melancholy

Surprise Guest Dialogue (max hearts):

1-3x: "Have you been watching me? Interesting."

Final: "It's rare that someone manages to surprise me the way you do.”

AZRA — Intimacy Phone Call (Rank 5)

Asmo dials Azra’s number on your D.D.D. and asks you to let him know that you’ll both be attending the club’s event that weekend. A dial tone rings until the call drops - he doesn’t answer.

KARASU — Intimacy Phone Call (Rank 5)

He doesn’t call you. He sends you a message (through KARASU OS) to remind you about the exchange program student satisfaction survey you haven’t completed yet.

ZEKHAN — Intimacy Phone Call (Rank 5)

He calls and introduces himself as The Fall’s manager, then he asks why you have been attempting to contact Azra using his personal number.

You tell him that Asmo gave you his number.

He grumbles quietly about Asmo’s lack of decorum and acknowledges your response before promptly bidding you goodnight and hanging up.

AZRA — Intimacy Phone Call (Max Rank)

The muffled sound of music filters through the phone when you pick up his call. He's impatiently awaiting for you to arrive for a party at The Fall, and he casually asks about the outfit Asmo designed for you. His deep voice is punctuated with soft purrs and a sultry drawl.

"I should let you finish getting ready, love. I look forward to seeing you in your new outfit, but I can't promise it will stay on for long once you get here."

"Asmo asked me to remind you to try not to rip this one."

"He should stop designing things with so many delicate lacings and buttons then."

KARASU — Intimacy Phone Call (Max Rank)

He calls you one evening when you're getting settled into the guest room provided to you. A last-minute summons to the Sorcerer's Society has interfered with your weekend plans together. The disappointed whine that laced his voice earlier in the day has shifted into something much more needy, and as you settle into bed, you can hear the faint sound of rustling sheets.

"Is your room comfortable? It's the least they could do for causing such an inconvenience for you."

The sulky tone in his voice makes you smile. "It's good enough until I can come home tomorrow."

"I can hardly wait," he admits quietly.

What follows is a seemingly typical conversation about nothing in particular. Despite his innocent questions about what you’re doing and what you’re thinking about, the words feel charged, like there’s a current of heat laced into his voice. The longer you speak with him over the phone, his tone slowly thickens with unabashed desire that courses through his veins like honey.

It's not long until he starts to stutter over his words, and his breath hitches suddenly with a soft groan. You can't help the smile that tugs at your lips when you realize what he's doing. These late-night phone calls tend to have a certain effect on him, and it appears that tonight is no different.

“Are you doing what I think you’re doing?” you ask innocently even though you already know the answer.

“You know that I—I can’t help it,” he admits breathlessly. “I miss you so much.”

He exhales shakily into the receiver but if you listen closely, you can hear the faint, rhythmic sound of slick skin-against-skin.

"I miss you too," you admit even as your cheeks grow warm and your free hand dips beneath the covers and over the curve of your belly. "Would you like to know exactly how much I missed you?"

"Oh, yes—" he gasps, sucking air through his teeth with a soft hiss. On the other end of the call, the bedframe creaks quietly from the weight of his movements. "P-please?"

ZEKHAN — Intimacy Phone Call (Max Rank)

It starts with a text conversation like most evenings do when he has to work.

ZEKHAN: It’s quiet here tonight. Tuesday nights are slow as it is, but there aren’t any parties scheduled either.

➤ I'm glad you called. I miss you.

You can annoy Azra if you’re bored, that's always fun!

ZEKHAN: I miss you too, but as much as I enjoy our chats, I wish we could do more than talk.

➤ It’s a shame you’re stuck at work all night.

Behave, mister.

ZEKHAN: Fortunately, I have you to distract me. You should start by telling me what you're wearing right now, bunny.

The Devilsilk pajamas Asmo bought me.

I’m still in my RAD uniform.

➤ Wouldn’t you like to know? ;)

<ZEKHAN is calling you.>

“How brave of you to tease me like that, my dear.”

“I would do more than that if I could. Why don't we have dinner tomorrow night and I can make it up to you?"

"I don't think I can wait that long."

"It's not like we have much choice. You can't just leave work for a quickie."

"Who says I can't? I doubt anyone will even notice I'm gone."

"I don't know...it's not very professional."

"In most circumstances I would agree with you, but I've decided to take my break early tonight and now I can spend the next half hour being as unprofessional as I want. I'll be there shortly.”

“Not to sound ungrateful, but thirty minutes hardly seems worth the effort.”

“Is that a challenge, bunny? Because I promise I'll have you coming for me in less than ten.”

return to: oc masterlist | obey me masterlist

#jes.replies #jes.oc asks #my oc: azra #my oc: karasu #my oc: zekhan #obey me oc

[000marie198]

I don't know if anyone else has talked about this already but, oh well!

So anyway, let's talk about the Chaos Council. It's made up of five different versions of Eggman.

Now remember my theory on how all the alternates are basically shattered parts of the original? That they're the aspects of the main characters taken to the extreme? Well, I believe the presence of the Chaos Council proves that theory. Cuz when you notice, there are no alternates of Eggman anywhere else throughout the Shatterverses but there are alternates of everyone else. This means all the Eggman alternates are in one place, aka New Yoke, as part of the CC. Why does that serve to prove that the alternates are shattered parts of a whole? Well, for many reasons but I'm gonna talk about three major ones.

Firstly, something that Mister Dr. Eggman said struck a chord while I was rewatching the premiere episode. While introducing the Chaos Council to Sonic, he said,

"One makes five, five makes one."

This dialogue literally and very clearly hints at them being 5 parts of a whole. A major clue or a foreshadowing if you will.

Secondly, their personalities. They all clearly reflect a certain major trait of Eggman. Introduction wise, Dr. Done-It is an aged man who likes to yell orders and complain.

He is literally, as Sonic would put it, a grumpy old man. That's the part of Eggman which gets annoyed at all the failed plans and groans in agitation and yells at his creations and curses out Sonic. Also the part that keeps urging to get a move on.

Next, there's Dr. Deep.

If his name and mannerisms aren't hinting enough, that's the part of Eggman that sometimes comes up at the end of the adventure when he's standing alone somewhere. The philosophical part, the part that expressed his feelings on Gerald, the part that would sometimes save Sonic because it wouldn't be a victory unless he's the one defeating his opponent. But this is not all, Deep is also the part which holds all of Eggman's battle prowess and drip. In short, he's the right-brained part of Eggman.

As for Dr. Don't, the emo teenager.

This is the guy who points out a clear cut obvious answer instead of dawdling . And he controls some remote features of the headquarters. He's constantly playing videogames and answers questions without even looking up. His brain is probably in constant activity, figuring things out, forming deductions and conclusions. This is the scientist side of Eggman. The one that holds 300 IQ and internally goes, "I'm surrounded by idiots." The one which is unable to get along with anyone because no one can think on his motive and level.

And then there's Babble, aka the angry baby.

One would think why someone like Eggman would have a baby as a part of his personality, right? Well, this baby is the most like Eggman out of all of them. Hear me out! Dr. Babble represents the anger and ruthlessness in Eggman. Babble, out of all of them, is Eggman's evil side. Babble loves torturing his victims and enjoys it, he demands that they harm their opponents and is merciless. Babble represents the part of Eggman that... destroyed the moon (get out of my head Snapcube dubs), unleashed the Metal Virus, Roboticizes mobians, all the mean stuff. And finally, the baby whines, a lot. All of Eggman's whining is squeezed in this one tiny baby.

Finally, the main member, Mister Dr. Eggman.

In my opinion, this guy is the aspect of Eggman that gloats and showboats. The one who gets absolutely smug and giddy if the plans are working, the part of Eggman that lets out those loud evil cackles and monologues. The face, so to speak. He is the part that makes Eggman go overconfident or reveal his plans or manipulates or banters, the part that makes him put his face as a logo on everything, the part that makes him build showy mechs and aircrafts and stuff.

Now that these people are discussed as various aspects of Eggman, let's get to the third and final major reason which indicates why the alternates are aspects of the originals; the Prism shards. When the Paradox Prism broke, it was broken up into five shards; yellow, red, blue, green, purple. There are five shards and five Eggman alternates.

But wait.

Why are there five alternates of Eggman when we have only come across three for the rest of the characters? Why don't the numbers add up? Well, good question. And my theory is that since the Prism broke up into five shards, there should be five sets of everything! Five shards, five Shatterworlds, five sets of alternates. There are already five of Eggman. This means there are still two shards missing and two sets of alternates we haven't seen. We know the purple shard belongs to The Grim because its gateway was purple and its entrance was in the shape of the purple shard. And we haven't seen Rouge's main alternate like we've seen Nine, Thorn and Dread. That's going to be the world where the yellow shard resides.

But this all leaves another mystery. Five shards means five worlds and five sets of alternates, right? We already know about all five alternates of Eggman, we already know the colors of the five shards (Red, Green, Blue, Yellow, Purple), and we know about four of the five worlds while the one associated with yellow shard hasn't been shown in the series yet. That world would contain its own set of alternates. That makes four sets of alternates. What about the fifth? Where are the alternates that, logically, should belong to The Grim? Where are they? Excluding yellow, what happened to the fifth world and its alternates? Where is the purple Shard that is associated with The Grim? What happened to this world and its inhabitants?

#also #did you guys know that Nine is the only character with Neutral alignment on the main Fandom wiki page? #everyone else is either good or evil but Nine is neutral #officially #if a character has that much knowledge and can change the tides AND is aligned officially as neutral u know he's a v imp character #sonic the hedgehog #sonic prime #sonic #sonic prime spoilers #chaos council #mr dr eggman #dr dont #dr done-it #dr deep #dr babble #paradox prism #sth #analysis #fan theory

[itsclydebitches]

nah, bit the fact old!jaune of all characters watches bees kiss and is like "I've waited so long for this to happen" it's like, bro, please leave. get out of here.

Finally watched the episode!

That line makes absolutely no sense to me. Last interaction Jaune had that was bees related was him (understandably) assuming that Yang would be worried about Ruby being mad at her and he notably doesn't realize that she actually meant Blake. Then he goes into survival mode when Yang falls, having no time to reflect on Blake's reaction because he's off collecting the civilians, and then he spends literal years, likely decades, living in the Ever After, entirely removed from his friends' lives and, frankly, with bigger things to worry about than another team's romance. Jaune has to confirm that this is really Team RWBY, a moment which to me read as both hesitance that what he's waited so long for has really come to pass and ensuring that his mind isn't playing tricks on him. That's really what Team RWBY looks like, right? That's what they sounded like back when I was a teenager?

So you're telling me that Jaune, who to my recollection has NEVER shown that he knows what's up with Blake and Yang (that was his role with Ren and Nora) and who has now spent half a lifetime away from these girls to the point where he needs to reassure himself that he can even properly recognize them... was waiting "so long" for them to kiss?

Agreed: nah.

This is just another version of Weiss' earlier comment. As much as I liked it at the time for being the closest thing to confirmation in a then unconfirmed tale, Weiss likewise hasn't expressed any impatience, knowing looks, or other background hints to tell the audience, "I know they like each other and am waiting for them to overcome their fear and just SAY IT already." RWBY consistently tries to retcon things via dialogue. What do you mean Blake/Yang wasn't an established slow-burn the whole cast was aware of? Here are Weiss and Jaune saying just that!

Don't get me wrong, I'm ECSTATIC that they're finally canon, both because fuck yeah queer rep and, frankly, because I'd long grown sick of having my guard up in regards to this ship. But reaching this point doesn't erase the tumultuous journey getting there. Already I'm seeing a lot of folks going, "Of course RWDE is unhappy. They're homophobic 🙄" but the reality is that none of our criticisms have changed. We've said for years that RWBY needs to confirm the bees, but that confirming them won't suddenly free the writing of its long-term problems. Waiting this long was one of the biggest problems, so of course it's a bittersweet moment. You finally did the thing fans wanted you to do years ago and you did it with a number of pitfalls, not the least of which was scaring a good chunk of your fanbase into thinking we might end this series by being told we'd just been 'reading into things.' That's... a lot to unpack. I feel like I ordered takeout and it arrived five hours late. It's now stone cold, the food was only meh to begin with, and waiting in annoyance all night has now put me off my appetite. The response to that isn't usually a, "Why are you whining when you got your food??" Like yeah... I got my food... but damn, can you really not see how the experience of getting it impacts my feelings towards the food itself?

#rwde #rwby #mymetas

[silver-wield]

In your opinion what do you think the Devs frame of mind is with how they wrote A this game. Are they just out of touch and don't realise how shitty she comes across in this day and age or did they do it on purpose to show something? Like how she too was mentally distraught over Zack and none of her feelings were genuine at all even in OG. Even non shippers are literally baffled and don't know what to think of her and why she is so flip floppy this game when they thought she was written better last game.

Maybe it's just the way I played but it felt like we were meant to be pissed off with Aerith and avoid her because she's so frigging intolerable.

Even in Cosmo Canyon all she did during that speech was whine all "poor me I had no friends and I'm super special and I wanna be normal!!!" and the option to encourage that and indulge her self pitying bullshit just felt really icky, so I think a lot of the negative convo choice outcomes actually make her stop and think about her behaviour and how she hurts others. The fact the Gi also said as much about cetra as a whole being a selfish race also feeds into that view point. I mean if you've been sucking up to her and then suddenly you hear "oh yeah, cetra are self obsessed and don't care about others" you should stop and think about how you've played the game and whether what you've done is in line with how the characters are canonically.

For the most part with the multiple dialogue options and several versions of the same scene depending on how you played I think this game above Remake and part three are indulging the whole "it's player choice!!!" narrative. From what I've seen it's almost impossible to figure out the straight line in all the options, and if they hadn't included some mandatory scenes as waypoint markers I think the whole narrative would've got lost, but the one thing that is clear is that Cloud isn't as nice to Aerith as he is to Tifa and the point Kitase made about "by the end you'll be thinking I wish I had been nicer to her" factors into the non optional parts of the game as well as the optional parts.

That's not to say she's not still a back stabbing bitch who maintains a superficial friendship with Tifa because even though she likes her, she's jealous af of her in multiple ways and thinks if she can steal Cloud from under her nose then that validates her as superior.

I mean even Zack acknowledged Aerith isn't that pretty. She's pretty to him, but not in general. She also had no friends because her personality sucks and she was obsessed with being seen as normal and that made her act fake and resulted in everyone calling her weird, which she hates more than anything.

Aerith is a foil for Tifa and the devs really took that concept and made her the worst. She's not that kind, she's self involved, she's not pretty or capable or anything that Tifa is. She's obsessed with Cloud and doesn't really care about the planet or her role unless it's performative and makes her look good. Even as she's dying all she cares about is trying to get Cloud, which causes him trauma because she doesn't care how he feels.

Aerith is written as a bad person who happens to be a good guy and that's meant to throw up a lotta of conflicting emotions for players. Even though she's a "heroine" we don't have to like her because she's a horrible person. That's the devs intention imo.

#FF7Rebirth spoilers

[duhragonball]

Neon Genesis Evangelion 20

Last time, Evangelion Unit 01 ran out of power in the middle of a battle, but that's okay because it came to life and ate the Angel it was a fighting. So NERV has taken it back to base and trussed it up with bandages and some kind of "cage" to restrain it while they figure out what to do with her. Oh, right, the Evangelion is a girl. We just found that out.

God forbid a woman do anything.

The crappy old man council doesn't like any of this at all, but they're crappy old men, so they can't do anything but whine about it. They're like "we never should have put Gendo Ikari in charge of NERV." "But he's the only one qualified to do the work." "Well we should have put a bell around his neck." "There was a bell, but it didn't ring." "That's stupid, what good is a bell if it doesn't ring?" "Well, we need to put a better bell on his neck next time." Just the most asinine dialogue ever written.

What happened to Shinji? Well, they never could eject his plug from Unit 01, and when they finally get a look inside, it turns out he's not even there. His plugsuit is floating around in the LCL fluid, but there's no sign of his body. Ritsuko theorizes that his physical body is still in there, but it's been dissolved into something akin to "primordial soup". As for his mind, it must still exist as well, inside the Eva's consciousness.

Misato asks, for the umpteenth time, what the hell the Eva even is. It's clearly not a giant robot, or an Angel, or anything remotely resembling human technology. So what are they, that one of them could do something like this? Where did they come from? Ritsuko gives a bunch of non-answers and riddles, so Misato slaps her. I like Ritsuko, but yeah, she kind of deserves this. If you don't want to tell Misato, that's one thing, but don't jerk her around with poetry when she just wants to know what this thing is that you're supposed to be an expert on.

I mean, the only characters who seem to truly understand the Evas are Gendo Ikari and Ritsuko, and that might be it. If Ritsuko can't explain what an Eva is, then what business does anyone have even trying to use them?

Ritsuko does have a plan to recover Shinji, but I'm not even going to try to explain how it works. It's based on a procedure her mother came up with ten years ago. I guess something similar happened at NERV back then, but Ritsuko says it didn't work that time. As it stands, it takes Ritsuko about a month to set it up this time, and she still has no idea if it will do any good.

Basically, if they can access the Eva in some way, they might be able to coax Shinji's mind into separating from the Eva's, and then the Eva might be so gracious as to reassemble his body from the chemicals in the LCL fluid.

But it seems to fail, not because the procedure isn't working, but because it seems like Shinji doesn't want to return.

This is probably because, from Shinji's perspective, he's in communion with the Eva, and he's having a nutty vision involving imagery and voices from his memories. There's a lot of stuff in this, but I'd say the culmination of it all is when the Eva takes the form of Misato, Asuka, and Rei, and offers to combine with Shinji.

Then the plug ejects, and Shinji's suit spills out along with all the LCL fluid. Misato thinks that's it, and he must be lost forever...

But then Shinji's nude body tumbles out beside her, so apparently the whole thing worked after all, despite Ritsuko's readings to the contrary.

Before he emerges, he has a somewhat more lucid vision of himself realizing he's inside the Eva, and the Eva informs him that he's piloted the Eva, and he just got done piloting the Eva, and that he will do so again. Okey-dokey.

Misato goes to have sex with Kaji after it's all over, and she asks him what he knows about NERV and Gendo Ikari's goals, but the answers are things he either doesn't know himself or can't explain just yet. Then they have sex off-screen, for an uncomfortable amount of time. She tells him not to put strange things in there and I really don't think I want to know what that means. Then he gives her something, and she puts a capsule on the counter next to her drink.

Kaji calls this a gift, perhaps the last one he'll ever be able to give. I don't know what the hell they're talking about.

Now I've pretty much zipped right past all of Shinji's visions while he was inside the Eva, but to be honest, most of it is lost on me. He talks about how he wants people to like him and be nice to him, and he feel like the only reason people treat him well these days is because he pilots the Eva, but we kind of already understood that.

He also mentions that he thinks his father deserted him because he found a surrogate child in the form of Rei Ayanami. I'm not sure if that's actually true, although there is a flashback(?) to Gendo telling Shinji's mother that he'll name their unborn baby Shinji or Rei, depending on whether it's a boy or a girl.

So maybe Rei is Shinji's sister? Or Gendo had another child that he named Rei? Or Gendo made Rei in his lab and gave her that name? Or Gendo just happened to meet Rei and they got along well and she just so happens to have the name he would have given to his daughter if he ever had one?

I'm not going to waste a lot of time trying to figure this stuff out. There's six more episodes and I have a feeling the important stuff will get a full explanation in due time.

#neon genesis evangelion #2024ngeliveblog #shinji ikari #misato katsuragi #ritsuko akagi

[lurkinglurkerwholurks]

Trapped

First posted: July 30, 2018

Focuses on: Jason Todd (and Bruce Wayne)

My favorite bookmark: "i think this is my favorite jason fic now?? shit" thank u but I've written better, please come back

Tier: Top 20 in terms of hits, kudos, and bookmarks, surprisingly

This is my "behind the scenes" series where I indulge myself horribly by annotating my fics. Link to the fic itself above. Thoughts below the cut.

Another BatFam Week entry, but this time the prompt is the title.

This one started with a very specific kinetic image of being able to feel Bruce's hand covering Jason's eyes and knowing why. Very horse blinders, but soft and dadly. From there it was just a matter of writing it.

A panicked whine whistled through the dark.

In my own fics, the use of "whine" is very "Oh hi, I've been binging fic indiscriminately for weeks and now have plunged headfirst into writing without knowing a thing about how to do it my own way." No shade on people who do use that verb. I just don't anymore, because it's not my style.

He was buried. Buried in the dark with the bugs and the worms and the dirt.

Treble parallel structures are just the best and I rely on them way too much but also I AM NOT SORRY.

He swung his arm in a panic, forearm slamming against the wall of rubble. Nothing moved, but his arm screamed, so he joined it.

☺️

That was him. Good, good, that was good, dead people didn’t know their own name, because they were dead, but he was going to be dead because he couldn’t see and couldn’t get out and oh god he was buried again—

I really hecking love stream-of-consciousness panic, though I would edit some of the commas here. They were technically, grammatically correct, but a few implied breaths Jason was definitely not taking.

Also I don't remember if it was this fic or another early one but some commenter tried to be like "capitalize that g." No. When the characters reference the deity or deliberately the name, that's God. This is god.

No matter where Jason had cried out for him—in a warehouse in Ethiopia, in a muddy grave, on the banks of the Pit—Bruce had never been here.

Listen, you might think you hate your dad, but when you're living out your worst nightmare, it's good to have him around! Like oh thank goodness AN ADULT, and not just any adult, the ADULT WHO FIXES THINGS.

Bruce’s hand tightened on his ankle.

Some things are just fun to write because it's less about imagining and more about, no, I can just tell you Bruce has his gloves on and his fingers are around Jason's ankle and the pad of his thumb is pressed to that little hollow between the ankle bone and the Achilles heel, I'm not conjuring it, that's just how it is.

It was a ludicrously heavy beam, and his muscles were already weak from panic and fading adrenaline.

I have no idea how heavy concrete with a rebar center actually is. If I were Audrey, I would have googled it and researched down to the ounce. As it is, my brain went "It's like the Little Billy scene in Rocketman, it's fine."

“I have died here,” Jason reminded him, voice teetering like a small figure on a bridge.

I pat past me on the back for that wording.

Bruce placed his hand over Jason’s eyes, sandpapery callouses rubbing across soft eyelashes and bloody skin.

Bruce has my dad's hands. Which doesn't actually make sense because Bruce is a manual labor guy and my dad's only callouses are writing callouses, but it's true.

“You’re not alone. I’m here, and I’m not leaving you.” Bruce kissed Jason’s forehead tenderly, then prompted, “Say it.”

Yay forehead kiss.

“You are not alone.” “I am not alone.”

I am not fond of dialogue-only endings (when I do them.)

Also, to pull out one of my own replies from the comments:

The hill I choose to die on is that the majority of both the strife and bliss between Bruce and Jason at any point in their lives centers on the fact that Bruce is the closest anyone has come to earning total trust from Jason. Period. So that makes every betrayal ten times worse but also means that when the chips are down, Jason will turn to Bruce. 

Another gem from the comments: my elation that @cerusee (whose work I had devoured) read AND liked this fic AND liked it well enough to text it to @audreycritter (who had not yet appeared like a Jack-in-the-Box to drag me bodily into friendship.) I tried to play it cool in the reply. I was not chill in real life.

#fanfic bts brain dump

[mrsbsmooth]

I’m trying to forget about the mess that the writers have made, soooo - if you were in charge of writing this season (we all wish it were true, let’s be honest), what kinds of jobs would you let us, the readers/players, pick for MC to have? What kind of customisation would you add to their personality/life? I’m just trying to envision a season where the writers aren’t lazy as fuck 🤡 imagine this season if we got ACTUAL choices? Branching?! Oooof.

Okay, so in and of itself, I think the characters themselves are fine. They need fleshing out, and they need a lot more depth, but Suresh, Alfie, Finn, Eddie, Pete, Johnny, and Nicolas are, at the very least, different from each other.

The girls have zero depth. Kat is the best written out of all of them, as she actually has some depth and character development. Once again, they've done our brown girls dirty, making Arlo a jealous bitch, Dana a two-faced snake, Meera a wallflower (until she comes back and then she has to be bitchy to get her man, wtf?).

Rewriting the season?

NUMBER ONE.

MC needs a fucking personality. We need a backstory. We need a job. We need interests, and hobbies, and we need things to matter. We need to have a wider range of reactions other than "I care, I don't care, I don't know how I feel."

Let me tear up. Let me go scorched earth on a bitch. Let me complain and whine and be selfish. LET ME FUCKING GRAFT.

NUMBER TWO

We need our choices to matter. If I reject Suresh, he should be rubbing Arlo in my face. If I'm hinting that I might want him back, he should be more subtle about it, and at least be a bit more worried about hurting my feelings.

If I tell Eddie I want to climb him like a tree, he should fucking PICK ME AT THE RECOUPLING! If I make out with Finn behind Kat's back, I want her to find out and go PSYCHO on me. CONSEQUENCES, PLEASE!!!!!

NUMBER THREE

The dialogue needs work. Dana saying 'Bonkers-Tonkers' or Suresh saying 'Shut up, you idiot!'. I'm sorry... what is this... primary school? IDC about the Apple Store's crackdown on sexual content. It would have been so easy to just make Dana say 'That was insane!' and Suresh seethe out a "Stop talking, mate." A corporate lawyer is not going to just randomly burst out with a childish insult when he gets upset, I'm sorry, that is not how arguing works. Also in this vein CAN WE HAVE SOME ACTUAL SEX SCENES PLEASE????

NUMBER FOUR

Give me some information about the damn love interests *sobbing*. Alfie's dog is named Benji? Finn has five older brothers? I fucking LOVE that, GIVE ME MORE! I want to know about their hobbies. I want to know about Gary's Nan, and Noah's brother's swim team, and Bobby's mates in the kitchen, and Henrik's book he's reading. I want to know about Priya's insecurities. Tai's broken pottery connection to his Dad. I WANT TO KNOW ABOUT KERRY THE IRISH SETTER!

Give us details about the characters, for god's sake. I NEED MORE.

AND FINALLY

NUMBER FIVE

Everyone needs to stop being so goddamn mean to MC.

Exactly how is it my fault that I hugged Suresh, Kat overexaggerated what happened, and then hooked up with the guy I liked, and everyone's walking around like it's my fault?

Exactly how it it my fault that my ex is so hung up on me that he can't stop talking about me, and Arlo is feeling insecure about it?

Exactly how is it my fault that Gabi is here, and is a bitch to me from the very first words out of her mouth?

If it was me in the villa, I would have burst in to tears weeks ago. This season is straight up bullying MC. She's being gaslit, blamed for everything, tortured, and dragged through the mud, and for what? For some half-assed dedication from Johnny/Nicolas, a confession from Finn that will likely go nowhere, and being kicked into the mud by both Suresh and Alfie?

ALSO I LOVE HOW ALFIE LITERALLY SLEPT WITH MC AND THEN THE NEXT DAY HOOKS UP WITH KAT AND THEN BRINGS MEERA BACK FROM CASA SAYING HE HAD A BETTER CONNECTION WITH HER OH ISN'T THAT FUCKING CONVENIENT Alfie you god damn snake.

#litg #litg rewrite #litg fanfiction

[thessalian]

Thess vs Pronouns

Leaving off from the liveblogging for a minute ... let's talk ... gods, I don't even want to call them 'gamers'. I guess Gamers (TM) does well enough. Or TEH GAMERS, I dunno. Something suitably sarcastic about those who make gaming and toxic masculinity their entire personality.

So Baldur's Gate 3 comes out of early access and onto general release and TEH GAMERS start freaking out about the character creation menu. Why? Because pronouns - and how you can choose the genitalia of your character separate from said pronouns and overall gender presentation. Most of them are tearing their hair out about party members flirting with your character whatever gender you're playing and "feeling like they're forced to sex up men" and not understanding how just plain optional all that shit is. But there's still a certain air of, "Hey, at least we've got Starfield coming! Starfield won't go woke on us! Todd gets us! It'll be okay!"

And then Starfield also lets you choose your pronouns separate from gender presentation. And the freak-out redoubles. They bitch moan whine about how "Bethesda's gone WOOOOOOOKE!" and how it's disgusting and why would they do that and blah.

I'm just trying to figure out why the option offends and scares them so much.

Like ... you don't want your character to bone a guy? Just ... have your character say they're not interested. It's fine. Never comes up again.

As to the pronouns ... well, I mean ... just ... match pronouns to gender presentation, and then never think about it again, maybe? If you're getting wildly, hair-tearingly offended by the character creation screen, over one little option that need never be considered again...

I mean, it's ludicrous, honestly, the mental gymnastics they do. Like, someone said, "Well, they need to know the pronouns. What are NPCs going to call you?" and the response was, "...Our name?" Now, I don't know if Starfield sticks you with a generic character name. But in games where they don't stick you with a character name, say like Baldur's Gate 3 ... how the fuck much coding and voice acting would it take to include every single name that has ever been, especially those that people just made up because that collection of syllables sounds good, and implement it in dialogue? And even then, we don't use people's names at all times when we're talking about them. Like, Hawke is Hawke. So when NPCs and companions refer to Hawke, that's the name they use. But there's a reason that DA2 never refers to Hawke by their first name, despite being able to choose it at character creation - not even their family! You get "Brother" or "Sister", Gamlen sticks with, "That troublemaker of yours", and Leandra sticks with pet names. Either way, whether your character has a standardised name or not (like "Hawke" or "Shepard", or a title like "Warden", "Inquisitor", or "Pathfinder"), eventually you're going to get to a point where NPCs need to use a pronoun because no one uses someone's name repeatedly in conversation when a pronoun exists. And TEH GAMERS would just freak out if people used "they/them" for their precious character. Because "MORE WOKENESS", when that's literally all we have to refer to someone whose gender is unknown or uncertain.

Plus it's the hypocrisy that gets to me. For decades I've been hearing these people be all snotty about those of us who are tired of playing YAGWD in every single damn game, and long for character creation screens. They're all, "Well, playing it is optional" and "ARTISTIC VISION" and all of that.

Well, TEH GAMERS? Playing these games is optional for you too. If having more options in character creation than you are personally unwilling to use upsets you so fucking much? Maybe this game isn't for you. I don't pretend that games studios, AAA or not, are actual friends and allies. But they're seeing where the money is and going for our cash instead of yours. They don't need your cash. If you think the gaming industry is dying by becoming more inclusive? Then do what you always tell us to do when we're begging for scraps of representation - either tolerate the way the gaming space is now, or leave it.

You want to play a MANLY MAN? Then go ahead! That option still exists too! But please for the love of fuck shut up about pronouns. EVERYTHING HAS PRONOUNS. Gendered beings have gendered pronouns, so your MANLY MAN has fucking pronouns, okay? Most of us would say your pronouns are "he/him" but I personally think your pronouns are "ass/hole". Now take a breath, put on your big boy undergarments, and either put up with there being options that aren't there for you, or leave. There's the door.

#Thess plays video games #Thess gets aerated

[errantgoat]

I've spent a day in Astarion's head, it's a mess in there I do not recommend 😂

I'm getting so many mixed messages from him while roleplaying, and even though so far he didn't do anything especially heinous, I feel like it stems more from an underlying fear of exposing himself as a vampire spawn than any budding morals

him being the face of the party and the main character is such a weird experience, I feel if he didn't try and mask most of his bloodthirsty tendencies, he'd quickly be abandoned and left to his own devices at best and staked at worst

he is all want and fear, fear and want - i defaulted to flipping a coin whenever there are two dialogue choices that would push him in either direction... so far the fear of being controlled again, this time by something other than Cazador is not winning per se, but it's definitely more present than what I feel was the case with him as a companion in Act 1. It's giving him a bit of a pause.

things I like about his origin:

the character specific dialogue choices are few and far between, but when they come up I can spot them and choose them instantly, it's been a blast so far

there was some unique character content/dream cutscene

i am playing as Astarion come on you guys

he effing drained and killed Shadowheart because he couldn't pass a whimpering DC 5 check to stop himself. What a weenie... I had to reload.

i mean no savescumming but he was supposed to romance her, and unlike with Tav her death is permanent

what I don't like:

the default character animations during dialogues - they're kind of lifeless considering how much Astarion canonically emotes with his body and face...thankfully I can make my imagination do most of the work

I miss his voice but Neil is in my head at all times at this point. And Astarion comments in-character on most things that are going on outside of dialogue so it's cool.

WHERE IS HIS TENT? I understand Tav doesn't have a tent, but every other character when they're a companion does! Why does Astarion's tent not exist when he's the main character??? This was the most shocking revelation so far. 😭 I mean I KNOW it's a coding issue, no asset to replace and so on but I will whine about it.

#bg3 playthrough #tactician is not too bad so far #i've been humiliated only in one fight and had to wait a level to get more options #still monsters are way more efficient at trying to put you down #that I'll admit #Astarion's developing relationship with Shadowheart...I dig it #there were already some words that should've given him a bit of an insight into himself #if he ever decides to think about it #sigh

[missallanea-a]

GETTING TO KNOW YOU.

respond to the following prompts out of character. then, tag others that you'd like to get to know a little bit better!

ROLEPLAYER NAME: Missa

ROLEPLAYER PRONOUNS: She / Her

MUSE NAME: Multimuse ( too many to list here )

PREFERRED COMMUNICATION: IMs. I'm getting back into adding people to Discord as well, but that's a bit slow going.

EXPERIENCE: 12 years on Tumblr ( hhhh ) and 18-ish years spent writing on various forums and instant messengers.

PREFERRED ROLEPLAY TYPE: I mostly write slice of life type stuff these days, although leaning toward fluff or angst is always fine. I can't say I necessarily have a preference : the only thing I don't necessarily prefer to write is fighting ( as in writing physical fights, not arguments ) or smut.

PET PEEVES & DEALBREAKERS:

"WANNA RP" ASKS : These drive me absolutely up a wall. I'm not talking about people reaching out in IMs or asks with "hey I have an idea I want to play out," or sending me plot ideas. No, I mean asks that straight up, just say "wanna rp?" or some variation therein. First off : I'm a roleplay blog. So I feel like the question is irrelevant. But second off, these asks always, always come from non-mutuals who clearly have disregarded my rules to send the ask. I delete them on sight. Petty? Probably. But I cannot stand them.

PUTTING MORE THAN ONE-TO-THREE SPACES BETWEEN YOUR WORDS : So, I can't really see the difference when people put two or three spaces between their words versus one. What I'm talking about here is when people put like... five-to-ten. It makes your posts impossible to read, and if there's some aesthetic to it, I just... don't see it. It just hurts my head and makes me mad.

REPETITIVELY STATING NO ONE WANTS TO WRITE WITH YOU : Yes, this is petty of me, but dear lord. Nothing is more annoying to me than looking at someone's blog and seeing endless pages of them whining or passive-aggresively saying things like "WELL since NO ONE wants to write with me I guess I'll log off" or something like that. It just... drives me up a wall. I get it, it feels like crap when you feel like no one wants to write with you. But this is a hobby, and if it is effecting your mood that deeply that often then you may need to disconnect to prevent the social bleed. Once in a while is one thing, everyone has a down day. I'm talking about blogs where every other post is some variation on this theme.

PLOTS OR MEMES: Memes, honestly. I'm not against plotting, but I am so horrifically bad at it. If you come to me with a plot you wanna play out, I'll probably be game! But I'm... not likely... to come up with anything.

LONG REPLIES OR SHORT REPLIES: Yes. There is no or, the answer is yes. My one exception is one-liners : I don't mind short posts when you give me somewhere to go / something to go off of. But a single line of dialogue is probably not gonna do the trick, unless it's just a silly crack thread.

BEST TIME TO WRITE: Late evening into middle of the night. Sometimes I can also get writing done in the middle of the day, but not often.

ARE YOU LIKE YOUR MUSES: Yes and no. On a multimuse like this, the answer is definitely : some of them, absolutely yes. I see a lot of myself in Amity, Eda, Kagami, and Maxi. But others, not in the least.

tagged by: @serabellyms thank you ♡

tagging: whoever wants to steal it uwu

#❮ missallanea / dash games ❯ ━━ ❝ tag ! you're it ! #/ look at me!! actually posting a munday meme ON TIME!! #❮ missallanea / ooc ❯ ━━ ❝ probably listening to a musical on repeat .

[marshmallowprotection]

Hi! Do you have any headcanons about Seven's route? About dialogue that could have gone differently, when the first kiss happened... honestly I want all of your HCs on it lol <3

Seven went through a lot. There are a lot of things that go on in that situation that don't exactly go according to plan. Some of the execution is a little bit messy, but of course, it's going to be messy. He is somebody who has traded his life away to protect those that he loves more than anything.

He gave up everything and it was thrown in his face like it was nothing. He sold his soul like a starving dog because there was nothing else that he could do, and it was thrown right back in his face. Everything that he was promised turned out to be a lie. His brother wasn't safe and he threw his life away for nothing. The only reason that he did what he did is that he thought that it was going to be the one thing that would make sure that his brother could have a relatively normal life. 

It wasn't going to be perfect but it was going to be something that he could have for himself and nobody can take it away. That was the only reason why. He did everything for his baby brother and now he realizes in the middle of the route that his brother was tortured and manipulated instead of being given a life.

The one thing during his route that I would want to put more emphasis on is just how much of an existential crisis he's going through. I want the characters to understand what is going on in his head much more deeply. I know that he's going to push the player away, and there's a good reason why he does that and I don't think there's anything wrong with that happening because I understand why he's doing it. But there are far too many people who play his path and they completely misunderstand his character.

There are people who get so fixated on the persona that he is trying to present himself that they don't even pay attention to what's actually going on with him. It makes it really hard to engage with content for him because it often becomes a joke instead of what he truly is. I think the game needed to put a little bit more on that subject and press a little bit harder so that people could not just glaze over it or ignore it.

Back in the early days, there would be people who would whine and complain that he was being mean to them and they didn't understand why. They would completely ignore everything about him that actually matters and complain that he isn't having fun with them in the middle of the worst existential crisis that he's ever had. I don't think people understand just how deeply his trauma runs. At that moment in the apartment when he sees his brother, the only thing that is running through his mind is the extreme fear that if you get close to him, you're going to be tortured and manipulated just like his brother.

The game does add in moments where he does start to reveal a little bit of this, but I feel like it would be nicer if there were more hints sprinkled in so that people could see it a lot faster. I'm not saying that they have to reveal everything before they're ready, but I do think that it's worth saying that they should have navigated the back and forth enough to let people see that internal conflict. Because a lot of the complaints that I've seen in the past come from people thinking that he is being cruel to them when it is really not even the meanest dialogue in the game.

It is increasingly obvious when you talk to him that he is the worst liar I think I've ever met. He cannot hide how much he cares about you. He tries to push you away but with every phone call, he keeps trying to pull you back in. I think they could have put more emphasis on that back and forth and maybe people would be able to see it much clearer without misunderstanding.

At the end of the day, that's really the only thing that I would change about his route. I wish that he could have a much clearer conversation with you about all of those feelings when he's ready to open up to you. I want it to be hammered home so much that nobody can deny what's actually going on. I just want to see Saeyoung given what he deserves instead of people not knowing who he truly is.

#ask #anon #mod kait #character analysis #saeyoung choi #choi saeyoung #707 #seven

[warm-starlight]

So it was Yams who demanded that some scenes be changed in 3.ssn...

https://comicbook.com/anime/news/attack-on-titan-season-3-anime-changes-explained/

I mean, we all knew that. He wanted to make the pacing better.

Still does not erase the fact that Araki's "changes" completely fucked up the story itself.

People were happy because there was more action and less dialogue basicaly. But you know, the usual crowd of anime fans don't care about good writing as long as they get flashy animation and cool soundtrack.

It's evident from the way they whine about "MaPpAs TeRRiBLe AnImAtIoN".

The reason yams agreed even to the shitty changes is just because he has a low self esteem when it comes to his own writing

He couldn't just tell them "hey this is complete shit and completely erases key aspects of the characters".

#snk #aot #anonymous

[petalsmooth]

I keep hearing no one cares about Penelope and Colin despite the numbers racking up over 2 very brief clips, one is like 2-3 seconds. They keep claiming it will flop. Next breathe they keep whining about everything Polin are getting and how unfair it is.

Now I thought Polin's friends to lovers/boy next door/crush on best friend's brother trope was boring. So why are you all fuming about such a staid uninteresting sl and all the things you claim should have gone to your favorites? Including apparently Colin's vests which makes NO sense since his vests incorporate he is a traveler and he is the ONLY one who is. lol

To be honest I never understood why there was any talk of their trope being boring to begin with. You know why friends to lovers is timeless? Because you get to see the characters grow together and the actors become comfortable with each other. So when it does turn romantic you don't have to rely on snappy dialogue every second, you have (if lucky) year's to draw on of memories to give a scene more depth. Hence Pen's line about kindness. Because outside of one drunk moment, There are so many others where he is nothing but kind to her and the audience can go....oh.

I remember when he rescued her from Cressida spilling a drink on a favorite dress she was so excited to wear, or when he started writing to her after her4 father was killed. Or when he noticed she was a bit melancholy at her house and asked if ok, or said how highly he esteemed her and her family and that is why he would want to invest. Or how protective he became over the idea of Lord Featherington bringing harm to them (to pen) and basically staged an entire investigation into it on his own and danced with someone he hated (cressida) to confirm by taking the fake jewels.

And then you think ok...I understand. She doesn't love him for the reason everyone else in the ton loves a Bridgerton. Power, money, looks...although sure she likes the latter. She loves him because he is the one person who was kind to her. This is what makes HIM different from others in the ton and HIM special to her. And you just don't have that kind of emotional resonance in a conversation without the history of friendship coming first.

And for his part the audience has watched people flirt with him with no care to what he really says or thinks. One Bridgerton is the same as any other except one has a title. They (the audience) even heard him say the reason he was with Marina was because she took him seriously, even if he was fooled on that point. So if Pen comes out with some lame superficial compliment he'd have brushed it off. If she'd stopped at the blue eyes being remarkable probably would be immune. But no she notes his kindness...a character trait and that strikes his heart. She saw HIM.

Anyway, I like various tropes and there is a place for them. I was a huge Diane/Sam fan back day and they always flirted between love and hate. But my favorite is this one. This trope. It's not boring, it's actually quite the opposite. I mean...tv series used to THRIVE on this back in the day before streaming. It would keep their shows running for years wondering when they would finally have the two get together. Perfectly silly to think this device would not work now.

[cannoli-reader]

My notes watching Wheel of Time Season 1, episode 2

Posted on readandfindout.com on 11/19/2021

1:48 – Just for the record, on this so-woke show, the two blackest actors are playing Padan Fain and Eamon Valda. Not even cool bad guys, but scummy, marginally competent, bad guys. And rapists.

2:46 – More stupid world-building and “characterization”. I hate hate hate hate hate these lazy monologues about something pointless that is supposed to be profound and allegorical, or some experience or anecdote from a character’s distant past that is incredibly on-point and relevant to the current situation. Seriously. Back during their strike that messed up broadcast schedules about 10+ years ago, I opined that they didn’t deserve anything because TV writers are the absolute lowest form of fiction writers. Nothing in the production of the five major fantasy series I’ve seen adapted for the screen since then has changed my mind in the slightest.

By the way, there had better be something other than “cutting off an Aes Sedai’s hands prevents her from channeling” to explain how the Children of the Light got around “live witches being somewhat hard to (execute)."

5:00 – As abstractly symbolic intros go, this is not the worst. I’m still going to start using the Skip Intro button unless I see it’s somehow relevant to the coming episode.

6:20 – One thing that has never occurred to me, regardless of medium… if they were going to prevent the Trollocs from crossing the Taren after them, they would be effectively stranding them in the Two Rivers. With all the people the boys left home to protect.

8:36 – In the Borderlands they have a saying, ‘The look of the Eyeless, and the Noseless and the Lipless is fear.’

9:30 – I like this version of how Moiraine screws over Hightower. The book version seems not have landed with people as much, and the fandom doesn’t have much sympathy the boys being disturbed by it, which feeds into the myth that Moiraine is always right and smart and everyone should never doubt her because she’s the bestest.

11:27 – “I know, instead of showing character interactions on screen, why not just yeet one of them out of there and then have Mat tell the audience what it would have been like!” “Brilliant Rafe! Book authors are just morons, aren’t they!”

11:52 – Yes, this! Rand’s articulated thought is an actual thing. Like, Moiraine has good reasons for doing what she does, but she also badly handles the Two Rivers boys, so their reasons for being wary of her are also good.

11:55 – Also making it possible for any of them to be the Dragon kind of undercuts that this is something Rand struggles with when he is finally told what specifically the Shadow is after him for, but if done right, it gives opportunities to explore the conflict in dialogue, rather than internally as ITB. Not super confident it’s going to be done right.

13:55 – “Words are important and how we use them is important.” Spoken on a TV show that’s going to mess up all sorts of words, and misuse them dramatically. Edit from the Future: Oh, you sweet summer child.

14:50 – "The Power inside you is the smallest part of your strength. It’s your mind and how you use it that will mean much more in the battles to come.” Explains so much about Egwene, really.

15:35 – That Moiraine has already sensed Egwene’s channeling ability should rule her out as “the most powerful channeler who ever lived.” Meanwhile, ITB, normal people don't care who is a more powerful channeler than whom. To normal people, they are all just channelers, and normal people more likely to call them Aes Sedai than channelers anyway.

17:01 – “It’s the wind that listens to you” is neat wording, harkening to “touch the wind that moves the sun”.

21:07 – I suppose getting the dream stuff out in the open right away works, to stop the fans whining about them not trusting Moiraine and saving time.

22:35 – I like this conflict. It informs the rest of their relationship. Even if to the uninitiated, Rand comes off as petulant, based on the ITB world-building, he’s got legitimate questions.

23:34 – The word “bastard” is never used, once, in the whole Wheel of Time series. In a series where the main character discovers that he was born out of wedlock, with the circumstances of his birth and parentage being a significant and traumatic issue for him, and where a major character conceives a royal heir outside of marriage as well, with her pregnancy being an issue with her character over three books by the original author. Take all your woke bullshit and gender studies nonsense and shove it where the Dark One will be confused, because that’s way more important! That people in WoT don’t even have the concept of legitimacy says way more about gender relations and women’s agency than all the substituting of the word ”person” for “man” or “woman” in the world, or finding ways to cram LGBTQ issues into a series that is already overstuffed with material that it doesn’t have time or room to adapt to the screen.

Even Brandon Sanderson, with all his other blunders, abuse of anachronistic language and misconceptions about the themes and setting, did not make this mistake. He used “interrogate” more times in one paragraph than Jordan did in 11 books, but he was not stupid enough to use “bastard” in the mouth of a character in a world where female social dominance is unquestioned and even mass murderers and Darkfriends are appalled at rape.

More relevant to the plot, Rand’s prior understanding of Egwene taking the Wisdom job and cutting off his nookie nicely establishes that his anger at Egwene’s choice to follow Moiraine is not petty relationship crap, but genuine betrayal that she’s siding with outsiders.

23:47 – Mat is trying to talk Rand into being more reasonable in his hostility toward Moiraine. Because if you’re going to swing and miss that hard for the setting, why not the characters, too? That is a kind of Mat-like rationalization, but it’s the sort of thing Mat says, rather than does. He talks about being practical and self-preserving, but then he acts according to principle.

25:43 – I don’t think Moiraine actually hopes her “sister” in Whitebridge will let them stay. And “wars and witches” kind of do concern them. The effective portrayal of the Three Oaths requires writers who are on the ball, and reasonably clever. But shows keep hiring TV writers instead.

25:45 – Waiting for the zinger question, and it better not come from Valda.

26:00 – There is no worse Child of the Light to alter into an Inquisitor of the Hand of the Light than the egregiously unsubtle and incurious Eamon Valda, whose only tactic is “the charge”.

26:43 – I could be wrong, but I also don’t think the Children ever refer to Aes Sedai as sisters. Even when Niall and Balwer are plotting their PR campaign about the Tower split.

27:27 – “Madam” so they have French in this world?

27:58 – NOOOOO! They would never recommend someone seek out a sister for Healing! What is this?

28:09 – The idea of Moiraine grinning sycophantically like that in the books is highly amusing to me. It kind of looks like Lan is thinking “seriously Moiraine?”

You would think the Children would be questioning how Moraine and company managed to escape Trollocs when they managed to inflict that wound and meanwhile, no one else shows any sign of injury.

29:20 – There’s just something wrong about Moiraine being the one to tell the kids “it may not be the truth you think you hear.”

29:49 – I like the ruins. It’s the kind of thing that WoT should have. They’ve been through the equivalent of two falls of the Roman Empire, after an apocalyptic cataclysm.

30:05 – Nosewart.

30:17 – I’m thinking Nynaeve’s moment of revelation is going to be her saving Moiraine’s life when she turns up again by Healing her.

30:21 – We need singing even less than the books needed dress descriptions. Which were actually important. Unlike the singing.

31:08 – Moiraine only tells people things when she needs a reaction. She told the story of Manetheren to sway the ire of the villagers. She would not whip it out when the kids are already in a good mood and especially not when the last on-screen words with Rand were a fight. Don’t want him getting too full of himself.

31:48 – Nosewart

32:21 – “They knew no help was coming.” Yes, who betrayed them again, Moiraine? See this is why, regarding Rand being suspicious, this is a bad time to bring that up.

34:30 – Sweeping vistas and scenery shots. The TV equivalent of dress descriptions.

36:33 – Don't sniff on camera! First off all, sniffing has a particular meaning in this fandom and second of all, you have a certain osenay artway issue to which it calls attention.

36:50 – You’d barely know Perrin was a widower, if Egwene hadn’t mentioned Laila twice on the journey now.

37:50 – I guess this is their adaptation of how Perrin becomes a Coyotebrother. Because that looks too small for a wolf.

41:05 – Okay, at least with Moiraine being unconscious, there is some excuse for her not telling the boys what Shadar Logoth is. However, Lan on his own would absolutely tell them. Moiraine acts like they have no agency and will behave as she expects. Lan acts like they’re idiots. The former would just sit where they were left and not move without permission, and the latter would not trust them to behave.

43:00 – Which he does.

43:30 – Now they might think this version of the Shadar Logoth story is more economical, but it utterly destroys the lesson of Aridhol, which is that doing things for the wrong reason, and fighting the Shadow with the wrong attitude, is just as bad as being on the wrong side! This is incredibly important, because it informs the stakes of Rand’s internal conflict for most of the story!

And let’s not even get into the potential motivation such as the fact that it conveniently fits with a specific political narrative, leaning into “Walls are bad” and steering away from any implications for extremist methods and their narrative, where what side you are on is all that is important and any tactics are justifiable if your heart is in the right place. In WoT, motivations matter. Using evil methods to a achieve a good end is self-defeating, and the penultimate major lesson for Rand to learn. In later books, we believe a mentor figure who declares that unless Rand pulls his head out of his ass, his victory over the Dark One will be as bad for the world as his defeat, because Shadar Logoth is an example of how that can be.

44:59 – Be neat if this is the same spot where Rand sees Sammael get Mashadared.

45:27 – Good, right profile. Keep showing that right profile, Egwene! No, stop, don’t turn. No, no. Not the left side… And cut to wide angle. Phew.

45:51 – Lan, you have now let all four Emond’s Fielders out of your sight. Are you really doing any good poking at Moiraine’s shoulder?

47:30 – Mat-Perrin interactions are weird. Mostly because they barely exist ITB.

Also, I’m thinking somehow Mordeth is going to infect the dagger from Laila. Or Mat will take up an already infected dagger, because he gave his own away, which is no less dumb.

50:00 – This is all very stupid, because they were specifically warned against touching anything. Whereas they were not in the books, and the dagger was just something Mat picked up at random, instead of specifically messing with stuff he knew he should not, against instructions.

51:18 – One problem with CGI creeping evils is that it’s hard to get horses to react to it. Aldeib’s just standing there in the background, chillin’, because Moiraine can’t run so they can’t have her horse run off, but it looks very incongruous.

I do like this version of Mashadar. For my money they will never top the depiction and atmosphere of Shadar Logoth from the WoT PC game, but this is an interesting way to do it, especially when you remember how much Moiraine’s weaves in the prior episode looked like the book description of Mashadar.

52:08 - “Why don’t you hoist me up?” is a very good question when directed at someone canonically eight inches taller than you.

52:43 - Good use of the power-wrought sword’s properties.

53:19 - The person who says “I’ll find you” when forced to part from their love interest always must shortly after jump from a great height.

54:20 – Forget Rand and Mat, you guys left Bela!! Narg’s lines are cut, and Bela doesn’t carry Egwene out of Shadar Logoth. This show is bullshit.

55:07 – Nynaeve FTW!

#wot on prime #season 1 #timestamp annotations