#like you really just could NOT let her be half-asian and have the story the way it was in the books

[lec743]

FNAF Fanfiction (Cherub AU)

I had a very specific song stuck in my head for this short story. When you see the linked “play” word, please play it for the background music. Hope you all and @starrspice enjoy the new story.  *******************************************************************************************

           Saying that Sun and Moon were happy that you were finally flying on your own would be an understatement. Even though you questioned Sun’s congratulations, you were still appreciative of their hustle in moving on to your other lessons. You easily breezed past through all the rest of them… despite how stupid some of the rules and protocols seemed. You’ll just hold your tongue for the meantime. You’re trying to speedrun helping your loved ones after all, you don’t have time to bicker with the sun themed cherub.

           By the end of the second week, you and your cherub tutors were given your first group assignment. You were to focus on working with Sun as Moon had his own assignment but was in the same area.

           The three of you stood on your apartment roof top as a scroll floated down from the heavens and into your cherub tutors’ hands. Sun held his scroll lower than Moon did, so you looked over his arm at what he was reading. Your eyes immediately rested on the profile picture of your best friend Hera Diaz. You haven’t seen her black ass in forever and your heart immediately ached with how much you missed having late night talks with her over the phone. Last you saw of her she had an afro that could rival treetops, and in this photo, she had a shaved head, but at least she still had that same crooked smile that warmed your heart.

           The assignment stated that she cared deeply for a man named Steve Lee Yang and that he cared for her too, but they had been dancing around each other for a year and a half now. They were dancing around each other because Hera was oblivious, and Steve apparently was too anxious to say anything out right.

           You rubbed at your eyes in slight irritation. You remember jokingly calling Hera a himbo once upon a time, making you both laugh with her agreeing, but you didn’t think it was true. You read over the many failed attempts of Steve trying to woo your friend. He wooed her with flowers, with gifts she liked, and they even went out on a “date”. However, the notes in the assignment said that Hera only took these romantic attempts as him being friendly, and Steve was too nervous to voice anything different. Who is this wet noodle of a man that’s thinks they can woo your best friend anyways? Especially since he doesn’t have the balls to actually articulate what she really means to him.

          You read his profile, then further down you saw his profile picture. He was an Asian gentleman with puffy cheeks and a bowl hair cut that reminded you of that one Naruto character named Rock-something. After a moment, a light went off in your head, and you realized you know this Steve-man as well. He was a senor in your high school while you and Hera were a junior. You don’t remember much about him. Just that he seemed like he was always alone while on school grounds, but Hera said he was fun to talk to. You haven’t seen him in years. When did they reconnect?

           “Ah, this is a classic problem,” Sun stated as he confidently rolled up the scroll, “Should be easy enough to fix.”

           He sounded cheery as usual, but you didn’t trust it. You got the distinct impression that he was already tired of this job and the two of you haven’t even started it yet.

           “How easy we talkin’ here,” you asked as you crossed your arms over your chest.

           Sun gave you a thinned easy smile, “Like breathing air.”

           You raised a disbelieving brow at him but said nothing more.

           Sun turned to his counterpart, “What did you get?”

           “A couple who hate each other but are pretending to be together.”

           “Wait, that actually happens?” you asked in disbelief.

           Moon nodded, “They’re both being stubborn.”

           “Welp, let’s get a move on then. I’ll go stake out Hera’s place. I’ll meet you two back at Maple Park at 1pm.”

           Before either of them could say anything else to you, you flew away at an exhilarating speed. You still can’t get over just how fun flying is. You do a few loopty-loops as you flew to Hera’s house in the suburbs, not needing to worry about being seen with the cloaking technique your tutors taught you.

           You found a small one story home with a front lawn covered in frog ceramics. Half of them she bought as they were, while the other half are frogs she painted herself at a pottery store. It was a weekend, so you knew that Hera would be at home doing house chores. You looked through the windows until you saw a large, muscly black woman laying on the couch. Her living room, much like her front yard, was decorated in frogs of all kinds; paintings and wallpaper on the walls, statues, rugs, pillows, and wood carvings covered every other surface in the room.

           Hera was surrounded by pillows, and she was watching her comfort movie Castle in the Sky. Her shoulders shook like she was crying. Your immediate reaction to seeing this was to whip out your phone and try to call her, but you hesitate as your thumb hovered over the speed dial. You floated there, outside her home, hesitating to reach out to her, for you don’t know for how long, until you heard her house phone ring.

           Hera was sniffling as she paused the movie and got off the couch. Once she picked up the phone, she put a smile on and said, “Hello?” There was a pause. “Oh, hey Mama…” Hera shifted on her feet as she wiped away her tears. “Oh. Yah. I’m fine.”

           Liar, you thought as you clutched your phone to your chest.

           “The family cookout? I don’t know… I’m kind of busy.”

           You felt your heart rate spike at those words. She’s never missed the monthly family cookout before. She loves going to them. She loves seeing her moms and her old neighbors that she grew up with and seeing new faces. Is this a recent thing? How long has she been shut away like this just crying?

           “No… I know I’ve missed the last couple of months. I just… I don’t know Mama…”

           You fumble your phone as you remembered the job you’re on. You rummage around your satchel until you pull out the pack of notepads that look like valentine day cards. What they actually are is Suggestion Pads. They give humans the openness to follow outside suggestions and influences; a gentle way of nudging people in the direction they need to go.

          Ripping a card out of the pack, you crumble it up and throw it at Hera. The crumbled-up paper flattens as it slips under the gap of the closed window. Then it folds itself into a paper heart and smacks her in the back of her shaved head. She doesn’t react as she nods along to what her mama is saying on the other line; the paper being invisible to any that aren’t cherubs.            You stood there outside her window as you silently pleaded with her to go to the cookout. She’s such a sensitive heart. She needs all the love and support from her family and friends. It kills you not being able to be there, but the least you could do was making sure others are there for her. You know that going to that cookout will help her.

          Finally, you saw the piece of paper start to glow and it disappeared from your sight as Hera said, “Yah. Okay. Okay Mama. I’ll go… I’ll see you later… I love you too. Bye.” You fly away after she hung up. It was almost 1pm and it was time to meet up with your teachers.

          You found Sun and Moon sitting on top of the biggest trees in Maple Park. It was a nice warm afternoon, so you didn’t mind it as you reported your findings and what you did. You had extra granola bars in your satchel and passed them out mindlessly as you spoke. Sun and Moon said quiet thank yous as you talked to them.

          Sun nodded thoughtfully as he finished his granola bar, “Mmm. Good. I heard about this monthly cookout thing through Steve, too. It seems he goes to them quite often.”

          You used to go to them often. You clear your throat to prevent yourself from frowning at the wrong subject and said, “And he’ll be to this one?”

          You see Moon looking at you a bit funny as Sun nodded, “It sounded important, so I got him to go, suggesting that he hasn’t seen his friends there in a while.”

          You take their trash and stuff it into your satchel, “Okay. So what’s next now that we have them both going to the same place?”

          Sun’s rays around his head wiggled with pride as Moon smiled fondly at him. “There’s a plethora of things we can do,” Sun stated as he got out a big binder from his own satchel that reminded you of those books that football coaches look through at big games.

           You internally bemoaned at the sight of the book. You and Sun don’t need a complicated plan to get your friend and her love interest together… right? Regardless, you resigned yourself to your fate as Sun opened the book and started talking about different strategies and plans the two of you can use to get Hera and Steve together. Moon seemed to be able to follow along with Sun’s plans better than you. You’ll ask him for some pointers in the future.

           It was the evening of the family cookout. You, Sun, and Moon were sitting on the rooftop of a three story house across the street from a one story house that had a front yard full of people. People were bundled up against the cold and gathered around the grill or outside heaters to keep themselves warm as they chatted and the kids’ played games. Fairy Lights lined the picket fence and there was music playing from an old boombox that was attached to an ipod nano. The song Funky Town was filling the rest of the noisy air with its upbeat tune. Some people were even dancing in the middle of the road to the song.

           The three of you watched the families and friends and neighbors go about their evening as you waited for your pieces to fall into place. Moon left the post first seeing his targets coming to the party looking like the happiest couple in the world. Steve came to the party before Hera arrived and it made you worried that she wouldn’t show up at all, but she walked up to the house thirty minutes after Steve integrated into the party spirit.

           “Aright,” Sun said with a cheery clap of his hands, “You remember the plan?”

           You roll your eyes and said, “How could I not.” It’s not like he hasn’t drilled the plan into your head for the past two days.

           “Good.” He said curtly. Then he flew off to follow around Steve. You got up to do the same with Hera.

           The plan is to do drunk confessions. Get Hera and Steve plastered enough that Steve is confident enough to finally spill his guts and Hera is accepting enough to not think he’s saying it in a friend type of way. You were getting Hera open for suggestions with your valentine-esk Suggestion Pads as you saw Steve and Sun coming over, with Steve holding two cups of alcohol. Steve had a nervous smile on his face as he called out to your friend. Hera turned to him and gave him half a smile. He was holding out one of the cups to her when he tripped over a garden hose that the kids were using as a plaything, and the alcohol splashed on to Hera’s sweater and jeans as Steve fell face first into the grass.

           You sucked air between your teeth as Sun grimaced with you at the sight of Steve apologizing profusely and Hera reassuring him that it was fine. She went into her mothers’ house to change out of the alcohol-stained clothes and Steve found a quiet dark corner to wallow in his remorse.

           You saw Sun rub his temple as he sighed, then he said, “Okay. Plan B.”

           Plan B didn’t work out either. Or C. Or D. You and Sun were getting more and more frustrated with each failure. It was getting close to the end of the party. You and Sun were ready to call it quits for the night too, but you thought about Hera sitting in her home looking miserable and that smile she gave Steve looked genuine despite it being tired and you wanted to help her so badly.

           “Sun. Please. Can I try something?”

           Sun sighed out of his nose. “Might as well. What do you have in mind?”

           “Just get Steve interested in dancing before he officially gives up for the night. Okay?”

           “…Okay…” Sun gave you a look like he was wondering what you were thinking but he followed your lead.

           You went over to the boombox and picked up the ipod nano. You knew, no matter how dower Hera is, she can’t help but dance to her favorite song. You found the song you wanted and pressed play and the song Overjoyed by Stevie Wonder played through the speakers. Across the thinned crowd you saw Hera perk at the music.

           As the song reached the lyrics, “Over dreams, I have picked out a perfect come true,” you saw Steve walk up to Hera and offered his hand to her. She took his hand with a soft smile and the two of them started dancing with each other.

           You flew over them with Sun and threw one last Suggestion Paper at Hera to confess her feelings, not trusting Steve to speak about his own feelings first. Steve was wide-eyed as Hera talked about how she felt about him and before she could quickly say that he doesn’t have to feel the same way about her, Steve was spilling his guts about how he felt and all the attempts he tried to romance her. They both ended up laughing and snorting at their own silliness with each other and you and Sun smiled as you two went back to the roof from across the street to watch them a bit more.

           You were so happy to see Hera smiling.

           “Hey. Good job, Rookie,” Sun said, and you believed him.

           Soon Moon joined the two of you and you saw the same “happy” couple stomp away in opposite directions as they left the party.

           “How did it go you two,” Moon asked.

           “It was rough, but we did it. Now they just need to kiss to seal the deal,” Sun stated.

           You did a double take between Sun and your best friend as she was dancing with her head resting on top of Steve’s head as they continued to lovingly slow dance together. Was he even seeing the same thing you were?

           “What’s a stupid kiss gonna do?”

           Sun got a sudden haughty attitude as he said, “A kiss is the ultimate display of love.”

           “Yeah, I call bullshit,” you deadpanned, unable to contain yourself anymore.

           Sun turned on you so fast you though you heard his neck pop, “Excuse me?!”

           “Kisses are just a form of physical touch. They don’t mean anything.”

           Out of the corner of your eye you could see Moon looking ready to get between the two of you.

           “Oh yeah?!” Sun fumed.

           “Yeah!” You said just as angry.

           “Prove it then!”

           “Fine I will!” You sneered as you moved without thinking about anything but proving Sun wrong. You grabbed the cherub by the sides of his face. His anger suddenly turned to panic as you pulled him in, and you gave him a kiss on the lips. It was fleeting and your noses bonked against each other from the force of you pulling him in but in the moment, you didn’t care as you let go of him. “See! I feel nothing for you, and you feel nothing for me! I win!”

           You pushed past Moon who was looking at you in shock as you flew off the roof top. You only spared one last glance at your dancing friend before heading back to your apartment feeling more than just exhaustion.

#fnaf #fanfiction #cherub au #starrspice

[chit-chat-bluejay]

MY SHIFTING EXPERIENCE!; Shooting dramas that don't exist in this reality

summary; i am posting this to motivate those who have not shifted yet. i noticed there is not much things they could possibly be motivated by, as shifters don't share too much of their shifting experiences. so i decided to share memories of my favourite drama i have got the honour to be a part of! <3

to start of, i would like to say that the cast for the drama already exists in another high school drama in this reality, but i will not be naming any of the actors or actresses! this is to respect privacy as well as; while they might know me in that reality, they do not know me in this one and so coming upon a post like this - even if by accident - could possibly make them uncomfortable! as well as not everyone understands what shifting is. either way, i would like to thank you for your understanding!

so! to start off, i should probably explain that; the dramas that i will be talking about do not exist in this reality, but regardless they are my favourite ones i have starred in due to the friendships i have got to make through them! of course, the story is fascinating as well. which i will try to explain~

so, to start of! i looked it up, and unfortunately, the director does not exist in this reality. it saddened me a bit; i figured he would make a lot of interesting dramas and movies here as well! but unfortunately that is not the case. either way, he is one of the most creative people that i have ever came across. the dramas i will talk about - and which he directed - are really supposed to serve as one big drama split in two halves! if that makes sense to anybody. one half being 'to hold you' and the other half being 'while dying'.

they are supposed to be a mirror of each other, or rather a parallel universe? i have heard it be described in multiple ways, so i am not quite sure how to explain it perfectly but those two terms do it quite well.

to be clear these two dramas; are set in the same place, with the same characters, with the same cast & director, same school, same family ect. the things that differ are; the genres, dynamics and storyline.

the softer, sweet version is "to hold you"! It's a rom-com that's also a slice of life kind of thing? everyone is happy, yet still has their own struggles and there are many life lessons along the way. there isn't a 100% match of dramas in this reality in terms of vibes, but I would say the vibes are similar to reply 1988 and reply 1994!

the darker, more stressful version is "while dying"! while the title doesn't make much sense, it does once you watch it. not my character, but another actress', let's call her h! sets chaos between their friend group by deciding to send a text in a large group chat involving the friend group + everyone else involved detailing everything messed up or illegal the friend group did since she believes she is dying because of us. - this happens at the end of episode 1 - in terms of being dramatic and emotionally distressing I would compare this side more to penthouse? just not with adults; but rather highschoolers! so, for example these things would be my character being abused by her boyfriend, me being the reason why another characters - in the friend group - sister is blind, that person secretly taking pictures of another girl in the friend group to sell online, and that girl secretly stealing stuff to sell to be able to buy dangerous substances and so on. - there are so many characters it would take long to list it. -

so, as you can see! the two dramas serve opposites of each other. let's take a character, junho! - yes, these are k-dramas! and before you accuse me of anything, i am asian. - you see, he is a gentle giant in 'to hold you'! always protecting girls, being there for each main character, the ideal son, helpful, sweet and kind. however! in 'while dying' he is the character that secretly takes pictures of people to sell on the internet. it starts of with a girl in the friend group and slowly escalates to more people he looks at as deserving of it. or for my character for example! in 'while dying' she is the reason why junho's sister is blind! she did it because she saw the abuse junho goes through but was ashamed to own up to and refused to hit back. so jia - my character - impulsively acted out. later in the series, as secrets start to unfold bit by bit we find out that she is abused as well by her boyfriend! but! in 'to hold you' jia is friend's with the sister, happy, extroverted, loud and really an overall cheerful and happy person, and the boyfriend is the 'ideal husband' type. as in they are a power couple!

the point is; no matter which one you watch first, you will become insanely emotional!

either way! the reason why i chose this one is because i have spent about 8-10 years in that dr - i forgot when exactly my first shift was, probably around 2018 there! - , and i shifted there last week, on tuesday! it made me insanely happy to be able to work on such a nice project and I formed such beautiful friendships - which i mention an annoying amount but oh well! - that I just want to share it! maybe this will be the motivation that will finally help someone experience the amount of joy and excitement they very well deserve!

also, for reference while 8-10 (probably 10!) years went by there, only 1 hour passed by here! so i will let myself "rest" for a few more days before attempting to shift again mid week-ish! unless you benefit from it, you should never push yourself over your limits! <3

anyway! one interesting thing i would like to mention is that i have actually became friends with person h! - as i said i won't be naming anyone for privacy's sake - she is a really kind and lovely person, and I actually had no idea she exists in this reality as well! even her name is the same! it just shocked me because i have never searched her up or gave too much attention to her in this reality, yet she was a side character in multiple things i have watched! i guess this is due to my subconscious remembering her; i just didn't. i just thought about mentioning it because it is soooo fun!

another person i have became friends with is person b! actually, a lot of people hated him for portraying the bad side of his character so well, while some people idolised him due to the good-natured side of the character. it was very funny to see, i remember watching edits together with him and laughing at some comments! - which i had to sometimes translate - it was people arguing about his character! to me it really shows that he is an amazing actor! he played my boyfriend in both dramas and became my best friend in real life! i never interacted with the actor in this reality so i cannot say they are 100% same! however in that reality he is like the best person ever. 'brings you snacks at 2am just bc you said you were craving them' type of friend!

and person c! junho's actor! he seems to be a sweet and shy person in both realities so that's that! we actually had a lot of fun on set and often times had to retake many shots. not because we are bad at acting; we just couldn't stop laughing at random things! looking back at it i really appricate the patience everyone else involved in production have had. we actually became really close as well! the type of friend you don't need to interact with everyday but still have an extra strong and meaningful bond with. we also acted in many other dramas and movies as well! he is a sweetheart, really.

this was also the first project where i got to try out fake blood as well! i had to bite down on a little thingy in one scene to make it look like it's pouring out of my mouth! i think it was cool, but i was a bit worried since i am a clumsy person lmao! everything went well tho <3

either way! these are the most motivating things i could think of for this post, but i could later make a part two or add to it. i also like answering questions,,, either way, next story time will be about my very first time shifting! mwa, thank you for reading sweet angel!

#reality shifting #quantum jumping #shiftinconsciousness #idk i just noticed there is not much support or proper posts about shifting on here #imagine nobody cares

[looosey]

Movie Review: The Half of It (2020)

Okay @notesoncrocs! I've finally watched it, and got dang!

Synopsis: Chinese American high school senior Ellie Chu lives in suburban seattle, and makes pocket money writing her classmate's english papers. She doesn't know much about love, just literature and music, and has a crush on the only girl who might understand her... but she's also the school's it girl. When a jock Paul asks her to write love letters to this same girl, she says yes to just ONE letter. But one letter becomes two, and messy messy messy friendship, lovers, and love of all kind.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Movie Review

So I watched this with my mom. So I was simply grateful to see queer asians represented on American film.

Ugh!! Paul and Ellie's friendship, and how they are, in real time, forming their young, naive, understanding of what love is, is so... precious. So coming of age. The two of them are like characters from a YA book you grew up with and never want to let go: flawed, cringy, but already cozy in their place in your heart.

The movie itself was beautiful as well, in terms of color palette and camera placement, and I don't think the art ever got in the way of the story-telling. And the references to literature, movies, and philosophy never got too obnoxious, but was just enough to understand the world of Ellie and the writer. All this to say, the movie was natural and not forced at all.

My Thinklings

I really really liked what the characters had to say about love. Paul and Ellie continuously circle the idea that love is the effort you put into letting the other person know they're loved, as opposed to magically finding your destined other half. This idea seeps through the movie, into the romance and the friendship and family: for example, Ellie and Paul start in a pay-for-play relationship, but do so many small things for each other with no expectation of any return at all.

The same idea must've struck @notesoncrocs because she mentions that last scene of him running by the train tracks, futilely... but for her to know. I just sit here now, wanting more out of my life, especially to DO more personally for others around me. Like if this is not the meaning of life/How can I say I have lived?

I'm basically done, but also a small thinkling I have is about liking white men. In general, Ellie and her dad are the only non-white characters in the movie, which is such a strange choice. Is that just what seattle is, or was this isolation a necessary simplification for the deep-rooted dissociation that goes on in a POC with a crush on a white person in high school. Paul is a straight white jock, i.e. Hollywood's default love interest/America's default high school heart throb. This movie did good for me in terms of "reverse representation"(?): seeing this type of guy be a genuine friend for an Asian gay nerd girl was strange in a good way, and made me think for the first time in a while that white men could be... friends.

The Half of It (2020) is on Netflix. I recommend to iHouse!

#the half of it #actual ihouse reviews #film review #renge #lgbtq #washington

[ssaalexblake]

People out here deluding themselves into thinking jodie's dw era didn't go over well amongst the sexist masses because of Chibnall?

I hate to break it to you, but people started hate campaigns and coordinating ratings bombings before hardy any episodes had aired. It was planned Before the show had aired to make the seasons tank on IMDb through block rating it poorly deliberately to victimise the woman they cast! People were yelling misogynistic bullshit before she'd been in an episode. When she does stuff All the other doctors do, it's bad. When she Doesn't do stuff all the other doctors do, it's bad. She couldn't do Anything without it being Bad.

When 12 regenerated into her one half of the people reacting were complaining the TARDIS crashing was sexist writing because the girl shows up and immediately goes down like the TARDIS doesn't crash all the time. Meanwhile, the Other half of people were making sexist Jokes about women drivers meaning of Course it crashed right away like the TARDIS does not crash all the time.

It's blatantly evident most of you didn't even bother to watch Jodie's performance from the comments I read. But honestly, that's not even the point.

Christopher chibnall was not the Reason this went "wrong".

This era of doctor who could have been brilliance, could have been sweeps the baftas and golden globes TV awards amazing. Could have been rated in the top best TV shows of all time. Could be lauded continuously by academies and critics alike.

It would still have been called shit by a sexist, idiotic fanbase that doesn't deign to pay attention to women or their stories, let alone Like them or bother to connect with them with empathy.

If you try and act like hating women had nothing to do with this crap in an effort to be feminist I??? Do not know what you're smoking, but try something less strong next time.

If You personally did not like it, you need to stop utterly deluding yourself into thinking the hatred is in good faith. It's really not, and the delusion that this had Anything to do with actual quality needs to cease and desist.

If Chibnall made a "mistake" it was right at the get go in hiring a woman. That was the point the deal was sealed. A woman behind the scenes would have gotten all of what he got and WORSE because, yeah, then it's just some feminist mafia bullshit, obviously. A Man never would have hired a Girl. Instead of just being hated, theoretical girl chibnall would have also had misogynistic abuse slung their way.

That he then went on to hire a black man, an Asian woman and an older white man nobody thought was young enough to fantasize about were just more nails in the coffin to nobody giving it a chance.

Like honestly, I don't know what kool aid you're on if you Honestly think the reactions against this era Aren't rooted in utter misogyny (amongst other things) even if it's not personally to your taste. But go Off I guess.

#dw shit #youre all off your rockers

[nitewrighter]

cant believe it took 8 years and a cringe foxgirl for people to seriously talk about how overwatch has a huge problem with orientalism in its asian representation. (now someone talk about how fucking weird zenyatta's everything is)

I actually talked about Zen's problems a while back, haha.

Well with the Shimada Bros, there was a general understanding that they started out as one character that was split into two. and like, futuristic ninjas have been a common and popular sci-fi trope (I mean endemic to a lot of the already pre-existing but overall embraced orientalism and aesthetics of Sci-fi and cyberpunk) for decades. When the American(tm) characters were basically Captain America and a Cowboy, and the German character was a Knight, the Australians are literally just Mad Max OC's, this, along with Michael Chu's insistence that the Shimada dragons were not magic all formed kind of its own fabric of Sci-Fi anachronism and stereotype and "Technology so advanced it is indistinguishable from magic" that you just ended up kind of rolling with it. Like there was a combination of suspension of disbelief and acknowledgement of stereotypes

That isn't to say these weren't problematic, there's also definitely something to be said about half of the black characters having heavy duty cybernetics--the "black body as machine" and all that. I think Kiriko's the straw that breaks the camel's back just because like... at this point they're literally introducing the "mystic asian" stereotype into the game and there's nothing remarkable about her, looks or personality-wise, that lets people really move past that. Like I said in a previous post, she's literally just the middle slider between Tracer and D.Va. Kiriko says she got her fox spirit from her Grandma, insists that it's the "old" of her "old and new" style of fighting, and her lore is all knotted up with the Shimada bros when it's like

A. Does it really have to be if it's not even answering any real questions? (E.G: WHAT THE FUCK ARE THE DRAGONS)

B. If her mom is clearly the person with the stronger link to the Shimada Clan and that's the precedent for bringing this character into the game, why isn't she the hero?

And of course there's the literal fucking magic of the Kitsune which basically throws Chu's previous assertion that the dragons aren't magic under the bus. Like, I do think there was an inherent element of self-aware Globe-trekking stereotypes to Overwatch that people could accept--just like how one can read pulp and classic fiction and still enjoy it even though it could have wildly sexist and orientalist elements to it because overall it's an adventure story with a colorful cast of characters--and there was always a strong empathetic or charismatic angle to each character both in spite of and because of their stereotypical elements. You can let these characters play into stereotypes inasmuch as you're able to make fun of yourself for like, being an American who eats hamburgers.

But this is the moment where people are looking at blizzard like, "Oh--wait--you're not in on the joke, you actually think this."

#Overwatch #Overwatch 2

[ash-and-books]

Rating: 2/5

Book Blurb: Revolution is brewing in the semi-submerged city of Tiankawi, between humans and the fathomfolk who live in its waters. This gloriously imaginative debut fantasy, inspired by East Asian mythology and ocean folk tales, is a novel of magic, rebellion and change.

Welcome to Tiankawi - shining pearl of human civilization and a safe haven for those fleeing civil unrest. Or at least, that's how it first appears. But in the semi-flooded city, humans are, quite literally, on top: peering down from shining towers and aerial walkways on the fathomfolk - sirens, seawitches, kelpies and kappas - who live in the polluted waters below.

For half-siren Mira, promotion to captain of the border guard means an opportunity to help her downtrodden people. But if earning the trust and respect of her human colleagues wasn't hard enough, everything Mira has worked towards is put in jeopardy when Nami, a know-it-all water dragon and fathomfolk princess - is exiled to the city, under Mira’s watch. When extremists sabotage a city festival, violence erupts, as does the clampdown on fathomfolk rights. Both Nami and Mira must decide if the cost of change is worth paying, or if Tiankawi should be left to drown.

Review:

In the semi-submerged city of Tiankawi, where humans and fathomfolk (underwater beings) live together, revolution is on the bring and a half siren captain, a dragon, and a sea witch are all at it's center. Tiankawi is a semi-submerged city where humans live on top while fathomfolk- sirens, seawitches, kelpies, and kappas live in the waters below. This story consists of various asian mythologies and cultures as well. Mira is a half siren who has just been promoted to captain of the border guard. She wants to work change into the system and wants to save her mother from the rot gill that is infecting her. Mira is in a romantic relationship with a dragon ambassador, Kai. Kai's younger sister Nami is a dragon who wants change but having lived a spoiled life with no real sense of consequence, she will jeopardize everything. Then there is the sea witch Cordelis/ who lives as a disguised human Serena. who made the bargain with Mira to protect her mother in exchange for half of Mira's voice. Nami is reckless and gets exiled while her friends are sent to prison when she tries to steal a dragon pearl and now has to live with her brother, but soon finds herself being lured in by the attractive member of the Drawbacks, a group of people who want to destroy the system.... even if it means killing people. Nami's decisions and choices as well as her work with Cordelia leads to a string of events that will cost Mira everything. This is the first book in the series and let me say it was not a fun time. The story is told from Mira, Nami, and Cordelia's POVS. Mira was the only person I actually liked, Nami was the worst and Cordelia was barely even a character. The story is long and drags on and on and on and I was just bored by the end. It was infuriating to have to read terrible decisions after terrible decision on Nami's part. She read as if she were a 15-16 year old girl and this felt like I was reading a young adult novel rather than the fantasy adult novel this was suppose to be. In all honesty, this book was lacking real propelling action and the story could have been cut in half. The length of the book felt undeserved and the characters were lacking actual depth and none of them really had you invested in them as people. I was partially invested in Mira's storyline and that was mostly due to liking the romance between her and Kai which went up in flames by the end sadly. Seriously, I do not see myself continuing this series and honestly can't say I exactly had a good time with this book or will remember much of it. If you like large worlds with various POV characters then maybe give this one a go, maybe you'll have a better time with this than I did.

*Thanks Netgalley and Orbit Books, Orbit for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

#book review #bookish #fathomfolk #book

[luvingmyships]

Kitana Kai has always been the kind of girl too really not care what people thought of her. She’s always been the best at what she did.Academic's, sports, and serving looks, and having a great alluring personality that brought people in, especially all the the boys to the yard but in many of causes it didn’t work out with them.Commitment was the farthest thing from her mind. She liked going out partying/clubbing (possibly illegally)and meeting new guys and always been upfront with her intentions ,and it didn’t change when her dad kinda uprooted her life, and moved her too her homeland of japan where she’ll be collecting another trail of tears.

Hello to all who open up my work. This is one of the first stories I’m attempt to write my best, and I’m very open to critics lets just not be mean about it. In this story the main character is multi-racial, Japanese and Afro-Latina, is identity is what makes her HER. she’s fun, flirty, and also young women that makes a lot mistakes and helps her growth. I haven’t really seen many Haikyuu stories with a black women, and I took my chance to make one, Thank you <3

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Kitana Kai

The thing about me is that I didn’t choose hoe life; it chose me. I wasn’t one to settle down in relationships. I’m young and hot, and I didn't want to limit my options, so in the meantime, I like messing with guys and their emotions. Sure, it might be a little immature, but I’m just giving them a taste of their medicine. Sometimes if they interest me enough, I might give them an inch. I like clubbing and going out and having a good time, and until now.

Some might say me being this way has something to do with both of my parents not being around. It’s not that they're dead; they are absent from my life more than I would like, and this is how I want to feel the void of it. My mom has been excluded from my life for the past fifteen years, and she cheated on my dad with a younger guy. The guy eventually left her, which led her into deep desperation is where my grandparents had to raise me. We had to come back to America from Japan because they thought I should see the other half of my family. My dad always tried to be there for me, but things were always getting in the way, working full-time and being a graduate student in engineering took a toll on him and his ability to care for me. It got better when he got his degree and had an excellent job waiting for him. While I was living with my grandparents for most of my adolescent life, my dad flew me out to see me about thousand times to spend the summer months with him and his new wife; and they also came to see me when they were able to, which made me feel seen as a child. My dad didn't have full guardianship because my grandparents wanted to. I reminded them of my mom, and my dad thought it was the most feasible thing for him to do.

My family is a little different than most because my mom is Afro-Dominican, and my dad is Japanese, not a combination you would see every day. However, they initially tried to raise me in the best of both worlds. Unlike most black biracial people, I had darker skin than most, which I had gotten from my mother. Born in Japan, having darker skin than the majority was the easiest; the only thing my father passed down to me was his eyes, where people could tell I was of Asian descent. I spent the first six years of my life in Japan, consumed by its culture; it became my first language. However, I'm still pretty proficient in Spanish and English, which made my dad think I was a prodigy to transition through them, which boosted my ego into the bad bitch I am today.

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The plane was closer to landing. Although Kitana was already ready to fly out of her seat to get them off, she had enough of the guy sitting next to her “accidentally” bumping and rubbing against her leg with his own. He thought he was so slick, looking at her sheepishly. She was ready to slap the shit out of him but risking the no-fly list was not something she wanted to do. God give her patience. She was on this plane now, landing in Japan because her grandparents thought it was time she got the chance to live with her father before she began college.

When the plane landed, Kitana stood up to get her to carry on, and the guy stood way too close, waiting to get his eyeing her up and down like he was sizing her up to see if she was a challenge.

“Do you need any help getting your luggage down, ma’am?” he asked her, already trying to reach for it, but Kitana had already snatched it down fast before he could intervene.

“No, I’m good,” she said, glaring at him rolling her eyes hard and making it down the pathway of the plane to get off. As if he had a sliver of a chance with her looking like he was fighting his receding hairline, a mortgage, and struggling to provide for his family of five.

When she made it to the airport, Kitana was already getting weird stares from the people in the airport, which she understood. She’s a black person in japan. In this country, most people wouldn't have seen black people in real life if it wasn't for television and the internet. Also, she looked confusing to most people in Japan. She had a prominent Asian feature with her eyes, but her brown skin, textured hair in a vast pineapple puff on top of her head, full lips, and slim, thick fat ass made people do a double-take, which the majority in japan does not have. Japanese beauty standards tend toward light, flawless skin, a slim, petite figure, slender legs, and a quiet personality, which Kitana did not possess when she had to speak her mind.

She tried to scavenge her dad in the sea of people that filled the airport; it didn't help that she was only five-four, so that didn't help the cause of trying to see over people's heads, so she just called her dad instead while grabbing her suitcase from baggage claim.

“Dad, where are you? I landed, and I don't see you?” Kitana said, pulling her heavy-ass luggage towards the escalator to a lower level, her piercing over the sea of people.

“ Baby, I’m on the lower level. I think I see you and your pineapple hair,” Kitana's father, Haru, said, laughing in her ear like he said the funniest thing ever. “Daddy, what did I tell you? It's called a puff; you've been with a black woman and got a black daughter and still don't know what a whole puff is with that big brain,” she said, finally getting off the escalator.

“Sweetie, you know I’m only playing with you,” Haru said, still chuckling while surprising her from behind and shocking her with a hug.

“Dad, I missed you so much; it's been too long, you know, not to sneak up on black people like that,” she said, laughing into the hug and squeezing him tight, not wanting to go because he was always there to confront the person. They started walking out of the entrance of the airport.

“I missed you too, Koibito. I’m glad we can finally be together as a whole family now; Aika and the kids are very excited to see you again, he said, to which Kitana wasn’t very surprised. Her step-mom Aika loved as if she was her daughter and would send goodies over the sea to America, and they talked on the phone almost twice a week more than she did with her father. Her little brothers also made sure their presence was known every week with FaceTime calls which she loved though it was a bit excessive. They were middle schoolers, so it's not like they had many people to call though it was appreciated.

“I’m excited to see them too, and I can’t wait to eat okaasan food. I know how she likes to make a feast every time I come around.”

“Yeah, I know she already started preparing in the morning, I just wanted to taste a little bit of it, and she hit me; also, we're not going straight home just yet. I know you're tired, but I have to pick up some important documents and items from my school, and you're going along,” Harui said while putting her luggage into his car.

“And here I thought I could just rest after my 13-hour flight,’’ Kitana groaned as she got in the car. “Don't worry, you’ll be able to rest later; it's not too far, and well, definitely make it in time for dinner.”

Kitana and her father made it out of the airport and on the ride to their first destination. They talked about her life back in America. She was at the top of her class in academics. She was a fantastic athlete in volleyball; she took her team to championships twice. She was a very accomplished person for where she was; her uprooting to live in Japan just changed the flow of everything. It's something she has to get used to. Her dad reassured her that she would do excellent even in the new environment; she would thrive.

They pulled up to Shiratorizawa Academy, a private high school in Sendai, the capital of Miyagi Prefecture. Her father teaches a couple of classes throughout the day, besides being an engineering professor at one of the nearby schools' colleges. Since the entrance exam is challenging, most students get accepted by studying hard or through sports scholarships. However, Kitana cannot attend since her father teaches, and since she has yet to take their entrance exam before her first year, it was never going to happen. So instead, she would attend Karasuno High, located in Miyagi Prefecture; it’s a bit farther. But her dad promised her a car when she came here, so it will not be a problem.

Looking out the window, Kitana saw a massive group of boys running in the same uniform, purple practice shirts, white shorts, and a zip-up jacket about half a mile away from the school, piquing her interest. They were all tall, so she guessed either basketball or volleyball for their sport of choice. They all turned to face her as the car was driving by, and she examined them, and they all looked cute to her, but the one that caught Kitana's eyes was in the front leading the run. The number on his back was number one. He was fine and had permission to get in her drawers whenever he wanted. He would tower her by a lot, she was only 5’4, and he looked above 6 feet. He had a nice lean-bulky body that Kitana wouldn't mind climbing. Unlike the rest of his team, He turned to look at her with an automatically resting bitch face that and stoic statured. Kitana stared right back at him and winked directly as they passed him. She had a thing for men like that. It was kind of her toxic trait.

When the school came into her line of sight, she was impressed with how big it was and how the building was structured. It did look like they prioritized sports in their school. There was horseback riding, tennis, and a soccer field outside. They had two separate outside gyms for the girls and boys where basketball and volleyball were practiced and played. She wouldn't have minded attending this school and joining the volleyball team; she saw reports on how both genders of the school dominate the sport of volleyball. It ranked 8th in the whole country. Who wouldn't want to be a part of that? But it's okay because no matter where she goes, she will dominate the team.

Kitana's father parked the car near the school and followed suit out of the car with him, and she was too nosey to explore the school. The sun and warmth felt great on her being outside the cold ass plane.

As Kitana and her father were making it towards the school entrance, the boys finally caught up and gathered at the front of the outside gym building, all trying to catch their breath. Their arrival brought out an older man in a tracksuit replica of their uniform, walking up to the somewhat middle-aged man supporting a buzz cut and glasses. Kitana was trying not to look, mind her business, or get in the building until her dad switched the route they were walking in and thought it was okay to get the older man's attention.

“Hello, coach Washijo is still working my students to the core, I see,” Haru says as he approaches closer to the coach and his team; they all seem too fixated on the person behind him.

“Well, how else do you think the team will get to the championships if they're not pushed to their limits? I'm not here to babysit. I'm here to train winners,” Coach Washijo said, already getting sidetracked on his plans for the team. While that conversation took place, it gave the team a chance to look at Kitana, and they were perplexed by how attractive she was. Her hair was pulled back in very neat flat braids that exposed her beautiful face with moles and freckles scattered, lips perfectly full with gloss coating them. Dressed in a light grey zip-up hoodie and grey-fit seamless athletic shorts that exposed her smooth brown legs glistening in the sun gathered the majority of the attention from the boys and the people passing by. The only gaze Kitana did not mind was the captain, who was much cuter closer up. He had dark olive-brown hair, matching hazel-green eyes, and a stoic expression, which was pretty intimidating. He has a large, muscular yet lean build and is relatively tall. His eyes moved up and down Kitana's body thinking he was slick with his glances until he met Kitana’s, who was already looking at him. She caught his eyes before making sure he knew she was slowly checking him out and gave out a dimpled smile when a blush formed on his face, which caused him to look away.

“Sensi Kai, are you gonna introduce us to the foreigner hottie that's behind you,” a voice said that pulled Kitana out of her trance, and her eye zeroed on the tall red-headed boy thats she could automatically tell had a goofy vibe about him, that just automatically made her laugh; her dad’s face turning completely red didn't help anything.

“ Satori, I would appreciate it if you reframed from using any of those unrefined comments on my daughter,'' Haru said, responding Grimley to Tendo, who also received a solicited glare from his couch.

“Well, daddy is not like he lied about me being hot cause I am most definitely not a foreigner but thank you, though,” Kitana responded in Japanese, which put the team in a state of shock that brought a deep belly laugh from the coach which was a lot more shocking than anything. This was the first time they heard it, and the man barely smiled.

“Kitana,” her dad said, not liking the sound of his daughter expressing how she looked hot, especially to these little foul-mind boys. Kitana looked away for a second to escape the glare her dad was making sure to give her, and the boy that misspoke received the same glare from his coach, to which he automatically apologized.

“And Tendo, one more word out of you, the whole team will be running another extra lap,” the coach said, which had the rest of the team looking at the redhead, daring him to say another word out of pocket.

“No need, it's fine, I'm not offended at all,” Kitana says, trying to get the heat off of him and the attention back to her, on which she succeeded because there the boys go again, checking her out. She didn't, especially from the green-eyed boy that was just carefully observing her with a slightly intimidating reactionless manner about her. Like he was disinterested in this whole ordeal and was wasting time.

“Anyways, this is my daughter Kitana. She just came from America today and will stay with me until she graduates. The funny thing is, my baby is also an amazing volleyball player, with a lot of champions under her belt,’’ Haru said, beaming with an endless amount of pride, causing Kitana to shield herself from the embarrassment of her dad always bringing this topic up in front of people.

“Really, in what position” the old man's coach said, not convinced that a person of Kitana's small-statured was a remotely great player. She didn’t like being doubted by anyone and was already catching an attitude.

“Yes, really, I was captain of my team before the move as a setter, but I was occasionally a spiker, and I can assure you that my dad isn’t wrong; I’m a winner and am the best at what I do,” Kitana said looking at the grumpy old ass old man with her arms crossed in a challenging way.

“Well, in that case, why don't you join us for practice today.”The other younger coach said, intervening before anything else could be said between them. Kitana wanted to decline because she didn’t prove herself to these men, but her dad beat her to a response.

“She’d love to. I have a few things to grab inside from my class anyways so you can join them, hon” Giving her a little forehead kiss and pushing her towards the group before leaving her with a wave.

“Well, I’m joining you guys for a minute. Let's see how great you are,'' Kitana says, turning her attention back to the team and giving them a dimpled smile that made most of them weak in the knees. They all filled into the colossal gym and started getting paired off for warm-ups and passing drills, and Kitana got paired off to number eight on the team. A first-year boy that was kind of adorable. He looked about 5’11 with a medium build, and his most notable attribute was the back bowl cut that he was wearing. He introduced himself with a fit of stutters as she took her jacket off, revealing the grey backless sports bra she was wearing underneath,also revealing the tattoo placed on her spine near her neck were two koi fish in Ying -Yang and going down the spine in Japanese Kanji had the saying “ a montage of love”. Kitana was big on tattoos, other than the one on her back she had a vine of flowers under her left under boob. Two butterfly tattoos on her head that she shared with a friend and the back of her right ear two small tattoos of the sun and the moon with tiny stars.

“I-um,’’ He squeaks when he tries to speak, so he clears his throat before restarting, “Goshiki!” he says so loud, sticking his hand out that all the other boys were snickering because of it, Specially that red-headed one from earlier.

Kitana rolled her eyes at them and shook his hand. “Well, hello, Goshiki, I don’t know if you heard earlier, but I’m Kitana. It’s nice to meet you. Looks like I’m your practice partner for today’’ She says, smiling up at him, causing him to blush. Seeing a pretty girl this up close that smelled amazing and had the potential to be a great volleyball player was the highlight of his week.

He stood there for a second just taking her in without blinking. “ Are you good in there my guy” she says, laughing a little, taking him out of his trance, getting a little closer with the ball in hand.

“Umm- yeah, yes I’m good, I just thought your tattoo is pretty cool. Did it hurt? Wait, did your dad allow you to get that? Are those the only ones you have? I’m sorry I’m asking too many questions.” Goshiki replied nervously, fingers running through his bangs,panicking inside a little, believing that the questions were a little intrusive to her. But he was just curious, no one he knew had a tattoo. Usually the people are very discreet, with keeping there’s hidden. but here’s this girl, not caring, having her back out in display with it, decorating her spine, which all just made her a whole lot more appealing than she already does.

It seems to be that the other players were in agreement with his internal thoughts, with her facing him. He’s able to catch them, with they’re envious sneaking peeks.Tendo, wasn’t even trying to hide it . All a bit shocked by her back exterior. Even the coaches.

“ No, you’re good, I don't mind the questions. Yes, my dad knows, about it he’s the one that paid for it as a birthday present and my overall accomplishments. But since I was 17 getting it, I needed my grandparents permission. I can’t lie,Yes, it hurts a bit. And also yes, I have three other more” she says, giving the ball a little dribble.

“Really?? where are they” He says catching the ball passed to his eyes spreading all over her body to see the different inks.

“Well they’re in secret places, can’t really show unless you want to get really close and personal” she says teasingly this boy was easy. His cheeks started to get red and flustered.

“ It's a joke, what position do you play?”

“I’m a winged spiker, but I will take Ushijima's spot and be the ace of this team,” Goshiki says excitedly, starting the passing drill with the ball where they pass to themselves at first and then backward pass to their partner.

“Winged spiker, okay, we love to see it. I was one alsoe; I still am, actually, but I’m a setter for most of my games. Since you're not the ace, who’s this Ushijma that is' ' Kitana says while hitting her pass backward.

“Shirt # 1, he's the captain of our team. He plays as a wing spiker and is the team's ace. He was the number one ace in Miyagi Prefecture and ranked among the country's top three aces.,” Goshiki says, catching the ball, head nodding towards the direction of the net where there was a three-person practice happening with striking, which involved the talkative red-head who was #5, #10 who seemed to be lecturing him about something, and then # 1 who turned out to be the fine ass stoic guy who she was checking out, now she was continuing to do.

“ We’ll dame he’s pretty hardcore, skill level is amazing too, and kinda cute is he in a relationship” Kitana said not one to beat around the bush when she wants something, and for right now, her eyes were set on the captain.

“Cute??” Goshiki says almost missing the ball, in which he had hit the receive harder than he should have,perplexed by the words that just came out of her mouth, and her boldness.Ironically the ball ending up near the foot of ushijima.

#haikyuu smut #haikyuu!! #black main character #ushijima #daichi miura #coach ukai #kuroo tetsurou #oikawa tōru #kotaro bokuto #love #miya osamu #miya atsumu #Karasuno #shiratorizawa

[maxwell-grant]

Sooo, thoughts on Mortal Kombat 1 ?

@jcogginsa asked: You've said Peacemaker is the DC character who fits most in Mortal Kombat, but of the three leaked guest fighters for MK1, who do you think fits it best?

Okay, new Mortal Kombat thoughts then

Well with this and Tekken 8 I guess it didn't take long for Street Fighter to spearhead another fighting game comeback. But while Tekken 8's more on the "basically the same as it always was except there's a graphical update", Mortal Kombat is kicking things off with a, Story Mode-centric showcase with a tiny gore montage and no gameplay. Fairly unusual territory for the series, but it seems to be paying off for them in viewcount.

I'm really not a fan of how anyone looks here, though. What you see in the trailer is the fairly logical endpoint of the MK series increasingly striving for more realism and fixing little design issues like, uuh, a majority asian cast of characters who never even slightly looked asian until some 20+ fucking years into the series, y'know. And for sure the faces look great, but I do feel like we're getting those great faces and expressions at the expense of everything else in their designs becoming increasingly colorless. Like Scorpion and Sub-Zero or Kitana and Mileena, who somehow look more like palette swaps than theyve done in decades.

It's not the only issue I have with this trend but, look the clothes and the lighting and the visuals look very pretty, but this is maybe the most swagless most of these characters have ever looked and that's a capital sin. So far, they look like half-a-step removed from A.I prompt recreations of themselves, which is the harshest thing I could say about it. It's too generic.

And man I'm, reeeally not liking the Fatalities here, I feel like that's the biggest issue with the franchise moving so firmly into 3D realism, the Fatalities just plain aren't that fun anymore most of the time. Sorry to MK fans following me but I will have to be the christian parent finger-wagging at the screen and say that they actually should tone it waay the fuck down because they lost the plot that this is Mortal Kombat, not fucking Liveleak, and plenty of modern games can pull off absurd cool pop-off gore without putting us through characters writhing and screaming and gurgling in pain during rancid torture.

And no, we can't chalk this up to personal taste anymore ever since that story about MK11 devs developing PTSD because they had to look up nonstop hanging/murder/animal torture videos and photos to get the gore right, which is frankly as good an argument as any for throwing Mortal Kombat in the trash and not letting it come out until they cut that shit out for good and overhaul their entire approach to game design and tone, which they clearly have not done and will not do. It's fucked and NRS deserves way more shit for it than their playerbase is willing to give them.

Moving on, so this is like, what, the second or third reboot? I guess it's more so them following on the clean slate Aftermath was setting up but, damn these guys really do love DC Comics and the increasingly short periods between rebooting the whole thing to dodge narrative problems and only coming back to those same problems again and again.

On the more individual character basis: Raiden looks Japanese finally, and I guess the scaling down makes sense since he's not a god anymore. Kung Lao, eh. Kitana, looks way worse than she did in MK11 (maybe I'm biased because that was like, the one time I liked how Kitana looks) and if this is a timeline reset, are they gonna undo her as Khan of Outworld? Fucking boo if they do, that was the best thing they did with her, they are cowards for walking that back if they do.

Kitana looking boring unfortunately also means Mileena isn't looking great either, although I do like the viciousness in her eyes, I like that her alignment's pretty unclear from the trailer, and I like that they're keeping the teeth from 11.

Scorpion and Sub-Zero look way too basic, and although I'm not against their increasing focus on Scorpion looking more human, I just don't like that this is making him look less Scorpion than before, he looks like a disposable Shirai Ryu grunt that reports to Scorpion before getting killed in a pre-fight cutscene.

Shang Tsung as the villain again is a fairly allright idea (if slightly redundant given Aftermath) and of course necessary if they're taking this back to the beginning, I don't mind his design (the claw gauntlets are pretty good) but I do mind that he looks less like Cary Hiroyuki Tagawa than before. I hope to be wrong here in this assumption but If they're not bringing Tagawa to voice him, if they're not basing him off Tagawa's characterization like they did for 11, why bother with Shang Tsung at all? Tagawa's performance is like 80% of Shang Tsung's entire appeal.

I do really like Liu Kang's look though, it's a very nice, very pleasing blend of his classic ensemble with enough Raiden elements to show his new role. Is this the first time they've ever featured Liu Kang front-and-center in the ads and posters for a new MK game? Sure feels like it. Apparently one of the head writers remarked "People, Realms, Rivalries: Liu Kang has tinkered with all to achieve his vision", which is nearly always code for Bad Guy Talk. Too early to call it but, I guess it was inevitable, and if we're really doing Evil Liu Kang for the third time this is already a better baseline than the prior two takes. I don't like his face though, I really liked his MK11 face and this feels like a total downgrade (where's the eyebrows? his eyes are totally different, he looks like the doctor from that wretched surgeon meme and it makes me hate him on sight)

So far, I do really like that the trailer sticks entirely to fantasyland kung fu film vibe. The last two games were stuffed to the gills with Earthrealm military horseshit where as this feels like it's making a point of avoiding that, no gun-toting Americans in sight thankfully. Johnny Cage has been confirmed but, he can stay, he's cool. Speaking of that, Van Damne Johnny Cage, cool I guess? I don't care about Van Damne but, if they're getting action movie celebrities to be in these, getting Van Damne specifically feels like bringing things full-circle a little.

Kameo Fighters? Oh so we're doing Smash Bros Character Reveals now? That's gonna be a fun powderkeg to just throw out there, lmao, I hope they reveal these slowly to really make the fandom spaces unusable. I guess they put Mileena upfront to avoid the worst as is. I do like Assist Characters in the VS series, I guess this is gonna be like that so, cool with me even if they wind up shelfing characters I actually want like D'Vorah and Kano.

(SPOILERS FOR THE LEAKED CHARACTERS IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THOSE): Quan Chi, eh okay they were bound to bring him back sooner rather than later, so long as he's not making Shang Tsung chump out I'm okay with it. Takeda, fine. Mavado, don't give a shit. Ferra, without Torr, okay let's see how that goes.

And of course the ones everybody's talking about, Homelander and Omni-Man, who seem extremely redundant to feature together given they have basically the exact same powerset, but I can't fault NRS for jumping on the popularity of that match-up and they have Injustice Superman assets to share between the two. Homelander, couldn't care less but sure, put the meme guy in there, he fits. Omni-Man, I've been dancing around watching Invincible for months now but yeah, cool, he's pretty damn great, seems like the only fighting game you could possibly put him in, and most importantly it means J.K Simmons is joining the voice cast, which I'm of course super excited for.

Personal stand-outs for me are Tremor, who's pretty cool. Khameleon, whose design I actually like quite a bit and who I never thought would show up again, totally on board for her. Ermac, who is one of my favorite designs and who I really enjoy playing as, but the designs so far have been really underwhelming so, not sure what they're gonna do with him.

Oh yeah, PEACEMAKER's joining the roster? Never actually thought I'd happen but I'm gonna do a victory lap anyway because I fucking called it a year ago that he was the most perfect choice in the world for Mortal Kombat. Okay scratch what I said prior, in this house we allow for ONE gun-toting American in the game. And sure maybe I'm biased, but I definitely think he fits the most within Mortal Kombat, if nothing else, because Peacemaker is the one you can actually imagine pulling off a Friendship or uppercutting the same guy's head off three times, he's the only one who feels conductive to the MK series sense of humor. Omni-Man's I imagine is a very close second, being famous for pulling off Mortal Kombat fatalities in a series where that is, at least initially when it operates by seemingly standard superhero rules, uncharacteristically frightening and sadistic violence for anyone to do.

Overall: Glad that they're making an effort to push Mortal Kombat to new places, there's plenty of cool choices or ideas set up here, but there's a lot that I dislike or am ambivalent to, a lot that I wish they were doing differently, and of course the concern of "how much are the devs having to put up with this time around given these Fatalities look somehow way worse than the ones from 11" that is frankly kind of a dealbreaker for me in terms of me getting or supporting this game. I guess it's "it is what it is", but that's a shit excuse and it could, y'know, not be what it is.

#mortal kombat #replies tag #fighting games #videogames #netherrealm studios #nrs #mk #mortal kombat 1 #mk1 #peacemaker

[courtesanofdeath]

[Black Lagoon Anon]

So I'll definitely have to tag you in any Black Lagoon posts I post.. Especially the rare posts. Because this whole fandom is already small as it is right now. But I have been hoping that the more people talk about it, the more people would be just curious enough to want to find out about the franchise in general too.

And I keep saying franchinse because I don't know.. Wait. Did you know that Sawyer and Eda really have own spinoff mangas. Because you'll also get a lot of backstories for Eda, Sawyer, Shenhua and Lotton.

But about the original manga. I don't know how you might feel about Li's character, you may like her. So she is the new female character in the next arc after Roberta's Blood Trail. I won't say more though.

And I could definitely see you liking Le Majeur.. She is the newest female character who was introduced in Dutch's backstory chapters. And that's all I'll say.

You will also learn more about Revy's time in prison, more about her backstory. Many more backstories.

I'm keeping details vague so not to spoil you more.

I sent a Japanese clip for Gangsta. too, if you might be curious about the anime in Japanese. Since that was already mentioned you prefer Japanese. Which is fine. I don't think any characters have accents for this series that I know of. But it's so rare to find any videos for this series, regardless of language, so I've just sent any videos I can find. So another video.

Like I said.. A woman created this series, franchise - since there's a spinoff for one of the characters too.

This series is like Black Lagoon, but reversed in lots of ways. There are strong characters, including a lot of female characters. Some queer characters. But a lot of disabled characters too. There is also many of these characters who're of different ethnicities too.

The dark skinned woman you'd see, Alex, she is one of the mixed characters. Is part black, part Chinese, and part something else too. She's a mixed woman.

Doug is the young man with the dreadlocks, he is a half black man. He's black and white descent.

Galahad is obviously black.

Nicolas, who is the deaf man you've already seen, is actually half Asian from his mother's side.

Worrick is most likely European, at least of more of a European descent. Based on his appearance.

There are many other characters, but those were an example for you. And you already met Nicolas who's a canonically deaf character. His sign language that he speaks is the Japanese sign language if you may be curious. As someone who is considered disabled (by technicalities), I do enjoy seeing characters who are disabled. Especially the accurately portrayed.

And, just like Black Lagoon, graphic content will be happening. Especially in the manga. Including a lot of offensive languages. Just to warn you about that ahead of time. Oh! Another warning.. In the anime. I can't remember if it's the first or second episode, I'd have to let you know there is actually a sex scene.

And if it wasn't already obvious yet, the boys, Nicolas and Worrick are the main characters of this story. And Alex to some extent too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcmNVDWBkiU

oooh a spinoff for eda and sawyer sounds goood! sawyer is really cool and i really loved her scenes and her character is really interesting! i also love her character design! and i loooove eda so much !! so i'm definitely gonna check those out! and shenhua too omg ever since her introduction i loved her! and lotton too lmaaoo he's really funny and interesting so i'd love to learn more about him too! im excited to meet the new characters too! black lagoon has lots of fun and interesting characters so i can't wait to see more of them later on!

from the clips you've shared i can already see how diverse the gangsta characters are, which is super cool! it's rare to see characters with disability in anime, and especially in one of that genre, so that's really rad! nicolas seems so cool, i'm excited to see more of him when i get into the anime!

and thanks for the heads up about the graphic content! i'm definitely gonna watch the anime in sub, especially since i just saw that worrick is voiced by junichi suwabe who's one of my fav jp voice actors! lol

i'm really excited to watch gangsta and then read it later on! i have a feeling i'll enjoy it a lot. thank you so much for telling me about it!

#anon #long post

[heir-less]

"From January 1st, Prince Nikolai, Prince Felix, Prince Henrik and Princess Athena can only use their titles as counts/countess of Monpezat, the titles of Prince/Princess that they have held up until now will be discontinued. All 4 maintain the places in the order of succession." Danish Royal Family must be racist too.

Or maybe you're just stupid, have you ever thought about that? The "Chad" answer is: all European monarchies are inherently racist, genius. However, that's an answer for another day. So, let's open this pit up:

I don't know how many more times it can be said that the issue wasn't inherently that Charles wanted to restrict royal titles, the issue was that it coupled with an underlying type of resentment that implied that Archie and Lili didn't deserve royal titles specifically because they're mixed-race. Personally, I don't think anyone deserves a royal title, but what makes a mixed-race person less fit to have one than someone who's full white?

There was never any mention of Harry's future kids not having royal titles until he married Meghan. This is the same family that was willing to change succession laws back in 2012 in order to accommodate Will and Kate if they had the first-born daughter. This is a family that is capable of thinking ahead when it comes to royal titles and succession rights. And yet, somehow, I don't think that Prince Louis, should he marry a white British woman when he's older, will face the same issues.

I think a lot of the talk concerning a "slimmed down" monarchy has become targeted at Harry and Meghan specifically recently. In fact, if anything, we're hearing more about other members gaining titles despite being farther down the line of succession. It's entirely possible that Edward will be created Duke of Edinburgh soon and just last year the ROTA was more than happy to spin stories about Lady Louise Windsor becoming Princess Louise of Wessex when she turned 18 after Sophie herself said that her children could choose to use HRH titles, despite it being super unlikely. I think it's pretty ironic how the media picks and chooses who is worthy of these silly titles that have no inherent value. The King's obscure niece can have an HRH by choice, but with the King's grandchildren, it suddenly becomes a matter of taking away titles.

Now back to the Danish royal family. Queen Margrethe is doing something similar to what Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden did a few years back. And I really don't see an issue with this, sure, it sucks to have a title from birth and then get it taken away. But this seems like a rule that will be applied fairly and is lacking vindictiveness. Also what you failed to mention is that these four grandchildren, Nikolai, Felix, Henrik, and Athena, will maintain their Count/Countess of Monpezat titles and will be styled as Their Excellencies. Doesn't seem all that bad now, does it? But let me present you with an alternate series of events:

Prince Nikolai and Prince Felix have Asian ancestry through their mother. Now imagine if Alexandra was constantly the target of racism, and people in the media made racist jokes about her and her kids, and then Alexandra came out with her story about facing extreme racism from the press and palace. If all of that happened and then Felix and Nikolai were subsequently singled out as two people who "aren't fit" to have royal titles while other members didn't face that same type of treatment?

Then, yes, I would think that the Danish Royal Family was being extremely racist on that front. But since none of that happened, and they're being treated with the same dignity as their half-siblings, I don't think anything of it. It really isn't hard to understand how race can play a role in some things but not in other, similar events.

#i don't know why i'm even going to answer this #people don't have any nuance at all #answered #anonymous #danish royal family #archie #lili

[69-toojay]

Back when I binged glee in covid I used to bother my then friend, now ex about all my glee opinions and stuff and we somehow made this running joke that sebastian was a brown boy because why else would someone have so little chill about a school extracurricular right?

It started as a joke, and it's little more than crack even now but the thought of a biracial seb (sebu as we called him) is still funny and it endeared him to me. Through him we'd go on to make fantastical stories about the universe in which he was half brown. I don't know if I need to mention I'm brown too but yeah

The lore went as follows Sebastian's father Arshad Smythe was a second generation south asian immigrant who studied law in France where he met Mrs. Smythe.

we made him the most run of the mill brown dad imaginable and we loved him so much because of it , he was obviously just based on our fathers and uncles and brothers. The people we loved, who loved us in return, the people whose dad jokes and overbearing old timer antics we rolled our eyes at.

Mr and Mrs Smythe alternated living between France and Ohio, where Mr. Smythes childhood home was. It was a dilapidated suburban duplex complete with ugly beige carpeting. But Mr. Smythe just couldn't bear to part with it so he never sold the house or moved out. He would buy his son the best cars and enroll him in the best schools. He'd spend on everything else but he just couldn't change anything about the house his mother had lived in.

Sebastian and his mother understood. She had been important to them too. Samantha Smythe remembered all the times she sat on the floor of this house so the older woman could rub coconut oil into her hair. Sebastian remembered the spicy pickles she cooked in her kitchen, how good they tasted. So they understood.

Burt Hummel was an old friend of Mr. Smythes. He'd babysit Sebastian every once in a while, Santana too. So Kurt, Sebastian and Santana were all friends that got upto fun shenanigans in this world.

Sebastian had a cat called Maribelle, who scratched and bit everyone except for their trio and Mr. Smythe, she was also a mafia boss and an interdimensional/ divine immortal being who had a life of crime on the weekends. He had found her as a stray and begged his dad to let him keep keep her. He did albeit begrudgingly as all dads do, and then quickly became best friends with her as all dads do. I drew cartoons of Kurt and Sebastian as preteens chilling on beach chairs with sunglasses on, in the front yard of Sebastian's grandma's house. Mr Smythe , a portly gentleman with a half bald head with borders of dark hair lining the sides, wearing thick framed glasses would yell at them about their homework to which they'd reply "It's Sunbathe Saturday, Dad!"

Mr Smythe would then grumble and pick up Maribelle who had been in the process of burying a man, unbeknownst to him.

We had so many really specific just brown people things jokes about Sebastian, like him putting 'manja', a type of liquid glass used in competitive kite racing in South Asia in the rock salt slushie. Just him in general being really excited about sharp drinks after his brown cousin back in his home country show him the ropes.

Him being the kind of typical annoying uncultured highschool boy, ' kamla', who hung around coffee shops all day.

Him challenging his father to a game of cards at age eleven by making Mr. Smythe promise if he won he would have to love him unconditionally. Just as he pulled out the last ace he yelled out 'I'm gay but you love unconditionally no take backs!" And ran up the stairs yelling "no take backs!" As santana and kurt blocked mr smythes entrance to the stairway by popping ill timed party poppers.

If Seb ever got into any scuffles with them during play time he'd fire off a flurry of mixed French and Bengali curse causing Kurtana to exchange confused glances like, did you get any of that ?

His early s3 backstory was literally Mr Smythe being a little bit of a tiger parent. But then when he breaks down because of the Dave thing his dad makes amends saying "I want you to be the best at everything seb, and that includes being a person."

The scandals fix it in this universe was Maribelle scratching Blaines eyes out when she overhears about it from kurt and seb discussing it.

I figured later that Mr Smythe must have taken his wife's name because it's hardly a brown name even in Christian circles, to which my ex had replied you only realised now?

There's really no words in English to properly translate the jokes and their cultural significance to us. Parts of brown seb universe bled into my shitposts and fics but I could never part with him fully. Because the world wasn't ready for or interested in him. Since then I've graduated college, I've lost access to the Instagram account we used to text about this world in, and I've lost my ex and I've lost that time in my life, Brown Seb only exists in my memory now. So now maybe it's time to give him to the world so he exists outside of it too. Idk if there are Desi gleeks out there who get the jokes, but til then this post is just for me to remember

#Thats all i can recall #The rest I lost to the account i got locked out of #Went no contact with my ex so I can't exactly ask for screenshots #sebastian smythe #Kurt Hummel #santana lopez #Glee #lol blaine anderson #Constant mentions of sebs tan in acitw and other fics reminded me of brown seb

[formula-fun]

(This was timestamped October 12th 😱 when I found bits of my always too long ramble in my notes; I was mostly talking about your answer to my ask on the 12th.)

Good morning! (This was really what I started with!)

Good gawd I totally forgot the other omegas on the grid🤣🤣 when I jumped down the rabbit hole of “ABO universes must be more patriarchal than real life” and “my poor baby being the one suffering the most on the grid for being an omega” and of course the waaaaaaayyyyyyyy too much talking about what I like in ABO fics.

It’s quite refreshing to remember that in your story Japan is less “only boys/alphas are deserving of the throne(literally and figuratively ”. (Still can’t believe I totally forgot about it yesterday, and it was mentioned in Capri too! One of my favorite parts!😱😱) Even though technically (please correct me if i’m wrong) ABO was created so Dean Winchester could logically get pregnant in English fics, I sometimes love the more Asian take on it: as in even in the real world, as soon as men can produce children too, the ones who could do that (like omegas in ABO) would immediately be degraded in the social hierarchy to becoming “women”. It’s a very widely used background in fics from Asian writers thus making me love a lot of fics with very strong omega characters, the whole “I am an omega but I am as strong as you(his future magnificent alpha mate). ”

“male can present as alphas or stay betas ;people born female can present as omegas or stay betas” So there is no female alphas. But if the world consists of male alphas + male betas +female betas+ female omegas, Charles is a male omega?

it’s indeed true we think very differently because half of the time is you amiably disagreeing 🤣 and I’m like nodding and pushing more into the same subject or different subjects and we just continuing on politely disagreeing. 🤣🤣🤣

The mating I do understand, since the actual “registering” happens ON each other and in bed hhahah! Do mating trigger heats and ruts for alpha/omega pairings? Since the whole biology of ABO is practically “let’s make two men having a baby as logical/easy as possible, and they should has they just mated!”.

As for spoilers! I am all for them lol, I have always been the type to want to know whether the end would be happy or sad/bad for movies or stories, and then I would decide whether I would read them (I am still on the life sucks so I shall only read stuff that makes me happy and my best friend is a lover of angst, and we bond alot over angsty stories I was “tricked” into reading that I end up recommending to her, so me reading WIP is totally growth 🤣)

——

I just checked the 2024 calendar so if the baby (yeah!) is conceived in June 2024, it looks like it’s going to happen in Austria? (June races are in Canada, Spain and Austria) At first I thought it was going to be in Monaco(late May) at home? (Why am I sticking to the real calendar when talking about characters in fiction having babies lol). I suppose too much is happening for them in Austria seriously hahahha.

You also mentioned that their baby was born early, the amount of stress for Max??? Did they speed all the way to the hospital in their Ferrari with Max “threatening” Charles their baby girl is most definitely not to be delivered in a Ferrari of all cars? Hahahhahahha

Wonder what kind of reaction the tifosi had finding out their prince/king is having a Ferrari baby?

Thank you so much for entertaining all my way too long explanations of “what I think”.

A very lovely Wednesday to you~~~~

Xoxoxoxoxooxoxo

ahhh hi hi!! Glad you found it! ill answer under the cut in case it gets long!

hahahah yeaaaaah sorry, im definitely breaking the a/b/o form a lot in this fic!! i think it's really only loosely an a/b/o fic in the first place tho--im using that as a way to explore gender, and it's become a pretty good vessel for that! there are a lot of expectations in a/b/o about how different genders are supposed to act and i KNOW thats why people like it.....it's just really fun to flip that on its head and poke at how at the end of the day they're all just people and biology doesnt dictate who they are dfjkdfkjdfjkdfk like am i doing it right? no. am i having fun? yes

and definitely! Im not asian so i can't really speak for that, i just knew from the start that certain countries would have different ideas about gender than others (just like it is in our world) and japan happened to be one of them. i do like the way it flips the script though, and you're definitely right about that meaning omegas can be stronger than alphas. it's kinda emphasizing that there's really no one truth about who anyone is and everything is fluid, especially the dynamics between two people. that's the whole bottom line with that scene with yuki, too--he thought alphas were super different but they're really kinda the same as anyone else. As for the bit about dean winchester, I have no idea if youre right but it doesn't sound wrong ;)

"But if the world consists of male alphas + male betas +female betas+ female omegas, Charles is a male omega?" charles was born female, he identifies as a man tho! same with his brothers, all the other omegas on the grid and a handful of the betas. there are also women who are alphas, who are biologically male. Gender and sex have nothing to do with each other in this universe, gender is just a form of self-expression and identity, so this is pretty common

and iiiiii do not knowwwwww to be honestttttttttt. not sure how mating works yet. We'll see! I think it can kind of be done whenever but there are probably some sort of requirements about hormones or some shit like that, like it probably relies on oxytocin or something so if there's not enough happy calm hormones being released then it wont take?? or something like that?? cause its basically the ultimate oxytocin bond right? its possible im getting too scientific about this but idk. cause in a lot of a/b/o it basically works like magic to the point people can start reading minds after and idk if thats really the direction im going to be going with this, but it's not just a bite either. we'll see we'll see, i need to figure it out still

Same with the calendar--not sure, we'll have to see. i had a plan at one point but i honestly do not remember now. I do think their first baby is conceived in a really dumb place like a sauna or a storage closet in the ferrari hospitality or the passenger seat of Max's valkyrie right after charles smacked his head on the roof and then whined for like six minutes straight while refusing to let Max look at the wound (spoiler: there was no wound. there was not even a bruise). idk why, it just feels like it adds balance to the narrative if the whole thing is dumb and ridiculous and literally not romantic whatsoever. im rejecting the 'uwu conception is beautiful and pure' notion, it's a million times funnier to me if charles gets pregnant because he tried to open a condom with his teeth but bit a hole into it instead and didn't notice or think about it until 6 months later when andrea looked at his most recent blood test results and immediately passed out

that's all i have for you!! no more spoilers, i have to go to sleep!! thanks for the ask and happy wednesday!

#xo anon #if i had words #writing tag #should i start tagging long posts??? lmk

[shai-manahan]

I know this is a bit of a strange question, but I am absolutely fascinated with your characters. The way you write them is so incredible and the themes that your story portray are just astonishing and the way everything weaves itself together is just chefs kiss. I would love to know what your character creation process has been like, how did you go about creating all these amazing characters? Did any of them come before the creation of the plot or after?

I also love all the diversity of the ROs. I have a friend who's half agta-Filipino and I recommended her this game. She was so happy to see not only a character with a similar ethnic background to her finally represented in a story but also to have the character be a South East Asian character with a darker complexion also made her quite happy to see since she also has a similar skin tone , so thank you for making her day and making her finally feel seen in a story. I'm glad to see such a diverse cast of characters, and I can't wait to read more of this. As someone who has family members (non-blood related) with Caribbean roots it's really cool to see a character with bajan roots as well! ❤️❤️

Thank you, anon 🥺

Some of HM's characters existed even before the plot was fully formed (like Jade and Alonzo), and some did as things were eventually added to the concept as a whole. I try to make sure none of them's wasted, though, in a sense where they each have their own unique roles in the story.

What they all have in common is that their backstories are deeply connected/comparable with the Ripper's, in some way or another. Once you set that part up, I find it easier to make the characters as human as possible, giving them flaws that would be appropriate with the circumstances they were in/are in and strengths that show how they lived through the challenges they each faced sometime in the past. They have made and will continue to make surprising decisions, some of them great and a lot of them a little stupid and reckless, but they are actions that would be significant nonetheless.

I can most definitely say that a lot of them have arcs that would have been enough to make them the protagonist in their own right, though not in a way that they would overshadow the Ripper's role.

The ROs, specifically, are in place for specific reasons, and I cannot wait to show y'all why :).

I really appreciate this, btw! It's not so often I meet/hear about another person with an Agta heritage since we mostly lie low, but I'm so glad I could make a character she could also relate to! I know I ran the risk of not having any reader who'd relate to the beliefs Alonzo grew up to when it eventually comes up in the story, but it is also a rep that's very important to me, personally. I care a lot about Owen's family as well, and I'm so eager to let them make their appearance in the story soon!

Have a good day, anon :)))

#interactive fiction #hollowed minds series #hollowed minds #ask #anon #writing #wip #if wip #interactive novel #interactive game #interactive story #if game #choicescript #e alonzo #owen russell

[captainshadowgirllostfan]

I hate that Lor Zod and General Zod are black in Young Justice. Even though there are a decent amount of black heroes in Young Justice, the amount major notable villains that are POC compared to white villains is outstanding. You have Lady Shiva, who is of Asian descent, the Al Ghuls, who is also Asian and Arabian, there's Black Manta, who is African American, and Vandal Savage, while ethnicity is largely unknown and is said to have been a caveman, ALSO seems to be a POC along with his two daughters, Olympia, who is killed by her own father is black, and Cassandra (there are a LOT of Cassandras in this show) who is brown colored it seems.

And while we do have Rocket, Bumblebee, The Guardian, Static Shock, and Black Lightning as major African American heroes that are focused on, it's just not enough compared to the white heroes that are focused on.

And I guess Artemis is technically half-Vietnamese and yet we see her mostly in a white household, while every time she is with her Vietnamese mother, there's always a sense of shame focused on the first Tigress. I mean in order to feel like I am dealing with a Vietnamese character, I wish they'd do more than just give us her eyes which are almond. Provide some Vietnamese culture instead of giving us a family that is so wracked in shame over its own heritage all because they couldn't live up to the status quo and make ends meet honorably like the white heroes were able to.

I do like Zatana's history...I think she's Italian, not that I would call being Italian being POC. But there was a story about immigrants intertwined there that was nice... Her arc was refreshing in how her students were ethnically diverse and fit into their different conflicts. And yet those diverse characters were just back up to the main star of the arc, Zatana...but I can't complain too much. Only if next season we don't get much of Khalid just like how Virgil was sidestepped as well and Halo too.

Going back to the Zods...I wouldn't have a problem with the Zods being POCs if we saw the House of El being similarly represented, that way it's equal...otherwise, it just seems racist, like they're portraying POCs as the bad guys and I already get that impression with how they continuously demonize Asian representation

They turned Lady Shiva into a far worse parent than she was in cannon when her only sin in the comics was abandoning her daughter and even then it was a sympathetic reason since she was literally coerced into bringing Cassandra into this world so David Cain could use his daughter as a weapon.

Instead of going with that storyline of a white man abusing his Asian daughter which they admittedly already got going on, they have the Asian woman who was raped become the abuser of her own child and become even worse than her husband in the comics by having Cassandra's vocal cords cut out!

And as someone said, she makes Sportsmaster who was an abusive parent to both his daughters look good.

Which is like why? If that was her previous incarnation then okay, that's on the comics and Young Justice was just unintentionally adopting racist elements from the comics because it was already there in the comics and Young Justice is just bringing that on the screen. It doesn't look well on them but it doesn't make them look too bad

But instead, they make the Asian woman, who yes while a villain is a complicated villain, into a far worse than she really is. Shiva was fucking raped for god's sake!

This was literally on Cassandra Cain's wiki. In exchange for her life, she had to agree to give birth to his child and let him raise it. The bastard also killed her sister!

But instead of giving this sad history of Cassandra's that makes you kind of sympathetic to Shiva, Young Justice decides to just make Shiva into Cain, into wanting to turn her own daughter into a weapon.

What infuriates me about this is how Young Justice seems to spin a twisted narrative that spits on Asian ideals such as being filial and loyal towards family, and a part of me wonders if it's to promote the idea of independence that is promoted in Western culture. The idea of children rebelling and becoming their own person, leaving their parents to be their own man. I don't have a problem with that idea. As an American, I kinda prescribe to it.

But as someone who also is of South Asian descent, I dislike when they have a villain like Lore Zod sneer at Orion, who is the son of Darkseid and chooses to be on the side of New Genesis Gods, asking "Where is his loyalty?" in that why does he stand against his own parent?

What exactly are they trying to say?

Maybe I'm making too much out of this...

I guess I just have a lot of feelings about Young Justice. I enjoy the show and it has great storytelling...but there's a part of me that finds it so...off-putting.

#okay maybe my rant makes no sense #but you have no idea how sometimes i feel kinda shitty watching Young Justice #and just finding out Lorre Zod is black along with General Zod #dude if you aren't gonna make Superman why would you do that? #i was ranting if you can't tell and probably lost the point #i need to check other blogs to see if they see what i see #because ugh why? #Young Justice #Lorre Zod #General Zod #House of Zod #House of El #Superman #Jor El #Zor El #you know what they better make Supergirl black #not a blonde girl with blue eyes #i swear #Kon El #Artemis Crock #Tigress #Sportsmaster #Lady Shiva #Cassandra Cain #Vandal Savage #Black Manta #Ra's al ghul #Talia al ghul #who else am I missing?

[soniccrazygal]

Is wow a new bad guy who could have guessed!! I'm really excited for this one I hope you like it

It took in a while to get away from all the people... When they had gotten back to the car where Charlie waited, Michael could tell she wasn't at full strength. She immediately Hug both of them "Oh my God I was so worried!! I'm sorry! I couldn't come to help I just can barely hold myself together right now! I'm so sorry-" "We're OK Charlie let's get in the car And find another hotel I don't think this place is gonna let us back in..." Elizabeth pointed at the hotel Michael hadn't seen it since he was running but the front entrance had Been destroyed he could also see that there was blood inside... It only took a minute for them all to get in the car Charlie drove and Michael sat with Elizabeth in the back seat as she told her story.. "When you got nabbed by that thing that looks like baby at 1st I wanted to Save you.. But then it stepped forward and its hands turned into a taser and-" Tears collected in Elizabeth's eyes "Hey Liz don't cry... it's OK... That's what I want you to do.. your safety comes 1st" Michael hugged her. the black goo was Gone now most of it had fallen off during their walk, She was still glowing slightly but Michael didn't mind. "foxy continued chasing me... he kept on tearing through cars on the way a-and people to-o it was terrible.. Then you jumped on top of me and bit me.." Elizabeth pointed to her bite mark. Her shirt was torn where it happened and It was Almost fully healed which should be impossible- "I don't know what came over me Michael I just felt something... And I just ripped off its head like it was nothing.." Elizabeth looked at Michael terrified.. "Then I-I Ripped into it right there in the middle of the road.. Couldn't stop it was like I wasn't in control.. When I finally snapped out of it I ran to where you were and ripped that thing stomach open and got you out..."

There was silence for a moment then Charlie spoke."I was right circus baby's remnant definitely affecting you... I've never seen this happen before but.." Elizabeth hugged Michael again moving as close to him as she could. "I don't think we need to talk about this Charlie... Let's just find another shady motel and stay there.. Get our bearings again" Elizabeth didn't say anything just Hugged on as tight as she could to Michael like if she didn't he would disappear...

(Somewhere else in London)

Bethany took a long ship of the "cocktail" Remnant and alcohol mixed together swimmingly.. She could already feel the rot along her body undoing itself as the remnant worked its magic.. "Honestly I liked you better when you were half decayed..." Jack the man across from her gave her a Disappointed look... Bethany gave Jack a foul look and had another large ship. Jack was from America so of course he was crass.. She didn't know too much about him other than; His full name was Jack Davis Kennedy, he what's the product of a Irish businessman father and a East Asian actress, Had inherited his father's company and his mother's good looks, And was an all around @#$#.... "I'm honestly disappointed in you Bethany you didn't just fail spectacularly you killed and somehow altered both of them.. And manage to kill yourself in the process!" Bethany rolled her eyes.. how she had miss the feeling of actually being able to feel.. only a week as a undead undead had been miserable and she hadn't even fully rotted away yet... "I mean Mr. Afton's not too happy about it! But on the other hand he never really cared for the boy much and from the news reports the girl seems to have turned out perfect.." Bethany just rolled her Hold her eyes turning her head to the tv Located on the opposite wall. Footage of the attack and the girl ripping the Fox to shreds had been caught through a shaky home video Cam and The traffic cameras so it wasn't the best footage but Anyone could recognize that bright red hair. "So what are you going to do that I can't..." Bethany said finally feeling comfortable enough to take off her gloves. the skin had regenerated perfectly it still had a slightly purple tent to it but at least it wasn't completely decayed. "I'm going to catch them, take them to the States and take them to their Dad!" Bethany rolled her eyes again again.. the shadows we're beginning to stretch as the sun was setting. (If you were judging just on that there would only be a woman on the roof..)

It didn't take long for them to find a new hotel room and for Michael to contact Damian changing the place where the package would arrive. Charlie had went out with him leaving Elizabeth alone in the room. Her veins hadn't stopped glowing but they had dimmed.. As she sat there boardly flipping through channels she could have sworn she saw the figure and a boy in the static.. (Cassidy and Evan are trying to talk to her)

There you go new villain a bit more mystery and all done I hope you like this and interested to see where you take it Signed your Person who keeps on doing this random Tumblr user!

Elizabeth was going to just turn off the tv when she noticed all the static, but then she heard a voice that she hadn’t heard in a long time attempting to talk to her. Slowly creeping loser to the tv, she asked, “Evan?”

#soniccrazygal answers #fnaf story crafting

[natashasfilms]

Chapter Seventeen - Fire All Around

Summary: After fighting monsters from a different dimension the year prior, Aria is soon to find out that this was just the beginning. As she and her friends work together to close the gate to the Upside Down, Aria has to deal with her secret feelings for her best friend.

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Original Female Character

Warnings: This story contains mature themes such as sexual content, strong language, violence, mentions of alcohol and drugs, blood, gore, and death.

Note: I imagine Aria Kaul as South Asian but I have decided to let you, the reader, imagine her appearance, hence the reason why I have not given her a face claim. However, her race does not affect the story, whatsoever. You, as the reader, are free to imagine her however you want. If you don’t see her as South Asian, then that’s fine. It won’t affect the storyline.

Series Masterlist

Max drove perfectly fine. Aria didn’t know what came over her when she let her drive. Her hands were pretty fine and she could drive but she trusted the redhead to not kill them. She heard her talking about being a zoomer and thought Max would be fine to drive. Lucas was giving Max instructions from the backseat on where to go.

As Aria was paying close attention to Max, Steve woke up from the backseat, groaning. Dustin held an ice pack on his forehead and smiled at him. He looked next to him and saw Mike, furrowing his eyebrows. “Nancy?” Mike looked at him like he was crazy and Steve turned the other way to see Lucas and Dustin.

“Hey, you good back there?” Aria asked Steve from the passenger seat. Steve mumbled a “yeah.”

“It's okay. You put up a good fight,” Dustin told him as Steve looked around, groaning in pain. “He kicked your ass, but you put up a fight. If Aria wasn’t there, you’d be dead.” Dustin laughed.

Mike snickered. “Yeah, Ari saved your ass.”

“That’s enough boys.” Aria told them.

Lucas kept speaking the directions to Max. “Okay, you're gonna keep straight for a half a mile, then make a left on Mount Sinai.”

Steve took a good look at who was driving and then at Aria, who was in the passenger seat. His eyes kept moving back and forth between Max and her until it hit him. “Woah! Woah! Woah! Riya! Why are you not driving?!”

He started to struggle against Dustin’s hold but the curly haired boy ushered him down, trying to not panic him. Aria didn’t say anything as it would panic her boyfriend even more so she stayed quiet, still watching over Max drive. Max sped faster and they all started screaming, everyone losing their cool.

“Shut up!” Aria screamed as Lucas told Max to make a left. Aria took the wheel from Max and made a sharp left turn, crashing into a fence but getting back on the road. “God, would you just calm down?!” She yelled at everyone. Max parked onto the grass, Steve still yelling.

They all got out of the car, opening the trunk to get out all the materials they stuffed in there. Steve stumbled out of the car and started yelling at the kids to stop what they were doing. Aria started gearing up, telling the kids to do the same.

Aria ignored Steve, knowing he wouldn’t stop complaining. Steve managed to regain his composure and grab Aria’s wrist, pulling her towards him so now they were face to face, noses almost touching. “What are you doing?” He said, voice low.

She felt his breath hit her skin and her eyes moved from his eyes to his lips, back and forth. His eyes did the same. “Steve, do you trust me?“

“What? Yes, of course I trust you.” He answered, as if it was the easiest answer in the world.

“Then trust me that we can do this,” she told him. “I know what I’m doing. Trust me.”

His eyes held hers for what felt like an hour but really was only a few seconds until he exhaled deeply, nodding his head. “Wait,” he stopped her from moving, still holding onto her wrist. “Where’d you learn how to fight like that?”

Aria chuckled, stepping away from his grasp. “Don’t worry about it.” She grabbed the safety gear for him from the trunk, shoving it into his chest before following the kids towards the hole in the ground.

They slowly used the rope to climb down into the tunnel, Mike leading the group to where the main source was. The kids started to walk before Aria stopped them. “Okay, hey, no, wait,” she stepped in front of them. “Behind me, alright?” They all nodded, Steve moving to stand next to her.

They started walking as Mike gave the two teens instructions, leading the way towards the tunnel they needed to go to. As they were still walking, Dustin screamed for help.

They all ran back to see Dustin, frantically asking what happened. “What happened?!” Aria asked, crouching down.

“It’s in my mouth! Shit!” Dustin shrieked, spitting out whatever was in his mouth. He then stopped and looked up. “I’m okay.”

Everyone sighed. “Very funny, man.” Steve said, walking away.

It wasn’t long until they found the hub, using their flashlights to look around. “Alright, Wheeler, I think we found your hub.” Said Steve.

“Let’s drench it.” Said Mike.

They started to pour gasoline all over the tunnel, ready to set it on fire. The entire hub was filled with gasoline in no time and Steve held up his lighter, ready to set it on fire. They all started to run as it caught on fire, running back towards the way they came out from. “Let’s go!” Aria yelled, running with the kids behind her and Steve.

Steve held onto her hand as they ran, as if he was going to lose her if he let go. They kept running until Mike fell, calling for help when something caught his leg. They ran back towards him and Steve hit it with his bat, the creature letting go of Mike instantly.

They were going to start running again until a tiny demogorgon came in their way, blocking their path. “Dart?” Dustin called out, stepping forward. The group started to yell at him, warning him to get away from it but Dustin held up a finger at them. “Trust me.” He said.

Dustin pulled down his mask and took his goggles off, crouching down. “It's Dustin, all right? You remember me?” Aria, Steve, and the kids listened to Dustin speak to Dart, trying to let us pass through. Dustin then gave Dart a nougat, Dart instantly eating it. The curly haired boy motioned for the group to go, whispering a goodbye to the creature. He pulled his mask back and and goggles back on, following the group as they made their way to the exit.

They finally found the exit but then heard the roars of the demogorgons. They could hear it coming closer and Steve and Aria started helping the kids up, quickly. The last two people left were them but it was too late, they were too close. Steve grabbed his bat in one hand and grabbed Aria’s waist in the other. They waited for the demogorgons to run towards them as the kids screamed at them to climb up.

There were too many of them at once. The two knew there was no way they were going to get out of this so they held each other right and closed their eyes, waiting for the impact. However, it never came.

They opened their eyes and saw the demogorgons run right past them, their heads turning towards the way they ran to. “Eleven.” Aria whispered.

Aria and Steve looked at each other and their hearts were beating rapidly. They quickly climbed out of the tunnels, the kids giving them a hand. As their feet planted on the grass, Max hugged Aria tightly. “That scared the shit out of me.”

Aria chuckled and hugged her back. “Yeah, me too.”

They stepped away from the hole in the ground as it started to grow bright, light illuminating from the ground that they had to cover their eyes from the brightness. It soon began to simmer down, the light fading away into darkness. The group looked at one another, wondering what just happened.

Aria knew. Eleven finally closed the gate.

#stranger things #steve harrington #steve harrington series #angst #fluff #reticent series #steve harrington x aria kaul #steve harrington x oc #steve harrington x original character #steve harrington x fem