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eirian-houpe · 3 years

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Modern Wonders - Chapter 2

Fandom: Once Upon a Time (TV), Alice (TV 2009)

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Relationships: Belle/Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold

Characters: Belle (Once Upon a Time), Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold, Mad Hatter | Jefferson, Jiminy Cricket | Archie Hopper, Evil Queen | Regina Mills, Snow White | Mary Margaret Blanchard, Prince Charming | David Nolan, Red Riding Hood | Ruby, Grumpy | Leroy, Hatter (Alice TV 2009), Dodo (Alice TV 2009), Queen of Hearts (Alice TV 2009), Carpenter (Alice TV 2009), Mad March (Alice TV 2009), The White Rabbit | Agent White (Alice TV 2009), Doormouse (Alice TV 2009), Widow Lucas | Granny, Captain Hook | Killian Jones, Henry Mills (Once Upon a Time)

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - In Storybrooke | Cursed (Once Upon a Time), Wonderland, Drug Use, Recreational Drug Use, Pining, UST, Violence, Psychological Torture, Torture, Exploitation, Revenge, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, Reconciliation

Summary: Revenge, they say, is a dish best served cold, and when Regina casts Rumple's Dark Curse, just a few words here and there creates Storybrooke in a very different place, with a very different atmosphere, and very different issues to deal with. Alliances and enmity permeate the lives of the citizens of Storybrooke, (and beyond), as they tiptoe around the various dangers they face every day. Who is awake? How can they break the curse within a curse? And what of the power struggles rife both within, and outside of Storybrooke itself.

Read previous chapters on AO3

Chapter 2 - Storybrooke

The gold handled cane did him little good in the surroundings outside, the broken terrain, but within the confines of the shanty town that was Storybrooke Gold’s stride was long, and confident, more like a lord measuring out his demesne than a poor crippled pawn broker living on the deals and heartbreak of others. He smiled wickedly to himself to think of the impression he gave to others, and the thrall he kept them under in spite of appearances.

Oh, if only they knew.

Storybrooke was not as ‘dead’ as they thought - or rather, as Regina thought - because Storybrooke was a tiny little bubble within the larger cesspit that was Wonderland, and he had the advantage. He had been here before… with Jefferson - and he frowned.

Since their arrival he couldn’t remember having seen Jefferson, not even lurking in the mansion that Regina had meant as his prison… his torment, to be shut away from his Grace. He made a mental note to pay the man a visit, determined to unlock the conundrum. Of course no one else cared. No one else was awake… and he wasn’t meant to be, he was sure of it - another conundrum for him to unravel.

“Um… Mi— Mister Gold, I ah… that is…”

Gold halted on the paved sidewalk, and turned his head to watch as Archie Hopper, umbrella in hand - in preparation for what rain, Gold wondered - cross the deserted street toward him.

“Doctor Hopper,” he greeted the man with false cheer. “A pleasure, but out with it, man, I haven’t got all day.”

“Oh, I… um…” Hopper pushed his glasses up along his nose, back into place, “I wondered if you’d had a chance to consider my… ah… proposition?”

“Ah, yes,” Gold purred. “Walk with me, won’t you?”

Gold turned without waiting for the good doctor’s agreement or otherwise, and set a slower pace toward Granny’s diner. With the library still closed, it was the one place left open for informal, communal gatherings. Of all of Storybrooke’s other, cursed, inhabitants, the proprietor was someone for whom he had a good deal of respect. Tough as nails, no nonsense, Widow Lucas was as upstanding a pillar of the community that Storybrooke possessed.

All the rest were crumbling; as crumbling as the buildings and the streets of Storybrooke itself. Gold wondered if anyone else had noticed.

It was subtle. The odd crack in a sidewalk here, the tendril of a vine there, a wall, beginning to crumble and weeds reclaiming a spot or two in the well manicured gardens. Subtle, but unmistakable. Wonderland was reclaiming its own.

“I’ve give it a good deal of thought, as a matter of fact,” Gold told Hopper before he allowed his observations to run away with him. “And while, obviously, as an upstanding member of our town council, I can’t condone what you’re suggesting…” he left a long pause as they reached the diner’s doorstep, whereupon, lowering his voice to a dangerous growl, he blocked Doctor Hoppers path with his arm, stretched across the doorway, and said, “I think it might be just what some people in this town need.”

Whale growled softly and turned away from the window. It wasn’t the paint, peeling, that was the cause of his frustration, but the fact that he couldn’t reconcile the feeling that was flowing through him, and the sky outside of the hospital. It was almost cloudless.

He was, he tried to tell Sheriff Humbert when the man called in to find out about his latest patient who had been found wandering - raving by all accounts - about some kind of ‘door,’ a doctor and not an investigator. The sheriff however, refused to help him get to the truth about his patient’s ramblings.

“This isn’t Narnia,” he said in a somewhat poor display of bedside manner, “there are no doors to other, magical kingdoms. No witches, no wizards, no—”

“Yeah?” the citizen interrupted. “How do you explain this then?” Whereupon he pulled back the sleeve of his jacket to reveal the strange, abstract shape standing out raw and painful looking on his arm.

“A uh… tattoo?” Doctor Whale suggested in an overly patient tone. “And a somewhat fresh one from what I can tell.”

“Uh-huh,” the patient argued, “And you get em just like that,” he snapped his fingers somewhat inexpertly, “do ya?” He jerked his head toward the window. “When the sun shines on ya?”

“Sheriff Humbert, please,” Whale turned his attention to the man hovering uncomfortably in the doorway, looking as guilty as sin and extremely distracted. “You see? You can at least tell me where you picked this man up, and if there were, indeed, a door there?”

“I’m sorry, Doctor, but… there’s nothing I can tell you,” Humbert answered. “I’d like to tell you I saw a door, but the truth is, I was far too worried about your patient here to pay too much attention. His safety was my priority.” He took a breath and added far too hurriedly in Whale’s opinion, “Anyway, I just called round to see how he was getting along. Can’t stay though,” he said. “I’ve a council meeting, that I have to get to in,” he glanced at his watch, “ten minutes. And the mayor doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”

Then he left, and Whale remained, alone and without explanation standing beside the hospital window staring at the wrongly colored sky.

Gold sighed softly as the bell over the shop door tinkled to announce an unwanted caller. He wasn’t sure why he expected that simply displaying a ‘closed’ sign would discourage random visitors, and mused to himself that perhaps locking the door might be a more effective deterrent.

Taking his time, he picked up the cloth from the workbench and carefully began wiping his fingers clean of the gear oil which he had been using on the innards of a delicate clock, even as he made his way out of the back room, and into the shop, limping as he went.

“Madam Mayor,” he said as he set eyes on Regina standing practically tapping her foot with annoyance at having to wait. He kept his tone light, appreciative, as if to imply he respected that someone so important was going out of their way to be in his presence. “What a pleasant surprise.”

“Cut the crap, Gold,” Regina snapped, by way of a return to his greeting. “What did you do!”

So she has noticed.

“I’m… sorry,” he said slowly, “I don’t follow.”

“It’s a simple question,” she growled. “What. Did. You. Do? Everything’s coming unraveled.”

“Unraveled?” he echoed, deciding that he would continue to feign ignorance for as long as he were able; see what he could find out - what she would let slip. “I’m afraid I haven’t done anything, and I really don’t know what you’re talking about.” He put the slightest hint of pique into his voice at the end of his assertion, to make it convincing, then for good measure, added, “If it’s something woven, or a knitted blanket, I’d be happy to take a look at it. It wouldn’t be the first time that—”

Regina’s hand slammed down onto the top of one of the glass cased, rattling the contents within as she snarled, “Drop it, Gold. I know you’re awake. Not that you’re supposed to be. Jefferson was the only one I—”

So, my old friend is in Wonderland too. He’s not going to be happy with that.

“Awake?” Gold interrupted, then with a confused laugh in his voice he added, “Regina, you’re not making any sense. Of course I’m awake. I’m standing here, talking to you - was just fixing a clock out back, so unless I fell asleep while I was working and this is all a dream—”

He made a mental note to take another walk around Storybrooke some time very soon, to check on Grace, and hoped with all his heart that she was safe; almost that she wasn’t here - that whatever had diverted the curse to Wonderland had spared her.

Regina growled, cutting off his words, and his train of thought. He raised an eyebrow, undecided whether to reveal himself in that moment, or to play the game a little longer. It wouldn’t be the first time.

“The borders are failing,” she said harshly. “This wretched realm is encroaching on my town. So if you had anything to do with that, Gold, so help me…”

It was the threat that broke his resolve to pretend he was not awake. No one, least of all Regina threatened Gold on his own turf, and the shop was his turf in more ways than one.

“Well, well, well…” his voice was more of a low rumble in his chest, and he took his cane in hand and walked toward, and then around Regina until he was barely behind her, and purred in her ear, “…Dearie…” Even so, confessing he was awake was one thing, revealing he had magic, that was quite something else. “Things not going quite how you planned?”

“I know you have something to do with this,” she accused.

He circled around the rest of the way to come and lean against one of the display cases, looking far more casual than he felt as he looked her up and down, before he said, “Now, what makes you think,” he pointed at her, “that even if I had the power to - what was it you said - ‘unravel’ this little town of yours, that I’d even waste my time trying.” As he spoke of himself, he jabbed his thumb against his own chest, the grandeur of the gesture far more reminiscent of his Enchanted Forest form than the upright, uptight Mister Gold of Storybrooke.

“What you should be asking, dearie,” he rumbled, “is who would have the kind of magic necessary to mess with my Dark Curse?”

#rumbelle #au.#cursed storybrooke #wonderland #drug use #recreational drug use #pining #ust #psychological torture #violence #torture #exploitation #revenge #eventual romance #eventual smut #reconciliation #Modern Wonders #i will always write jefferson

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reachexceedinggrasp · 4 years

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I don’t think you need to be “diplomatic”, there’s a ton of people who are mad over TROS’ writing decisions esp about Rey, you should feel free to express your opinions in your own fandom space. As long as it’s tagged people can avoid it if they dislike it

Oh, I’m not diplomatic over tros at all because it is pure unmitigated trash and I refuse to pretend otherwise, I just mean it’s always been verboten to criticise Rey’s arc because that makes you sexist and I don’t want to deal with the even more of the bullshit ‘you’re just a horny fangirl!!!! you don’t care about anything except your baddangerous attraction to the bad man!!!’ legion in my inbox. So I feel like I have to be careful and mitigate everything to head that off at the pass. To the point I’ve seldom discussed the problems I had with her arc before tros and only rarely indicated how off base I think a lot of the fandom is in the ways they defend it. Apart from talking about fanfic lol.

Strangely, I actually care about the flaws in Rey’s arc because I’m a girl and would like to see female characters who are allowed to be full human beings and to have arcs as complex and compelling as male characters do. But if you reject this corporate American dude-with-tits permavirgin-with-no-desires father-figure-authority-worshipping Strong Female Character crap, you must be some neckbeard 45 year old dude who hates wimmins. Or you’re a self-insert shipper who can’t admit it and you secretly hate Rey. That comes from other women 99% of the time and it fucking gets me because it’s so fucking misogynist.

Like, I almost never brought up my many problems with TFA some of which TLJ doesn’t redeem, or the fact that I don’t think the prequels are good films, I have beefs with George Lucas and don’t think he’s an infallible genius, etc. I just didn’t want to get into stupid arguments with people I otherwise agreed with. This fandom is so terrible that it was worth focussing on the positive when it came to subjective things that aren’t massive dealbreakers. There’s loads of things I am always willing to throw down over, but I don’t want to fight about the prequels’ status as cinema if we can agree about the thematic sweep and overall aim/narrative/moral of SW. And shit like... I don’t want to fight about the term ‘Mary Sue’ even though I think it’s useful and apt and there's no reason not to use it correctly despite loads of people throwing it around wantonly. TROS Rey is a textbook Mary Sue but I’ve mostly avoided saying that because so many people in fandom want to ~reclaim~ the term and think it’s inherently sexist to suggest it’s a bad thing.

A Mary Sue (or Gary Stu) is a kind of bad writing, it doesn’t apply to characters being super mega ultra special or powerful if they’re still well-written characters. Luke is not a Stu and I’m so fucking sick and tired of seeing him used as an example of how the concept is sexist because sex is the only thing preventing people from reacting to him the same way they did to Rey. It’s just not fucking true. Luke is a much, much better character than Rey and if you compare his journey in ANH to hers in TFA, it’s real fucking easy to see why one feels earned and organic and one needed to be rescued by a better writer in order to avoid full-on Wesley Crusher-hood.

And then tros just confirms that apparently everyone except Rian wanted to writer her as a flawless avatar for the entire original universe, story, and characters to be warped around. For everyone to just love ever so much for no reason whatsoever, to never change or struggle or undergo any challenge because she’s already Born Worthy. And the company itself leans all the way into this (Terrio even going so far as to say that Han thought of her as his heir as well, like FUCKING HELL; nor is he the only one, it’s all the usual suspects with blue checkmarks) and somehow doesn’t realise the absolute garbage-tier shitty self-insert fanfic they’re writing??

#salt #sw #this has been in my drafts for months because I'm still hesitating #whattttttttevvvveerrrrr #real talk: she was never going to be as good a character as she should have been #even with a great ep ix #but she could have had a serviceable sw protagonist arc even if a bit uneven

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tvdversefanfiction · 4 years

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Canary Carnage

Fandoms: Arrowverse, DC Universe, TVDverse and The Originals

Chapter Six: Carnage of Bane

Warnings: I don’t own any of the rights, content or characters belonging to any of the DC content I use within the story along with not owning any rights, content or characters within The Vampire Diaries, Originals or Legacies.

18 Rating: Moderate/Graphic displays of violence, sexual innuendos, sexually charged scenes, SMUT, strong language and potentially triggering scenes.

Pairings: M/M, F/F, M/F.

Marcel Gerard had survived centuries as a vampire who claimed himself the king of New Orleans the city he was born and had dealt with the Mikaelson family many times having seen Klaus Mikaelson as his father figure while finding himself falling in love with Klaus’ favorite sibling Rebekah.

He had seen the family of original vampires come and go from his city a few times now and despite his fondness for Rebekah or his complicated history with Klaus New Orleans often came first to the upgraded original and it was due to his loyalty towards his city that he wasn’t willing for their recent return to lead them to regaining any more control.

In the years since the Mikaelson’s fled New Orleans Marcel had constructed a perfect city of his own idealism with the help of Hayley Marshall and many other New Orleans residents and it was his love for this city that cost him his love for Rebekah so when the originals returned home he knew he’d need to make new alliances to keep Klaus from dethroning him once more.

Marcel knew Hayley’s dedication to the Mikaelson family especially her daughter was stronger than her commitment to the city knowing she’d take their side over his in a heartbeat and therefore he needed people he could trust starting with the girl he loved like a daughter the wonder witch Davina Claire who returned to the city reclaiming her title as Regent with the New Orleans witches.

One thing was for sure in Marcel’s mind if he was going to keep the Mikaelson family in line especially with Elijah’s recent return he was going to need all the alliances he could get even if it meant partnering with the canaries in order to do so which despite Davina’s fondness of the Black Canary and the White Canary had Marcel less than pleased due to being forced to work alongside the Red Canary who didn’t exactly make the best first meeting with the upgraded original.

“Is there a particular reason you’re standing outside of this hotel in particular?” Laurel Lance questioned Marcel after speeding to the front door of the hotel her and her siblings had called home, only to find Marcel stood there waiting, while holding a large brown envelope. “If you’re here to claim revenge on my brother then you’re out of luck he’s still not back from France and I’m not sure he’s going to be coming back.”

“Let me guess your little brother has a tendency for disappearing and leaving you to clear up the mess?” Marcel asked the Black Canary. “I’m here for you actually…I have gift for you that will help you level the playing field against a certain family of originals you’ve sincerely pissed off.”

“I thought you were a part of that family or did all that change when you upgraded?” Laurel wondered, knowing she trusted Davina who trusted Marcel but also knowing Marcel’s beef with her brother making her uncertain of whether to trust him herself.

“You and your brother are now the proud owners of the New Orleans Voyage hotel I was going to put your sister down as co-owner too but there’s no point now she’s a vampire.” Marcel informed her while handing the envelope to Laurel. “You’re a lawyer so you’ll know all the paperwork is above board I even changed property details ever so slightly so that this business now classes as a home.”

“This is a very generous gift why would you do this for me or my brother especially my brother?” Laurel questioned the upgraded original while opening the envelope and checking the deeds to the hotel.

“Because now you can walk into the Mikaelson’s home whenever you want but they can’t come into yours.” Marcel answered her. “Also, because I want to align myself with you not so much your brother but I’m willing to compromise.”

“Okay, I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing here…” Laurel scoffed before Marcel interrupted her.

“No games I know you’re a good-hearted gal who just wants to protect the world which means you also want what’s best for my city and that’s me.” Marcel replied to the Black Canary. “I don’t want the Mikaelson’s dead at least not anymore but I want them out of this city just as much as Davina does and rumor has it your sister’s got you banned from your old home so I thought giving you a new one would be a good gift.”

“I honestly have no idea what to say…” Laurel admitted, in shock by her latest alliance proposal. “I’m not sure I can trust you and trust is a big thing for me.”

“Laurel Lance I’m the only person both outside this hotel and inside it that you can trust.” Marcel told her honestly. “I know you don’t trust your brother because you’re not a fool and you don’t know your sister any better than your enemies around here.”

Marcel had a genuine point and they both knew it, after all the years her sister Sara had been missing and the secrets that had been exposed since her return it was never going to be easy for Laurel to just trust her blindly especially when last time it resulted in her sister sleeping with her boyfriend and although Lucas had been recently showing some hope of not being an entirely emotionless psychopath she’d be a fool to give him any of her trust.

The only person so far that had proved themselves trustworthy to Laurel Lance was the wonder witch Davina Claire and she knew Davina loved Marcel like a father, a love he must of earned and if he could earn that maybe he could also earn her trust.

Elijah Mikaelson was torn about his recent return to New Orleans on one hand it was great to be back home and surrounded by his family once again but on the other he had experienced life without the constant betrayals, deaths and sacrifices that came along with being by his family side and although he’d never admit it to his siblings a part of him wished they had never found him.

As usual with his family the noble original returned to them learning news of yet another war they had found themselves in although this time their opponents intrigued Elijah who had never heard of other worlds or meta-humans and wanted to learn more about his rivals, that’s if his brother Klaus allowed them to live long enough for Elijah’s curiosity to be fed.

Elijah had already met Lucas Lance whose scream banished the hollow from within him before the Red Canary’s blood kick-started the original vampire’s memories and he couldn’t help but wonder what else Lucas and his siblings could do especially his sister Sara who had recently turned vampire.

Elijah was devastated to learn of his sister Freya’s death and her lover Keelin’s and wanted revenge just as much as his siblings perhaps even more he considered as he quickly realized Rebekah had struck up somewhat of a friendship with Laurel and Klaus found himself enticed by Lucas, Elijah had no personal attachment to either of the three canaries so he was willing to do whatever it took but unlike his fiery siblings Klaus, Rebekah and Kol he wanted to play this at his own pace with as little emotion as possible.

“Clearly whatever the bloody hell Lucas did to your mind has clearly fried it somehow.” Rebekah snapped at her older brother Elijah as the two of them stood opposite the fountain within the Mikaelson compound. “Freya died because of that bitch and I’ll be damned if your return pulls the break on my revenge!”

“It’s nice to see your still very much the same Rebekah.” Elijah said with a smile, amused by his sister’s outburst. “I want revenge more than anything but let’s be logical for a moment think more like Niklaus perhaps.”

“Oh god,” Rebekah replied while looking at the noble original with disgust. “That canary blood has done some terrible damage to you Elijah.”

“So far their screams banished the hollow and their blood returned my memories as well as tasting very delicious I must add.” Elijah tried to explain to the original female vampire. “Their talents may perhaps come in useful yet why not figure that out before instantly killing them all? Besides it would give you more time to bond with Laurel Lance about your shared struggles of having siblings.”

“Firstly, I wasn’t bonding I was distracting I just happened to get lucky with her having siblings almost as terrible as mine.” Rebekah snapped. “Secondly, you just want this feud to last as long as bloody possible so you can prolong your conversation with Hayley.”

“That is completely not true Rebekah.” Elijah lied; Rebekah was too correct for his liking. “I simply just want my siblings to think before carnage ensues straight away.”

“They killed Freya we kill them it’s really that simple.” Rebekah corrected her brother. “Take the rest and lock them up as lab rats for all I bloody care but I want Sara Lance dead by the end of today and I don’t mean undead!”

“Very well.” Elijah caved while rolling his eyes at his sister, knowing he would have to compromise with her. “Just keep the other two alive…for now.”

Lucas Lance had taken his recent trip to France as an opportunity to spend some time away from New Orleans and reconsider his strategies going forward after almost dying at the hands of both Klaus and Elijah he considered it was time to start taking them as serious threats and to get into survivalist mode.

He had considered leaving his sisters Laurel and Sara to fend for himself while he found somewhere far away from the originals to call home but as much as Klaus Mikaelson infuriated the Red Canary he was just as equally fascinated by the original hybrid and deep down for once in his life he didn’t want to run from his family, well at least not for now.

After a few days recharging his batteries as he prepared for an inevitable war against Klaus he decided it was time to return to New Orleans not sure what to expect as he walked into the reception area of the hotel he and his sisters had claimed for their only to find nobody there as he feared his time away may have resulted in some trouble for Laurel and Sara.

His fears were quickly cut short as he walked into the hotel’s bar to see both Laurel and Sara sat at the counter drinking bottles of beer, much to his momentary relief as he walked over to them quickly realizing questions were going to be asked.

“A text or a call would’ve been nice to know you made it out of France alive.” Laurel snapped at her brother as she stood up for face him, making it clear she was far from happy with her youngest sibling. “I thought Klaus had killed you.”

“Oh, calm down Laurel you thought I was dead for a few days it’s not like I went missing for a few years taking your boyfriend with me.” Lucas replied to Laurel, while making a dig at Sara at the same time.

“Do you want to tell me when the bloody hell you spiked me with vampire blood?” Sara demanded from the Red Canary as she too stood up, clearly also pissed at her brother. “You don’t just go spiking people with that kind of shit!”

“I guess we’re back to the old days with sister act taking on the littlest prey well guess what guys I’m not one of you and nor do I ever want to be one of you. Laurel you’re such a doormat you were mourning instead of celebrating the deaths of two backstabbing bitches who never cared about you enough to stop sleeping with each other.” Lucas snapped back at them both before turning his cruelty towards Sara. “As for you, you’ve clearly killed a lot of people as an assassin and instead of embracing who you are your running from it trying to be someone who quite frankly neither of us ever cared for.”

“Hold up you turned me into a vampire a freaking vampire and you want to come at me because I want answers.” Sara shouted at her younger brother. “Just because I’ve killed doesn’t make me a killer…I never enjoyed anything I did while with the league of assassins, but you clearly enjoy every twisted little thing you do!”

“Well I don’t enjoy everything I do for example I’m clearly regretting keeping you alive when I should’ve just waited for you to wind up dead.” Lucas cruelly replied to the White Canary. “I had come here with a plan of action a way to win this war that you technically got us into but on seconds thoughts I’d rather just go solo with this one and see how long you last.”

“Lucas!” Laurel shouted over them both, demanding her siblings’ attention before going on to ask her brother. “What plan have you come up with now?”

“Like I said I think I’m better off going solo with this one.” Lucas answered his oldest sister before super speeding his way out of sight.

“When the hell did, he get so bloody twisted?” Sara asked her sister while rolling her eyes, trying to calm herself from her argument with Lucas.

“Hard to tell really but I do know that’s him saved us both now and we’ve not given him the credit for it.” Laurel replied. “I’ve waited a long time to see some good in him Sara and since we wound up here, I’ve not only seen it but I’m seeing it grow.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me Laurel he turned me into a bloodsucking monster!” Sara moaned at her sister.

“You’re also still breathing because of it just like I’m still breathing because of his actions when Rebekah and Kol tried to kill me.” Laurel explained to her sister. “I’m not trusting him or anything stupid like that, but we are down one canary cry now you’re a vampire and he is the reason we’re both still in this fight.”

“I don’t know if I can forgive him for this Laurel, what he’s done it’s changed me forever and he didn’t even tell me beforehand.” Sara told her older sister, hoping for some wisdom from the Black Canary.

“What you did to me stealing the man I loved then being presumed dead before I found out and stealing my rage from me in the process that changed me in many ways, some for the better and some not so much.” Laurel stated, making it clear she was taking her brother’s side for once. “Except what you did wasn’t to save me it was to destroy me…if anyone has valid reasons to be pissed off at either of use it’s me!”

Klaus Mikaelson was thrilled to have his family back under one roof barring his daughter Hope who was in Mystic Falls attending Salvatore Boarding School and his eldest sibling Freya who had recently died at the hands of the White Canary. Despite this loss Klaus had found himself happier than he had been in a long time because now he had Elijah, Rebekah and even Kol back in his life as they fought together against their common foes.

However, Klaus couldn’t help but notice Elijah wasn’t quite himself and was having a hard time readjusting to life back in New Orleans as the original hybrid hoped his elder brother would settle better once he was reunited with Hayley Marshall who was currently visiting her and Klaus’ daughter Hope.

For once in Klaus Mikaelson’s thousand year existence he had began to wonder whether or not vengeance was the correct thing to preoccupy himself with at that moment, he considered going to spend some more time with his daughter or concentrating on helping Elijah get back to his normal self but deep down he knew why he was attempting to prolong his revenge against the canaries and that reason was none other than the Red Canary himself.

Klaus didn’t know how but Lucas Lance had managed to get under the hybrid’s skin when he wasn’t expecting it, he saw the darkness the Red Canary battled with, the weaknesses within he tried to hide and his hatred yet twisted devotion he had towards his sisters and found himself wanting to learn more about the youngest canary.

He wanted to know how this man found himself down such a dark path why his blood-lust was as bad as his own and how he managed to prove himself quite the foe against Klaus and his family time and time again.

Of course Klaus was fascinated with the canaries in general, their abilities were unlike anything he had ever seen and they came from another world he never even knew existed but it was the Red Canary that managed to claim most of the original hybrid’s fascination.

“Don’t tell me you killed the bartender just to get some time to yourself to drink.” Klaus joked after vamp speeding into Rousseau's to find Lucas sat at the counter drinking a bottle of whisky to himself. “My family have grown rather fond of Josh I’d hate to have to add another reason to kill you.”

“Don’t worry I just claimed the place today under the promise of not destroying anything again besides you already have plenty of reasons to want me dead.” Lucas replied before taking another drink from the bottle. “Question is are you here to kill me now or are you just looking for a drink?”

“I was simply looking for a drink had I known you’d be in here I’d have gone somewhere else.” Klaus lied to Lucas as he walked towards the Red Canary and sat down next to him, having been told by Josh already who was residing within Rousseau's. “Are you going to share that bottle or start screaming at me?”

“This isn’t some play is it because I thought you’d be wiser than to try and play me again?” Lucas wondered as he handed Klaus the bottle of whisky, which Klaus grabbed with forced grabbing Lucas’ hand in the process as the two stared at each other intensely.

“You’d love for me to really play with you, wouldn’t you?” Klaus asked with a flirtatious smile on his face, knowing exactly what he was doing.

“You only flirt when you’re planning on killing a sister of mine but luckily for you, I’m not in the saving sister mode today.” Lucas replied as he moved the bottle from Klaus’ grip, placing the bottle on the counter and began to lean slowly towards the original hybrid.

“I guess your back to trying to murder your sisters yourselves then?” Klaus scoffed for a moment before beginning to lean towards Lucas, the two meeting in the middle as their lips were mere inches away from meeting once again. “Maybe that means I don’t have to waste time distracting you?”

“Maybe it does…” Lucas teased with a flirtatious smile, only for the two of them to be interrupted by the door to the bar flying of its hinges as Lucas’ old ally turned enemy Bane walked into Rousseau's wearing his usual attire and causing both Lucas and Klaus to rise to their feet to face one of the infamous Batman’s greatest foes.

“It’s good to see you again Red Canary.” Bane said through the mask which changed his voice, making him sound even more sinister than he looked.

Bane was often referred to as one of Batman’s greatest enemies who managed to break the bat not just physically but also mentally.

He was feared by many due to his seemingly unmatchable strength, his ever-growing kill count and the sinister mask he wore which was attached to a tube at the back of the head leading downwards to his wrist, the mask also giving the villain a terrifying voice that even the villains of Gotham City were afraid of.

One of the few people who wasn’t terrified of Bane upon first meeting was none other than the Red Canary Lucas Lance who was fresh off a partnership with The Joker and Harley Quinn and eager for a new partner in crime.

Lucas Lance was a hyper active individual who often talked too much even in Arkham were very few talked to each other, he also never failed to get his flirt on even when the prison guards at Arkham Asylum would torture him it was almost like the Red Canary enjoyed his time in there and that baffled Bane.

Bane liked his peace within the asylum in fact that was the only thing he enjoyed about being held prisoner there and with dampening devices, gasses and materials layered within the walls of the asylum he couldn’t beat the canary into silence so instead he found himself debating with him instead which led to an inevitable team up between the two leading to an escape plan.

However, Bane became one of many who quickly found themselves double crossed by the Red Canary who used Bane to overpower the guard and break the two free as the two villains made it outside of the building Lucas was quick to take advantage of his recently returned power and canary cried into his partner’s ears until Bane gave in and was left unconscious giving Lucas the opportunity to get far while Bane dealt with the staff inside Arkham Asylum.

“One could presume it’s safe to say this guy is from your world.” Klaus stated as he and Lucas stood side by side in Rousseau's while Bane stood in front of them both staring Lucas up and down, clearly wanting revenge.

“Is this your new partner?” Bane asked while looking Klaus up and down. “You’ve clearly ran out of willing participants.”

“Yeah I’m not his partner I’m his enemy just like you I’d assume.” Klaus snapped back at the mysterious mountain of a man standing in front of him.

“When did you get out of Arkham? Better yet when the hell did you get here?” Lucas questioned his former cellmate with a clear look of terror on his face, a look that didn’t go unnoticed by Klaus.

“I’m here to kill you Lucas Lance!” Bane announced before charging towards Klaus and Lucas, Lucas instantly launching a canary cry towards his enemy making Bane stop in one spot.

Lucas continued to use his cry with more and more intensity the strength of the vibrations growing stronger and stronger as glasses all around the bar including the glass windows exploded while the ground beneath them all shook viciously as Bane stood there barely effected at all and much to Lucas and Klaus’ horror began to walk forward pushing past the force of Lucas canary cry before Klaus grabbed a hold of Lucas, stopping his cry in the process and vamp sped into the backroom with the Red Canary slamming the door shut and speeding to move a large table in front of the door hoping to hold Bane from getting in too soon.

“I’ve never seen anyone fight back against your cry before and I don’t think I’ve ever seen you scared before.” Klaus said to Lucas as Bane began crashing up against the door, making it clear to them both it wouldn’t keep him out for long.

“You’ve never met Bane before even Batman is scared of Bane and Batman’s scared of nobody.” Lucas mumbled to Klaus, a look of terror still paralyzing the Red Canary. “I really need to stop screwing over everyone I meet.”

“Who the hell is Batman?” Klaus wondered why launching the cellar door in the backroom leading to the tunnels open with force just in time for Bane to burst into the backroom.

“I’ll explain later.” Lucas answered as both he and Klaus sped down into the cellar towards the tunnels, eager to leave Bane behind who grunted a large scream of frustration before walking towards the cellar door.

Klaus Mikaelson had worked relentlessly to strike fear in the eyes of each canary since they arrived in his city and somehow had failed much to his own fury so when the day came when he saw Lucas terrified he’d thought it would bring him nothing but pleasure but instead he found himself anything but happy to see the fierce and fiery canary left broken by a mere encounter by Bane.

Normally Klaus would’ve stayed put and fought against Bane whether Bane turned out to be stronger than the original hybrid or not Klaus wasn’t scared of him for he knew he couldn’t die and he was curious to see if this mountain of a man could take him but instead of fighting he chose to run and it was becoming painfully clear to him that the reason he ran was for Lucas Lance, to keep him safe.

Whether he liked it or not no matter how big a betrayal he believed it to be he had found himself well and truly growing fond of Lucas to the point where he didn’t even want to kill his sister Sara, fearing whatever was growing between them would quickly be destroyed if he did what was needed to get revenge for his fallen sister Freya Mikaelson.

“Please do go ahead and tell me why we are providing a safe haven for the brother of the woman who murdered our sister?” Elijah asked as he handed Klaus a glass of whisky in the dining area of the compound while keeping a glass for himself before sitting down at the table, sitting next to his younger brother. “I’m all for discovering more about them to feed our own curiosities but the plan is still very much to kill them all, not protect them for those who want to kill them.”

“Don’t talk to me like I’m some kind of child you need to put in line if anyone knows anything about how to handle their enemies Elijah then it is me!” Klaus snapped at Elijah before taking a drink. “When Lucas Lance dies it will be at my hands and my hands only, I’m simply preserving him for a later kill.”

“Yeah you see I don’t believe that for a second Niklaus in face I think you saw a look of fear in his eyes and you’re attached to his first sign of weakness if anything you’re growing fond of him.” Elijah argued with his brother, knowing Klaus better than Klaus would like to admit. “I say we meet with this Bane man and give him exactly what he wants that way we can focus on the other two canaries who are frankly a lot more predictable and easier to deal with.”

“It was Sara Lance who killed our sister not Lucas!” Klaus shouted as he slammed his glass down on the table and stood up. “If our vengeance should be focused on anyone it should be her!”

“Exactly! That’s why we get rid of Lucas now while an opportunity has risen then use Laurel as our lab rat and seek vengeance on Sara.” Elijah snapped at his younger brother as he stood up to face him. “None of them are innocent over what happened to Freya and we will make them all pay for that.”

“Of course, I know that Elijah!” Klaus replied, as he rolled his eyes in frustration over his brother and the predicament, he had found himself in.

“It’s not as black and white as that though Elijah none of this is!” Hayley argued after vamp speeding into the room, shocking Elijah in the process, as this was the first time the former lovers had seen each other in almost a decade. “Laurel is a good person and the only reason any of you were reunited she doesn’t deserve to be somebody’s test rat just because of her sister and as for Lucas he’s probably spilled as much blood as the rest of us and you don’t see any of us turning on the other over it.”

“Freya is dead Hayley and she’s dead because of his family.” Elijah replied to Hayley, clearly uncomfortable with arguing with the woman he loved.

“Actually we’re as much to blame as everyone for Freya’s death for we jumped straight into this stupid war just like Lucas did and as for Sara although I despite her with every bone in my body for what she did to Freya she was only trying to protect a sibling something which have driven you to do some terrible things yourself.” Hayley continued to argue with Elijah much to Klaus’ amusement, Klaus didn’t fully agree nor disagree with Hayley’s words. “I think if we’re wise here, we should start trying to repair our former alliances with them instead of going to war.”

“Okay I didn’t quite say end the war I was more thinking of postponing it for now.” Klaus butted in before Lucas sped into the room.

“I’m always down for a new partnership especially if it keeps me alive.” Lucas stated with a sinister smirk that made everyone feel uncomfortable about the idea of ever trusting him. “I promise not to try screw use over like Bane of course that promise is purely based on getting rid of Bane.”

“Not a chance in hell!” Elijah snapped at the Red Canary.

“Hey dude I’m the guy who brought you back into the fold show some more appreciation.” Lucas replied before throwing his arm around Hayley, turning his attention to the female hybrid. “Clearly you’re the brains of this operation.”

“Maybe we should just kill you right here and now.” Klaus suggested, clearly as unamused by Lucas in that moment as Elijah.

“Yeah now you could do that Klaus, but I doubt you would.” Lucas replied before removing his arm from around Hayley’s shoulders and walking over to the original hybrid. “I mean after all you’re fond of me right now, but I can promise you’ll be even fonder in the future.”

Lucas Lance’s arrogance annoyed them all deeply especially Klaus which was rather ironic considering he was often considered arrogant himself but with his arrogance he was convinced he had earned the right to be.

However, despite how much Lucas’ arrogance annoyed Klaus he was somewhat happy to see him back in the fighting spirit which infuriated him at the same time as he started to realize just how fond he was growing towards him so much so that he found himself agreeing to an alliance with Lucas and his sisters as they prepared to go up against Bane.

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the-far-bright-center · 6 years

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Update :)

Hey everyone, it’s been a while. You may have noticed that lately there’s been a bit of a decrease in daily posts here, and that I haven’t been as consistent with tagging, etc. For the past three months, I’ve been in the middle of an unexpected and extremely stressful house move. During this time, I’ve had very unreliable and inconsistent internet access, so I decided to run this blog on a queue, and add to it with intermittent reblogs whenever I could get the chance. To say it’s been frustrating is an understatement, and I sincerely apologize to those of you who have messaged me or sent me asks during this time – I’ve been so exhausted, it’s been impossible to keep up with everything.

Thankfully, the house move is now winding down (we’re now finally in the new house, but still unpacking, settling in, etc.), so I should at least be able to resume curating this blog with more of my usual attentiveness. I’d like to say that everything will now go back to normal, but….I’m honestly not quite sure what ‘normal’ is anymore. Over the last few months, I have been thinking long and hard about my continued involvement in SW fandom, and have come to some difficult, but, imo, necessary, conclusions.

Don’t worry, I am not leaving tumblr, nor am I going to stop posting on this blog. It means too much to me to do that. However, I feel I must make it clear that, from here on out, I can no longer have anything to do with any current or forthcoming ‘New Canon’ material, whether it be films, tv series (animated or otherwise), novels, comics….just…none of it.

Most of you know me well enough by now that I don’t think I even need to explain why, but I will do so, just in case....

I had always intended to completely divorce myself from the Disney stuff once Star Wars: Rebels had finished airing, but since, for a variety of reasons, it turned out that I was never able to finish watching that show through to its conclusion, this ended up happening far sooner than I’d expected. (I won’t even get into my thoughts on the renewed Clone Wars season – the less I say about it, or even acknowledge its existence, the better…for the state of my mental and emotional health, at the very least.)

My reasons for wanting—no, needing— to stay as far away as possible from Disney’s version of Star Wars from now on are many and varied [see here, here, here, and here], but ultimately it comes down to several inter-related issues, the most key being that ever since TFA, I have not been able to trust Disney with Star Wars, and will never be able to fully trust them with it ever again. It does not matter how much ‘good’ material they put out to balance out the bad, it’s too late…the damage is done. And since the version of SW as put forth in the sequels is probably the worst, most out-of-character, inaccurate, and disrespectful interpretation of my beloved story that I could possibly imagine, I therefore cannot help but view the rest of Disney’s output (however innocuous, and regardless of who writes/directs/creates it) with extreme skepticism, and an anxiety bordering on panic.

As I’ve gone over many times before, the entire premise of the so-called ‘sequels’ is anathema to pretty much all of my long-held beliefs and understanding of the saga as a whole…and to what I had, for decades, assumed that other fans implicitly understood and valued as well. And so, the fact that so many fans have so readily embraced those movies and swallowed down Disney’s bizarro version of the SW saga without hesitation or question, has continued to leave me feeling more and more heart-broken and ostracized. Not only from an entire fandom, but also from popular culture in general. It’s made me realize that, for far too many people, ‘Star Wars’ is indeed just a blockbuster series of movies, and is not the mythical two-part saga that it is to me. For far too many people, it is now, at worst, an endless, profit-churning franchise…at best, another version of an expanded universe, albeit one that has been corporately ‘canonized’.

The fact that I can no longer relate to most other SW fans is beyond depressing for me. Something I used to take for granted – the universal appeal and relatability of Star Wars as a modern myth—no longer exists. I can’t even talk about my beloved Star Wars with people in RL anymore, lest someone let slip a spoiler that will break my heart all over again. It is no wonder that the lead-up to every subsequent release since then (even the ones I have been actively ignoring, which is most of them) has left me a shaking, nervous wreck….and given the often fragile state of my mental health in general, this has been downright dangerous for me at times. Even just stumbling across or hearing about SW related news and announcement can leave me distressed and despondent for days on end. It takes a herculean effort for me to then reclaim a positive headspace and find my ‘happy place’ again after something like this. So I blacklist as much as I can, but it doesn’t always work, because… in order to keep this blog even remotely active, I have to peruse other SW blogs for content. And, given my need to AVOID spoilers like the plague, I struggle to do this at the best of times. Disney has so oversaturated the market with their output that sometimes it seems like every damn day there is yet another announcement of some new release. It’s just too much, and the fact that there is no end in sight is demoralizing as hell. (I dream of creating a time machine and going back to before all of this shit, just to make it stAHP.) Ultimately, all of this combines together to leave me feeling completely alienated, stressed out, and just plain unhappy.

But no more, I say. This is FANDOM….it’s supposed to be FUN. It’s supposed to make me happy. Life is already horrifically depressing and stressful as it is. And what is more… this blog in particular is supposed to be my safe space. That’s what I created it to be, in the first place.

In short, the conclusion I’ve reached is this: in order to continue enjoying the REAL my preferred version of SW in the way that I need to engage with it, I MUST completely remove myself from new Disney content. If I do not, I will lose the ability to enjoy any of it at all.

So, my friends, while I’m not going anywhere (not just yet anyway), I do need to ask you all to please continue being patient and understanding with me about these above-mentioned issues. If you want to engage in meta discussions with me, for instance, please be aware that I will only talk about interpretations of ‘Star Wars’ as Lucas’ saga (and anything that is supplementary or supportive of that), and will not engage with anything that tries to insinuate that the sequels nonsense is even remotely part of the same story. Likewise, I beg you all to please refrain from commenting on my posts or messaging me about anything to do with upcoming releases, news, or any Disney Star Wars stuff from this point on. Again, I’m happy to discuss past content…to an extent (if you’re not sure what, please feel free to message me for clarification). But any new Disney content I just….don’t want to hear about. At all. Even if you THINK I will like it or be ok with it. The fact is… I won’t. Because Star Wars is finished. It’s a completed story. ‘IT IS ALREADY OVER. NOTHING CAN BE DONE TO CHANGE IT.’ I neither want nor need any more from it – whether as a story OR a ‘franchise’ – than what already exists. And I become stressed and anxious the moment anyone (purposefully or inadvertently) suggests that I ought to be watching/reading/seeing/hearing about what I personally feel is just a fake version of the REAL THING that I hold dear.

Finally, I just want to clarify that, because of all of this, it’s unlikely that I will be able to keep this blog up-to-date with all the ‘latest’ content (not that I ever have done so, lol). I will, however, continue to keep it to the standards I have set so far. As always, the subject matter will be mostly be Prequels Trilogy, along with the (original!!) Clone Wars animated series (aka, seasons 1-5), Rebels (but only up through season 4a), Rogue One, and, of course, the Original Trilogy. Some supplementary material from those eras may creep in, along with occasional EU content. I just I thought I’d better make it clear that there won’t be any further ‘new canon’ on this blog…. at least, not unless some kind of unforeseen miracle happens and Disney decides to de-canonize their shitty sequel trilogy and magically make me trust them again! (ha ha I can dream)

Because it’s so difficult for me to find new content on tumblr without running into stuff I do not want to see, I have for a while now had the goal of creating my own content for those times when I can’t find anything new. Frustratingly, due to the house move, I’ve been way too busy to even contemplate that in recent times, but I do have some still-unfinished and in-progress projects that I’d like to eventually share here. In addition to this blog, I also ‘curate’ my own RL Star Wars collection, so once I get a new safe place to set it up, expect regular photoshoots of my action figures and other collectibles as well. :)

Most of all, I want to say THANK YOU to everyone who has stuck with this blog for so long. Thank you for respecting my various quirks, neuroses, and eccentricities, and for helping to keep this blog a safe space.

And to any new followers out there…. a belated, but very warm, welcome! :)

#personal #psa to my followers #about this blog #about me #pro-Lucas' saga #anti-sequels #anti-disney #this is not about anything in particular #nor is it directed at anyone specifically #it's just something i felt the need to express #thanks everyone for understanding #:)

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dippedanddripped · 6 years

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Niche stars and not-quite celebrities are churning out namesake products — T-shirts, coloring books, tissue boxes — made for a dedicated few.

By Jon Caramanica

When he was 13, Leo Mandella began posting photos of his street wear outfits to his Instagram account, @gullyguyleo, and with his sophisticated color sense, confident poses and baby face, he was a quick hit. His hundreds of posts earned him a follower count comfortably in the six figures, but still he craved more.

“I want to show that I’m more than a kid who wears outfits,” Mr. Mandella, now 15, said in a recent interview. “I’ve always known if this blows up, I can create a brand on the back of it.”

Making clothing of his own would be a natural extension of his brand — Mr. Mandella eventually released a few items under the Gully brand name — but he wanted to make a loud, unexpected splash. His idea: a coloring book, with 25 line illustrations of him wearing high-end street wear, accompanied by a pack of Gully crayons. Released late last year, it sold several hundred copies.

“We wanted to make it exclusive, for the people who were actually passionate about buying,” Mr. Mandella said.

Which is to say, for the people who were so passionate about Mr. Mandella — a teenager living in Warwick, England who invented himself online from whole designer cloth — that they craved an even more tactile connection. His coloring book is part of an emergent movement of micromerch: personal merchandise for niche public figures and celebrities (or even not-yet celebrities) made possible by innovations in manufacturing and distribution, and with mechanisms greased by the ease of the internet.

Consider it the modern-day equivalent of the private-press LP or the small-batch zine, amplified for social media and very late capitalism.

Buying merch — T-shirts, key chains, mugs, etc. — to support a band, or a favorite actress, has been a common expression of fandom for decades. And in recent years, merch has begun to infiltrate fashion on two fronts. Companies like Bravado, the merchandising arm of the Universal Music Group, have propelled traditional musician merch into the hypebeast cycle. And brands including Vetements and Balenciaga have absorbed merch aesthetics into meta-referential clothing.

Now, though, small-batch merch — a couple dozen to a couple thousand items — can be made available for almost anyone, from emergent social media or reality TV demicelebrities to casual dadaists who toy with the dissemination of ideas in the modern marketplace. In an era when personal branding is presumed, no following is too small to monetize.

Want to show support for Sean Bryan, a.k.a. the Papal Ninja, an American Ninja Warrior contestant and lay minister? There’s a shirt (and laptop case) for that. Enthralled by the 1980s sunglasses worn by the rubber-legged teen social media star Roy Purdy in his absurdist dance videos? For a while, he sold them, too. Obsessed with Gordie, the French bulldog owned by Alex Tumay, who engineers Young Thug’s records? Buy a shirt.

“I’d never pitched myself as a product to people,” Mr. Tumay said. “It was kind of a sellout angle I was worried about.” But he’s sold around 50, and the money he took in paid for flights for him and his partners to go to the South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin last month.

Peloton, the home indoor cycling business, has a stable of a dozen instructors, and sells merch inspired by each. Jill Foley, Peloton’s director of boutique apparel, said the company has sold hundreds of T-shirts and tank tops with instructor catchphrases like “It’s Not That Deep” (Cody Rigsby) and “Sweat Sing Repeat” (Jenn Sherman).

“We’re getting messages to people in this micro way,” Ms. Foley said, emphasizing the intimacy of the relationship Peloton riders develop with their chosen instructors. “We’re in people’s homes in their daily life.”

At times, the micromerch comes before the notoriety. On the most recent season of “The Bachelorette,” Lucas Yancey spent most of his energy screaming “WHABOOOOOOM,” rather than pursuing Rachel Lindsay. Conveniently, he was already selling shirts with the phrase on his website.

In this, at least, he was ahead of the curve. Most graduates of the Bachelor ecosystem migrate into the murky worlds of paid Instagram posts and event appearances, but Ashley Iaconetti, a contestant known for persistent waterworks and committed virginity, decided to become the brand herself. “I always thought myself being so known for crying,” she said. “Why don’t I have a deal with Kleenex or Puffs?”

Instead, she began selling her own tissue boxes (in truth, a printed sleeve with line drawings of Ms. Iaconetti’s forlorn face sheathing a plain white tissue box) along with other merchandise. “Snooki was Snooki, and now she’s kind of her own brand,” she said. “Also, Kylie lip kits subconsciously encouraged me.” (Indeed, the peak micromerch endgame is something like Kim Kardashian West’s Kimoji, which sells pool floats, mouse pads and Post-it notes shaped like her derrière, among other items.)

These nascent micro-personality businesses may never reach that level of name recognition or profitability, but they’re something more than mere pet projects. “The easiest term is to call it a brand,” Matthew Hwang of Pizzaslime said, but conceded that wasn’t quite sufficient. “We almost need to come up with new words.”

Pizzaslime is a creative agency specializing in creating viral moments, and also a rapid-response merchandise business specializing in capitalizing on them. Early last year, a sharp-tongued teenager, Danielle Bregoli, went viral following a hilarious moment on “Dr. Phil” where she threatened judgmental audience members to “cashmeoussidehowbowdah” (say it slow). Within two weeks, Pizzaslime had made a slew of merch for her featuring the catchphrase, including a $250 blanket featuring her face — all sold out.

“When anyone is smart enough to build a following on social media, strategic in the ways they build their content, they can utilize those same sort of strategies for merchandise,” Mr. Hwang said.

Which raises the question of what the smallest following a person can have while still being able to sell merchandise can be. “I’ve worked with people who have 10 million Instagram followers and they’ve done less than someone with 20,000,” said Chase Ortega, who owns the Hyv (pronounced “hive”), a merchandise company that primarily handles emerging musicians, but which has employed the same infrastructure to service merch for several nontraditional clients, including the feminist artists Grace Miceli and Molly Soda, the social media star Too Poor (an ex-girlfriend of Lil Peep and something of a modern-day Nancy Spungen), and the surrealist comic artist Zack Fox.

“I think of it as a new record label. I’m not trying to be Bravado,” Mr. Ortega said. “I want to be the Matador. I want a cool roster.”

That frees him up him to sell, with Mr. Fox, a couple of hundred water bottles emblazoned with a reclaimed bigoted phrase (that can’t be published here) derived from a Twitter meme.

For Mr. Fox, merch isn’t strictly about celebrity. “I’ve always leaned more into making things artistically valid to me,” he said. In buying the water bottle, he explained, “You’re buying a piece of performance; you’re not really trying to rep Zack Fox.”

That tension between the intentions of the purchaser and creator also intrigues Ayesha Siddiqi, a creative consultant specializing in trend forecasting with a robust Twitter following who, in partnership with the artist and musician Saba Moeel, recently collaborated on the design of a collection of shirts and hoodies. Some are drawn directly from Ms. Siddiqi’s tweets, like the hoodie that reads Spider Labor Solidarity. “It means what it says — that my solidarity is with the workers, especially those who work quietly and alone and for the benefit of all those around them,” Ms. Siddiqi wrote in an email.

But even though they weren’t intended as personal merch, some people have been buying them, she said, “because they were fans of ours to begin with and liked the opportunity to support something we’d made.”

In some cases, micromerch may be the pretense for providing an undersupported creative with some revenue, a cousin of Patreon subscriptions or Twitch micropayments. For Mr. Fox, selling merchandise has provided an alternate revenue stream, and one with ideological punch. “The idea is a seed, and it’s always going to upstream to someone making money off it,” he said. “Me selling this stuff is a way to, in one moment, protect the idea and also give myself what’s due.”

It can also be a way to extend a moment that might otherwise be fleeting, give it physical form so that it might travel far beyond where it began. And it can lead to bigger things. Recently, Mr. Mandella was tapped by a Converse to help relaunch the One Star sneaker. On his Instagram, he posted a photo of himself inside a bus covered in a 15-foot-tall photo of him. Who’s micro now?

#art #gully guy leo #leo mandella #fashion blog #merchandise #micro merch #fashion blogger #streetwear blog #streetwear

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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How The Mandalorian Captures the Spirit of the Star Wars Prequel Era

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This Star Wars: The Mandalorian article contains spoilers.

Among The Mandalorian‘s many influences, at the top of the list is the classic Star Wars trilogy which started it all. Showrunner Jon Favreau, executive producer Dave Filoni, and the rest of the team have done a great job of incorporating lore from every era of the Star Wars saga in ways that make sense. Folding in elements fans know from A New Hope, for example, adds to the show’s sense of groundedness, showing us the weathered sci-fi locations that George Lucas made a staple of Star Wars while also picking up several loose threads unresolved after Return of the Jedi.

The season 2 of the Disney+ series doesn’t forget the Prequel era, though. With Bo-Katan and Ahsoka appearing in season 2, and Grogu revealed to have grown up at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, more and more direct connections to the Clone Wars are becoming important to Din Djarin’s quest.

The Prequels were characterized by bright colors (see Padmé Amidala or Shaak Ti), cartoonish CGI (Jar Jar Binks), and a mix of high adventure and impending tragedy. The Old Republic, when The Phantom Menace opens, is about to begin its decline. The election of Chancellor Palpatine, who is scheming behind the scenes as the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, heralds the rise of the Empire. Several in-universe decades later, The Mandalorian is still dealing with the fallout from the events set in motion in Lucas’ second trilogy.

Stream your Star Wars favorites right here!

Because the Prequel Trilogy ran from 1999 to 2005, it’s a generation removed from fans of the original films and the sequels. Yet, The Mandalorian manages to blend all of these different eras into a cohesive narrative and setting, while also exploring them with a new lens. With season 2’s focus on beginning of the saga, here are a few things The Mandalorian brings back from the Prequel Trilogy and The Clone Wars:

Ahsoka Tano

Season 2 is not only interested in the Prequel movies, but in the Expanded Universe stories that fleshed out the galaxy around it, particularly The Clone Wars TV series. And Lucasfilm wasted no time in creating a narrative throughline between the Star Wars animated series and the first live-action series, giving us both Mandalorian warrior Bo-Katan Kryze and former Jedi hero Ahsoka Tano. While both fan-favorite characters act as quest-givers during Mando’s journey, Ahsoka is the one who gives the bounty hunter the most immediate answers about his little companion’s past.

The former Jedi apprentice appears in “The Jedi” after working with the Rebellion for years. Now, she’s chasing the trail of Grand Admiral Thrawn to the planet Corvus, where an Imperial magistrate might have the answers she needs to find both Thrawn and missing Jedi friend Ezra Bridger (see: Star Wars Rebels).

Although Ahsoka left the Jedi Order over disagreements with the Council’s decisions, she now takes the role of a Jedi mentor, guiding Grogu toward the next step in this journey, even if she won’t outright train him. She doesn’t want to train Grogu because the loss of Anakin is still fresh in her mind. Anakin became Darth Vader due to his attachments, and may see the same fate for Grogu if he can’t let go of Mando. Even after Darth Vader’s death and redemption, his fall still affects Ahsoka.

Bo-Katan Kryze & the Darksaber

“The Heiress” brought Bo-Katan Kryze back into focus. Played by Katee Sackhoff, her armor and hair style are a direct translation of her look in The Clone Wars. She even has two Nite Owls, her original group of commandos, with her, and their fast-paced, competent fighting brings some of the shine of the Prequel Trilogy into the more laid-back Western style of action in The Mandalorian.

At this point in the timeline, she is the rightful leader of Mandalore, a planet that changed hands a lot even before the Empire got ahold of it, with the politics there making up a sizable part of the plot of The Clone Wars. Although The Mandalorian takes place after a Great Purge that wiped out most Mandalorians on the planet, Bo-Katan reveals in her live-action debut that she’s determined to get Mandalore back once and for all.

Her mission on Trask is part of that quest. She needs to capture a shipment of stolen Mandalorian weapons in order to arm her growing group of followers. By the end of “The Heiress,” her trajectory is clear. Now that her group is adequately armed, she can go find Moff Gideon and take back the darksaber, which appeared in the villain’s clutches at the end of season 1.

While initially part of the old Legends continuity, the darksaber became a major part of the Mandalorian storyline on The Clone Wars, as the ceremonial weapon wielded by a Mand’alor, the ruler of the race’s warrior clans. Although there doesn’t seem to be many rival Mandalorians left to question her right to rule, it’s still pivotal that Bo-Katan reclaim the darksaber, as it being in Imperial hands is a major insult to her people.

Grogu

“The Jedi” revealed that the Prequel era actually paved the way for another member of Yoda’s species. In reality, Grogu is a puppet, at least in some shots: Werner Herzog famously called it “heartbreakingly beautiful” when he saw two technicians performing the Child’s facial expressions. The character’s slick look combines Original Trilogy puppetry with Prequel Trilogy cartoonishness.

Now that Ahsoka has explained it, we know Grogu has an even more direct connection to the Prequels. He was raised in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant alongside all of the characters we know and love. Ahsoka, Anakin, and Obi-Wan Kenobi might have known him, and Yoda surely did. The fact that someone snuck Grogu out of the temple during the massacre of the Jedi during Order 66 adds a significant new event to the Prequel timeline.

Another way the Prequels paved the way for Baby Yoda is with Yaddle, the third known canon member of the species. Yaddle was developed based on concept art for a younger Yoda, but became her own character. Lucas wanted the origins of Yoda to remain mysterious, but Yaddle changed the mold by confirming there were others like the beloved Jedi Master.

Grogu explores the mystery of Yoda’s species further. Where did he come from? Is there a planet of Yodas? Would the planet of Yodas irreparably break the internet?

Jango & Boba Fett

Jango Fett’s role in Attack of the Clones led to some confusion as to whether the legendary bounty hunter’s father was technically a Mandalorian. For years, Jango’s origin was a hotly debated topic both in the fandom and in-universe. Members of the New Mandalorian government that ruled Mandalore during the Clone Wars, for example, denounced Jango as a phony, claiming he’d stolen the traditional Mandalorian armor for his own gain. The Mandalorian confirms that the truth can be found somewhere in the middle.

In “The Tragedy,” a resurgent Boba Fett confirms that his father was a foundling like Mando, raised to be a Mandalorian warrior and follow the race’s traditions. The episode even re-canonized a piece of Jango’s Legends backstory. As revealed in the armor chain code that Boba shows Mando, it was a Mandalorian named “Jaste” (very likely a nod to Jango’s adoptive father in Legends, Jaster Mereel) who mentored a young Jango.

Decades later, Boba Fett wears this heritage with pride. While not born on Mandalore (or by natural means), Boba feels every bit as Mandalorian as his father did. “The Tragedy” even confirms that the former Imperial-allied bounty hunter still follows a code of honor among Mandalorians. Indebted to Din due to his actions on Tython, Boba agrees to help his fellow Mandalorian track down Grogu and bring him to safety.

The Cloner

One character operating in the background of The Mandalorian is the mysterious Imperial scientist Dr. Pershing, who briefly appeared in season 1 to run experiments on Grogu and made his return in season 2 episode “The Siege.” Not much is known about Pershing or his twisted experiments except that he needs Grogu’s M-count-heavy blood to accomplish something for the Empire. “The Siege” reveals that he’s been injecting subjects with Grogu’s blood, a process that has resulted in twisted corpses floating inside of lab tanks on Nevarro.

While Pershing’s true motives and mission are yet to be revealed, one theory concerning his identity points to a direct connection to one of the Prequel era’s most important elements: cloning. The biggest clue is the patch on the arm of his lab coat, which matches the one worn by Kaminoan cloners in Attack of the Clones. It’s true that cloning has touched every part of the Star Wars saga, whether it’s a brief reference in A New Hope or Palpatine’s final scheme in The Rise of Skywalker, so it only makes sense that it would also pop up in The Mandalorian.

So far, all of the cloners we’ve seen have been aliens. It’s possible Pershing was trained by the Kaminoans or, judging from the mangled bodies on Nevarro, learned from them in secret and advertised himself as an expert cloner when he in fact is not. But the show is less interested in his back story; the important part is what his skill set might mean for the future of the Empire, the New Republic, and the Jedi. The Kaminoans were never able to replicate Force-sensitivity in their clones. Were Pershing to solve this problem, could this open up a new possibility for Star Wars?

Zabraks

One popular race on the show are the Zabraks, the same species as Darth Maul and a staple of The Clone Wars. The short, curved horns on their skulls give them a devilish aspect to a human viewer, making them a perfect, unsubtle choice for villain characters. That said, the Armorer’s helmet also features what look like Zabrak horns, although whether this is decoration or a necessity is unclear.

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In terms of design, the Zabraks on the show are a mix of Original and Prequel sensibilities. Their red skin is drab—after all, these are background characters, not main villains like Darth Maul. Since they are mostly human, there is no reason why this type of alien couldn’t have been created with prosthetics in 1977—and the show imagines what the Prequel race would look like had Lucas put them in the Mos Eisley cantina in A New Hope.

Bestiary

The Mudhorn of Arvala-7 looks a lot like the Reek, the one-horned, rhinoceros-like creature Obi-Wan and friends fought in the Geonosian arena at the beginning of the Clone Wars in Attack of the Clones. Its lumbering gait and the way it attacks with its swinging head are very similar. The arena battle is a high point in Episode II, perhaps because of the strength of the fight choreography and the way it evokes the creature features classic Star Wars drew from. With better and better CGI technology available to Lucasfilm, The Mandalorian essentially updated the reek for a new era.

Unlike the Mudhorn being a reek look-alike, the blurrgs Mando rides on Arvala-7 are straight from the Prequel era and is unchanged. This species of top-heavy reptilian bipeds has previously appeared in animated form in The Clone Wars. However, they aren’t strictly a Prequel creation, even though many of today’s fans know them from Filoni’s previous work. They first appeared in cartoon form in Ewoks: The Battle for Endor in 1985.

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