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buzzdixonwriter · 3 years

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Compare & Contrast: ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD Movie vs Novel

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood is my favorite Quentin Tarantino film, a love letter to late 1960s Los Angeles / Hollywood, an alternate history where the wicked (or at least three of them) are punished and the virtuous are spared and rewarded.

Tarantino has since expanded his basic story into a new novel, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood and it’s interesting to compare & contrast the two approaches to the material.

Movie tie-in novelizations are not unusual, of course, but it’s the rare example when the original creator (writer or director) takes a whack at it. Ian Fleming famously turned an unsold screenplay, James Bond Of The Secret Service, (written with Kevin McClory, Jack Whittingham, Ivar Bryce, and Ernest Cuneo) into the novel Thunderball and a busted TV pilot, Commander Jamaica, into Dr. No, while Ed McBain (a.k.a. Evan Hunter ne Salvatore Albert Lombino) adapted a couple of original 87th Precinct movie scripts into novels.

Here Tarantino takes his stab at it, and the results are…well, let’s cut to the chase…

Which is better, movie or book?

Good movie, okay novel.

For those who want a more detailed analysis…

[SPOILERS GALORE]

Story Structure

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood the novel is just barely a standalone story; it’s really enhanced by seeing the movie first.

The story flow is roughly the same, and it’s clear a lot of the material in the book are from early drafts of the screenplay (with a few callbacks to earlier Tarantino films). There’s also a lot of material missing that was in the movie (the immediate aftermath of Cliff visiting George Spahn, f’r instance).

However, the main plot and many major scenes from the movie are described as almost asides, hints at things seen on screen that aren’t elaborated on in the movie.

In one sense, this works to the novel’s advantage; there’s little point in reiterating already familiar scenes. On the other hand, scenes in the book that expand on scenes from the movie can benefit only by seeing the movie first.

While Once Upon A Time In Hollywood the movie features a pretty clear if typically erratic Tarantino timeline, the book’s timeline is less easy to track (but more on that later).

This isn’t a deal breaker in terms of enjoyment, but it occasionally does get in the way of the story telling.

Characters

What I liked most about Once Upon A Time In Hollywood the movie was that the Rick Dalton character is presented as a self-involved / over anxious / ot-nay oo-tay ight-bray actor who, despite his very apparent shortcomings, also demonstrates a truly professional dedication to his craft and an ability to listen and learn and grow.

Taking part in the big fight at the end cements his hero status in the framework of the movie.

He’s not nearly as likeable or as admirable in the book.

A big hunk of this is leaving out those crucial action beats mentioned above. Another hunk is letting us peek too deeply into Rick’s head, and learning what happens to him after the climax of the film.

Instead of moving into the quality artsy A-list movie world as the film version intimates at the end, Rick becomes a John Wayne-like figure with similar intolerant attitudes, popular with middle American audiences.

He does come across as clear headed when it comes to his career and his place in the Hollywood pecking order, as demonstrated in his own analysis of why he would never have gotten Steve McQueen’s role in The Great Escape.

Sharon Tate is still the delightfully airy character shown in the movie, though Tarantino gives her a broader emotional palette to play with. She comes across as more fully rounded than the movie version but is still the wonderful, life-loving character of the film.

Cliff Booth, on the other hand, suffers badly.

First off, Cliff’s character in the film is already extremely problematic. The movie deliberately makes the circumstances around his wife’s death vague enough to be read in a variety of ways: He could have deliberately murdered her and got away with it, it could have been justifiable homicide in self-defense, it could have been an accident, it could have been something else.

We never know and that works to give Cliff a Schrodinger’s cat-like characterization: We can’t know until we open the box and look in.

Well, Tarantino flings open the box and boy, what’s inside is stupid.

I can absolutely believe Cliff killed his wife in a momentary fit of rage, I do not believe the speargun cut her in half and he held the two halves together so they could have a long lovey-dovey talk until the Coast Guard shows up and she literally falls apart.

If Tarantino’s intent was to hint Cliff had a psychotic fugue after he killed his wife and thought he was holding her together and talking to her, he didn’t make that clear.

Considering how often Tarantino employs the omniscient third person point of view in this story, I don’t think it’s a failure style but of plotting.

That would be bad enough, but there’s a lot of other problems with Cliff in the book.

He flat out murders four people by the time of the novel: Two petty gangsters back east, his wife, and the guy who offered him a share of Brandy’s prize money from dog fights.

Yeah, Cliff is plugged into the dog fighting world and really enjoys it. He shows enough affection and appreciation for Brandy the pit bull to recognize when her career is over, and he’s ruthless enough to kill Brandy’s co-owner when the guy insists on sending her to her almost certain death in one last dog fight.

[Sidebar: Elsewhere Tarantino has told aspiring writers to leave morality out of their character’s motives and despite this sounding counterintuitive, it’s actually solid advice. Morality forces good guys to act like good guys, it never gives the characters room to think and breathe and act as real people. Tarantino isn’t saying characters can’t make moral choices, but those moral choices must come from who they are, not from some arbitrary code or editorial fiat. To this degree the novel Once Upon A Time In Hollywood depicts Cliff in a wholly believable light, a natural born survivor who will do whatever’s necessary to stay alive.]

Book Cliff is depicted as a far more unpleasant person than Rick, lightyears more unpleasant than movie Cliff. Part of this is a deliberate choice on Tarantino’s part as his omniscient third person point of view frequently mediates on the meaning of likeability vs believability in movie terms; he certainly strives to makes Rick and Cliff as unlikeable as possible (Sharon, too, but she’s basically too sweet a character for any negativity to rub off on her).

Cliff also demonstrates a considerable amount of bigotry and prejudice, in particular his opinions on Bruce Lee. The substance of those opinions re Lee’s martial arts abilities is not the problem, it’s the way in which they are expressed.

Does this sound believable coming from a near 50 year old WWII vet? Yeah, it does. That doesn’t mean the book benefits from it.

Which leads to the single biggest problem with Cliff, however, is his age and background.

Tarantino envisions him as a WWII vet, a survivor of the Sicily campaign reassigned to the Philippines (as with Inglorious Basterds, Tarantino really doesn’t care about what actually happened in WWII), taken prisoner by the Japanese, escaping to the jungles to lead a guerilla force against the Imperial Army, recipient of two “Medals of Valor” (who knows what Tarantino means by this as no such award exists in the US military. Medal of Honor? Distinguished Service Cross? Silver Star? Bronze Star?), and record holder for the most confirmed Japanese killed by a single individual who wasn’t a crew member of the Enola Gay.

Okay, so that makes him what, mid-20s at the youngest in 1945?

He’d be 49 at the time of Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, not an unheard of age for Hollywood stunt men but certainly pushing the edge of the envelope.

Playing Rick’s double? That sounds quite a bit more farfetched. Rick’s exact age is never mentioned but from the way others treat him, he’s somewhere between Cliff’s age and that of James Stacy, the real life actor who starred in the Lancer pilot Rick is filming in 1968 when Stacy would be 32 years old.

That would make Rick roughly 40 at the time, and there’s an aside in the book that reveals one of Rick’s early roles was in 1959’s Away All Boats, the latter with Tom Laughlin (who in real life later directed and starred in Billy Jack), and since Rick and Laughlin are presented as contemporaries and Laughlin was born in 1931, this would make Rick 28 when Bounty Law started airing that same year and he and Cliff, then age 40, first started working together.

Cliff saves Rick’s life from a stunt gone wrong early in the filming of Bounty Law, so one understands how their bond formed and why Rick continues to keep Cliff around even after Cliff kills his wife.

Missing from the novel is the voice of Randy Miller, the stunt director (played by Kurt Russell in the film) who narrates much of the movie. I can’t recall if Randy is even mentioned by name in the book, but he certainly isn’t featured prominently in it. Sometimes the narrative voice of the novel seems to be his, sometimes it seems to be Tarantino’s (and we’ll discuss that below, too).

Not all the characters in the movie make it to the pages of the book, and likewise quite a few characters appear who never showed up in the film version of Once Upon A Time In Hollywood or any other Tarantino film.

Sharon Tate first appears in the book hitchhiking and accepting a ride from rodeo cowboy Ace Woody, originally slated to be one of the assorted baddies in Django Unchained but later melded into another character.

On the other hand, many minor and obscure real life Hollywood players and personalities and hangers on do appear in the novel. Tarantino is careful to put dialog in the mouths of only certifiably dead personalities, however, and as we’ll go into down below, that’s a wise move.

(BTW, Tarantino works himself into his own story a couple of times, mentioning himself as the director of a remake of John Sayles’ The Lady In Red featuring a grown up Trudi Fraser a.k.a. Mirabella Lancer in the Lancer pilot Rick is starring in, and as the son of piano player Curt Zastoupil, Tarantino’s real life step-father, who asks Rick for an autographed photo for his son Quentin.)

The Hollywood Stuff

Which leads us to the real hook of the book, a glimpse behind the scenes of Hollywood circa 1969.

If, like me, you’re fascinated by this sort of stuff, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood is a fun read.

Tarantino is a devourer of pop culture and dedicates his book in part to Bruce Dern, David Carradine, Burt Reynolds, Robert Blake, Michael parks, Robert Forester, and Kurt Russell, thanking them for the stories they told him about “old time” Hollywood (i.e., the 1950s and 60s from Tarantino’s reckoning).

A lot of the book rings true in attitudes and opinions expressed back in that era, and some of the stories included are jaw-dropping (the Aldo Ray one especially).

The examinations of various maneuverings and strategies in the entertainment industry are also illuminating.

However, this raises a fair question about what the intent of any given work is, and how well documented a work of fiction needs to be.

There’s a trio of actors (all dead so none can sue Tarantino for libel) labeled in derogatory terms as homosexuals in two or three places in the book.

There’s some observations on race that sound absolutely authentic coming from the mouths of those particular characters at that particular time, but one questions the need for using those exact terms today; it’s not that difficult to show the character speaking is bigoted without letting them sling all the slurs they want.

Speaking of terms, I’ve never heard “ringer” used before in the film industry in the context of this book, so if it’s fake, Tarantino did an absolutely convincing job presenting it as real.

But here’s where we start heading into some problematic areas, not problematic in undermining the enjoyment of the book, but problematic in the sense of understanding what Tarantino is trying to convey.

Cliff’s story is awfully close to Robert Blake’s story, and you’d be hard pressed to find many people in town today who don’t think he got away with murder.

And of all the TV show’s to pick for Rick to be playing the villain in the pilot episode, why Lancer?

Few people today remember the series, and Tarantino taking liberties with the actual pilot episode plot isn’t noteworthy…

…or is it?

The actual series starred Andrew Duggan as Murdoch Lancer, patriarch of the Lancer family, with Wayne Maunder played Scott Lancer, the upscale older son, and James Stacy as his half-brother, gunslinger Johnny Madrid Lancer. Elizabeth Baur played Teresa O'Brien, Murdoch Lancer's teenage ward.

For Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, Tarantino replaced the real life Elizabeth Baur / Teresa O’Brien with “8 year old” Trudi Frazer (in the book; Fraser in the movie) / Mirabella Lancer (played in the film by 10 year old Julia Butters).

Why Lancer? Why this particular change?

Lancer’s Johnny Madrid Lancer was played by James Stacy, a brief appearance in the film, but far more substantial scenes in the book (as well as the reader getting to see what he’s thinking and feeling). Tarantino uses these scenes in the book to explain a bit about on set etiquette.

James Stacy was an actual person, and he actually played Johnny Madrid Lancer in the series.

In September of 1973, he was maimed in a motorcycle accident, losing his left arm and leg.

He refused to let his disability sideline him, and in 1975 appeared in Posse as a newspaper man, then went on to play numerous supporting roles in films and TV shows until 1995.

That was the year he was arrested, tried, and convicted of molesting an 11 year old girl.

He didn’t show up for his sentencing hearing, choosing instead to fly to Hawaii and attempt suicide. Arrested and returned to California, instead of probation he received a 6 year prison sentence when it was learned he’d been arrested twice after the first crime on prowling charges in which he approached two other young girls.

Quentin Tarantino, the all time grand master maven of pop culture didn’t know this?

And in the book, Trudi calls Rick for a later night conversation about their day on the set.

This is an 8 year old child calling an adult after midnight.

To their credit, Tarantino and Rick both tell Trudi up front this is not an appropriate thing to do…

…but the call continues.

It doesn’t veer off into creepy territory, and when it ends it actually puts Rick’s character back on an upward trajectory, one in which he no longer feels he’s screwed up his life.

But still…

This is a really weird context.

(The scene was filmed for the movie but didn’t make the final cut. Look closely on the movie poster under Brad Pitt’s chin and you’ll see an image of Julia Butters holding a teddy bear and talking on the phone.)

Style

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood the movie is consistent and spot on. It uses cinematic language to maximum effect.

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood the book is all over the map.

It manages to stay entertaining even at its most erratic, but the inconsistency works against it.

As noted before, the point of view is constantly shifting, sometimes seen through a character’s eyes, sometimes through an omniscient third person point of view, sometimes in what appears to be uncredited narration from Randy, and in several chapters exploring the Lancer story-within-a-story as mediocre pulp fiction typical of movie and TV tie-ins of the era.

Tarantino does not stay consistent with his characters, either. This indicates adapting scenes from earlier drafts without really smoothing out the fit.

Another point of view issue is Tarantino’s own.

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood the novel reads like the work of an older, very culturally conservative writer.

Many writers will argue that the evils their characters do in their books are not reflections on the author but simply the character acting consistently with who they are.

Kinda true…but that character comes from the writer’s imagination, and the writer needs to think up all those terrible things the character thinks and does and say, so somewhere deep down inside the dungeons of that writer’s mind…those things live and breed.

Rick is depicted as out of step with the new Hollywood and the hippie era in both film and book, but the book reinforces and rewards him for being out of step, unlike the movie whree he finds an entrance to the future.

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood the novel now makes me reexamine all of Tarantino’s earlier efforts, in particular Pulp Fiction and Django Unchained and The Hateful 8 and see if his world view has changed, or if its been there all the time only he concealed it better in the past.

Presentation

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood the book is packaged to look like a mass market paperback from the late 1960s to 1980s (in fact, very specifically 1980s style mass market paperbacks).

It even closes with ads for Oliver’s Story, Serpico, and The Switch, all bona fide movie tie-ins books, as well as Ride A Wild Bronc, a fictitious title, written by Marvin H. Albert.

Albert was a bona fide popular fiction writer under his own name and several pseudonyms, as well as screenplays based on his books for Duel At Diablo, Rough Night In Jericho, Lady In Cement, and The Don Is Dead. Tony Rome, played by Frank Sinatra in two movies, is probably his best known character. Several of the books he wrote were movie and TV tie-ins including The Pink Panther and The Untouchables.

The last ad is for the deluxe hardcover edition of Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, promising new material and previously unreleased photos.

The editing and copyediting of the book are subpar. As noted above, tone and consistency fluctuate throughout the book. A sharper editor would have removed redundancies, smoothed out clunky scenes.

Typographical errors abound throughout. Early on they mention the Mannix TV show in italics (the book’s standard style for movie and TV show titles) then sloppily put the character’s name, Mannix, in italics as well and, to add further insult to injury, Mannix’ secretary Peggy also gets her name italicized. Song titles are listed either in italics or unitalicized in quotes; pick a style and stick with it, guys…

Finally, Quentin baby, I gotta say ya missed a bet by not having a cardboard center insert ad for Red Apple cigarettes; that would have completely nailed the retro look.

#Once Upon A Time In Hollywood #writing #Quentin Tarantino #Compare And Contrast

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thegeminisage · 5 years

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merlin thots about the s5 opening episodes.......

here’s your courtesy cut

one of my favorite things about s5 so far is how very nicely arthur and merlin have both 1. grown up and 2. grown into each other...they still give each other shit 24/7 but it’s a lot more companionable and comfortable now than it ever has been. furthermore, both of them exhibit the use of MULTIPLE braincells even at the SAME TIME. they work very well together as a team even in the heat of battle (we did see shades of this near the end of s4), despite merlin being kind of useless at physical combat when he couldn’t rely on his magic for a boost. they can have entire conversations without a word and they’re just INCREDIBLY synchronized. the whole #vibe has really gotten a level up

timeline-wise, it’s been roughly a decade since season 1. in s1 they said the purge began 20 years ago (upon arthur’s birth), and shortly after, he had a coming of age ceremony - 21′s an important number, so in season 1 arthur began as being 20 and turned 21 before the end. season 2 = 22. gap year for s2-s3 = 23. season 3 = 24. s3-s4 gap year = 25. season 4 = 26. 3 gap years betweeen s4-s5 = 27, 28, 29. season 5 = 30. i don’t know how long it was in real life between seasons 4 and 5 (definitely not three years), but i really do feel like they’ve both aged SO much and they absolutely act like people who have known each other for a decade.

gwen as queen is AMAZINGNGLSDKJGHDSLFG she’s SO PRETTY i love her SO MUCH. love that she has her own serving girl now! this is what she deserves

the round table is good too altho it looks a bit too big for that room. it’s amazing though like...FUCK uther pendragon arthur has come SO FAR

merlin being nice to the new girl is very charming. makes him seem older and w-w-WISER (love that word) by comparison

also love that merlin gets to ride a horse while some of the footsoldiers walk. that’s #status. that’s *** ******

pretty sure i had a stroke during merlin’s vision of arthur’s death. the whole thing was done SO well - they go from the battlefield and arthur’s incredibly dirty face as he very realistically looks like he’s falling down and dying and then cut to a very alive and present arthur asking what’s wrong. you can really FEEL the whiplash, and also the dread settles in nice and deep, at least it does if you’re me and you’ve read spoilers, like, “only you can keep arthur safe” BUT I KNOW HE DOESN’T I KNOW HE CAN’T I KNOW HE FAILS and merlin might as well know it too because he looks ready to CRY and thru the rest of this 2-parter opening he acts like he thinks arthur may drop dead at any moment

i feel like i read somewhere once that actors don’t like to eat during a scene unless absolutely necessary because when you do 30 takes of something you get very full very quickly and some even go so far as to have a spit bucket just out of sight so that they can just get rid of it without having to eat any more. which makes it absolutely bananas to me that so often in merlin the characters are not only eating but eating very quickly as though they really have been roughing it in the wilderness all day & are absolutely famished...they don’t have to show them eating so often BUT THEY DO

arthur getting merlin into a tight spot by insisting he perform, planning on laughing at his failure? funny. merlin ACTUALLY USING MAGIC TO TEACH HIMSELF TO JUGGLE so that he could watch arthur’s jaw hit the floor? PRICELESS. i wonder how long it took him to do that, he definitely wasn’t using a body double

merlin is acting so bleak and dire in these episodes that even mr no-empathy himself asks him whats wrong, multiple times. they’re doing a VERY good job at really driving home the fact that arthur’s time is running short and there’s nothing anyone can do about it. merlin’s so sick with dread he’s making ME sick with dread. arthur’s here and being his normal dumbass self but the distance between them feels HUGE during the moments merlin is thinking about arthur’s impending doom

arthur all “i cant believe u can juggle i didnt even know you could catch” and then throwing the boots at merlin only for merlin to NOT CATCH THEM and arthur goes “see explain that” and merlin goes “wish i could” and i D I E

because he’s KNOWN HIM FOR A DECADE and he still can’t explain the magic and at this point it must feel like to him that he never, ever will UUUUUGH it’s funny how they can feel so close to each other one second and like THIS the next i am DYING

the little conversation they have when they make camp the next night is the same. the sad music plays, merlin keeps looking at arthur like it might be the last time he sees him, and arthur keeps insisting on asking merlin what’s wrong and trying to make him feel better...they’re really for real friends!!! they’re so serious and grown up!!!!!

ive lost count of how many times either merlin or arthur has been nearly dead and had to get hauled around by the other one

also of how many times merlin used his magic in a way that should have been obvious to bystanders and wasn’t

“if morgana doesnt kill you i will" “threatening a king is treason merlin” “what about threatening an ASS” listen. look me in the eyes. this is TOP TIER banter

remember how in the early seasons they’d bend over backwards to leave plausible deniability when expressing affection? like “we’d be good friends if you weren’t a prince” or “you’re not wise or anything but yeah you’re wise” or whatever dumb toxic masculinity bullshit...those days are OVER with. merlin speaks DIRECTLY from the heart. “i’m worried about you” and “i swear i’ll protect you or die at your side” he is not fucking around even a little bit. this fool is in love

they were ALMOST cuddling when they slept together under that overhang

the two of them trapped in that net was PRICELESS. in the early seasons i got a little tired of the frequent slapstick/juvenile humor and wished the series was a bit more serious but now that they’re here i cling to every shred of levity with my whole heart

i was SO relieved to realize gwen wasn’t actually planning on killing that poor girl - i kept saying the entire time it was very out of character for her, no way could she be that cruel

arthur: “you wanna kill me fine but my last request is for you not to kill merlin” merlin: “you wanna kill arthur fine but you’re gonna have to go through me” arthur: “for fucks sake”

merlin: i never do as i’m told! that’s *** ******

i dont care if mordred DID save their lives i NEVER wanted to see him less i am so full of dread

i can’t BELIEVE morgana also has a pet dragon. she and merlin could have been the BEST foils and i’m STAYING mad about it. she was actually so good in this episode - way less full of evil smirks - that i briefly rejoined the morgana defense squad and got REAL pissed when mordred eventually shanked her, ESPECIALLY after she was so happy she was nearly crying to see him again. WHAT IS IT WITH THAT KID AND STABBING PEOPLE KNOCK IT OFF

the snowy environments in this episode were soooo good. the scenery was just...top fucking tier and it’s nice to see them somewhere other than the same old places. also like NO allo but arthur looks really nice just wandering around through a bunch of fucking snowbanks with dirt all over his face

arthur and merlin’s little ploy to steal that dagger by arthur faking a collapse was SO GOOD. they’re SO IN SYNC. i was THRILLED. better still: he winked when he was done. he used like FIVE WHOLE BRAIN CELLS AT ONCE and he was ALMOST as proud of himself as i am proud of him. what a guy, that arthur pendragon

their escape was really good too. the nonverbal communication? top tier! they just give each other little looks and then proceed to wreck the whole scene. doubly funny when the slaver is like WHO SPILLED THAT STUFF and arthur just kind of jerks his head over at merlin. snitches get stitches, YOUR HIGHNESS

i barely felt one whole emotion for sefa or her dad but him dying was like. sad. this show is sad. why the fuck am i watching it. i hate character death. they were hugging

arthur seemed like he was having just the time of his LIFE sneaking into that big ol tower of doom. dude was all cute little quips and smiles. popped his head outta that lil minecart like a kid at christmas

i love also that you give percival nothing but a single sword and in short order he goes about liberating all the slaves, killing all the slavers, and then reappropriating their swords to a better cause. he’s a one-man army. i was SO impressed. and he really looked like he was having fun too

merlin seeing that lil baby dragon again was SO fucked up and sad. why can’t it TALK :(((

also lmao “merlin you cant be that stupid” “no i am if you dont believe me watch” and merlin bolts and arthur sighs with SO much longsuffering and says “im going after him”

the light in morgana’s eyes when she talks about wanting to have arthur’s head and then her stabbing him over and over without actually killing him...she’s batshit insane. rip

i do like that arthur sort of TRIED to talk her around...it’s the first time he’s really gotten to speak with her since the end of season 3 when he found out who she was

on a final note, though, i am less than thrilled with the knighting of mordred...how is it arthur can KNOW who he is, that he’s a druid, and can do magic, and LET HIM INTO THE KNIGHTS, and still have sorcery be outlawed in camelot?? it doesnt make any SENSE

#personal #merlin blogging #the preview for 5.03 played after this ep was over #i dont usually watch them on the first try bc idw spoilers #but i watched it this time #and it SPOILS it a little bit #im glad i didnt watch and got to be shocked

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robotnik-mun · 5 years

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The Sonic/TF Crossover: Comic Cannon Changes List

Sonic The Hedgehog/Transformers Crossover Continuity Changes:

Here’s a list of minor things that will have changed from what happened in the canon of the Archie Comics or outright omitted.

01: Sally does NOT let Max Steamroll her: At first Sally does cow a bit when Max starts to assert his authority, but quickly his dismissal of her achievements, disbanding the FF and inability to flex his views and traditionalist mindset drive a wedge between them. This comes to a climax when Elias is revealed and unlike the comics where Sally was presented as mostly confused, there is LIVID anger and she lets Max know it. To Sally, it was one thing to have her opinions dismissed as she could rationalize Max’s traditionalist mindset; but the revelation of her Mother still being alive and NEVER being told she had a Brother spoke volumes of how little Max seemed to care about her beyond his traditionalist views on how she should behave and act. She also refuses Max’s separating her from her FF friends, and spends as much time with them as she can, since she feels more love and acceptance from them than her Father. Plus her friends help her ‘vent’ and get things off her chest so she’s less likely to bottle it and explode on the wrong person, but plenty of her anger remains deep down, but she has outlets to focus at least and people who care.

At this point, Sally becomes very cold to Max but remains cordial if just to not give him ammo to start an argument and she’d rather focus on getting to know her older sibling and her Mother’s recovery. However; with Max almost putting Elias to his ‘Princely duties’ soon as he gets home and shuts her out even more. Despite not trying to put this on Elias the resentment starts and so Sally focuses on FF stuff, but does not shut out Elias own attempts to get to know the other. Her resentment lessens as Elias confides he feels as used as she was since he feels his Father wants a ‘yes man’ Prince more than a son. This mutual resentment towards Max helps them bond and for Sally to get over any ill will she felt towards Elias. While Elias keeps his resentment close to the chest, Sally already the pariah becomes less tight-lipped on her disagreements with her Father but maintains some civility for Elias’ sake. When their Mother is revived and Max is injured to the point of being unable to walk, both dial back their issues with Max and try to focus on their family.

Alicia once fully recovered and brought up to speed, sees the discord in the family and tries to help mend things. She manages some mending but Sally while openly warm and happy with her Mother is distant and less cordial but ‘tolerating’ of Max. Through the story motions, there are ups and downs with the Acorn Family, especially once Elias runs away and Sally fully unloads at Max, letting off pent up issues she kept lowkey for her Mother and Brother’s sake, and before leaving the castle tells Max she fully blames him and St. John for Elias running out of their lives barely after returning to it.

Alicia now aware of certain things pulls off a mixture of chastising her Husband for the secrets and treating Sally and Elias; but also consoling him some as she can see that this incident was eating Max to the core as the guilt, Elias’ letter and Sally’s words finally started to undermine the surefire validity Max felt towards his actions.

Things (mostly thanks to Alicia and Sonic himself of all people who had every beef with Max as Sally did) settle some with Max making an attempt at mending fences with Sally. Sally very much still angry agrees to ‘have talks and discussions, for Mother’s sake’. Over time, especially once Elias location and living status is affirmed things ease up and Sally while in no mind to forgive Max yet, is willing to ‘try again’ and things become pleasant for the Acorns, even to the point Max lets go of his bias against Sonic when Sally tells her parents her desire to openly date Sonic and gives his blessing.

Then the Xorda invasion happens and with Sonic seemingly dead, Sally shuts down partially and focuses on her FF duties since she doubts Robotnik will uphold his truce for long. During this period, Elias concerned for his Sister takes to visiting her semi-frequently, taking walks through the forest or Elias accompanying her on scouting missions, letting the two siblings vent and deepen their bond (as well as give Elias a taste of action).

Then that fateful day in the wastes near the Great Forest, they find that buried alien ship…

02: One Robotnik, one Eggman, ONE Doctor:

Unlike in the comic canon, when the original Dr. Robotnik returns briefly, instead of that silly plot where at the end he vanishes anyway; the original is a bit testy when he returns that ANOTHER HIM is running the show! However, after initial hostility, both Doctor’s realize they should focus their hate on a proper target. Now working side by side properly, Dr. Eggman discovers his counterparts instability and so measures to prevent this long enough for the two to get revenge together is made. However surprisingly Eggman and Robotnik find themselves getting along despite their mutual treacherous natures. The cat and mouse game between ‘equals’ gives them a sense of dark joy and a benchmark to improve themselves. This leads to Eggman proposing a radical procedure that would ‘ensure they’d never be apart’. Between his own twisted enjoyment of Eggman’s company and not wanting to fade away to nothing again, Robotnik agrees and soon, the two enter an experimental device that fuses the two together. The same man but from two dimensions; rotund but also ‘beef-lanky’ in the right places. With coat and stylish cape, the new Robotnik fusion takes his place to run his Empire and DESTROY THAT ACCURSED HEDGEHOG!!

03: No Locke, you don’t get to microwave the baby and eat your cake too.

Much like Sally Knuckles isn’t, as accepting of the things Locke tells him. When he confronts Locke and gets the 411, he’s torn. He’s still elated his Father isn’t dead but now he’s livid at the lies and, well now he’s wondering if he had ANY control in his life, and also develops a worry about his own genetics. On the sly Knuckles has doctors check him to be sure nothing’s wrong. It doesn’t become a supremely obsessive paranoia, but once or twice Julie or one of the Chaotix consoles him if ‘anything wrong does happen, we got your back’. Furthermore while Knuckles tries to be open-minded about the Brotherhood and their methods, he slowly develops a disdain for a chunk of it, especially when certain things come to light, and when Motari Rex is revealed to have been impersonating Tobor for years, he criticizes the Brotherhood for not noticing such a crucial thing and who knows how much pain Rex/Tobor caused under their own noses.

Locke for his end stubbornly feels his actions and those of the Brotherhood are mostly justified but between Knuckles words, the Rex/Tobor revelation, the raid on Haven, and other things give him pause for rumination. The other Brotherhood members also give pause but still fall back to their ‘tried and true’ methods, which furthers Knuckles distance from them and his admonishment of their actions.

They come to a head when the Brotherhood refuses to get involved with Robotnik wars on the surface when Sally comes calling. Livid more than usual, Knuckles calls out the Brotherhood and tells Sally aside before she goes home if she needs help HE and the Chaotix will come if they can. Likewise, Sally offers her own help to Angel Island and the two old friends find another avenue to bond over, Father issues.

This causes a minor schism within the Brotherhood, some now questioning if they’ve gone too far, and if they should revise some of their methods given how many things were implemented by ‘Tobor’ of all of them. How many were purposely flawed? Spectre as Pro-Brotherhood as he is; feels they should reevaluate their methods. Especially given his one-time imprisonment by the Dark Legion was not such a coincidence and that his ‘harsh training’ worked by a lucky fluke it would seem.

Locke and some others maintain they should stay the course, but they all have some form of doubts and agree to discuss the matters as they come. Of course, ongoing events keep the Brotherhood from truly ironing out these issues. With the Legion’s attacks Knuckles turning briefly into a Chaos Being only to die, cause many setbacks to reorganize, culminating in the majority of the Brotherhood being taken by Robotnik’s Egg-Grapes and Locke a prisoner of the Dark Legion when they take over the island due to Knuckles and the Chaotix’s absence following the Xorda invasion.

04: The Troubles of Geoffery St. John:

With recent Penders-BS events, I have to do something about the skunk.

First up, he and Sally NEVER have any romantic relationship. Geoff does flirt with her a lot, and Sally is flattered by the attention, torn between liking it and also being off-put by their age gap.

Geoff keeps his hands to himself but he does seem to push for things to happen between him and Sally, and he still takes joy in flirting with her when Sonic is around to get a rise out of him. While Sally feels a little torn at times, it’s Rosie Woodchuck who becomes the voice of reason when Sally asks for advice.

“He’s how old? Hmm, well I’d be wary of a man who makes gestures like that to a teenager when he’s over 18.”

“So I should shut him down entirely Rosie?”

“My Princess, that is up to you, but for my two bits? Yes, he should be making flirtations with someone his own age, not you. A shame really, his Father Ian was a gentleman, flirty and suave yes, but only at the right time and NEVER to someone underage. Makes me wonder who raised that boy during all this time…?”

So yeah, Geoff and Sally never liplock and whether Geoff made moves due to his plans to undermine the kingdom, or he’s a creep or both… I’ll let the story’s chemistry decide at that point. He’ll back off when Sally lays it out her interest is non-existent and so Geoff just… remains a jackass, one with skills and does help the heroes but he’ll still be wracking that karma to get knocked down a peg when he and his Team get Nano’machined into uselessness, and Elias holding him in contempt for using him as a cudgel to undermine Sonic by stripping him of his knighthood.

05: Transformers, everywhere:

As mentioned in many posts, the ties to old Earth, Cybertron, and modern Mobius will be discovered and felt throughout the story. The Source of All was an experiment of Shockwave’s, Humanity survived by hiding inside a Cybertronian Titan that was stasis locked in city/ship mode, the Echidna’s became so advanced ahead of everyone because they found a Mind-Linking Data Cube from one of the ship crashes, etc etc.

That’s it for now. Of course, this just covers what I can recall and when I expand this list I’ll re-submit it unless said ‘changes’ to the canon is due to a story secret that; well you’ll have to read it to find it out. ^_~

As per usual, veeery sensible changes to be made here. I rather like the touch about the old Robotnik and the current Eggman merging into a new, gestalt of the two. It’s something I’ve toyed with myself from time to time. Either way though, definitely approving of all of this, in particular the elimination of certain details regarding Geoffrey that we wish we could ALL forget.

Keep it up!

#Sonic the Hedgehog #Transformers #CrossOver #submission

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ladililn · 5 years

Text

What Rogue One taught me about the Jedi, despite no Jedi actually appearing in it

So I initially started writing this for @rogueoneanniversary last year, and then Real Life happened and I disappeared from Tumblr and then Tumblr disappeared from me and now here we are, a full standard year later, and guess who still has (now very belated) Thoughts she wants to share? This girl! Because guess who still hasn’t gotten over this movie? This me! (Not sure whether @celebraterogueone is the correct place for this now?)

The first time I saw Rogue One, I completely missed the fallen colossus in the sands of Jedha. I just thought it was an overhead shot of some weirdly-shaped mountain. The second time, it took a moment for my brain to register and make sense of the image, and then I wondered how I'd ever missed it.

This one object, one blink-and-you-miss-it set piece, tells us so much about Jedha and the "ancient religion" of the Jedi and themes that run through the entire saga and even, I think, characters who aren't even in Rogue One (there's a reason the fallen Jedi statue looks exactly like Old Ben). It immediately calls to mind Shelley’s Ozymandias:

I met a traveller from an antique land

Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone

Stand in the desert…Near them, on the sand,

Half sunk, a shattered visage lies[…]

[…]Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away.

To return for a moment to Admiral Motti’s “ancient religion” line in ANH—I’ve seen people point that out as a plot hole, or at least an early inconsistency, given that the Prequels show the Jedi faith alive and well a mere nineteen years earlier, which doesn’t seem very ancient. I find that charge specious for several reasons—first of all, “ancient” doesn’t mean “dead." I think you could easily and accurately refer to Judaism or Christianity as “ancient religions,” and both of those are alive and well now. The religion began a long, long time ago; thus it is “ancient.” I’d also argue that we hardly needed the Prequels to belie the idea that the Jedi Order was beyond human memory. We know in ANH that Obi-Wan used to be a Jedi Knight, and although Alec Guinness looked (and was) older than Obi-Wan’s actual age, there was nothing in that movie or the other two OT movies to indicate human lifespans differ significantly in the GFFA.

Still, I see the disconnect. On the one hand, we have a not-that-ancient man who was once one of the “guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic.” On the other, you have Luke, who’s never even heard of the Jedi, and Han, who doesn’t believe in the Force. Again, some see these as errors, considering Han was already ten when the Republic fell, meaning the Jedi were still getting up to their incredible and well-documented feats when he should’ve been old enough to be aware and remember.

Explanations for this seeming disconnect can be found across the franchise, and they boil down to two main points: the Jedi’s (relative) lack of reach throughout the galaxy, and Order 66.

Here’s a fun figure: how many Jedi were there in the galaxy before Order 66? 10,000. Ten fucking thousand. That’s a ridiculously tiny number. A laughably tiny number. A Sci-Fi Writers Have No Sense of Scale number. An entire galaxy, all those planets and star systems, billions and billions (trillions? quadrillions?) of sentient beings, and you could name every single Jedi in a few hours. Put them all in the smallest NFL stadium, and they couldn’t even fill half the seats.

Sometimes I find the Sci-Fi Writers Have No Sense of Scale-ness of the GFFA frustrating (although IMO the “why is this galaxy filled with the same 10 people?!” complaints fans like to toss around ignores the history of the mythic storytelling tradition Star Wars is very much a part of and how the franchise fits into/plays with those genre conventions, but that’s a rant for another day). But in this case, I fucking love how ridiculous a number 10,000 is. I think it’s perfect. Our view of the Jedi’s relative size and stature in the galaxy is warped by the lens through which we see the galaxy; up until Rogue One, we’re pretty much just hanging out with Jedi. Not only that—in the Prequels and TCW, we’re hanging out with the best of the best, the council members and the freaking Chosen One. They’re the elite among the elite. The 1% of the 1%, only more like the .001% of the .0000000000000001%.

There’s an excerpt from the Rogue One novelization that I think illustrates my point perfectly. This comes from a section of the book that’s meant to be “supplemental data [from the] personal files of Mon Mothma,” a document entitled “Short Notes on the History of the Rebel Alliance Navy” (side note: how much do I love in-universe archival material? a whole fucking lot) (all emphasis mine):

What worked in the Clone Wars cannot work again: the partnership of Jedi Knights and Kaminoan clone armies constituted a peerless weapon that no longer exists.

Consider a brigade of clone troopers served by a Jedi commander: Such a unit might penetrate a world’s orbital defenses and seize control of the entire planet while taking (and inflicting!) minimal casualties… [W]hat blockade could be thorough enough to keep out a handful of determined star fighters and a single clone drop ship?

...With the Clone Wars’ end, the destruction of the Jedi Order, and the decommissioning of the Kaminoan cloning facilities, the self-proclaimed Emperor and his military advisers determined that the future of warfare was in large-scale naval weaponry—in a fleet of battleships and battle stations that could atomize any enemy, whether on a planet’s surface or among the stars. They rebuilt a military not for precision strikes but for hammerblows… No potential rebellion could dare eschew infantry altogether, but—lacking the elite support of the Jedi or clones—the cost in lives would be abominable…

From an in-universe perspective, the Jedi are OP as shit. Guys, these are a tiny handful of beings with the ability to move shit with their minds! They can run and leap insane distances at inhuman (yeah, I know that’s an impossible term in the context of a galaxy filled with humans and aliens, but you know what I mean) speeds, they can move in ways other people could never imagine, they have the sort of reflexes that allow Anakin to participate in a sport other members of his species, the most populous in the galaxy by far, physically cannot. They can manipulate the environment around them telekinetically. They can manipulate people telepathically. Their weapons can cut through anything. It’s been said before, but it bears repeating: they are literal space wizards. I know this is all obvious, but think about it from the perspective of your average galactic citizen: here is a microscopically tiny group of people who can literally do magic.

Why are there so few of them? Well, the Force moves in mysterious ways. But also, there don’t really need to be more. Talk about casting an outsized shadow: 10,000 people holding the entire galaxy together. Like Mon Mothma says, one Jedi (and their handful of trusty clone troopers) = an entire fucking battle station in terms of military power. And with the Sith so long in hiding (side note: the Rule of Two makes the Order look positively overpopulated), the Jedi have had no real opponent of their own stature and ability level to contend with for a long, long time. (We see, especially in TCW, how difficult it is for a non-Force user to be made into a credible threat for the Jedi in any circumstances. Those plotlines almost always require characters to be nerfed, either by having to hide their powers (because undercover), being restrained by the Code and not wanting to harm civilians (a Jedi’s primary weapon—though obviously not their only weapon—is hard to make nonlethal, or at least non-maiming), or conveniently forgetting most of their powers.)

Now, it could be argued that there do “need” to be more, because are they actually doing such a great job guarding peace and justice? Are they successfully holding the galaxy together? Even before the Clone Wars, we see in TPM that their power doesn’t extend all the way into the far reaches of the galaxy. Of course, you could also argue that the lawlessness of the Outer Rim has less to do with the Jedi’s inability, in terms of sheer forcible (sorry) power, to do anything about it, and more to do with the politics of the Republic, and you could be right. But that’s part of the point. The Jedi are enforcers of peace, not rulers. They’re not supposed to be making decisions on galactic policy. (That “supposed to” is key, but again: a story for another day.)

So my point is: sure, on Coruscant in the year 20 BBY, you’re not going to have anyone blinking and saying “Jedi who?” It’s a Core World—the Core World—and most of the characters we’re familiar with in the Prequel Era are by necessity among the upper echelons of galactic society, or at least moving in circles that bring them into contact with the upper echelons. High-ranking politicians, rulers of various worlds, heads of planetary militia—people who have reason to be interacting with the Jedi. (Even the criminals they interact with are top-level, crime bosses and legendary bounty hunters. You’re not going to call a Jedi to arrest a petty thief.)

99.999% of the galaxy’s citizens have never seen a Jedi in person. (We’re going to leave beside the issue of the media in the GFFA, because that’s a whole ‘nother kettle of, uh, mynocks?) The farther you get from Coruscant, the farther removed you are from galactic high society, the less you probably know about the Jedi. Han, growing up on the streets of Corellia, has no reason to be an expert on Jedi. I’m sure he’s heard rumors, but he is perfectly justified in being a skeptic, particularly once the Jedi disappear seemingly easily.

Which brings us to the Jedi Purge. Here’s the thing: Order 66 wasn’t just about literally killing all the Jedi and burning their Temple down. It was a planned cultural genocide as well. A revision of history. We all know the line from 1984: “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.” Palpatine destroyed the memory of the Jedi as surely as he destroyed the Jedi themselves. We’ve met, in various canon sources, history professors who lost their jobs because any mention, scholarly or otherwise, of the Jedi Order had become verboten. We’ve seen kids studying for their galactic history class in which one of the questions concerns Mace Windu, leader of a “criminal gang that interfered with a legal execution on Geonosis and sparked the Clone Wars.” Talk about revisionist: that goes against everything Palpatine himself said and did during the Clone Wars, a not-insignificant timespan of at least three years of his own personal history he has to revise, but in his role as Emperor, he can pull that off. This is what totalitarian governments do. We already see it begin in RotS, when Palps tells the Senate all about the Jedi Order’s attempt at a coup. And it’s effective! Five years on, Tarkin himself says the Jedi already feel like a distant memory.

And of course it’s fairly ludicrous (though not, I suppose, impossible) to assume that the statue on Jedha fell and was partially buried in sand within the last 19 years. But that’s one of the things I love most about Star Wars, something it’s particularly famous for: its Used Future aesthetic, the continued reminders that this is a galaxy with a history, one as complex and mysterious and tangled in its own legends as our own. That fallen colossus is one of many clues throughout canon that the Old Republic, the Jedi Order, belief in the Force—all were in decline long before the events of the Prequel Era.

Similarly, it’s clear that Jedha itself, once among the most holy sites in the galaxy, was also only a shadow of its former glory long before it got wiped off the map entirely. From Wookieepedia (again, emphasis mine):

As more of the galaxy was mapped, more direct hyperspace routes were discovered. These new passages made the old, winding routes, such as those connecting with Jedha, obsolete. The once-popular Jedha became an antiquated curiosity rather than a relevant destination, a location for those who desired spiritual guidance, a deeper purpose, or to simply exile themselves from the larger galaxy.

It’s typical Imperial excess to take the idea of Jedha’s long-buried secrets lost to the sands of time and literalize it by blowing the damn thing up. Horace Smith’s Ozymandias is less famous, but as (if not more) relevant to our discussion (“The City’s gone,” anyone?), and I leave you with its last stanza:

We wonder,—and some Hunter may express

Wonder like ours, when thro' the wilderness

Where London stood, holding the Wolf in chace,

He meets some fragment huge, and stops to guess

What powerful but unrecorded race

Once dwelt in that annihilated place.

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mikamangata · 6 years

Text

If BTS attended Hogwarts (Hyung line)

Just a little something I had inside my head for waaaaay too long. Enjoy!

Here pupils go to Hogwarts from the age 14 to 24 (I have a weird brain but it fits nicer with the ‘story’) and the whole thing is set before the Hogwarts battle

—

Kim Namjoon

Fifth year Ravenclaw (you guessed it)

Both parents are muggles; his mother works as a maths teacher and his father owns a bookshop

His mom says Namjoon got his intelligence from his dad because she still has hers (they’re that kind of quirky family)

Best student at Hogwarts (highest grade point average)

His IQ is probably higher than the Hogwarts towers but he’s still an idiot

Sucks at potions (“Kim Namjoon is that a dead rat in your love potion?!” “I’m not sure but it’s definitely not alive anymore.”)

Best friends with Min Yoongi (“You’re the person I hate the second least in this school” “Uhm thanks Yoongi-hyung.”)

Going out with Kim Seokjin since his first year, they’re the power couple of Hogwarts and bicker like they’ve been married for at least ten years

Confessed to Seokjin by accidentally sending him a howler at dinner: “WILL YOU GO OUT WITH ME PLEASE, I THINK I’M IN LOVE WITH YOU!” (To which Yoongi eloquently commented: “By Merlin’s fucking beard can’t I even eat dinner in peace you egg-face ass looking son of a witch.”)

Clumsiest person you will ever meet; lovingly nicknamed by his friends as 'god of destruction’ and 'Jesus Christ don’t touch that’ (Although he is not sure if the last one is a name; people just say it a lot around him)

Once sneezed in transfiguration class and accidentally transformed Hoseok into a banana (Professor McGonagall immediately turned him back but the poor guy hasn’t been the same after that)

Argues with professor Trelawney about the existence of destiny and fate on a regular basis (“I’m sorry professor, but I just don’t think that these tea leaves look like a house elf riding a unicorn so I’m sure I won’t die within the next three minutes please calm down.”)

Wanted to be part of the Ravenclaw quidditch team but after he set his broom on fire and destroyed a quaffle at the first practice he didn’t make it on the team (thank god, people could have died)

Mostly hangs out in the library or in a certain Hufflepuff’s room (if the weather is nice, you can also find him at the lake)

Currently hides about fifty books under his bed (His room was raided by a bunch of teachers a month ago and he lost over seventy books, he’s still searching for the person who told on him but he’s pretty sure it was Taehyung that little shit)

Is a sucker for cute things; owns a dark purple pygmy puff who he lovingly named 'Monnie’ and he takes that little guy everywhere (that thing is just as clumsy as Namjoon; it once nearly drowned after it fell into the toilet)

His patronus is a spider monkey (they have a weird resemblance if you ask Seokjin)

Kim Seokjin

Seventh year Hufflepuff prefect

Pureblood; both of his parents are well-known members of the Ministry of Magic

Absolutely fascinated by muggles (“You just stick it in like that and then it’ll get all hot inside? Won’t that feel weird Joonie?” “No Hyung, you have to take your hand away before you switch on the toaster or you’ll end up getting burned.”

Most beautiful person at Hogwarts if you ask him (and he’s right)

Drinks tea with professor McGonagall every Thursday afternoon and nobody knows what they talk about; Taehyung believes they hid a few muggles somewhere at school and whenever they 'drink tea’ they’re actually feeding them (“What is wrong with you, Taehyung?”)

Him and Namjoon always get free butter beer whenever they visit Hogsmeade because Madam Rosmerta adores Seokjin (I mean who doesn’t?)

Got nearly suspended once for turning his black robe pink and going to class like that (“I don’t care about the dresscode Minerva I look fabulous!”)

The mom of their little rag-tag group of friends

Calls the maknae line his babies (“Are you cold baby? You can have my jacket if you want, we wouldn’t want our dear Jiminie to get sick!” “Thanks Hyung, I’m okay though.”)

Nice and charming character but if you hurt one of his babies he becomes mama-bear and will “wingardium leviosa your ass to wherever it fucking came from”

Always let’s Jimin, Taehyung and Jungkook use the prefects’ bathroom whenever they ask because he can’t say no to the maknaes

Has an adorable sugar glider called 'Odeng’ who’s best friends with Namjoon’s pygmy puff Monnie

Even though he violates the dresscode on a regular basis with different variations of pink, he still scolds the others whenever they don’t put on their uniforms neatly (“Roll your sleeves down Joonie, I won’t go to lunch with you like this.” “I accidentally burned them off in potions class.” “Ugh.”)

Absolutely loves food, nearly as much as he adores Namjoon and the others (“By Merlin if you give me another piece of this pumpkin pie I’ll sacrifice my firstborn to you.” “Jin-hyung please stop, I think you’re scaring Kookie.”)

Does fairly well in all of his classes

Outstanding in herbology and best friends with professor Sprout (“You won’t believe what happened today Ponoma!”)

All the teachers adore him (and most students do too)

Gets tons of Valentine’s Day letters and reads them together with Namjoon (“Isn’t that one cute Joonie?” “Yeah but he spelled beautiful with a "p” and that’s just a no-go for us.“)

His patronus is an armadillo (cute and sweet but extremely protective of the ones he loves)

Min Yoongi

Sixth year Slytherin

Pureblood: his parents are extremely rich and were well-respected members of society

But Yoongi had a rough childhood: the first wizarding war happened and his father is now in Azkaban for being one of Voldemort’s most loyal death eaters

Hates his parents and desperately tries to proof to everyone that he’s not like them (they’re both awful people that despise muggle-born wizards and did horrible things during the war but only his father was convicted because there wasn’t enough evidence against his mother)

Pretends like he doesn’t care about his family but his friends know how much his parents’ doings hurt him

Most students at Hogwarts are intimidated by him even though he’s just a smol bean that likes to act tough

Best friends with Namjoon

Dating Hoseok since second year ("Be careful at the next game, Hoseok-ah.” “Love you too, Hyung” “W-whatever.”)

Hoseok is the only person that’s able to reduce him to a blushing, stuttering mess within seconds (“Do you like that, Hyung?” “No I-” “But I feel the goosebumps on your back.” “Y-your hands a-are c-cold.”)

Has a huge soft spot for Jungkook (who doesn’t, that kid is adorable)

Once tried to poison professor Trelawney for saying Hoseok was going to be eaten alive by a thestral in the next hour (Yoongi had to calm him down, the younger was crying hysterically)

Spent his last three Christmas and summer holidays at Hoseok’s place since his mother “didn’t want him back home if he continued to hang out with these mudbloods”

Got a necklace from Hoseok after two months of dating and in his opinion it’s the only thing in his possession that has value (Yoongi cried once in fourth year because he thought he lost it, after they found it he never took it off again)

Most people think he’s antisocial but he’s almost always around at least one of his six friends

Discovered the room of requirements in his second year after searching for a quiet place to sleep and started using it regularly as a place for all of them to hang out at (and sometimes him and Hoseok spend the night there but that’s another story)

Does surprisingly well in most of his classes (except for herbology but Seokjin always helps him out with that)

Second best student in DADA but only because his parents forced him to learn all kinds of curses and defence spells when he was a child

Is the go-to person for the maknae line when they have troubles with a spell or curse (or a person; Yoongi once nearly cut off a student’s tongue after he called Jimin a mudblood)

Is almost never in the Slytherin common room, said he didn’t like most people there

His patronus is a small, white fox (clever and good at adapting, but easy to hurt once you catch it)

Jung Hoseok

Fifth year Hufflepuff (what else could he be really?)

Halfblood: His mother is a witch who owns a small bakery in Diagon Alley and his muggle-father works as a woodworker near the leaky cauldron

Has five younger sisters and one older one (they’re all muggles though)

Grew up in both worlds so he knows his way around them well

His parents adore Yoongi and treat him like a second son (“Please take good care of him Hoseokie, he looks so thin! Does he even eat enough? Ah that poor sweetheart!” “Yes mom, I’ll take care of him don’t worry.”

Whenever he smiles somewhere the sun rises (yeah that’s a real fact fight me)

Hates Gucci with a passion (“Get that thing away from me Taehyung or I’ll curse your ass like there’s no tomorrow!”)

Has an absolutely catastrophically idiotic owl named Mickey (“Hobi-hyung, what did Mickey just drop into your oatmeal? Is it a package? Did you get something from your parents? What is it?” “…I think it’s a shoe, Kookie, my sisters are probably having a mental breakdown right now.”

Loves all of his friends to bits and is dating Yoongi since his first year after his owl accidentally landed on Yoongi’s head (and Hoseok landed in his heart…sorry)

Shares a room with only Seokjin because of the older’s prefect status; Hoseok enjoyed it until he walked in on Namjoon and Seokjin once (“By Merlin somebody please erase my memory or just kill me.”)

Quidditch captain and the team’s keeper (even though he’s a sweetheart, when it’s about quidditch he doesn’t play)

Does okay in all of his classes, could do better if he concentrated a little less on quidditch but he’s a great captain so that’ll never happen

When they studied boggarts in third year and the McDonald’s clown came out of that creepy closet Hoseok had a lot of explaining to do (“I once nearly suffocated because of a fry when I was like four, I guess I’ll never forget Ronald holding me upside down until I spit it out. That was scary.”)

Once got scared by his own shadow and tried to curse it (“It could’ve been a death eater! You never know!”)

Gets into trouble with the maknae line regularly (especially with Taehyung, that kid is always up to no good)

Sometimes when Yoongi is sad, Hoseok flies them onto one of the many roofs and they watch the stars until it’s morning (and Hoseok would only take a thin blanket with him to make Yoongi cuddle with him)

His patronus is an otter (it 'swims’ through the air like Hoseok does, just without a broom)

—

Author’s note: Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! If there are any grammar or spelling mistakes, please tell me so I can correct them and learn from it! Constructive criticism is always welcomed!^^ Here’s the Maknae Line

#bts #fanfiction #kpop #kim namjoon #kim seokjin #min yoongi #jung hoseok #hogwarts au #alternative universe hogwarts #bts fanfiction #yoonseok #namjin #harry potter au without harry potter #bts hogwarts au #bts harry potter au

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scribblesandimaginings · 6 years

Text

Father and Son

I finally have a request! I wanted to ask if you could write an alternate ending for yondu. One where he is intercepted into the ship and the reader, who is quite the angry and passionate person, doesn’t accept him dying because she’s accidentally pregnant by him. so she tasers him because she’s angry and sure it’ll bring him back while everyone else thinks she’s crazy and when he comes back she tells him when he’s safely alive again recovering. he’s shocked and excited but it’s just pure fluff.

-----

You ran from the other end of the ship, as fast as you could. This wasn’t happening. It couldn’t be. He wasn’t dead. He couldn’t be dead.

“Peter?” you called, getting closer. Your voice betrayed exactly how panicked you felt. He was kneeling over Yondu. The thin sheet of ice that had descended over Yondu’s face was starting to fade back, from the warmth inside the ship. “He’s alive, isn’t he? He has to be. Peter, tell me he’s alive”

The look on Peter’s face was fully of pity and of hurt. He shook his head. “He’s gone”

Your blood ran cold. “No. He can’t be.” you said determinedly.

“Y/N, he’s dead” Peter snapped, wiping the tears from his eyes as he slowly got to his feet.

Your brain refused to accept it. “No. No I don’t believe you” you pushed past him and fell at Yondu’s side, checking for a pulse, for breathing, for anything. “Wake up” you breathed, staring at him. “Come on, wake up” you shook his shoulders in desperation.

Peter pulled you back by your shoulder, all but throwing you aside, “Y/N he’s dead. Will you just stop!” He was upset and angry, and I didn’t care.

“He’s not gone! Not yet!” You crawled back to Yondu’s side. By now the others had joined you. There soft voices told you to let go, that it was over, that Yondu was gone. But you wouldn’t listen. How could you? “Get up! Come on! Wake up!” There were tears running down your face as you frantically tried to shake Yondu back to consciousness.

“Will you just leave him alone!” Peter barked at you. He grabbed you by the arm, hauling you to your feet roughly.

You lashed out, “Get off me!”

“Just stop it!” He yelled.

You pushed against him, emotion fueling you both. How could he just give up like this? Yondu wasn’t gone, not yet, he couldn’t be. He didn’t have a heartbeat, but if you could just restart his heart- of course. Restart his heart.

As you grappled with Peter you managed to get one hand free, unholstering your tazer. The others cried out, telling you to stop, asking what in the stars you thought you were doing. Maybe they thought you were going to hurt Peter. But none of them were quick enough to grab your tazer away from you.

You took aim, your arm extended below Peters, as you looked over his shoulder. One shot to the centre of the chest. That’s all it would take. You fired, and the second you did, Peter’s fist collided with your face. You didn’t see if you’d hit your mark.

Peter punched at you again, and you retaliated. The pair of you were now on the floor, knocking lumps out each other. The rest of the Guardians were trying to pull you apart - Groot stood off to one side yelling at you all.

You had taken the brunt of it, trapped on your back, with Peter being bigger and stronger than you by far. You were sure that the next blow Peter would land would knock you out, but he stopped mid swing - from behind you both, there was a deep scratchy gasp.

“Yondu” you breathed.

Everyone stopped.

With the strength you had left, you pushed Peter off you, and clambered to Yondu’s side. He was breathing. He had a pulse. He was alive. You sobbed in relief, collapsing, your head on his chest, your arms wrapped around him awkwardly.

Peter got to his feet behind you, “He- he’s alive?”

You managed to nod.

-----

It had been days, but you hadn’t left Yondu’s side for more than a few minutes at a time. You were determined to be there when he woke up.

It was the middle of the night when his eyes eventually began to flicker, everyone else on board was asleep. “Yondu” you called softly, standing from the chair at the bedside to sit on the edge of the bed, near him, “Yondu, can you hear me?”

“I can hear ya” he mumbled, his words slightly slurred as he came back to the edge of consciousness.

You smiled as he opened his eyes and saw you, “Hey”

He laughed weakly, “Hey yerself, sweetcheeks - what the Hell happened to ya?” he frowned.

“Oh the...” you gestured to your face, the black eye and bruised cheek, “Peter and I had a small falling out, it’s all sorted now though. Don’t worry about it”

“Damn it girl” he mumbled. He looked around, working out that it was late, “What ya doin’ here?”

You laughed, a light blush rising on your cheeks, “I was waiting for you to wake up”

“Alrigh’...“ he said, looking puzzled. You watched as he tried to think back, figure out what had happened. Eventually he locked eyes with you and said, carefully, “I should be dead, how come I ain’t?”

“I, uh, tazed you - it got your heart started again”

For a moment he said nothing, “So ya saved me?”

“I don’t think the others would call it that” you said with a shaky laugh.

He sat up slowly, wincing, “Wha’ happened?” You explained quietly. As you told him exactly what had happened once he’d given Peter his suit, he took your hand in his, and when you were done he nodded. “I see”

You smiled at him softly, “How are you feeling?”

“My head’s killin me, Darlin’ - thanks for askin’” Together you laughed. “Ya know,” he said, “after tha’ night we had, I honestly didn’t think I’d be seein’ ya so soften”

You smiled, “I don’t think I did either”

“Not tha’ I’m complainin’, or nothing, I’m jus’ surprised a young thing like yerself would want ta be spendin’ so much time w’ a handsome old Ravager like me - most girls yer age don’t have such good taste” he laughed, winking at you.

You had wanted to do this softly, delicately, but the words escaped your mouth before you could shape them the way you wanted. “...I’m pregnant”

You both sat there, still as statues, waiting on the other to say something. “Yer... yer gonna have... a baby?”

“Yeah”

“Is it...” Yondu hesitated, he looked more serious than you’d ever seen him before, “Is it... mine?”

You nodded, and whispered, “Yes” You bit your lip, nervously.

You could almost see his heart skip a beat, “And do you... Do you want to... Are you gonna...?”

“I-I’m going to have this child” You said firmly. You were terrified, what if he didn’t want...?

A smile pulled at his lips, as he let out a shaky laugh, “Do... do ya want me... around? I mean, I...” You didn’t think he’d been so nervous in his life.

“Of course I do, but if you don’t want to-”

“No, I want to” he cut you off, “I do, I really do, I swear to ya”

“Okay” you said, with a shaky laugh.

“Okay, Darlin’“ he nodded. He pulled you closer to him, one arm round your waist, and kissed you softly. Under his breath you quietly heard him whisper, “I’m gonna be a dad”

#yondu #yondu udonta #gotg #guardians of the galaxy #marvel #yondu x reader #reader x yondu #yondu udonta x reader #reader x yondu udonta #yondu fic #yondu udonta fic #gotg fic #guardians of the galaxy fic #marvel fic #pregnant reader #injury to reader

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drdedd0c · 7 years

Text

Zombietale: The New Hope Ch3

Ch 3 The Birth Of A New Age

4 Months Have Passed And The House The Survivors Have Been Using, Has Held On, Surprisingly Everyone Kept Being Well Nourished And Fed Because Toriel Suggested Making A Fortified Wall Which Had Crops To Grow And It Worked Well, As Long As Noise Was To A Minimum, Alaron Smith Was Out On A Supply Run And Was Walking Around Town Until He Came Across A Giant Building, That’s 5 Stories Which It Was Part Of A Former Building That Used To Do Accounting For The School That Alaron Worked At, In The Front Had Warnings Saying It’s In U.S. Military Occupation And Not To Be Tampered With. However The Gate Was Busted Wide Open And Humans And Monsters In Hazmat Suits, American Military Fatigues, And Four Scientists Dead But Not Infected Yet Just Dead, Bodies Showed Signs Of Scars And Even Being Burned Torso And Even The Head That They Can’t Be Reanimated, Alaron Walks Through The Broken Gate And More Dead Military Personnel Lie There Dead Smelling Of Rot And Ashes, “The Smell Here Is Recent, What Happened Here?” Alaron Moves A Body Over And Finds That The Person And Some Other People There Are In Firefighter Uniforms, Gas Tanks, Gas Masks, With Assault Rifles And Flamethrowers “Who Are These Guys?” Alaron Adventures All Floors and Found Lots Of Supplies Along With More Dead Soldiers And The Ones In The Weird Pyro Wear But The Disturbing Part Was When He Went To The Top Floor And Found a Office With A Coughing Person, He Enters The Office And Finds A Human Military General Holding A Wound And Coughing Leaning On A Desk With A 44. Magnum Revolver And A Dead Monster In The Same Gear As The Ones In Fire Fighter Clothing Lieing 4 Feet From Him “Oh My God, What Happened?” Alaron Said In Shock “The- The God.. Damned C… Cleaners Raided Th… This… Base” The General Coughs “Who Are You And Who Are The Cleaners?” “G- General… R- Rus.. Russell W- Ward, Ge.. General And” The General Coughs Loudly Causing Blood To Come Out “Leader Of The United St.. States Army” He Manages “Th… The Cleaners A.. Are A Clan Of Chao… Chaotic People Who.. Burn Everything.. They See, My Soldiers Made It Did They? What About Sergeant Peterson? He’s A Monster Wolf Type” “No I’m Sure They’re All Dead, Just Look Out There, Also Your General Of The United States Army? Thought The US Had Their Own Problems” “W- Well, The President Asked Us To Try Contain Canada, We.. F.. Failed, Fucking Prick..L.. Led Us Into A Death Trap, Listen I.. I Don’t Have Much Time Left.. Please Kill Me” “Well That Depends, General Are You Bitten” “N- No I’m Just In Very Bad Pain, I Can’t live like This Man” Alaron Tries To Use Charisma To Prevent It And Calm Him “Well I Can Take You Somewhere We Have Medical Supplies” “I. I. Goddamnit, You’re Pretty Good With Words, I’ll Give You That. Alright Then.. Take Me Ther-” He Coughs hardly Again Causing More Blood To Come Out “Shit, Come On General” Alaron Picks General Ward Up And Carries Him Back To The House, Once He Arrives The General Is Still Alive And Toriel Cares For Him, Later General Ward Is On A Bed And Is Healed Up A Bit And Alaron Is Sitting Next To Him “I Have To Say Civilian, You’re Quite The Survivor, What’s Your Name?” “Alaron Smith, Anything Else General?” “No, No That’s Fine. Thank You Alaron” “Well Since You’re Healed Up Could You Get Into Contact With The United States?” Toriel Asks “Negative Ma’am I Don’t Think I Can Do That, But The Building Alaron Pulled Me From Could Be Used As A Base, The Outer Walls Are Intact And Only The Gate Is Busted But Regardless We Could Remake Base, That Is If You’re Willing To Get Rid Of This Place Here” “Get Rid Of It? But Why?” “Well The Current Status Of Where We’re In If A Horde Comes Then We’ll Be Overrun That’s Why We Need A More Fortified Wall, And At Least 3 Floors High, The One Alaron Pulled Me Out Of Is 5 Stories, Has A Radio, And Is Stocked With Firearms, Plus We Were Going To Fight The Canadian Military Mainly Because They Are Planning To Kill Civilians Infected Or Not” “So That’s Why They Are Keeping Crates To Themselves” Alaron Said “Not Only That, But I’ve Heard They’re Trying To Make A Quarantine Zone Around PEI And Carpet Bomb It So The Origin Won’t Spread Longer, And Since An American AC 130 Soared Over Canada Cameras Have Spotted, Well, That Nests Were Being Made There, Pictures Stated That They Are Even Still Growing In Numbers, Which That Explains The Hordes All Over The Cities” “Damn So There’s A Chance That Civilians Could Be Bombed As Well?” Alaron Asks “Yep They’ll Also Bomb Them If They Get The Chance, But I Believe No Civilian Is Alive In There, I Mean What Are The Chances?” “You’re Right No One In PEI Might Be Alive Worst Case Zombies There Are Stronger, More Aggressive And In Larger Numbers” “Well You’ve Been Doing Your Homework Alaron, I Admire That. You Might Just Be An Asset” “Asset? Like What” “Well You Basically Got Skill, We Could Use That Now Days” “You Aren’t Wrong About That” “I Was Wasn’t I? Well Back To Business” General Ward Sits Up And On The Edge Of The Bed “We Liberate That base, We’ll Be Able To Be More Safe Than This Current Place, And We’ll Be Able To Drag In More Survivors To Make Sure The Future Of Canada Is Ensured” “Wait If You’re The General Of The United States? Why Are You Caring About Canada?” “Well I’m Sure Because He Cares About The Civilians” Toriel Replies “That And The President Told Us To Eliminate What’s Here, And The Ground Zero Of The Infection, But We Might Aswell Want To Get Somewhere At Least Far From Here As This Area Is Seemingly Too Unstable To Be A Fort, In Fact If A Horde Hits You’d All End Up Dead” “That Would Make Sense Since I Made The Perimeter Wall Out Of Chain Link And Wood” “Not A Bad One But Still Too Fragile Incase A Horde” “Alright Let’s Get Everyone Packed Up Then, The Sooner We Get To The Building The Better Chance We Have At Being Well Fortified” “Wise Choice Alaron, Let Me Just Get packed As Well” Everyone at The House Pack Up All The Supplies They Could And Travel Together To The Tower, Once They Make It, They Burn All The Bodies That Were Present Inside After that General Ward Went To the Radio Area And Set A Broadcast “Attention Canada, This Is General Russell Ward Of The United States Military, I’m Currently With Survivors At A Military Claimed Building, The Canadian Military Are To Stand Down When Nearby Otherwise They Will Be Shot On Sight, If Anyone Outside Of Canada Is Hearing This Please Send Any Military Here Thank You, We Will Also Provide Supplies To Those In Need, General Russell Ward Out” The General Gets Off The Radio And Repeats The Message “Alaron, I Can’t Say How Grateful I Am To Have You On My Side, I’m Glad it Was You That Pulled Me Out Of The Building When It Was In Ruins, But It Doesn’t End There, I Do Suspect There Is Some Soldiers Out There Who Aren’t Trying To Take Our Broadcast Seriously, So We Need Civilians To Know We Want To Help Them Not To Look Corrupt But To Help, Any Suggestions?” “Well For One We Need Something Welcoming” Toriel Says “But At Least Not Too Threatening If We’re Gonna Have Guards Exterior Wise” Monster Teen “Well If Anything Were Going To Have To Make Sure We Restrict The Ones Unwelcome” Sans Says “Well I See Lots Of Mind Here, Good To Know, All Ideas Are Great But Don’t Expect All To Come Into Play Now Lets Take This Easy At Least, So Let’s Just Think Simply” All The Friends Work On The Fence, A Farm, And Cleaning The Bodies Around The Area, Frisk Was One Of The People Pulling The Bodies Out Got To The Last One Which Was A Cleaner Lunged At Her And Tried Biting Him, Frisk Just Held Him Back Not Attacking, Alaron Then Comes To The Zombie, Pulls Him Back, Puts A Pistol To His Head And Pulls The Trigger Which Suppressed The Sound Because The Barrel Was Right On His Head, After That Alaron Looked Around For Weapons Frisk Could’ve Used, None Around “Th- Thank You Alaron” Frisk Said After He Looked Around “No Problem, Just Make Sure You’re Careful Next Time” Alaron Said Before Continuing With The Fence, Few Hours Pass And A Group Of Survivors Come To The Gates “Hey We Heard Your Broadcast, Do You Have Food?” “Yeah How Much Ounces You Need?” “There’s 3 Of Us, Me, My Girlfriend, And My Friend. Were Living At A House Far From Here” “Alright Let Me Just Grab It For You” Alaron Goes To Grab Some Food aNd Comes Back To Give Them The Cans “Here Ya Go” He Opens The Gates And Puts The Bag Of Food On The Ground And Backs Up “Thank You, You Guys Are A Huge Help” “Stay Safe Out There” The 3 Walk Away And Soon Night Fall Comes Alaron Was Not Done Yet So He Turned On Some Floodlights, That Were In The Base Once He Was Done Electrifying And Reinforcing The Fence He Puts A Lock Good For The Gate On It And Starts Putting Some Defences Around Like Plywood Planks On Windows And Sandbags Around “Hmm, If We Help People, That Gives Them Hope, No Hope Can Be In The World Ever Now Days, So We Could Bring It Back And New. The New Hope, Thats What We Should Name Ourselves, But Then How would We Make Ourselves Known To Everyone? A Banner That’s Right, A Banner Design Meaning Peace, Order, Yes That’s It, But How Should It Be Made?” Alaron Sits In The Courtyard Thinking He Walks Inside Going To The Beds Area “I’ll Ask The Others Later” Later He Falls Asleep

#Zombietale #Undertale

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