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seventeenlovesthree · 11 months

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Digimon Adventure “trauma dump” - who is even aware of what?

While doing chores, I once again had a few German dub episodes of Adventure on in the back - and I realized that, sometimes, it’s easy to forget that, especially in a series with that many characters, we are absolutely having a viewer bias. We as outside observers know way more than the kids (and their partners) do about each other, so one might tend to forget that not everybody CAN react to certain things in the same way. Let’s take a look at the most crucial moments and see how much the squad is aware of each other’s trauma - JUST in season 1.

Taichi: While everyone can SEE his temporary downfall into a false sense of ambition - and the depression that follows after that - in the Etemon arc, only few of them actually may have an idea where all of this stems from. Sora, having known him from football club, is aware of his usually more selfless tendencies and tries to explain it to the others. However, it is also not known whether she knows about his tragic past with Hikari. Because as we see in the Dark Masters’ arc, he only opens up about that to Koushirou and their Digimon partners - and also loses it several times in front of them emotionally (leading to very self-sacrificial tendencies as well). Prior to Hikari joining the team, none of them seemed even aware that he HAD a sister - and thus, it is no surprise that Yamato once accused him of not knowing how he felt about being an inadequate older brother... Hikari has known him all her life of course and has a more or less accurate, albeit idealizing perception of her brother, even if he pulls himself together in front of her. (In the novels, Yamato later accuses Taichi of being too soft because of Hikari - and that shows that he doesn’t have a grasp of what has happened to him/them.) And obviously, Agumon has been around throughout all of Taichi’s development and has seen all his lowest lows - and the reasoning behind his behaviour. Taichi does have a lot of internal monologues as well, but Agumon still at least witnesses a lot of the things that may or may not have traumatized him - and if he has to join him in an alternate dimension to watch his child self fall from a bike to do so. I would argue that Mimi and Takeru see his inner struggles the least, Jyou assumably has an idea, but doesn’t know the exact whereabouts.

Yamato: First and foremost, while Gabumon goes through Yamato’s development cycle in a similar way as Agumon goes through Taichi’s, Yamato may be even more prone to resort to internal monologues. Because Gabumon actually has to guess a lot more about why Yamato acts the way he does - especially in the Dark Masters’ arc at first. It’s only by the end of it, during his dark cave scene, that Yamato REALLY opens up to him about his inferiority complexes in regards to Taichi and Takeru. Prior to that... There isn’t that much. Taichi does get a few glimpses (and an emotional outbreak) out of him very early in the season and definitely has an awareness of how much the (somewhat uneven) relationship to Takeru affects him. Which may or may not be the main trigger for Yamato clashing against Taichi the most. That aside, the others mainly witness his more aggressive outbursts and barely get an explanation for it, especially Takeru and Jyou - who are also the ones who see his transformation towards the light side by the end of the series. While Sora may try to empathize with him on several occasions, Mimi and Hikari know him the least. Koushirou is one of the few characters he had an actual, albeit short heart to heart with at one point about Yamato’s wish to evolve himself further too (and he is probably still baffled at that - especially if you compare it to their novel relationship, in which it is outright stated that their perception of one another is skewed and that they have a hard time understanding each other).

Sora: Interestingly enough, despite Sora being the one who tries to care about the others while keeping her problems to herself the most, she’s actually one of the characters the group (presumably) knows the most about in terms of her trauma. At least a good chunk of them does. She shrouds herself in mystery at first, only to then be (gently) forced by Taichi, Yamato and Takeru to open up about her relationship with her mother, her thinking that she doesn’t know what love is and that she’s only acting out of obligation - and each of the three boys has their own way of dealing with (and relating to) that (due to their own family related issues). Unfortunately, the other three do not witness that. With Piyomon, we can see that Sora doesn’t outright tell her everything, but that she tries her best to understand and put the puzzle pieces together (especially in the novels - and then again muuuuch later in Tri and To Sora, but let’s not get ahead here). During her own dark cave scene, Yamato and Takeru are joined by Jyou trying to tell her that she’s capable of making choices and that she’s not obliged to just act... Mimi may have a general idea of Sora’s inner struggles, which is why she tries to return the gentle reassurance in later parts of the series. Koushirou may, at this point in time, know the least about her in that regard.

Koushirou: Oh boy. This part may actually end up being the shortest - because aside from Tentomon always being by his side, none of the other characters really witnesses his most daunting moments throughout the entire first season. And even then, Tentomon has a lot of guessing work (and eavesdropping) to do, because Koushirou doesn’t easily open up. While Taichi obviously has known him and his habits even before camp, he, just like everyone else, is not around when he has his epiphanies about his adoption, when he is stuck in a pocket dimension losing his way for 72 days, etc. Everyone else can basically just work off of assumptions about his behaviour and why he is the way he is (like Mimi, who is easily overwhelmed by his attitude at first), but even then, just like Sora does, it’s more likely that Koushirou’s contributing to somebody else working through their trauma (like in Taichi’s and Yamato’s cases).

Mimi: As I had pointed out in a previous post, Mimi may be one of the few characters who was not traumatized prior to the events of the series. However, she is also one of the characters most affected by what is actually happening around her - so it is Sora who clearly understands why she got so easily corrupted due to being overwhelmed and encourages her to do the right thing. Jyou also has a good understanding of why she is the way she is, which is why he stays behind with her in the Dark Master’s arc and they both try to sort out their priorities and open up about why they behave in certain (maybe considered selfish) ways. The others are more or less seen often struggling (or avoiding to interact) with her; Taichi somewhat gets her and plays along, Takeru is usually just vibing with her; Koushirou may struggle the most, but also at least tries to get on the same page with her; Yamato definitely can empathize with her emotional reasoning at times, but doesn’t usually interact with her. She’s generally vibing with Palmon too, who has a more or less solid grasp of Mimi’s antics, even if there are parts where she is struggling with her as well.

Jyou: Similarly to previous cases, Jyou is more prone to “inner monologue-ing” to the point of self sabotage. And interestingly enough, even if he appears to fall more into the same category as Sora because of that, he’s actually more similar to Taichi in that regard. Especially because, just like Agumon, Gomamon naturally witnesses Jyou’s struggles and is thus, more or less, able to put 1 and 1 together as to WHY he is the way he is - and then tries to poke these tendencies out of him in a more aggressive way. Jyou is not exactly prone to opening up to others either, but thanks to his development and realizations, involving heroic actions and speeches, all other characters witness at least one moment of courage when he is around. Still, Mimi may be the one who actually hears the most about his fears and struggles during their journey together in the Dark Masters’ arc, with him wanting to find his own way of doing things aside from expectations and peer pressure. Yamato, Takeru and Sora may have a good grasp of what he went through due to their experiences with him, but don’t know the whole story (novel!Jyou was close to opening up to Yamato, but chose not to burden him). Taichi may just be able to just guess what exactly is going on but it’ll take him a few years to fully relate to that, similarly with Koushirou (who seems to have a much better understanding for Jyou in the PSP games, actually noticing him being less gloomy and such).

Takeru: Oh boy, once more. I think it is fair to say that the events of the series nurtured his trauma more than actually helping him to alleviate it. Since he’s the youngest throughout the majority of the series, he doesn’t really vent to anyone in order not to be an additional burden. He wants to be seen as an equal part of the squad after all. While Yamato may have a very simplified version of him in his head that pampers him a lot (and takes until the end of the series to let him be more independent), Taichi at least encourages him to do his own thing, having his big brother senses at full display. Which is why he may or may not have a good understanding as to why Takeru is so attached to him as well. Takeru’s monologue-ing a lot as well and, if anything, his rants (and outbursts) are usually directed at Patamon - which is mainly a good thing, because the conflicts these two go through help them to sort out their feelings at least a little better. Sora may have a better grasp of his issues than others and also encourages him to to step up on several occasions. Jyou is very similar here, being a younger brother himself who can make assumptions and also ends up rescuing Takeru a lot. With Mimi and Koushirou, it’s usually just general vibing, which doesn’t go deeper than that. Last but not least, Hikari may be able to get a good first impression of him due to all their similarities and her being empathetic, even if they don’t have a lot of time to adapt - they went through stuff together (even if he ends up burdening himself with the idea that he HAS to protect her at all costs, so she definitely also sees a more idealized version of him)...

Hikari: Due to her lack of screentime, attachment to her brother and limited (emotional) interaction with the others, a lot of them can only really guess what is going on. Taichi is overly protective of her due to what they went through together as children and is majorly afraid of burdening/hurting/losing her; he of course has a general understanding of her not wanting to be a burden to anyone, but since Hikari is a literal enigma, it is very difficult for anyone to see through all her inner struggles. Yamato clearly has his own big brother senses tingling when he sees her crying; in terms of protectiveness, the same goes for Sora and Takeru when Hikari gets sick - but they don’t know the backstory, her proneness to sickness, her selflessness, etc. That is still reserved for Taichi trauma dumping on Koushirou, who also realizes very early on that Hikari is having a deeper connection to the Digital World than they may have initially thought (even if he doesn’t really have an emotional bond to her at this point in time, he’s still protective of her for her and Taichi’s sake). One needs to keep in mind that we hear all of that just from Taichi’s perspective though. Tailmon isn’t being told what is going on at this point in time and doesn’t know or understand a lot yet either, but that is also due to the lack of time and she is, obviously, protective regardless.

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suffersinfandom · 3 months

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gifset by seraph-novak

So there’s a critique of this scene (and Ed in season two as a whole) that I haven’t been able to shake. The post went into how the whole mermaid sequence was ruined by the rest of the season -- about how this beautiful scene was, put in the context of Ed’s behavior in the rest of season two, an ominous rebirth of a villain. The writer couldn’t see Ed as a protagonist finding the will to live; they saw a monster getting another chance to terrorize his victims.

I really hate that. I’ve already typed way too much about how I don’t think that Ed is abusive or that the Kraken Era was all that bad, so of course I disagree with any take that characterizes Ed as a monster. But do you know why this post stuck with me?

It made me unreasonably sad.

There’s a danger in over-identifying with characters (and I do think that a lot of the tension in OFMD fandom comes from over-identification), but it’s so easy for me to understand what Ed’s going through in the first three episodes of season two. I’ve been there. Judging by this post, many of us have been where Ed is.

We’ve struggled to live while we’re drowning. We’ve been trapped and hopeless and desperate for a reason to keep going -- for someone to give us hope that things can be better.

And we’ve also hurt people in our despair.

When I was in my Kraken Era, I was a sick college student who’d been fighting depression since middle school. I’d just escaped a “friendship” with someone who (I can admit in retrospect) abused me mentally and emotionally, and I had no other friends because that person had effectively isolated me. I was alone and I was convinced that I was a fundamentally unlovable person who had no right to exist.

I pushed the few people I had around me away. I isolated myself from my mother as much as I could while living in her house. I cut off communication with my online acquaintances (who would later become good friends) and didn’t speak to anyone at school. For a while, I was so focused on my pain and self hatred that I barely thought about other people. It was an intensely selfish and self-centered existence, and I hurt my mom and everyone who could’ve been a friend. When you're in that desperately hopeless, depressed mindset, you don't care about hurting people because your own pain is so all-consuming. If anything, you want to hurt others so they'll give up on you in the same way you've given up on yourself.

It’s different from what Ed did, of course, because he’s not me and I wasn’t a pirate captain with the lives of a crew in my hands. The harm I could cause was severely limited by my lack of power, but I still caused it. I was still trying to isolate and cut ties and push away anyone who could’ve helped me even when I desperately wanted help. I wasn’t a good person.

Watching Ed go through a self-destructive arc that’s immediately identifiable, deeply personal, and so well done was incredible, and seeing the show support him instead of demonizing his behavior? I have no words for the way I felt during season two’s run.

OFMD makes Ed a sympathetic character who’s worth loving even when he’s at his lowest. It gives us a lead who fucks up when he’s in the depths of his despair and it doesn’t pity him or wave away his problems or make a monster out of him. It doesn’t even have his romantic interest save him! Instead, it lets Ed save himself when he realizes that there’s still hope and love out there.

This show reminded me that we’re not monsters even if we’ve hurt people. It told me that recovery is possible, and so is forgiveness. It asked me to keep loving Ed through his entire arc, and in doing that, it forced me to love the parts of me that I’m still working on as well.

So I know that I shouldn’t be bothered by people who see season two Ed as an irredeemable monster who gets an undeserved second shot at life, y’know? But even though I’m a decade and a half out of my own Kraken Era, I’m still in a perpetual state of recovery. There’s always a persistent doubt -- a suspicion that there’s a fundamental flaw in me that no amount of therapy will fix -- and that doubt latched onto some random person’s conviction that Ed is a monster. It says, If Ed will always be a monster, what about you?

And I know that voice is wrong because it’s always been a liar. I know that it doesn’t matter that some portion of the fanbase turned on Ed in season two because that man isn’t real and he’s not me. I know that, for people who haven’t experienced something that was reflected in Ed’s arc, it might be difficult to sympathize with him (and with real life people who blow their lives up in their despair).

There will always be people who don’t understand or can’t empathize with that kind of desperate hopelessness, but there are also many, many people who get it… and some of those people were clearly in season two's writer’s room. Some of those people are in this fandom.

I guess what I’m getting at is this: I hope that, if you saw yourself in Ed’s early season two story, you know that you’re not a monster and you’re not a villain in someone else’s story, no matter what anyone else says. I hope you know that you’re worthy of love.

I hope you know you’re not alone.

#ofmd #me typing things #edward teach #cw suicide #tw suicide #look i just have some feelings okay #i love ed teach #i love being forced to like myself more because of ed #our flag means death #mental health

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autistichanseo · 1 year

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What If Gaus Electronics was a daydream Jang Hanseo made up to deal with the abuse he was going through? Hear me out:

Okay to start off: I don’t actually think the show was made with the intention of well, being an escapism Jang Hanseo made to deal with everything so I won’t call it a theory or anything.

But head canon that maybe, maybe Hanseo made up a world where he was the main character just, living a normal office job. Living a boring, normal ordinary life far away from his current position as puppet CEO.

The structure of Gaus Electronics is similar to a cartoon. When Sangsik gets hurt (e.g. when he lost a tooth in the first episode) he magically regains it later on. It’s all silly and lighthearted and nothing truly devastating happens in the show, the only injuries that stay longer then a few scenes are needed to progress the plot (e.g Narae’s arms being in casts so Sangsik and Aziz have to look after her.)

Sangsik makes a potentially catastrophic mistake in the first episode for the company he works at, but this mistakes ends up helping the company. It means Marketing Team 3 gain a lot more respect than they had before.

He makes a mistake and it doesn’t hurt him or lead to awful consequences, which we know for a fact isn’t the case for Hanseo. Even the smallest mistake leads Hanseok to hurt Hanseo or could be fatal for the company. He has to deal with the weight of always having to please his brother (whose impulsive, erratic and mood can switch drastically at the drop of a pen) while also making sure he doesn’t mess up anything as the fake CEO of babel.

Thats a lot of pressure, constantly on his shoulders.

But in this universe he doesn’t have either of those things.

Why not make a world where he could imagine what it’s like to just make mistakes like every other human being and not get hurt for it? To be allowed to grow from them and learn rather than live in fear of what would happen to him for doing so?

Moreover, it wasn’t even Sangsik who uploaded the video in the first place publicly!! It was Mr. Cho the invisible dude (I think that’s his name) which is a great metaphor of how Hanseo has to take the fall for all of Hanseok’s mistakes publicly.

Things that weren’t even his fault he had to apologise for! To the public! He had to endure the hate and backlash for all of it!

Maybe Hanseo in his head makes up this entire universe. He’s the main character, he works for some random office in this world in the lowest Marketing Team. He was never allowed to suggest ideas to Hanseok, but now its his job! It’s his job to come up with ways to market the company he works at!

Hanseo has lived in riches his whole life and it’s all he knows (e.g. how he reacted to the Jipuragi office) so maybe what Matan thought living a normal life was like is what Hanseo thought it was like.

Maybe Hanseo projected onto Matan, and that’s why Sangsik wanted to become Matan’s older brother so badly.

He wanted to be the older brother to him he never got.

And maybe if he also plays the older brother, he could make sure he wouldn’t be hurt again.

Anyone who “hates” Sangsik in the show comes to love him (Narae) or secretly do love him even if they pretend they don’t (Mr. Baek). He has people who care for him and love him even if he’s “stupid” and messes up. Something Hanseo desperately wanted.

He wanted a family. And that’s exactly what Marketing Team 3 could be for him. Even if they were fake. Even if they were made up.

He could at least imagine what it felt like to be happy if he wasn’t allowed to be so.

(@seerya @dongyeonsimp since I’ve converted you guys to this hc 🫶🏼)

#theres probably more I could add and I will when I remember #poor hanseo man #tvn vincenzo #jang hanseo #빈센조 #gaus electronics #kdrama #i might make a fic about this hc #or art who knows #he makes a full blown map of everything and hanseok catches him #and straight up rips it up #and hanseo cries because its the one thing he had for himself #jang han seo #mypost #gaus hanseo daydream hc

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dreamedofyou · 2 years

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Porsche & Smoking

I've been thinking about Porsche and his smoking habits ever since we saw him say he wanted to quit smoking in ep 8. I can't help but shake the feeling that it's one of those details to help us understand him better and showcase his character development (because why else would they have included that line, right?).

Putting it under a cut just in case some people feel like it's clogging up the tag/their dash.

The first time we see Porsche smoke is after he's had sex with a bar customer and I thought nothing of it at the time, apart from seeing it as just one of his habits (it was the first episode, so both of the main characters were still getting established, meaning it's not unusual for directors/writers to include a scene of someone smoking for no other purpose than to establish someone is a smoker).

However, the more episodes I'd seen, the more it seemed to me that there was a pattern emerging. Namely, that we see Porsche smoke after a stressful situation or whenever he's in emotional turmoil a lot. For example, this is the case in episode 2 after the apple shooting incident.

The first thing he does after the adrenaline wears off and his fear catches up to him is grab a smoke, which is very telling. It shows the audience that Porsche alleviates stress through smoking. Cigarettes help him calm down (which is not uncommon among smokers, at least those I know irl) and take some of that edge off. In other words, he needs a smoke to cope.

From this point on, the idea is reinforced in several of the scenes in which Porsche smokes. That time when he can't bear watching Pete and Ken beat up the man disloyal to Kinn's family in ep 3? The first thing he does after Pete takes him outside is indulge in a cigarette, and based on his expression and the way he takes that drag you can just tell he felt relief, like he couldn't wait to do it in order to ease his mind.

The bathroom breakdown in ep 5? Which is arguably the scene in which he's hit his lowest point so far, mentally speaking? He smokes.

Actually, throughout the entirety of episode 5 Porsche only ever grabs a cigarette when he gets emotionally overwhelmed in some way. He's clearly struggling during the scene where he tries to hook up with a random bar customer again. He isn't in the mood to do that when Yok points him in the woman's direction but he goes for it anyway. He tries so hard to convince himself that he can go back to doing what he's always done, that Kinn having sex with him hasn't affected him in the way it has. So when he fails, when he can't "perform" like he's done countless times before and the woman walks away, which leaves him with nothing but his distraught emotions, he immediately turns to smoking again.

(I love this image so much because it really shows the turmoil he's feeling in this moment.)

Now, all of that isn't to say he only ever smokes whenever he's stressed, because there are times when he goes for a casual smoke, but such is the nature of smokers. Sometimes they'll smoke just because they need/want a cigarette. Even during a few of those scenes, however, there's an underlying presence of stress or unease in his life.

(This is him smoking just before the confrontation with Macau in ep 2. Remember, Porsche has had a really rough time throughout the episode getting used to a completely new world and messing up a lot. So he was definitely going through it mentally.)

(The party in episode 7 was right after quite possibly the most dangerous mission Porsche has been a part of since working for the Theerapanyakul family, so letting loose with the help of cigarettes and alcohol after coming back from such a high-stakes situation feels natural.)

Anyways, I'd like to come back to the scene I mentioned in my very first sentence – the one that prompted me to start thinking about Porsche's relationship with smoking in the first place and write this whole thing.

The implications of him thinking about quitting are, imo, huge, because quitting cigarettes also means throwing away one of his coping methods, the thing that grounds him when he feels too on edge. So maybe, just maybe that's because he's starting to feel like he doesn't need to cope anymore. Whether that's because he doesn't feel as stressed/anxious anymore (he's been really happy and full of joy during ep 8 prior to the scene above) or because he's found something (or someone) that helps calm him down instead, it's all due to his relationship with Kinn.

(What does he do when he's deathly afraid of being haunted by Tawan's ghost? Smoke to calm down? Or call Kinn?)

The fact that he wants to quit smoking for the first time ever (as far as we've seen) indicates that he feels happier, calmer and in a much better mental state in general.

Too bad we all know it won't last. 🙃

#idk I just wanted to talk about how Porsche smoking is portrayed in the series and what that might say for the character #maybe I'm overanalysing but isn't that what we're all here for?#kinnporsche #kinnporsche the series #kinnporsche meta #(should I even tag this as meta?)#(I really enjoyed taking screenshots of Porsche smoking btw 👀)#porsche #porsche pitchaya

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not-so-mundane-after-all · 1 year

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I’ve seen you post a lot about Titans, and I was wondering if you could give a premise of the plot. I need new found family stuff to watch. 😂

Thanks! 🌻

Okay I'll try my best with the summary hahaha just a few fun facts before I get to it: this was my #1 show for the past 4 years, until tlou rolled around, we are on our last stretch of episodes before saying goodbye (my heart is broken) and a word of warning: if you get into it, you will love it as much as you will hate it. This stupid beloved show of mine can be a real pain in the ass sometimes 😂

Okay, time for a summary. Or, in other words, let me paint you a picture of this found family without giving away any plot 😂

So at the beginning we have these four lovely people who all find each other just when they need it the most when their lives are at their lowest. They are DC superheroes (some on their way to becoming them) but the most important thing the show had always put focus on (more or less sometimes but we lived through it) is that team is family. The team grows over time and they learn how to be a team and fight evil together and all that but these four are the core of it.

So, on the left you have the kids: Gar Logan and Rachel Roth. If you're familiar with DC Comics in any capacity, you might know them as Beast Boy and Raven. Gar can shift into animals and Rachel is a daughter of a demon. Fun times with these two!

Then we have the parents: Dick Grayson and Kory Anders. Known as Robin, then Nightwing and Starfire.

Dick is a master detective with some sick martial art skills (trained by Batman himself) and Kory is an alien powerhouse Queen!

Leaders of the team. Heads of the family. Father and Mother who will do absolutely everything to protect their children.

They also have an epic love story going on, just so you know. Season 4 is really taking them places.

Now, when I started this show, I came here for some superhero fun. But I stayed because the pilot episode served me one of the best father-daughter duos I have ever seen. Think of Joel and Ellie's "if you're lost in the darkness, search for the light" but here it's almost LITERAL sometimes. Dick has metaphorical darkness in him and Rachel is the one who brings out the light for the first time. But Rachel has the literal darkness in her and Dick is the first person in her life who isn't afraid of it and helps her accept it as a part of her.

She has a dream about him before they even meet and when they do, she immediately knows. And he's scared shitless of this new attachment, he's dark, violent, has issues and he can't do family but here is this orphaned girl who knows things about him that she shouldn't and hell if his heart isn't beating a little faster.

This scene here, it has a grip on my throat since 2019 and isn't planning to let go. This is where it all begins.

As for the plot, each season is a different thing. Season 1 is protecting Rachel from her father, season 2 is trying to settle down as a team but ghosts of the past are making it difficult, season 3 is about sibling rivalry and how that can fuck up a family and a bit of generational trauma, and season 4 is all over the place with a giant prophecy, some big and small returns, magic and shit, but season 4 is when the family is finally the strongest!

I hope you enjoy it! You can find it on HBO MAX in the US and on Netflix everywhere else (though international Netflix is one season behind). If you get to watching it, I'd love to here your thoughts!

Come join us in Titansland! Let me welcome you to the Graysonfam!

#mundi asks #dc titans #titans #dcu titans #tv: titans #titans season 4 #dick grayson #rachel roth #kory anders #garfield logan #graysonfam #dickkory

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neechees · 2 years

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George Sand / Mad Max Fury Road / Postcolonial Love Poem, Natalie Diaz / Jibaro (Love, Sex, and Robots) / The hobbit: he Battle of the Five Armies / / Princess Mononoke / EU smashes 2020 climate target / Lord of the Rings, Return of the King / Katherine Mansfield / Princess Mononoke

It’s not too late.

[Image description: 10 photos stacked vertically.

The first photo is a screenshot of a letter that reads: “...affection. what an age! everyone is dying, everything is dying, and the earth is dying also, eaten up by the sun and the wind. i don't know where i get the courage to keep on living in the midst of these ruins. Let us love each other to the end. You write me very little, I worry about you. G Sand.”

The second is a gif of a scene from “Mad Max, Fury Road”, featuring the character Furiosa at a side angle. She has a shaven head and is an amputee missing her left arm from the forearm down. She sits on her knees in the sand, wind blowing the sand towards the camera. She breathes heavily and screams in despair.

Third of the photos is a screenshot from an entry by Natalie Diaz, which reads, “In Mojave thinking, body and land are the same. The words are separated only by the letters ’ii and ’a: ’iimat for body, ’amat for land. In conversation, we often use the a shortened form for each: mat-. Unless you know the context of a conversation you might not know if we are speaking about our body or our land. You might not know which has been injured, which is remembering, which is alive, which was dreamed, which needs care. You might not know we mean both.If I say, My river is disappearing, do I also mean, My people are disappearing?“.

The fourth is a gif photo from an episode of Love, Sex, and Robots, featuring one of its main characters, a siren. The color palette is greyish in tone and dull. The siren has short hair and black eyeliner streaming down her face. The Siren was once made of gold and jewels, but in the gif she has been stripped of this and left with few gold or jewels, with only seemingly a naked and tattered cloth underneath, and she gazes at her arms and body with a horrified expression, and sobbing.

The fifth photo features a screenshot from an article about The Hobbit, which reads, “...burying it deep into the earth. When asked what it is, he replies “It’s a promise. That beneath all that blood and dirt, there is a chance of new life. It may sound hopeless, it may sound foolish, but really what else can you do when you’re faced with death? What can anyone do? You go on living.”

The Sixth photo is a gif from the film Princess Mononoke, showing a bald character, Gonza, carrying an injured character, lady Eboshi, on his back. Eboshi’s face is concealed by a red hat. Gonza sloshes through dark water amidst a dying forest, and he surveys the giant trees dying and falling to the ground in awe.

The Seventh photo is a screenshot from an article, reading, “Total greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union reached their lowest level since 1990, according to official EU data reported this week by the European Environment Agency to the UN.The overall reduction in 2020 greenhouse gas emissions was 34% compared to the 1990 base year, or 1.94 billion tons of CO2.”

The eighth of the photos is a screencap from Lord of the Rings, Return of the King. It shows the decapitated head of an old statue of a King, laying in the grass. white flowers and vines grow about the bearded statue’s head, forming a flower crown.

The ninth photo features a quote from Katherine Mansfield, posted by the user tristealven, which reads, “ I have spent days just walking about or sitting on a stone in the sun and listening to the bees in the almond trees and the wild pear bushes and coming home in the evening with rosemary on my fingers and wild thyme on my toes—tired out with the loveliness of the world.”

The final photo is a gif from the film Princess Mononoke, with giant tree roots reaching out and into clear, blue water. The trees are dead and greyish, but small plants, saplings, moss, and flowers grow from them, indicating new life and that they will be replaced. Among the new plants emerges a partially translucent kodama spirit, with a tiny, chubby body, large roundish head, and two dots on its face. The kodama walks in and faces the camera before clicking its head to the side. End image description.]

#web weaving #justin's edits #long post

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showtoonzfan · 2 years

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Ok so initially I didn't want to make this ask because your blog doesn't allow anon, but I really need to get all these thoughts about the newest helluva boss episode out. This is gonna be very long and may be a bit confusing as I have a lot to say and English isn't my first language, so sorry about that

First of all I must say that I'm quite disappointed about this episode. I half expected it to be a continuation of the season 1 finale where Stolas would confront Blitzo about their relationship, reveal the purpose of the Asmodean crystal, tell Octavia the truth about his and Stella's marriage... basically get it all over with. But when I looked at the thumbnail, I saw that this was going to be about Octavia and Loona, not their parents. And you know what? I was ecstatic that it was! Those two are my favorite characters, plus I think we need a break from the Stolitz storyline to focus on something else, keeping things fresh y'know?

So why was I disappointed? It because the episode ended up revolving around Stolitz anyway, yet somehow their story didn't gain an inch of progress. It seems that the show's writers forgot half-way through that they were supposed to focus on Via and Loona and tried to messily jam the plots of previous episodes into this one. The result was a rushed episode with no focus on any character whatsoever. It started out with we have to find Via because she could be in danger, but suddenly it switched to watching Blitzo pretending to be a good comedic actor, and then we have to see how obsessed Moxxie is with art... In the end we only get a little information about Loona's past, see a tiny bit of Via and Loona's relationship, and see how Stolas and Blitzo interact with each other after the events of the finale

Speaking about Stolitz, I don't know why the hell they act that way the entire episode. Aren't they and their relationship supposed to be at their lowest point? Did they just... conveniently forget about their first "date"?? Or pretend nothing happened??? Why did Stolas act all lovey dovey towards Blitzo when he realized that their relationship was "full of comfortable lies" just a few episodes back? Why didn't Blitzo try to stop him if the idea of Stolas being seriously in love with him was unthinkable? Why didn't both of them show any awkwardness or discomfort when being with each other if their last time hanging out was so disastrous??? Even if they're focusing on finding Via (and then got distracted anyway), the fear and worries of loosing her shouldn't interfere that much with the state of their relationship, and it definitely shouldn't be a miracle that magically bring them back together

Now let's talk about Via and how weirdly forgiving she is towards her dad. Despite Stolas' shitty parenting and him repeatedly hurting her emotionally, she keeps forgiving him for seemingly no reason. But I think there is a reason. I don't know if the writers intend to write her like this, but it looks like Via only forgives Stolas so that he won't leave her. Think about it, Via has had abandonment issues since she was little, and it's hinted that only Stolas cares enough to be with her and comfort her. This could lead to her forming a codependent relationship with him, and this episode kinda proved it with how she just happily watch the fireworks with Stolas after a whole day feeling angry, frustrated and hurt that he "hate(s) [Stella] more than he loves [her]". It also proved that while he does try his best and is better than Stella at parenting, he's still an awful dad and I don't think Via would ever be trully happy with him

Oh and that little speech Loona gave Via about how they both should cut their father figures some slack? I hate it. As someone who grew up with horrible and abusive parents who do care and do love me, I have to remind myself constantly that they are still abusers and what they did to me and my sister is wrong, even when they didn't mean it or didn't know better. Their lack of parenting skills and issues are explanations as to why they fucked up, but not excuses for them to get away with it. And while it's best for abuse victims to eventually forgive their abusers, they should only do that as a way to move on and absolutely not to (re)gain the abusers' affection. But considering that both Loona and Via depend on their dads, plus how Loona is stuck feeling grateful that Blitzo adopted her and is the first person in her life to care and love her, they're not gonna learn this lesson any time soon. I also have a feeling they won't get much development once the Stolitz story is done

Overall, this episode is... bad comparing to all others. To me it's probably the worst so far. For the first time ever I didn't get a satisfying feeling after watching helluva boss and it was thank to this episode. I'm a bit worry for the show's future now, I mean I know it has problems with inconsistency since the middle of season 1 but this has to be the worst case. I'd still watch it, I just don't think I can enjoy it as much as before

Never feel bad about ranting to me guys, I mean look at MY posts, they’re like….essay style long lol, I love hearing y’all out! 💕

And yeah, I agree with everything you said. I’m ganna say it now, this has got to be one of the worst episodes of the series ever. Like I didn’t think we could stoop lower than the Cherub episode and Ozzie’s (in my opinion) but HERE WE ARE lol. As for the writing as a whole, I’d say I hope the show gets better, but I really don’t know. I’m so tired of this show doing certain characters dirty, and only obsessing over this dumb toxic ship. To me personally, every time an episode releases I feel like we scale further and further down the hole, but I’m not going to say there’s 0 hope. It’s up to you as the viewer wether you’re going to keep watching or not, but yeah this episode was….not written well. I had some hope for Adam Neylan, but now that I know he wrote this episode, my faith is ruined, which I know is petty but it’s the truth.

#ask #reply #vivziepop critical #spindlehorse critical #helluva boss critical #anti vivziepop #helluva boss critique #helluva boss criticism

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velcrooooo · 2 years

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i was rewatching episode six today because i was feeling a little down, and i think i finally put my finger on why hob and dreams dynamic strikes a chord with me.

both characters separately fascinate me so much. hob is a guy who was made immortal just for shits and giggles and he, even at his lowest point, was still in love with living and the experiences that come with it. dream is the manifestation of dreams and sleep, and if i interpreted a few episodes right, hope. and yet he is so serious and solemn all the time, and WILDLY self centered.

on my first watchthrough i get the impression that he is a feelings driven person, and despite the fact he comes off as a tad bit cynical, he still cares deeply for humanity. and i think you can see that in the kindness he shows for individual people throughout the show.

and now im finally going to get to the point of this essay . dream, like i said before, strikes me as a very feelings driven person, but a very self centered one. i think he needs genuine connection just like anyone else, and hob pointed that out in their 1800s meeting.

and in present day, throughout the season, he has started to warm up a lot. he went through a miserable time for 100 years and has seen some of the worst parts of humanity, but he still cares! a lot! and he called hob his friend, and i HAVE to note that after that, he smiled more than he does in most of the show. it is a big deal! they are friends!!! both of them care so so much for life in different ways, and that means so much to me. that, i think, is why i was initially irritated with the ship posts that wildly mischaracterize both of them as sunshiney guy and sad guy who are in love.

i think a romantic interpretation of their dynamic can be really really interesting when its done right. but i think friendship is so often portrayed as lesser or not as meaningful as romance, and hob and dreams friendship is really important to both of the characters. it was a point in the story where it really struck me just how much it is about connections and love.

i dunno! there wasnt really a point to this post. hob and dreams dynamic, no matter which way you choose to interpret it, (because ill be real whatever was going on between those two was SOMETHING) is something meaningful. and i feel like the fandom does a huge disservice to these two

#sorry normal followers for the essay. the sandman has taken residence in my brain #the sandman #hob gadling #dream of the endless #<- get maintagged idiots. witness my opinions

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abelle25125 · 2 years

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Id love to hear your collector theory!

ok there might be a few holes in this because i haven't re-watched all the episodes about the collector recently - but my main theory is that the collector was an entity around at the same time as the titans, who either worked with them or with someone associated with them - and at some point there was a conflict that resulted in the Boiling isles titan sacrificing themselves to keep them trapped.

(evidence and ramblings under the cut)

first things first:

Who / what is the collector?

Based on KKKOHD we can assume theyre not a witch, given both his appearance (there are no other witches that tall) and also the appearance of his magic, which is black unlike the glowing coloured version we see used by most people and also seems to be,,,,,made up of them?

I cant show it in just screenshots but the shadow of the net stretches back and the collector seemingly comes from it

They also seem to have a serious sun and moon motif, and the moon on the Boiling Isles literally has a face on it - and is shown to have magical properties (thinking back to the moonlight conjuring that can bring life to inanimate objects?)

I'm thinking that the collector is some sort of moon elemental or spirit of some sort - an ancient magic thats different from that of witches that has been around for a long long time.

next up:

Whats his motivation?

In Hollow mind he mentions being betrayed and wanting revenge on someone

"Betrayed, beguiled, alone, deceived! We'll have our revenge on... Ugh, "unity" is so hard to rhyme."

Given the fact that it does rhyme and they don't use it - i'm going to assume they don't want revenge on humanity, especially since that motivation dramatically differs from what belos wants.

So they want revenge on someone! who is it? im guessing the titans, and maybe by extension - the witches that live on it.

They know about the draining spell and don't seem to have much of a problem with killing off all witches

And based on the scraped concept for the vision in hunting palisman we can assume the Day of Unity is going to awaken the titan in some way - presumably killing off all the remaining witches who weren't in a coven for the draining spell.

Why does the collector want to wake the titan? i think its because they're trapped underneath it.

We've gotten a good look at where the collector is trapped - a blue ball shaped prison in the space between worlds.

the closest thing we've seen to that ball is Kings temple

which bares a resemblance to the door to the round boy in Elsewhere and elsewhen

So, we have someone stuck in a prison made up of titan technology trapped in a place you can only get to with Titan's blood, underneath the body of a dead titan. i really feel like the titan either died trying to capture the collector and their blood pooling into the ocean trapped him in the space between - or someone with access to titan stuff found a dying titan and chose to stick their captured moon spirit in there.

So what now?

The collector, now trapped in the space between swears vengeance on those who trapped him and does the only thing it can do from their prison. Watches people through the cubes, gathers information and manipulates people who can see them. He does this with the titan trappers - which results in them killing off all the remaining titans and then he does this with Belos, another lost child with abandonment issues and a distaste towards life on the boiling isles. He teaches him about the draining spell, a way to source power into a spell for when the moon covers the sun and the tide is lowest - thousands of witches pouring their power into one huge moonlight conjuring. Reanimating the Titan

The theory gets a little bit muddy after this point, mostly because i have no clue as to how the day of unity is going to go, like,,,,all balls are in the air right now

ive seen some people talking about how Belos wants to wipe out all magic - and the collector is magic, so if they are freed there will probably be some back stabbing - but i dont think the collectors going to replace Belos as the big bad in Season 3. It would be really unsatisfying from a storytelling standpoint - it would take away the colonial and real life counterparts from Belos and replace them with a magical clown child who if they where a person would be obsessed with collecting pokemon cards, and that would just feel bad thematically. It would be a lot more fun if there are these two antagonists trying to manipulate each other into doing what the other wants.

if you look at it from various sides the collector doesnt really seem all too evil. They have the mentality of a child who's been around for thousands of years and can trap living things in paper, of course they're not going to have any regard for human (or witch?) life, its the equivalent of a kid stepping on ants or chasing birds to scare them away. It would make a good extreme parallel to Luz - who literally ran away to the Demon Realm to escape her personal prison and who at the start of the show, was also very curious but naive.

there are obviously some holes in this theory - with the largest one being the timeline. The only time we see the collector not trapped in the space between is in KKKOHD - which not only had a lot of dream spookiness going on, but also looks pretty much the same from when we see the same location in Edge of the world

(there also where already a bunch of dead titans in the KKKOHD flashback so who knows how they died.)

The validity of this theory is completely dependant on the owl beasts scroll having had to float around the ocean for literally thousands of years before being picked up (which could honestly explain why there are no other owl beasts but idk) and there's honestly just so much we dont know about the collector, its fairly hard to speculate anything concrete

so yeah! thats what ive been thinking. i hope i explained it alright, but there are definitely some holes here and there.

#This got so dramatic at one point i am not immune to monologues #if anyone else has any ideas feel free to share them becuase this is really interesting #the owl house spoilers #toh #the owl house #the collector #the owl house theory #ask #anon

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sunmarketing · 2 years

Text

Iceland

In this episode: .The FAQ is: FAQ How do I find out if the place I want to visit is open?

Today’s Destination : Iceland

Today’s Mistake- Allergies

Travel Advice: Before you travel, get your finances in order.

In this episode: FAQ How do I find out if the place I want to visit is open?

Answer: This is not the easiest question to answer, because the place you may want to visit could be open only during certain times, seasons or with certain weather conditions. It’s best to call ahead, to email, and to check the website for updates. You may also want to check social media and do a search for any fresh news. If the place you want to visit is closed, you may want to have a backup plan ready. For example, in Paris, the Louvre is closed on Mondays. I was planning to go that day, but made other arrangements for my first time in the city. Now, I know the days they are open.

Destination: Iceland

My sister Ellen was in Iceland in Winter 2020, at the start of the pandemic and says it is warmer than Iowa, where she lives, in the winter season. Thanks, Ellen, for this recap of your trip and advice.

There is a lot of wildlife, which I will mention in a bit.

Ellen and her husband had hurricanes with 70 mile per hour winds and a Blizzard. They were not allowed to go outside. They called it a Red Condition. While they were huddled inside, Glen got a spot of COVID as a souvenir, but he didn’t know it at the time.

Normally, the 9:15 sunrise is typical in winter, so there is a lot of DARK.

85% of people live in the city, for a total of about 360,000. It’s the lowest population density in Europe, at just 3 people per kilometer. Why? The geography is harsh in this Viking country.

She went to the Blue Lagoon, and experienced a non Geothermal heated luxury experience, Water beautiful, Stunning color. Soak Culture, she called it.

They saw remains of earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, lava, moss, snow, and of course, glaciers. The Iceland Ring Road goes 800 miles around the country

They saw a lot of Animals: puffins not in winter, but would see them in summer, horses, arctic seagulls, yak, birds of many kinds

https://www.nordicvisitor.com/blog/in-focus-icelands-beautiful-wildlife/

https://icelandtrippers.com/animals-in-iceland/

They had to let go of food prices and what they thought. That was life.

They said to themselves, “$10,000 was 100. `` Just accept it.

Lamb and fish are very good.

Some tips include:

Prepare for any weather year round.

Need a coat.

Lots of tourists.

Bhe glacier was aqua.

Language not a barrier

Make jewelry from lava

https://a-z-animals.com/animals/location/europe/iceland/

Iceland is on my bucket list.

Today’s Mistake -Allergies

My son forgot his allergy pills in Hawaii. We were outside almost the entire trip. I didn’t realize it for a few days, and he was miserable. I had never taken pills before, so I did not realize what a difference it can make for a trip. Don’t forget your allergy pills when you travel, especially if you will be outdoors. If you do forget them, be sure to pick some up when you arrive. That is a mistake you should not have to suffer through.

Today’s Travel Advice: Before you travel, get your finances in order.

Pay your bills ahead of leaving for a big trip. That makes your head clear and your desk clean when you return home. There’s no worries about people calling for their money, because the check is on the way already. Leave your concerns behind when you travel.

I want to bring meaning to your travels. Send a question or travel tip to [email protected]. We can connect on my website, Facebook page, group, or Instagram. Subscribe to YouTube, Twitter, or other social channels. Find 5 Steps to Solo Travel book series on Amazon. The show notes have more details for you to connect.

Connect with Dr Travelbest

Drmarytravelbest.com

Dr. Mary Travelbest Twitter

Dr. Mary Travelbest Facebook Page

Dr. Mary Travelbest Facebook Group

Dr. Mary Travelbest Instagram

email: [email protected]

Dr. Mary Travelbest Podcast

Dr. Travelbest on TikTok

Dr.Travelbest onYouTube

Check out this Dr Travelbest episode!

#travel #women #dr travelbest #best travel

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christinebloodwrittings · 2 years

Text

Anon request: Could you write for Loki with an s/o who tries out using 🍃 for the first time after a long day of being overwhelmed? and Loki is there to look after them?

You ask I write! 💖💖

If I step someone's tail, I deeply sorry.

With all my love to you, my darling!

*My requests are open*

Pairing: Loki x Fem!Reader

Summary: It's easy to tell someone to breathe, but what if that's not enough? Loki understands the feeling, that's why he'll be there for you, even in your lowest.

Warnings: Illicit drug use for medical purposes, overwhelming feelings, comfort.

Loki taglist: @lokisprettygirl22 @lucky-foxface @otakumultimuse-hiddlewhore @high-functioning-lokipath @thereadinggeek @el-zef @apine7 @beakami @lokiprompts

Needed

Being the replacement for Pepper Pots as Tony's secretary wasn't easy, you had to follow Tony Stark wherever he went, or wherever he was called to go. That included being around lots of people for long periods of time, standing up and smiling, putting up with comments about either your boss or your body and your usefulness, the sluts who couldn't keep their claws off your married boss, the assholes who swear that by attacking your self-esteem you will follow them to their luxury car and then never see them again.

You hated those events, they bring out the worst in you, and to top it off after all that fiasco you had to go back to the office to finish paperwork.

You felt it rising, an uncomfortably warm sensation in your chest that hugged your lungs tight; to try to ease it you breathe deeply a few times, but it still felt warm, your sore neck was giving you a hard time, the heels you were wearing were making your spine hurt a lot.

"Hey Y/n! How about you take the night? My wife can handle it from here!" you forced out a smile and nodded, loosing yourself in the crowd as you were looking for the exit.

Where was the exit again?

The music in the background was muffled, a loud high pitched ring made you cover your ears, but the noise came from the inside of you. Your stomach lurched from disorientation, yet you seemed calm, you were finally able to breathe when you got into your car and drove home.

You took off your heels and threw them to who knows where, sighing and growling, the bright light of the kitchen hurt your eyes, "Welcome darling, are you hungry?" your boyfriend appeared rose up from the couch, leaving his book aside to greet you, yet his face shifted when he looked at you, "My love, are you okay? You look pale" maybe you wanted to cry? no, that damned light! the awful party, you were just feeling too much. "I really just want to lay down baby, I just...I" your brain got a bit tied, as it couldn't think of another thing than just getting into bed.

"Words my love, you can do it…may I?" Loki knew what kind of state you were in, so he would ask for your consent before touching you, even though every time you just nodded and melted into his soft touch, which brought a bit of clearness into what you needed in the moment.

"I'm just not up for anything, alright? I'm tired" that wasn't fair, you were being mean to him, over something that he has no fault in, "I'm so sorry my love, I-" he cut you off with a soft peck on the lips, "Sounds like you had a hard day, do you want me to stay with you? maybe eat something? or do you wish to be alone?" he softly spoke.

It was wonderful that he gave you options, all to allow your brain to rest, "I want to be alone, can I still call you?" he petted your hair and kissed your forehead, "Whenever you want my love, go rest” one last kiss on your forehead made your muscle memory work, otherwise walking would have been a real hazard.

At some point at work you decided you just wouldn’t go through another episode, so you called your therapist and she told you something you didn’t expected. She recommended a medical dose of cannabis, she said it came with more pro’s than con’s with your situation, but that in simpler words, it would work as a temporary distressing or coping mechanism, since your usual pills weren’t making you feel any better.

The dose she prescribed was “safe”, she said that it would be controlled and measured so that there would be no risk of your body becoming addicted to the drug. She also asked that your boyfriend meet her to explain him the procedure and how he could help you improve your situation.

Loki loves feeling useful when it comes to you, so it wasn’t really a surprise when he told you he was 100% ready to help you, he looked like a dark fur golden retriever.

You were at a very non sketchy place to get it, somehow you expected it to be a dark alley or the back of a gas station, but since it was a rescripted dose, you could safely ask for it at a normal drugstore.

You weren't supposed to consume it right away, your therapist advised you to make a tea out of it, or bake it, but neither of the servings had to contain a high dose of cannabis.

You got your solution, but you were scared, of the effects, the way your body could react to it, all of it kept you away from the drug, being reluctant to even think about consume it, it being still a substance that could harm you, it had an important weight in a moral sense, but then again it had the purpose of making you better. So there you hanged on a mental thread.

Until one day, same as any day at work, you came back with your heels in hand, drenched in your own sweat and the rain that poured like a wild ocean. You ran away from a party that Tony hosted to celebrate a victorious mission, it ended up with you locked up in a public bathroom in a gas station, your eyes shut, the coldness of the tiles somehow soothed your headache.

You felt inclined to move your body towards the WC, your stomach and your head managed to send your senses to hell, the command was to vomit, but you had nothing inside you. It hurt so much to try to force all the pain out by hurling, and failing miserably, so you ended up falling against the wall giving up, exhausted and in pain.

“Loki, please my love…I need you” you hugged your body close, hoping he would hear your broken sobs, and luckily he did, he appeared by your side, held you close to his chest and after passing his arm under your legs he scooped you up. “I think it’s time my love, should I brew the tea for you?” you nodded, massaging his silky black curls as he teleported you back to your shared bedroom.

“Would you like me to dress you, or you can manage?” you groaned, he lowered your body to the bed, “I don’t know Loki, it hurts” you did felt better knowing that you were in familiar grounds, his fresh scent sent the dizziness away, his soft caresses…but it still bothered you, why if you were so well, why you succumbed to pain so easily? It made you furious.

“My love, I’ll do it for you, I feel your frustration, just concentrate in my voice and my hands, please?"

"JUST!..." you took a deep breath, his touch was lovely, but in your state it was just too much. Felling him, then your head, then the light of the room, how everything just started to spin around. Your body, you couldn't figure out where that tingling, like an electric sensation, was coming from, it hurt and infuriated you, not knowing.

"Please my love" you had taken his hands off of your body with such urgency, he understood that he wasn't helping. He didn't let you alone for much time, he came back with your favorite mug filled with the funny smelly tea.

"I diluted a little portion in this tea, but it will take longer to be effective because your system will process it, but read that if you smoke it, it will take maybe ten minutes" in that desperate moment, you pushed away the cigar and took the cup. It's that you needed the pain to go away, but ruining your lungs was out of the question.

You drank the mug's content, a couple drops fell from the corner of your mouth but Loki was quick to wipe them off, earning a warm smile from you.

"Will you wait with me?" He nodded, sitting beside you with his back against the bed, lowering just enough so your head could flop on his shoulder.

Around ten minutes went away, and you woke up from Loki's lap with a smile on your face, feeling giddy, light. You brought your fingers up to Loki's forearm, drawing a line back and forward to his wrists.

"Hello~" you giggled, watching a smile forming on his face, "Hello gorgeous, how are you feeling?" The hems of his fingers barely touched your cheek, the electric sensation left, instead you leaned against him and encouraged to caress you with his full hand.

"Cloudy, floaty, lovely" he watched you breathe, it was relaxed, deep, and you really seemed to enjoy the coldness of the air filling your lungs. And he just loved to see you better, or at least not in pain.

“Take it easy love, there's nowhere to go, nothing to do, it's just you and me. Besides, when you were sleeping I called Stark, you have the rest of the week off” he lowered his head to leave little kisses on your face, “You're mine, only mine for a whole week” you laughed, as you used to do before all the disaster, “I'm yours every day, Loki, always” you love to see him smile, you imagined a little tail wiggling from side to side every time he was happy.

A rumble on your stomach made him look at you funny, he corrected your posture from his lap to cradle you in his arms, so your face would be merely inches from his, "Hungry, love? What do you crave? Sweet, salty, sweet and sour?" so many options to choose from, and yet you went with "Cheetos with Nutella", his eyes widen in surprise, he thought it was a joke, but it wasn’t.

He left you watching cartoons while he teleported to the market, he didn’t took long but you didn’t even notice, you were fascinated with the colors and the quietness in your brain. It was just you, in cloud 9.

He handed you a portion of Cheetos on a bowl and the jar of Nutella. He assured you that it was only yours so you didn’t need to worry about leaving any for him, that sparkle in your eyes will never leave his mind.

He passed his hand behind your back, with his strength it was easy to push you forward gently for him to accommodate you between his legs, with his back resting on the cushions and yours on his chest. Your head and your body reclined in the search of his warmth, his affection, he would die to see you that happy without needing to be drugged, however, his beloved mortal did not work like that, and it was fine, he liked feeling needed.

“Loki?” he saw your eyes perk up, as well as your drowsy smile and silly giggles that made him chuckle, “Yes my love?” your hand that didn’t had Cheeto dust went up to caress his hair, “Thank you, for being in my life” you finished giving him a heartfelt smile before paying attention to the drawing on screen, you head nuzzling against his shoulder.

“No darling” he pressed you more against him, “Thank you” after whispering, he placed one kiss to your cheek, inhaled on your scent and closed his eyes, feeling your content and simple joy as you munch on your strange delight, “Someday” he thought to himself.

Someday he was going to take you away, from your pain and Earth. To a shack he was building on a distant planet while you were working. It was filled with flowers and protected with its own orbit, shielded with a spell and a giant snake that would prevent strangers to taint his gift. Someday, he repeated to himself like a prayer while eyeing the lowest drawer under the TV, where he kept the ring.

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edensrose · 2 years

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yaho!! could u write wangxian with reader where she has insecurity episodes and doubts her place with them and thinks they are better off without her and they reassure her that they love her deeply and are incomplete without her?

of course! this made me really soft writing it 🥺💕

ৎ୭ — summary : wangxian comforting their s/o who is insecure about their love for her

ৎ୭ — type : headcanons

ৎ୭ — genre : angst

ৎ୭ — warnings : insecurity

ৎ୭ — word count : 560

ৎ୭ — taglist : @spoopy-fish-writes @rurifangirl

•Being the lover of two famous, esteemed cultivators was both a blessing and a curse. While you felt safe with them, there was no avoiding the rumours of gossip that would go on behind your back. Specifically from those over-analysing the relationship

•You had always felt as though you were never good enough for the two. How could you be? They were two powerful cultivators of prominent sects and here you were. . . just *there.* How could you ever compare to them? Were the questions that plagued your mind from time to time

•The gossip didn’t make it better. It seemed that every time the three of you were out in public, you’d just so happen to catch a snarky comment, a little snicker. *‘Look at her, so meek compared to them’* *‘Don’t you think they’re ashamed of her?’* *‘Most likely.’* Such comments were enough to drag down your mental state to the lowest of lows on some days

•At first, you tried to ignore these feelings of uselessness, of insecurity. The last thing you wanted was to bother your already busy boyfriends. You could handle it yourself, is what you had thought

•Alas, you were wrong. When everything had finally come crashing down it left you in a state of utter brokenness and tears, unable to utter a word to your concerned lovers who recently returned from a nighthunt and found you in shambles. Both were concerned, as expected. They found their way to either side of you, Lwj letting you cry it out whilst, at first Wwx questioned you a few times before finally allowing you to sob your heart out

•It was that night that they had learned of all your insecurities, all your doubts. You confessed to them about feeling like nothing in comparison to them. About how you thought you weren’t good enough for them, nor worthy of their love. To say that they were shocked was an understatement, with Wwx even getting a little angry - not at you, of course. But at whoever had planted that seed within your head

•The rest of the night was spent with cuddles and affection with both of them assuring you that they do indeed love you. Wwx wrapped his arms around you from behind, cuddling into your back whilst Lwj allowed you to rest your head upon his chest as he played with your hair. Each of their actions were soft, gentle. Doing each and every thing that they could to ensure your well-being.

•Ever since that day, you were a lot more honest with them. Of course, it would take some time to overcome these thoughts and doubts. It wasn’t an easy task but now that they were aware of the challenges that you faced, they were there for you

•Wwx always makes sure to check in on you, not to the point where it’s overwhelming but enough to put your mind at ease. Lwj tends to remind you more and more often about how he loves you - of course, this isn’t always vocal but his actions speak louder than words

•They have learnt what calms you down and expertly know how to execute a comfort session after you have had an episode

•They want what’s best for you and will work through these insecurities with you. Staying by your side and helping you along the way

#mdzs #mo dao zu shi #x reader #reader insert #wangxian #mo dao zu shi x reader #lan wangji #wei wuxian #lan wangji x reader #wei wuxian x reader #tw insecurity #angst #writing #headcanons

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jdrizzle15 · 3 years

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Her Second Return

Just like all of you, and especially my fellow Penny fans, I am absolutely devastated by the Volume 8 finale. I had been in quite a state these last few days, utterly heartbroken, and actually nauseous at times. It feels strange to me to be legitimately grieving a fictional character, but it’s not a bad thing to feel this way. To me, this just shows that CRWBY loves her just as much as us to have written her so well that we connect so completely with her, that it feels like we lost an actual piece of ourselves when she’s gone.

But as you can probably tell by the title, this mega post isn’t gonna be about accepting this end, not in the slightest! Today I want to share canon evidence that can point towards another return of our beloved quirky red headed cinnamon bun! I’m here to spread this hope that I and others in the Nuts & Dolts dolts Discord server have!

I have this separated into many different sections to keep these thoughts organized. With that said, here goes…

A Father’s Words:

In Episode 7 of Volume 7, ‘Worst Case Scenario’ we learn the origins of Penny’s aura, and thus her soul. We also learn that it takes more aura each time she’s brought back. This leaves open an option that could be used at a later point.

Many people theorized that Pietro could indeed revive Penny one more time, which he would absolutely do. But there also lies the possibility that someone else could donate some of theirs, I’m not sure about this as I feel like it’s akin to blood donation where compatibility matters or there's a high risk of altering her, but the possibility is definitely there.

Now, the conversation in Chapter 5 of Volume 8, ‘Amity’ that Pietro and Penny have is an important moment for both Father and Daughter. It was there to show how her death in PvP all that time ago really did have a heavy impact on him and is still affecting him to this day.

Instead of continuing to pretend that everything is A-okay, like he had done for most of Volume 7, he finally lets his true feelings about how it come out to Penny for what is quite likely the first time. Even going so far as to say "Are you asking me to go through that again?" when she offers to take the risk of trying to lift Amity with her power. He wants Penny to be able to live her life.

This entire scene with Pietro established “this is what will likely happen” even if circumstances are much different now, it doesn’t negate the fact that this is a key part of Penny’s story. Scenes like these have a purpose beyond simply making an eventual death all the more heart wrenching. Her never actually getting to live her life makes those scenes basically moot. It makes them effectively pointless from narrative point of view. Unless there's more to it.

Building Relationship:

The build up between Ruby and Penny the last two volumes has been absolutely phenomenal with a definite destination in mind, and this doesn’t feel like that destination. So much of the arc of this season was to help Penny. This girl that our main protagonist absolutely adores and treasures, it would just be awful to throw all of that out for what amounts to an avoidable end. Why use so much of their precious and very limited runtime on deliberately building up this relationship only to end it abruptly, and permanently, when they’re separated?

In my opinion, RT is definitely smarter now than to intentionally set up what was really looking like a budding gay relationship only to kill one of them for good. If N&D wasn't actually going in a romantic direction, why would they leave in all of the romance-adjacent stuff that they got, that's not how ‘just friends’ act. And that is not something you use such valuable time building up for absolutely no pay off whatsoever...

Representation of Hope:

At its core, RWBY has always been about hope. It’s not at the forefront the whole time, but there's been an underlying theme of hopefulness that has persisted since it began. Some describe the show as a Hopepunk, I personally find this to describe RWBY really well. This genre of storytelling is about caring for things deeply and the courage and strength it takes to do so. It’s about never submitting or accepting the way things are. Fighting for what you believe in and standing up for others. RWBY fits all of this extremely well. How does this relate to Penny? She has been shown to be a sign of hope for everyone, but especially for Ruby, the main main protagonist. A prerequisite for a Hopepunk story is the hope.

Her first death in V3 was something that fundamentally changed Ruby. For the first time in the series, we see our main character all but broken by this event. With the loss of Penny, immediately afterwards, Ruby’s hope followed. She made up for it through determination and force of will. We see it affect her multiple times throughout the journey to Volume 7. But upon her return in V7, Hope reached a high point for everyone, the sheer relief on Ruby’s face is plain to see!

In V8 chapter 5 ‘Amity’, Penny literally raises hope by lifting the arena into the sky so Ruby could spread her message. And when she falls, and Amity with her, the connection is lost and hope plummets again. From there things take a very negative turn with the hack begins to take Penny’s agency.

In chapter 11 ’Risk’ is the point in the arc where everyone is reunited for the moment, so two separate hero stories are no longer a thing at that point in time. For the time being focus seemed to be shifted to care about the characters and how they’re going to solve the current problems. This is also where Ruby reaches her lowest emotional point in the season.

It’s not huge, but it’s interesting how connected this is. Before Ruby and Yang share a good cry over learning the possible fate of Summer, Yang brings up restoring optimism and hope to Ruby after the younger sister storms out of the room in frustration. This is where Penny’s scenes take up the rest of the episode. Getting Penny back in control of her own body and safe again is what makes the ending of the episode much brighter, when just 5 minutes before Ruby had been distraught and scared. This then spills over into the group coming up with the plan to use the staff, putting the main group in a much better mood. Of all the things to go right, it’s interesting that it’s Penny.

Things go wrong with the plan in the end and Penny dies. I find it interesting that once again, Penny got them hopeful in their chances of doing something right. Given said plan succeeded but at the cost of Penny of all people, Penny is shown to be the beginning and end of hope for them

The highest and lowest points for hope seem to directly correlate to when Penny’s around. When she comes back again, hope will return too, just like it had before. And because she’ll likely be back for good this time, the second return will probably be close to when Ruby is nearing the complete abandonment of hope. This would be pretty par for the course of the show honestly.

A little aside, but in a sense, Penny also represents Unity. The CCT in Vale fell after her first death, knocking out global communications and the unifying connection it gave. When it was restored for the briefest moment, she was there. Her body connected so she could allow for its launch, her soul lighting the night to hold up Amity with every ounce of her strength. So of course when the Hack succeeds and she falls, she takes global comms down again with her. At a smaller scale - even at the Hack's second last attempt to control her, she draws everyone in the Schnee Manor together. At the start of the volume, Yang states the one thing that they all agree on is not surrendering Penny.

Unity seems appropriate for one whose first song and wish was for but one friend, who would go on to find so many more in the process, and permit for a moment the possibility of all Remnant becoming friends once more. Where she first died, the name of the episode devoted to her story - Amity, "friendship", from the Latin root amicus, "friend" - she almost lives and dies with the very possibility of a united Remnant. It's no wonder she's a priority target for Salem, the great divider, and it seems natural that her next restoration may very well allow the next bid to bring the world together.

The Void Screams:

Moments after Penny's death, we hear a weird scream in the void space. It was a guttural, pained, angry scream, almost like the void space itself was crying out. All the portals shuddered and flickered when it happened.

Some think that this scream was Salem returning, but that happens earlier than Penny’s death, her return is signaled with cinder's arm acting up. We know this because after the arm finished flailing uncontrollably, Cinder said triumphantly "she's back." If it were Salem screaming, it would have happened after she fixed herself, but it didn't.

And I doubt Cinder would have been surprised or unsettled by it considering she was happy Salem returned not long before it. And why would a Salem scream affect the portals anyway, she has no connection to the staff or it's magic.

Another thing to consider is the fact sound is not transmitted through the portals. Otherwise, they would've heard Oscar and the rest calling for them, or the screams of the citizens of Mantle and Atlas. This lowers the possibility of that scream being from Salem even further.

The sound really seems to be coming from something else entirely within the void, and that something is not at all happy. There’s also the fact that Penny was the only person who died in the void space, everyone else was just thrown out of it like Ruby and Co. The only logical cause to me is Penny. Her body was a product (or byproduct) of the same creation magic that made the void space, her blood seems to have been a trigger.

Now I can't be sure about it, but this makes me feel like Penny is almost a part of creation itself? For whatever this thing is to be so angry, that is the only explanation I can think of currently. But all of this could possibly relate to the Narnia allusion of 'the willing victim killed in a traitor's stead' that others have brought up, which will be covered next.

Narnia Parallels:

Atlas has several parallels and references to fictional places (putting aside real world ones like the United States). One of those is that of Narnia, both on the surface and on a deeper level. It is a land of winter year round, where people struggle to survive and there is a present divide between those loyal to the current Monarch and those who are not. James is a parallel to Jadis, the White Witch, a ruler whose thoughts and cares aren’t exactly centered around the actual well being of the people. The hologram table in Ironwood’s office is designed to look like stone, like the Stone Table which features prominently in the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. He has a handpicked cadre of special agents/secret police, like how Maugrim and his wolves served Jadis. Another key parallel is how Jadis’s winter sets in to oppress and kill everyone in Narnia, but the Witch provides aid and protection to her loyal followers. She has all the power to spare harm to others, and uses it only for the loyal. As soon as Mantle splits from James and Atlas, no care is taken to protect them from the cold of Solitas even though he has every ability to turn the heating grid back on. His protection is only for the loyal.

Now that the parallel is established, let's look into the details. Starting with how James plays the role of Jadis.

"I had forgotten that you are only a common boy. How should you understand reasons of State? You must learn, child, that what would be wrong for you or for any of the common people is not wrong in a great Queen such as I. The weight of the world is on our shoulders. We must be freed from all rules. Ours is a high and lonely destiny." These are the words Jadis says in the Magician’s Nephew to justify the blood civil war she and her sister had waged for rulership of Charn, before she came to Narnia. She won that war, technically, but only after the last battle had been lost and her sister had marched right up to her so that they were face to face. Jadis’s troops were dead, her followers had surrendered, and the capital was under full control of her sister. But, she still had one card, one ultimate play to win and prove the throne of Charn was rightfully her. The Deplorable Word, a piece of old magic that killed everyone and everything except for her on Charn. It was monstrous, senseless, cruel beyond measure. But it got her that hollow victory. This mindset, the disregard for the people except as tools for her own will, the ultimate ‘aoe’ destructive move that no one had even considered her using, the unwillingness to stop even when by all practical measures the war is over, is a shocking parallel to James. In many ways, he is Jadis in mindset and deed.

Then there is the shared desire for A Thing that both James and Jadis have. For James it’s the Winter Maiden and control over her. For Jadis it’s the Silver Apples from the Tree of Youth. And funnily enough, the Maiden Powers parallel the Apples quiet well. These apples grant power and a life of eternal beauty, but should not be taken or eaten on one’s own initiative. They must be given, a gift granted by another, or only suffering will come from obtaining them. "For the fruit always works — it must work — but it does not work happily for any who pluck it at their own will. If any Narnian, unbidden, had stolen an apple and planted it here to protect Narnia, it would have protected Narnia. But it would have done so by making Narnia into another strong and cruel empire like Charn, not the kindly land I mean it to be.” Jadis’s immortality, and some of her power, come from the fact that she ate an Apple of her own will after stealing her way into the garden where the Tree of Youth had been planted. She gained the eternal life she had wanted and the power along with it, but she did so by taking it and was cursed because of it. Her skin turned pale and her lips blackened as if she were a frozen corpse given life. She will be trapped in a life of misery and hate according to Aslan- oh hey Cinder, how’s having stolen the Power you always wanted working out for you? Cinder had the power she wanted, but she only got hungrier, eager to claim more and increase her might. But in her pursuit she was defeated and humiliated by Raven, had to steal her way out of Mistral, and then suffered defeat after defeat while in Atlas. Only in the end, when she didn’t keep pursuing the Maiden Power, did she get any kind of victory.

The reason these parallels to Narnia are so important is one of the most famous events of the series. The cracking of the Stone Table and the rebirth of Aslan after his death. ‘When a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor's stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backward.’ Well, the ‘Stone Table’ in James’s office has cracked, and Penny strikes me as a pretty willing victim. She has never actually committed any actual treachery or harm, as she was the Protector of Mantle, and fought for its and Atlas’s people until the very end. And because of her death, the actual traitor, Winter, who loyally served James until he had gone too far, was saved. Through Penny’s self sacrifice, Winter was saved. So now Death itself will start working backward.

(Major props to my friend @catontheweb for writing this section, I was getting nowhere with it, if they weren't there this part wouldn't exist!)

Norse Mythology:

The tree we see in the post credit scene gives off some serious Yggdrasil vibes. Also called the World Tree, it is essentially all of creation in Norse Mythology. It connects all nine realms, including the God realms of Asgard, the human realm of Midgard, and the underworld of Hel.

Humans are born from the branches of Yggdrasil. The web of Wyrd is woven for every person once they're born, and their path is set from there regardless of how many times the souls cycle over. But at the end, they're destined to end up in one of the worlds, for a myriad of reasons.

I believe Penny landed closest to this giant tree. She was on the center platform in the void space, so if that space is directly above the island(?) the tree is on, it makes sense for her to fall by the center nearest to the tree. This would not only open up all kinds of possibilities for the volume in general, but it would also create options for Penny.

The whole of Yggdrasil’s representations fit well into Penny’s story. Birth, growth, death and rebirth. We can count Penny’s appearance in V7 as birth for now, her growth is all her development in leaving =the military and becoming a Maiden, her death just happened, and her rebirth would be her revival. And this is a cycle she’s gone through before.

The Norse god Odin and Yggdrasil have quite a connection. In one story, Odin cut out one of his own eyes to gain knowledge from a pool underneath Yggdrasil. The only one that fell whose eyes alone are incredibly significant to the story was Ruby. So, they could choose to have her allude to Odin by having Ruby make some kind of deal with whatever entity likely rules over this magical place. An eye for Penny’s life.

There’s another story about Odin, Yggdrasil and the pursuit of knowledge. Odin so loved knowledge, that he sacrificed himself in a quest to learn the deeper magic of runes. It was believed one could only learn the magic spells from runes in death. So, Odin hung himself on Yggdrasil for nine days as an offering, and teetered between life and death. After he mastered the last spell on the ninth night, he ritually died and all light was extinguished from the world. Odin’s death lasted until midnight, when he was reborn and light returned to the world.

This story doesn’t fit Penny perfectly, but allusions often don’t. So If she really did land near the tree, she could be another loose representation of Odin’s story here. What she did wasn’t for knowledge, but to save her friends and keep Cinder from getting the Winter Maiden power. She believed it necessary that she sacrifice herself to achieve this end. As we established, Penny represents Hope, so her death means the loss of hope. This parallels Odin’s story of his death meaning the loss of light itself. So if this theory holds up, it would make this death temporary, until her rebirth and the return of Hope with her once again.

Alternatively, Ruby has the potential of loosely representing Odin in this story as well. Odin later uses the knowledge of the runes to do many things, but the most relevant one right now is awakening the dead. Both of these stories are about making a personal sacrifice to gain something that is desired. Ruby would absolutely make such sacrifices if it meant saving Penny.

It is said that Odin lived “according to his highest will unconditionally, accepting whatever hardships arise from that pursuit, and allowing nothing, not even death, to stand between him and the attainment of his goals." This sounds like Penny's arc of accepting the WM powers. This is more just a general connection between Penny and Odin, but I found it interesting.

Side Note: I encourage anyone who’s interested to look into RWBY connections to Norse Myth, there’s a surprising amount of things that feel eerily similar to the show. Likely just coincidental, but it’s fun to think about!

(If I got any of this wrong, I sincerely apologize by the way. I researched as best I could, but I admit it could have been lacking.)

Ambrosius and the Staff:

Ruby told Ambrosius "we kinda wanna keep her around longer than that" as part of her very specific instructions. Then Penny died about ten to fifteen minutes, at the absolute most thirty minutes later in-universe. I don’t know about you, but to me that seems very short to be considered ‘longer than that’. Technically it is, but when writing a story and a character says something like that, you typically don’t just kill the character they were referring to basically right away. It makes sense for a week-by-week watch, but in a volume binge, which many viewers do, it becomes ironic how fast Penny dies after being removed from her robotic body.

The first time we see the staff of creation being used, it's to save Penny. Using the staff of creation to help Penny is a sign of how incredibly important she is.

They’ve even got this entire transformation sequence for her, so it wouldn’t make sense for them to throw all that away two episodes later. In a meta context, it’s a massive waste of time and budget considering the asset creation for Penny.

Penny is a character who has already hopped bodies two times. And now we're supposed to just believe that this time it really is a final death? Just two episodes after we were explicitly told her body isn't what matters, that "Her soul is who she is" and that "the mechanical parts are just extra"? From a writing perspective, it feels strange, like your breaking a promise right after making it. And frankly, CRWBY is better than that, which makes me think this is not the actual end for her.

A possible connection between Penny, Ruby, and the Staff (thus Creation) can be seen in the intro. As Ruby is falling and being dragged down into the darkness, she is shown reaching for the staff. In the void space, Penny is the one with the relic. So with Penny having this strong connection to Creation, and the lyrics “fight for every life” playing as Ruby reaches for the staff, it’s a safe assumption to make, with the knowledge we now have, that the Staff of Creation represents Penny in this particular moment. Which could mean that V9 will be about, at least partially, fighting for Penny’s life.

Musical Hints:

In terms of music, Friend, as a song for Penny, is very dissonant from the episode itself. The song is oddly cheerful for Penny’s recent untimely death, and it overall highlights the wrong parts of death. It’s simply too happy to be a song about losing one of the most, if not the most joyous characters in the entire show. The song also abruptly ends. There’s no outro, and while this could symbolize the fact that Penny died young, it could be that the song itself is unfinished in a story sense.

What do we hear just before the song finishes, though? A progression of notes that sounds eerily similar to the last line of the opening of Volume 8. The notes for “Fight for ev’ry life” and “Who fin’lly felt alive'' share a similar melodic structure, they aren’t perfect clones of each other, but they are incredibly similar, to the point where it seems intentional. Penny may very well be the life that the opening song is fighting for. It is also worth noting that the line “Fight for every life” comes just after “Sometimes it’s worth it all to risk the fall,” which is the exact wording used for the description in the Volume 8 finale. Team RWBY risked the fall, yet, strangely the opposite of fighting for every life happened with Penny’s sacrifice. Perhaps the time to fight for every life has yet to happen, and we will see it come Volume 9.

For another thing, the lyrics for Friend are entirely centered on Penny’s feelings for Ruby, to the point where they read very much like a bittersweet love song. The music itself is incredibly cheerful, as mentioned previously, creating a mood whiplash with the end of the volume. Why would we hear a song about Penny’s feelings for Ruby, sounding like a love song, if her death is supposed to be a tragic sacrifice akin to Pyrrha’s? The song may very well be giving a clue into its future use in the show proper.

If this was meant to be a good bye song, why make it so cheerful and romantic sounding? There's only one part about her dying and even then, it's just too accepting and goes right back into cheerfulness. The song is also pretty hopeful, telling Penny's story in a fairly chronological order. And the part where she talks about sacrifice is quite pointedly followed up by one about feeling alive. It also ends with the super cheerful chorus, the word "alive" being the last... (Remember the episode title: The Final Word)

(I want to thank my friend @shadow-0f-x for writing the majority of this section! I was struggling to choose how to tackle it as I am not well versed in music theory.)

What We Didn’t See:

It is likely that Penny understood Jaune's semblance better than him and figured something out about it’s abilities in the same way that she understood Ruby's semblance better than her. She had plenty of time to observe his semblance up close as he boosted her aura to stave off the virus. Because of that intentionally timed cutaway in the finale, we don’t get to hear her explain herself after her strained “Trust me.” All of that seems really suspicious to me.

Pyrrha Parallel:

Pyrrha and Penny both sacrificed themselves to stop or stall Cinder. Jaune tried to convince the both of them to stop. With Pyrrha, he failed, while with Penny he actively helped her sacrifice herself. Doesn’t make sense for the guy who was determined not to let anyone else do what Pyrrha did, unless of course Penny assured him she’d be alright.

The Moment:

RT including the suicide hotline in the description shows that they're aware that Penny basically committed assisted suicide, seeing it as a noble sacrifice worth doing to save her friends. They're aware, and I believe they're smart enough to condemn that decision to hell and back.

The best way to do that in my opinion is to pull her back into the land of the living and let her witness first hand the consequences of throwing her life away so freely. This would show Penny how her actions affected others so maybe she could learn to truly value herself. To not think herself expendable. It would be bold and unwise to portray this choice as something good, unless it was going to be called upon later and be pointed out for how horrible it really is.

On top of this, Penny was way too content with her death, happy even. There's no way team RWBY is letting her stay content with it. It’s almost as though we're supposed to join Ruby and Co. in calling bullshit on what Penny is saying and doing because no, Penny, this is not how things are meant to work. It's as if Penny was basically saying "I want to die for my friends" because most of the volume had been about everyone else making sure she didn't die. She knows it will hurt them. She knows.

At the peak of it all, a choice like this will totally destroy Ruby. It may very well be her breaking point for Volume 9. Curiously, the moment itself is written like it’s the first choice Penny’s ever made, yet the entire Volume shows this isn’t the case. However, this is the first choice that Penny’s made solely independently and it’s rather pertinent that the choice she makes is a mistake. Outside of giving Winter the Maiden gift and saving the day temporarily, this sacrifice will not have any lasting positive effects. Jaune will be saddled with the grief of killing Penny. Ruby will have to live with losing her best friend and not being able to protect her a second time, and Winter now has the burden of the Winter Maiden abilities, making her a target of Cinder. This is a bad thing, and Penny needs to see the long term consequences.

Transfer of Power:

As we all know, colors in RWBY are really important and get a lot of focus in the show. That means the yellow we see as Penny gives Winter the Maiden Powers was intentional and likely important, no matter how insignificant it may seem. It’s possible that the transfer effect being yellow could have something to do with Jaune’s semblance. When Fria gave the power to Penny, the effect was very much blue, so this transfer should have been green since she was the one giving it this time. The weirdness of this transfer and the focus on color in RWBY really makes it look like something’s up with how that went down.

A little off topic, but Penny saying "I won't be gone, I'll be part of you." makes me think... Winter is smart, so when she gets time to think about what Penny said, maybe she'll arrive at the same question many in the audience came to; if she's literally part of Winter, can they be separated again? If Winter starts questioning that, the possibility of Penny coming back just skyrockets.

Fria actually tells Penny "I'll be gone" before giving her powers up, which is an interesting contrast to Penny telling Winter "I won't be gone". She may have gotten that line from Winter be all philosophical in V7, saying Fria was now a part of Penny, but it hits differently coming from an actual Maiden. S5o it’s possible that Maidens usually actually will be gone, but Jaune's semblance did something to change that.

This could go well with the theory that they won't need to find an aura transfer machine, or build another one, because Jaune will have a semblance evolution allowing him to do the transfer instead. It might actually be that this evolution already happened and the golden light we saw was Jaune transferring penny's aura to Winter in some way?

An observation that I find interesting is when Penny gives winter the powers, not only is the aura yellow but penny completely glows yellow too, and she obviously starts to disappear, but she doesn’t seem to fully disappear, she just glows.

It's possibly a fading out effect and she does fully fade but animation makes bright light easier, and so we don't actually see her disappear because she's dead and not gone. But it does once again emphasize the color yellow here!

And the color is coming from Penny, it does go up Winter's arm a bit, but Penny is clearly the source. This transfer is so weird and I’m not really sure how to interpret it. There's just actually no reason that we are aware of to make the effect yellow here is the thing. Unless it has something to do with either Jaune or Ambrosius, or potentially a combination of both...

Jaune’s Aura:

The way we see Jaune's aura break in the finale is strange. His aura shouldn't be breaking here. It had been long enough since he was boosting Penny, he's had time to recharge, and it didn't look like it was a strain on him at all. Plus, we know he has a lot of aura, so there probably wasn't too much to recharge in the first place.

He has a massive amount of aura, it has never broken before as far as I remember. Even if it has though, that doesn’t make this occurrence any less odd. It should absolutely never be a one-hit KO. We didn't see anything that would've drained it, that should not have been enough to break his aura. Unless he did something - something that would require a huge amount of aura - that we just didn't see. That amount of aura drain is far more than just an attempt at healing would do, Jaune absolutely did something with his semblance that took up almost all of his aura.

Pinocchio Allusion:

As any Penny fan knows, her character allusion is Pinocchio, the puppet who became a real boy. Penny deviates from the allusion by having always been a real girl, as Ruby is quick to point out, but she shares many story beats with her original story including multiple deaths. In the original story, Pinocchio dies from being hung by his own strings due to his poor decision making and he dies. Sounds a little familiar, does it not? This is where his tale originally ended. Readers were unsatisfied with this ending however, so the author decided to change the story by reviving Pinocchio and teaching him to be more careful.

Unlike Pinocchio making all the wrong decisions, Penny often makes the right ones, or ones she thinks is right, when concerning others. While usually a good thing, this has meant Penny almost giving herself up multiple times during V8, her last attempt being successful. This is where Penny and Pinocchio begin to share similarities again. They are both very reckless when it concerns themselves. This carelessness comes from different places, but it ends with the same result of them endangering their lives and even sometimes losing them.

In the Disney movie, Pinocchio dies by drowning after going to rescue Geppetto and washes up on the shore (like the beach in V8’s post credit scene). His father is devastated and takes him home to grieve, but as a reward for his selflessness in rescuing his father, the Blue Fairy returns and brings him back to life, as well as granting him humanity. Penny sacrificed her life as well, and it stands to reason that she should be rewarded for it, much like her allusion was.

Penny got her maiden powers from someone with blue aura and then gave her powers to someone with blue aura. So it could be that not only Ambrosius, but Fria and Winter as well represent the Blue Fairy. It could be set up for Winter helping to bring Penny back to life once more. It’s an out there theory I admit, but it’s not outright impossible either. The Blue Fairy in Pinocchio saved him three times that I know of, so RWBY having three representations does make sense.

Geppetto wished for him to live as a real boy, but it depended on what path Pinocchio took. This is very reminiscent of Penny and Pietro. Pietro wants to see her live her life, and surely with him absent in V8C14 that didn't work, despite Penny choosing. Her father did not see her happy enough to live her life, and will only be able to learn her death through others. But Pinocchio's themes were life and being alive. So the likelihood that this is not her end yet is quite high!

A Girl That Fell Through the World:

Penny could be the girl who fell through the world. The girl in the story fled the consequences of a choice. The only person who chose her ultimate fate was Penny. The others were pushed into the void, but she chose to die. The consequence of her choice is Ruby’s grief first and foremost, which Penny won’t see. The girl who fell through the world does come back though, and the world will be changed severely with Penny’s absence. Alternatively, it could also be Penny coming back to Wonderland or wherever they currently are, as long as it’s unrecognizable to her.

What Returning Brings:

Others might say another return would have no story relevant purpose, but I wholeheartedly disagree. Penny gives a profoundly youthful, joyous, and wondrous outlook on the world and story that we hadn't seen since Ruby in Volumes 1-3(not the end), Penny returning would bring a much needed levity back in after the despair they will undoubtedly be going through. While not necessarily a huge thing in most other shows, for RWBY, a show largely about keeping up hope, an ounce of such relief is a necessity.

As much as I hate saying it, Penny’s death does actually make some narrative sense because she had to pass on the Maiden powers. (They could have done this in a number of ways, and I personally think they chose rather poorly, but I digress.) Throughout this whole volume, we can see Penny seemingly being set up to join the main cast, but would have been too strong with the powers. This also accomplishes ridding her of the burden of responsibility that comes with being a Maiden and lets her obtain the freedom that’s so important to her character.

Once she returns, seeing this grief that her actions caused, particularly to Ruby, will get her to realize more that her actions can have serious repercussions. She made a choice, but that choice hurt the people she loves. She must have known that it would but I’m not sure she ever realized just how much.

I didn’t want this post to be heavy in the shipping department, so I largely left it out, but I am going to say this one thing that could have an impact. If Nuts & Dolts is on its way to being canon, which this volume makes it feel highly likely, this could be a catalyst.

It could prompt an arc for the both of them in which Penny learns to live her life fighting for her loved ones, rather than sacrificing it for them. A relationship could potentially start from there. And Ruby seeing Penny learn these things may also help her to stop doing the occasional but very dangerous and reckless things she does. Ruby witnessing Penny coming to terms with what she did to the people that care about her would actually make her stop to think “wait, is this how everyone else would feel if I got myself killed?” That would be a very important moment of character growth for her.

I’m certain there are other significant things that Penny returning can bring to the show. And there are definitely more sections I could add to this. At this point though, assuming anyone even made it this far, I think I’ve been going long enough already. So let’s just roll into the outro!

As painful and hopeless as it seems, I'm choosing to trust them with this because there is absolutely no way they didn't see backlash coming. The way this finale went makes me think that they calculated for backlash and aren’t jumping into something they don’t have a plan to recover from. Whether this trust is unfounded or not remains to be seen, but I don’t think it is currently. I do think, however, that the cause of this backlash was a major misstep. Now that it has happened though, they have a chance to do something good with it.

I know for a lot of you, trust in CRWBY has been damaged, some even irreparably so. And for those that feel this way, I don’t blame you. My trust in them took a hit too, but isn’t broken completely yet. There are many ways that they can bring her back that would make sense with the narrative, they have the ability to make it right, and after going over all of the hints and general weirdness of things many times, I think they will.

I'm feeling pretty confident now and I really didn't expect that to happen at all to be honest. But discussing and theorizing with the discord server seriously helped get my hopes back up surprisingly fast! It’s actually thanks to all of them that this gigantic post even happened! So thanks a ton my fellow Dolts! And a special thanks to!!

@arcana-amicus

@catontheweb

@cosmokyrin

@gaydontmesswithme224

@jammatown919

@shadow-0f-x

They really helped get this thing across the finish line!

And thank YOU for reading all~ of this! I sincerely wish it gave you some of the hope and confidence that I now have!

#RWBY #rwby vol8 #rwby v8 #rwby spoilers #Penny Polendina #nuts and dolts #mechanical rose #a little #Essay #more like dissertation #I haven't written this much in #probably ever actually #Have HOPE people!

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rainydaydream-gal18 · 3 years

Text

(The Bad Batch) Wrecker x Reader: Activated

(Author’s Note: This is set during the episode “Battle Scars”

Warnings: some angst, the events in Battle Scars).

You inhaled deeply, eyes shut, with hands resting on your lap. Even though you were trying to calm your senses, you kept an ear for any sign of Wrecker waking in the old rusty medbay.

The growing disturbance had become clearer in your mind. Wrecker was showing uncharacteristic irritability and even aggression toward you in the last several minutes before his chip activated. Captain Rex had insisted that the Bad Batch get their chips removed even if they did not appear to be active, and in Wrecker’s case, it seemed the journey to the abandoned medbay was just in time.

You had sat with the strongest Bad Batcher in the darker parts of the ship a few times during his more frequently occurring headaches, simply holding his hand and talking in a gentle tone to pass the time until the pain ebbed. He was always appreciative and thanked you in his own way with a kind gesture or simply being there for you.

It wasn’t until the squad set foot in the medbay that Wrecker turned on you. He clutched his head with a groan, and you had extended a hand in hopes of soothing him, but he shot a glare at you and snarled, “get away from me!”

You withdrew your hand quickly. His reaction had definitely stung, but something told you it wasn’t really him: It was that chip. Tech saw your face fall and looked at you sympathetically.

“It’s the procedure getting to him. He’ll be fine once it’s over,” he reassured.

You nodded. “Of course.”

“Um, _________?”

“Yes?”

Tech had hesitated, eyes darting to Wrecker who was groaning again before resting on you once more. “It might be best if you keep your distance. His aggression seems to have increased with your approach.”

“You think I may be further pushing the effects of the chip? Because I am a jedi, and...?”

“...And the order is more directly against you,” he finished. “Yes. I know it is unfortunate, but I think it’s best.”

“I understand.” You offered a small smile to put him at ease. “Thanks, Tech.”

Shortly after that, Wrecker’s chip had finally taken effect, and the strongest Bad Batcher had gone on a rampage, seeking to eliminate the squad for disobeying Order 66. You were his first target after he had discarded an unconscious Tech. He definitely was not himself. The fiery eyes that he glared at you with were not the Wrecker you knew. Large hands that had once been a comfort wrapped around your wrists to keep you from force-pushing him away.

It was a group effort to get him stunned and under for the procedure.

You had gone to the very edge of the medbay to sit down and focus your mind. That was where you were at the moment with eyes shut. You could feel Omega’s fear. You could feel all of their anxieties over the possibility of the procedure not working. There was one calming presence in particular that you focused on.

“He is going to be alright.”

You recognized his presence long before his smoky voice sounded nearby. Without opening your eyes, you offered a hesitant smile. “Yes, I think so too.”

Hunter’s armor brushed your arm as he leaned down to give your shoulder a light, reassuring squeeze. “I’m sure he’ll be very happy to see you when he wakes up.”

After everything you had been through, that statement was what finally made you crack. You felt the weight of emotion that you’d been brushing off well up inside you. There were many things to sort though since Order 66 occurred. The Bad Batch had been a safe haven in all of it, the only thing left after the tragedy- except that even they were affected by the order. First, Crosshair. Then, Wrecker.

It broke your heart.

The tears slipped down your cheek as you ducked to hide your face. Hunter quickly put an arm around you, and you leaned into the contact to weep. Wrecker had been the one to comfort you at your lowest point in the past… He’d been the one to embrace you and tell you everything was alright. He’d been your sunshine in the deepest, darkest depths of space.

“Hunter, I…” your voice broke off into a sob. “I-I love him.”

He only hesitated for a moment as your words sunk in. “I know,” he murmured. “I know.” His arms tightened around you as more tears spilled down your face. It was true. You loved Wrecker. It was something you’d only been able to admit to yourself recently. Still, you supposed it wasn’t a surprise that Hunter had already picked up on it.

It was some time before Wrecker woke. Many of the others had fallen asleep. You drifted in and out of sleep from where you sat with your back against the wall. Omega’s exclamation woke you, and you clambered to your feet in a hurry. Everything in you ached to be at his side, but you waited until the others got their greetings in. Tech gave Wrecker a once-over to ensure that he was in good health.

The medbay was buzzing about the success of the procedure. The others gathered around and decided who would go next. Wrecker had been glancing around the whole time as if searching for something before he finally locked eyes with you from the gurney and slid off, a little wobbly on his feet.

One hesitant step toward him turned into a dash into his open arms. Your heart swelled. His face lit up, and he held you so tightly against his armored chest. Relief washed over you, and the wave was so strong that it overflowed in the form of tears.

“________,” he said, drawing back from the embrace a little. His eyes were downcast.

“Wrecker.” You cautiously lifted a hand, and he clasped his larger one over it, enveloping it in familiar warmth. “Are you alright?”

“I think I should be asking you that,” he mumbled. You stepped closer to meet his guilty gaze. “I’m...really sorry. I did everything I could not to hurt you, but...”

“You have nothing to be sorry about,” you insisted. “I’m okay. We’re all okay.” Your hand held his even tighter. “I’m really glad to see you.”

The smile returned to his face. “I’m really glad to see you too.”

“Alright,” Tech spoke up. “I need this area cleared for the next procedure.”

“Oh, sorry,” you replied sheepishly, taking a few steps back. Wrecker stepped with you, refusing to let go of your hand, so that the spot next to the gurney was clear. Hunter climbed on next, shooting you one of his small smiles and giving a nod in Wrecker’s direction before he laid down.

You smiled back, inching closer to Wrecker and looking up at him pleadingly. “Can I have a hug?”

Wrecker grinned. “Thought you’d never ask! I need one too.” He wrapped his arms around you and practically crushed you to his chest-plate. It wasn’t exactly the most comfy, but feeling his cheek rest on your head made up for that. “Everything’s going to be okay,” he said.

“Yeah, I think it will.”

#wrecker x reader #bad batch wrecker #bad batch x reader #bad batch reader insert #the bad batch wrecker imagine #wrecker imagine #the bad batch x you #wrecker x you #bad batch wrecker x reader #wrecker x y/n #wrecker #bad batch wrecker imagine #bad batch wrecker x you #wrecker fanfiction

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drainthehero · 2 years

Text

Conner and Dick. Chapter 1

This is a new storyline building from the Conner and Dick episode from Superman’s Shame (Ch 3). That Chapter is literally the most read chapter (by me) so I have been keen to expand it.

Conner was not quite sure where he was headed but he knew he was in a hurry to get there. He had gotten into a stupid fight with Dick and had stormed out, being unable to swallow his pride and apologize. As he raced through the city his super hearing picked up unusual sounds coming from a private museum and he decided to investigate and hopefully vent some of his frustration.

Having made his way to the lowest floor, Superboy crashed through the solid steel door making a grand entry into the room and surprising all the criminals inside. He immediately stood tall, puffing his muscled chest out and highlighting the red ‘S’ shield sitting on the black background of his tight fitting black tee.

The room was a small antechamber which led to the main vault of the museum and it contained a huge fortified door which led to the main vault and a simple reinforced wooden door which led back to the museum itself.

The vault door swung open on its hinges and the three criminals posted in the antechamber had been watching the wooden door, not thinking anyone would break through the solid steel door. The turned their guns on the young hero but only managed to fire off a few rounds before Superboy rushed over to them and disarmed them easily, binding their wrists and ankles with plastic cuffs and hanging them from hooks on the wall to keep them out of play.

He then moved more cautiously toward the open vault door, not knowing how many criminals were inside nor their target.

As he moved into the vault he heard and felt gunfire and braced himself for the impact, bringing his arms up reflexively to cover his face. He quickly identified five figures and their positions and moved toward the first two, easily subduing them and binding them.

As he positioned himself to continue he heard a whumping sound just before his body was lifted and flung back with force into the reinforced concrete wall of the vault. The effect of the sonic attack combined with the impact into the wall dazed the young muscled hero and he lay still on the ground for a few moments as his super body recovered. He shook his head angrily and placed his hands down to lift himself up, but as he was raising his body he once more heard the whumping sound and was again flung into the wall, this time knocked out by the impact and the sonic boom.

The criminals could see Superboy was out cold. They quickly moved to lift him into a chair and bind his hands behind his back with cuffs made from a reinforced alloy. As the young muscled hero finally regained consciousness he felt his hands held behind his back and flexed his shoulders and arms but was surprised to find he was unable to free himself.

As his vision cleared he saw four men standing in front of him, one of which held the weapon he assumed had defeated him. With his ears still ringing from the sonic assault he gave the men a dark look while he tried to devise a way out of his situation.

One of the men, a local street thug he knew of named Crush, said, “looks like one of the junior justice members thought he could take us out all on his own. I guess we proved you wrong little hero. And don’t get any ideas. This gun has already knocked you out twice. I wonder what it will do to you up close.”

Superboy felt a pang of worry at the thought and his thoughts betrayed him as a look of worry flashed across his handsome features. “That’s right superjunior. Just sit tight while we get what we came for and you will probably survive to tell the tale of your defeat.”

Superboy could only scowl as the weapon stayed trained right on his chest while the others continued to ransack the various artefacts in the storage vault.

After about 20 minutes the gang had gathered a number of boxes and stored them in the antechamber. Superboy realised that he had little time left and had been observing the man holding the sonic weapon, who now appeared to be more interested in the loot than watching the young hero.

Superboy tensed himself and when the criminal switched his gaze the young superhero launched his body forward directly at the gun with the intention of damaging it beyond use. He collided with both weapon and criminal and was rewarded by the sight of the weapon flying away and smashing against the vault wall.

Even with his hands bound behind his back, Superboy was a formidable hero. Confident the tables were now well and truly turned he said to Crush, “it looks like ‘junior justice’ is all that was needed for you common element street criminals after all. Now, we can do this the easy way or the hard way.” As he spoke he jumped gracefully and brought his bound hands under his legs to be in front of his body, before smashing them into the ground and freeing his hands completely.

To further make his point Superboy cuffed the other members of the gang and laid them out in the antechamber ready for the police. Finally he stood over Crush who was searching through their not quite stolen loot. “Crush, why are you bothering? You won’t be taking any of those artefacts to prison.”

As Superboy reached down to lift the criminal and carry him to his gang, Crush opened a small container and cried out, “Aha! I knew it was here somewhere.” The open container emanated a soft glowing green light which had an instant effect on the superpowered young clone.

Superboy’s face immediately contorted with a pained look as fear set itself into his eyes. “Ughhhhh… no… you can’t…” Superboy had grabbed the collar of the criminal but found himself lacking the strength to lift him and carry him off. Instead he was now so weak he could barely stand and was instead leaning against the criminal to support his weight. “K… kryptonite… but how??” The young hero exhaled heavily as the effects of the green rock took their toll on his body. “Ughhhh… ahhhh… so weak…”

Crush retrieved the glowing green rock from the container and shook the hand of Superboy off his back, causing the hero to fall to his knees with one hand on the ground to support him. His handsome face looked at Crush with fear in his eyes and he shook his head in disbelief. “No… no… ahhhh… oohhhh… not that.” As his strength continued to fail him, his head hung down in defeat before the criminal.

Crush grabbed the young hero by his hair and pulled his head back up to make him drink in the sight of the kryptonite. “Look at it Superboy. Just a simple little rock. But what an amazing effect it has on you and those muscles of yours.”

Superboy could feel himself getting weaker with the vision of the hateful kryptonite driving him into a sense of despair. “No... please… not kryptonite… no…” the young hero’s breathing was becoming ragged and he was barely able to form the words as he begged for mercy from the criminal.

“This was all about to be over Superboy, but you had to go and be a hero. I think we need to teach you a quick lesson about what happens to heroes who get in over their head.” Crush released the hair and punched the young stud in the jaw, dropping him to the ground and knocking him out.

Superboy awoke yet again to the sound of ringing in his ears and the dreaded feeling of weakness which accompanied exposure to kryptonite. He groaned and carefully opened his eyes.

His wrists were cuffed and bound and he was hanging from the ceiling with his shirt and pants also removed so he could only hang helplessly in his tight white briefs, his significant bulge proudly on display behind the proud ‘S’ stylized logo in black and red on the briefs. The kryptonite was dangling from a chain hanging around his neck, which reminded Superboy of the night of Superman’s forced rape by Robin. His feet were bound by ropes to the ground, ensuring he could not lift his legs to protect or even cover himself.

The full gang was standing in front of him, admiring their weakened and captive hero as he hung helplessly before them. Determined not to show them any further weakness, Superboy hung in his bondage watching his captors with defiant eyes, his breathing laboured and shallow. His magnificently muscled body was on full display and the muscles, while weak and useless, were still wonderful to behold while he was stretched in the hanging bondage.

“Isn’t this nice and cosy Superboy?” asked Crush as he stood before the young superhero. He moved forward and lazily flicked at the dangling piece of kryptonite before casting his eyes to the ‘S’ covered bulge of the teen superhero. “And aren’t these cute?” Crush moved his hand to grasp the iconic logo and cup the cock and balls. “I see you like to fashion yourself after the great Man of Steel, but it seems that maybe you are somewhat different in the package department.” Crush finished his sentence by squeezing the pouch of the young hero.

“Urggghhh… aghhh,” grunted Superboy in real pain. “Ughhhh, please… don’t.” Superboy winced as the pressure continued to build on his sensitive balls and he could feel Crush manipulating his fingers around the soft shaft and balls. “Ughhh, so weak. Please…” His voice trailed off and he grimaced in pain as the pressure became overpowering.

Crush was smiling as he held the pouch of the practically naked young hero, causing Superboy to feel a shiver of fear run up his spine. “This pouch of yours feels good to hold, Boy of Steel, but I think it’s time to get a proper look,” he motioned to the gang with his head as he painfully squeezed the bulge of Superboy, “what do you think lads?”

A chorus of cheers could be heard as the criminals practically drooled at the opportunity to humiliate and defeat the young hero.

Superboy felt his balls being squeezed against each other and, groaning from the pain, tried in vain to lift his bound legs to protect himself. He had started to sweat and this was causing his thick black hair to sit on his forehead. “No…” he exclaimed with a weak and ragged voice. “Please… don’t… please.” Superboy managed to lift his head and look with pleading eyes into the cold soulless eyes of Crush and realised that he would receive no mercy from the hardened criminal.

Crush released the package of the young hero and placed his fingers into the tight white band circling the slim waist. “Alright boys, let’s see what we are working with here.”

Superboy struggled weakly against his bondage, the writhing of his sexy muscled body causing the kryptonite to dangle and taunt him. “Ugghhh…” he exclaimed through his heavy ragged breathing. “Please… please… not that!” The young hero had only ever been naked for Robin and he was horrified to think of what these villains might do with him. “No… please… no…” his voice took on a whining tone as the last of his bravado failed him in the face of his stripping.

Crush merely grinned even more as he slowly dragged the band down to reveal the completely smooth skin and the thick base of the shaft of Superboy. “Ooh,” chuckled Crush. “Who are you keeping this nice and smooth for I wonder?” causing the young hero to blush in shame. “This is exactly how the Man of Steel must have felt when he was stripped before the entire world. How does it feel to get the same treatment Superboy?” taunted Crush as he played the band around and over the thick shaft.

Superboy felt some small relief that his defeat was not being broadcast, but his horror immediately grew as he saw two mounted camera phones trained on his weakened and vulnerable body. “No… unghhh… arghhh…” he flexed his huge shoulders and biceps weakly in a pathetic and desperate attempt to free himself. “Ughhh. So weak… so helpless. Why are you doing this to me? Please don’t,” he begged his captors.

Crush just continued to pull the briefs down, exposing more than five inches of thick soft super cock, which now flopped lazily out of its cotton confines.

The Boy of Steel could only whimper as his humiliation was complete, or so he thought.

“Wow Superboy, that’s quite a weapon you’re packing there. I don’t think Superman will ever be referred to as the “Man” of Steel again after this video gets around.” Crush reached down and played with the soft shaft and balls, eliciting a light moan from the young hero, who had been expecting more abuse at the hands of the villain.

Crush continued to gently massage the shaft and tickled the balls, causing Superboy to be momentarily lost in the blissful feeling. “Ohhhh… hey! What! No!” the young hero protested weakly as his cock began to respond to the erotic touch. A new look of fear entered his face as he realised that his torment was far from over.

One of the gang then wrapped his lips around the exposed nipple of the hero and sucked on it hard, causing Superboy to moan with heat and desire. “Urghhh.. god that feels so good,” he said in spite of himself.

As Superboy enjoyed the assault on his nipple, he felt his cheeks prised apart and a tongue expertly lashed his tight boyhole, reminding him of the pleasure he felt at the hands of his Boy Wonder lover. “Arghhhh… oh my god…” A look of bliss had now crossed the face of the young hero and his cock had grown to its full 9.5 inches held in the firm grip of Crush, who slowly stroked it up and down.

“Fuck Superboy, who would have thought anyone with Superman’s DNA could have a cock this big,” exclaimed Crush as he continued to jerk the mighty super member, squeezing it a few times. “I bet you lay there stroking yourself while looking at that little cock of Superman and moan at how much bigger a man you are than him.” The young hero nodded weakly and moaned in agreement with the words, causing the young hero’s cock to leak pre-cum.

For the next few minutes Superboy knew only pleasure as his nipple and hole were lashed expertly by hot wet tongues and his shaft was stroked long and slow by the knowing hand of Crush.

“Oh god… ahhhh… ohhh… fuuuuckk…” moaned the Boy of Steel in ecstasy. The criminals were also running their hands over his muscles, which although weak and useless, were still as large and defined as always. The young hero’s hormones raged and as his sexy young muscular body was pleasured in practically every way.

“Are you enjoying this Superboy? Do you enjoy being weakened and defeated by us mortal villains and then having our way with your super sexy body?” taunted Crush as he continued to stroke the shaft of the young hero.

Superboy felt surprise and shame as his response tumbled from his lips. “Arghhh… god yes. Don’t stop. You have defeated me… I am yours to control…” He knew that during his passionate sessions with Dick he quickly assumed the submissive role, but he did not expect to so quickly fall under the sway of these villains.

Crush was also surprised by the ease with which the young hero submitted himself in defeat and decided he would get the most out his new plaything. “Tell me hero, do you want to cum?” Crush released his hold on the throbbing member as he asked the question.

Superboy moaned as the heavenly pressure was removed from his cock. “Arghhh! Yes! I need to cum so badly. Please stroke my shaft!” The young hero had a new look of desperation in his eyes now as his big hard cock ached and bobbed in front of his smooth muscled body.

Crush placed his hand just near the throbbing member but did not touch it.

Superboy whined like a puppy, feeling the heat of the villainous hand so close to his aching member but not providing him with the much needed relief. “God! Please! Please. I need you to stroke my cock.” The other members continued their tongue assault on his sensitive nipples and hole, making his cock continue to freely leak precum.

Crush just looked at him and said, “beg me boy.”

Superboy was not even able to pretend he had the willpower to resist the villain. “Oh please,” he whined. “You are my Master and I am your submissive Superboy! No, I am no longer Superboy as you have defeated me. I am your submissive boy. I beg you Master, please stroke my cock, completing my defeat and allowing me to cum. I am so desperate to cum and I need my Master’s hand to finish.”

As the young hero spoke the words, his shaft bounced achingly and even more pre-cum escaped to stretch down toward the floor, forming a sizeable puddle.

The body of the young hero was weakly flexing and convulsing as his desire took complete control. “I will flex my pitiful muscles for you Master, to prove your defeat over me. Just please, please let me cum. I beg you.”

By this point Crush was more aroused than he thought possible and he longed to plunge his now rock hard cock deep into that tight ass and bubble butt. However he knew he had already spent far too long playing with his new toy and it was past time for his crew to make their exit.

Crush once more wrapped his hand around the thick hard shaft of Superboy and resumed his slow stroking, causing the young hero to visibly shudder as he finally found some relief from the aching in his cock. “Oh, thank you Master. Your hand feels so good wrapped around my cock.”

Superboy felt his mind reeling as this new sensation washed over him. He knew that he should not be saying the words but he could not fight the overwhelming urge he felt to submit the villain who had so comprehensively defeated him.

Crush increased his grip and pace on the shaft of Superboy, causing the boy to thrust his hips weakly as it was clear he was fast approaching his climax. Crush felt a thrill like never before as he exerted complete control over this once powerful teen superhero. “Are you ready to cum, boy?”

“Oh yes, I’m ready. May I cum Master?” Superboy asked with a pleading tone as he looked down at his massive cock being stroked by the villain.

As Crush opened his mouth to respond a loud voice was heard from the room outside. “What did you call him?” This was immediately followed by a small projectile sailing into the small room trailing a thick cloud of smoke which billowed around the room quickly.

The criminals switched into survival mode with each doing their best to escape the small smoke filled room and whichever hero had just crashed their little party.

In his weakened and desperate state, Superboy could only breathe in the smoke and was soon hanging unconscious in his bondage.

He regained consciousness from the smelling salts placed under his nose and he sighed in relief as he made out the form of Robin standing before him with four unconscious and bound criminals at his feet. For some unknown reason he was still hanging bound and naked with the kryptonite dangling from his neck.

It was then that Superboy could see the dark look clouding the face of his lover, who repeated his last question. “What did you call him?”

“Uh… I… err…” Superboy stumbled to find an explanation but then tried to take some control. “Hey, why haven’t you freed me yet?”

“You dare to call him your Master! You will be free if and when I want you free. Is that understood slave? Who is your Master?”

Superboy shuddered and felt his cock instantly harden at the words and voice of his true Master. “You are my Master and I serve none other. I will hang here draped in kryptonite for your pleasure until you decide otherwise my Master.”

“Good, slave. Do not forget so easily, or you shall earn my wrath.” Again Superboy shuddered as the power of the words washed over him.

Robin wrapped his leather gloved hand around the hard shaft and squeezed, causing Superboy to moan and almost cum instantly. “Argghhhh. I will not forget Master. There is only your voice and your words.”

“Good slave. Now cum for your Master.”

No sooner had the words left Robin’s mouth than Superboy felt his body respond to the command and he instantly came, shooting a huge load out in front of his body to spray over the floor.

Robin watched Superboy cum as he held the spasming cock in his leather gloved hand. He then reached up and let his young heroic lover down, leaving the kryptonite dangling in place. “Good boy, now clean up your mess slave, it’s time for us to go.”

Superboy immediately slumped to the floor from the combination of weakness and exhaustion but did not attempt to remove the kryptonite. Instead he dragged his naked body over to where his cum had landed and proceeded to lick it up as he knew his Master would expect.

Robin stood there playing with his own hard cock and watched the tight bubble butt of his slave as his big muscles flexed weakly to drag his body over and then proceed to clean up his own mess with his tongue.

When Superboy had finished Robin said, “you may remove the kryptonite now and bring it to me, slave.”

“Yes Master, thank you.” Superboy’s cock was instantly hard again at the command from his Master. He wrapped his hands around the chain draping his neck and strained his weakened biceps and shoulders. Ever so slowly he managed to drag the chain higher and higher until it finally cleared his head and he was free of the chain. Following the momentous effort he lay there gasping for breath and tried to regain some strength.

Finally he dragged himself and the chain back to where Robin stood, before assessing the distance from the floor to Robin’s open palm. Superboy did not even contemplate asking his Master for help, instead he drew in a deep yet ragged breath and grabbed the chain in one hand, lifting it slowly and painfully from the ground to the waiting hand. He was visibly shaking by the time he was high enough to pass the chain to his Master, after which he collapsed to the floor in exhaustion.

Robin quickly placed the kryptonite into a lead-lined compartment before reaching down to lift Superboy from the ground. The Boy of Steel quickly felt the strength return to his limbs and by the time he was upright he was able to stand unaided and give Robin a passionate kiss and embrace.

“You came for me. You saved me,” he said. “But…”

“Shhh,” said Robin. “Of course I did silly.” Sometimes it was easy to forget that the studly hero had been raised by laboratory technicians. “This is our dynamic and I was wrong to doubt it. I see that now.” They made their way back to Titan Tower to finish what was left of their night.

#Superboy #conner kent #dick grayson #robin #superhero defeated #defeated

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