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#This post brought to you by remembering that The Green Knight exists
rustchild · 7 months
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desperately craving weird surrealist arthurania. Knights with no faces wandering through the mists. Seams between Christian and pre-Christian Britain gaping like open wounds. Beafts and visions. Maybe a monk. Maybe the monk is gay
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faerytreealtars · 11 months
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𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊 Messages from the Fae Realm 𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊
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Welcome all my lovely souls to another reading, I wished to work with some of my favourite spirits today so I have connected to the Fair Folk that surround me in my countryside home. They have been so helpful and provided a few messages for all of the collective who are guided to me, having said that I do hope you can find a message for you here today! So take a breath and choose a pile. Always remember to trust your intuitive guidance and to only take what resonates for it is rarely wrong…
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┋ Pile 1 ┋ Pile 2 ┋ Pile 3 ┋
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Pile 1:
{Cards: The Emperor, The four of pentacles & the Empress / Charms: Green Pear, green ribbon & three green flowers}
With great strength comes great responsibility, We believe that is how the human saying goes, you have this strength, this power but yet you do not use it wisely. We can see more than you may know and we know how you have the power to help - share your gifts, those talents, and thoughts that are unique to you alone. Do not hide them from the world for you would not have them if they were not meant to be of a special use. This world is in need of your help but it is up to you whether you are willing to take the leap...
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Pile 2:
{Cards: Page of wands, five of swords & Nine of pentacles / Charms: Black-heart, shooting star, dead fish-bone, rocking horse & happy face}
Why have you let the voices win or at least act like they are winning? Why have you given up on seeing wonder and beauty? You had so much fire & creativity running through those veins but now they look empty. We hold onto hope still that one day you will burst forth like a phoenix and show the world how wonderful the true soul that exists within you is! This battle is yours to face though, we cannot fight the demons for you, that is how one learns and grows you see but know we will watch and guide always and hope you will see past the cloud of negativity that fogs around you.
Fae Advice: If you are struggling with limiting beliefs, self-doubt and negative thinking I can offer some advice. If you feel comfortable write down the thoughts that plague your mind and knock your confidence, it is my experience those thoughts linger unless you look at them realistically writing them down helps you see that they are silly and hold no power. look at what you have written does it hold any truth, is there any facts to back it up? Probably not! Then you can add beside the negative thought the true good thought, make sure to draw a line through the negative thought afterward to let the universe know this is not your belief. An example on my end could be: My opinion doesn't matter. Who put this thought in me? Why do I choose to believe it without thinking critically about it? what I should believe is: My opinions and views do matter as I have insight and thoughts no one else may have and those opinions may be the very thing a person or the world needs to hear in that moment. Hope this helps you all!
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Pile 3: {Cards: Five of cups, three of cups, three of wands & Knight of wands / Charms: panda face, teddy bear, cozy cow, star & ginger-bread man}
We just wished to say we love you very much, your aura is a breath of fresh air & how you show your authentic self to the world, unafraid to be open and kind we greatly admire. So never stop being curious, keep growing, and keep connected to that inner child you nurture so well for through them you will forever be connected to us! Your loving Faery Friends 𐐪♡𐑂
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I hope that you managed to find a message that resonated for you out of the three piles and that it has brought you clarity, comfort, or inspiration in some form.
If you are in need of more help or clarity from the spirits or myself then please check out this post here where you will find information about myself, links to my private readings, and rules about my exchange readings.
Sending loving vibes and gratitude to all of you! - Fae ⋆.ೃ࿔*:・
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TAROT DECK USED: The Faerie Tarot MOON POSITION: New moon (0%)  Daily Affirmation: "We are all family and the planet is our home"
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the-shinysnorlax · 2 months
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The Green Lantern cycle: How DC uses and mischaracterizes their “forgotten” characters
As of me writing this, I just finished Green Lantern: First Flight, and it had me thinking: Just how many adaptations of different GL stories are there? (No, Justice League doesn’t count)
The answer? Not a lot. At least, not a lot of good ones.
Sure, you have First Flight, which is a pretty decent film. And you have the animated series, objectively considered one of the best adaptations of the GL comics to exist. And if you are a “hardcore” GL fan you might even remember Emerald Knights was a movie too.
But the animated series was canceled before it got any real potential, first flight got forgotten to time, and emerald knights is really just a bunch of shorts complied into a movie. And these were all released 10-15 years ago. What have we gotten since?
Well there’s that disaster that is the live action movie with that guy from Deadpool (And the equally as awful theme park ride that came with it which squandered the name “First Flight” for the GL franchise) and there’s Beware my power which pisses me off for reasons that I won’t talk about for this essay (Wasted potential of making a proper adaptation of Emerald Twilight)
And that’s about it really. DC has been hesitant to adapt any GL comics into movies/shows outside of the same old Hal origin rewritten for the millionth time and really just brings them out to put them as a JL member.
And that got me thinking. DC has done this before. Not just with Hal and his buddies either. The JSA, the aquafam, Arrowfam, young Justice and much more have been brought back only to be put back in the void and largely forgotten outside of their fanbase. Thus making me to dub this
The Green Lantern Cycle
It consists of these steps. I’ll be using its namesake as an example, notably Kyle Rayner (Because hes my favorite GLC member I’m sorry I have a bias)
1. A comic run or a hero gets a sudden resurgence
This could be more people reading the comics, or nostalgia catching up to the older audience and remembering how good it was to read the comic back then. More people are talking about it, and it gets popular again.
So hypothetically let’s say that Kyle’s original 90s run just. Suddenly gets popular again. More people are talking about it outside of his fans in their little circle, it blows up, more people read it, talk about it, all that.
It’s also during this part of the cycle DC starts to take notice and do minor things like, say, acknowledge him in a social media post, or put him in a comic issue in a major role, or even reprint his comic run again. This satisfies people, but it’s only a temporary thing. That’s where we move onto step 2
2. DC decides to make a movie/comic run of character
When I say movie, I mean their animated movies that take less time to produce, not a blockbuster theater movie.
So now that the character is mainstream (At least in comic fandom sense) DC announces they’ll do a comic run or in the very rare sense, a whole movie about them! Of course fans get excited because they’re getting a resurgence, and they’ll hype this up to no end.
DC being the bastards they are, don’t market this at all but the fans sure do. As the release date inches closer and more is being released, the more fans get excited. And then the big day comes and the comic/movie is out! And that leads us to step 3
3. The movie/comic is plagued with mischaracterization and bad writing.
Sometimes we can see the bad writing show as the first previews are out. Sometimes it’s not obvious until it’s out. But regardless, with DC being well. DC. It releases, it’s bad. The fans are disappointed.
The 2 main places we’ve seen this is with YJ2019 and Tim Drakes newest run. Both hyped up by fans only to crash and fall and ultimately getting cancelled.
It also happened to the injustice movie from 2021 as well.
Let’s go back to that Kyle example. Hypothetically, DC released a movie about Zero Hour or Kyle’s first few issues. Of course fans will be excited (Myself included) and then when it releases, it’s a hot mess.
Maybe they just completely disregard Emerald Twlight. Maybe they butcher Kyle’s origin hard. Maybe they mischaracterize him entirely. Regardless, the movie is bad.
But doesn’t sway fans that much. Sure, the hype has probably died down, but they’re still going to have loyal fans who can’t wait for the next time the character will appear.
But DC doesnt get the memo
4. DC assumes fans don’t care for the character anymore, and puts them back in the void
Instead of realizing they are in the wrong, DC instead thinks the fans just. Don’t care for the character. It wasn’t bad because DC fucked it up, it was bad because the fans just wearnt ready!
So what do they do? Well, DC puts them back in the void for multiple years and only brings them out for cameos and minor roles.
And rinse and repeat. Over and over and OVER again.
Of course, this green lantern cycle doesn’t happen to everyone. Kon-El is doing fairly well right now. Dick Grayson has gotten a massive resurgence (For better or worse). The Arrowfam is doing decent enough in the GA series.
But that’s very few and far between.
For the most part, any character that isn’t associated with the big 3 or was made in the 90s just keep falling into this cycle and rarely ever escape it.
And it sucks for the fans who just want more good content of the character. They just want to see the character break this cycle and quit being stuck in this purgatory till the end of DC itself.
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esmeraldablazingsky · 2 years
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shout out to secondary colors for being such good visual indicators of corruption and contagion in fictional settings
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pendraegon · 3 years
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So ive read sgatgk and i JUST watched tgk and im interested in bertilak but i dont think i get his role in the story? I thought he and his wife were an illusion to distract gawain from completeing his quest, but im seeing takes that imply bertilak IS the green knight?? Im not sure that i have a specific question here but if you have thoughts on bertilak id be interested in hearing them
I haven’t watched The Green Knight yet so I personally don’t know how they’re handling the Bertilaks (although I pretty much know everything that happens bc I don’t care for spoilers but I don’t want to make a blanket statement without me experiencing the movie myself) so this will be more in line with the text itself!
Lord and Lady Bertilak are pretty much friends of Morgan Le Fay — Gawain’s aunt and Arthur’s sister (although in TGK it seems like she’s his mom??? Why???? Morgause exists akskdkdkdkd) and this entire scheme is brought up for one reason and one reason only: Morgan wants to scare Guinevere. Seriously. It’s because she wants to scare Guinevere that she goes to the Bertilaks and is like “hey Lord Bertilak, do you remember you owe me a favor? Well, can you go in your magical guise to scare Guinevere for me? Idc which knight answers your challenge, PLEASE just scare Guinevere please please please.”
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I’ve always taken this to mean that Morgan couldn’t have been sure WHO would answer The Green Knight’s/Bertilak’s challenge (remember, Arthur is the one who steps up! And Gawain only steps up because that’s his UNCLE, the KING, and he can’t go on this quest and DIE — and this is Gawain’s first quest, he’s young, he’s still enamored by honor and sacrifice and fealty, and as of yet he still hasn’t grown into being Arthur’s most trusted advisor — and so he pleads with Arthur to take his place, to swing at the Green Knight, and to take on the challenge to keep Arthur safe.) Actually poor Morgan now having to deal with the fact that her most annoying nephew is now on the quest and if HE dies both Morgause and Arthur would be INSUFFERABLE.
The Bertilaks are so so interesting — Bertilak forgives Gawain’s deceit with the sash almost instantly due to the fact that Gawain actually showed up to the chapel and didn’t further dishonor and disgrace himself by running away, thus Bertilak can trust him again. Furthermore it’s interesting because it’s genuinely debatable if the sash actually COULD save Gawain’s life — Lady Bertilak mentions that the sash protects the wearer from all harm and that’s what makes Gawain “lose” his honor, he gives in to temptation and takes it when it is not his TO take — and yet Bertilak still nicks Gawain’s neck after Gawain flinches and a magical sash should have prevented that injury from occuring in the first place which is why Gawain’s deceit is two-fold: [1] he gave up his honor for a sash that isn’t even REAL and [2] he placed his life above that of his word and above that of his honor and thus, of that above his king’s. Lady Bertilak is playing a “game” with him from the start — as soon as Gawain takes the sash, she leaves with the statement saying that her games with him are done because he succumbed into temptation. I genuinely have no idea why they made the sash in the movie be one that his mother/movie-Morgan gave him like…why….
I have no idea if I answered your question at all but in the text at least, the Bertilaks ARE real and Bertilak is the Green Knight (one of these days I’ll do a post on the Green Knight and nature and Bertilak hunting Renard/the fox I promise alsndkdjdk) but I guess it’s up to interpretation for the movie? Aksndkd
I do have an entire post here on honor and Gawain and the Bertilaks! (:
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davidmann95 · 3 years
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Thoughts (if any) on DC's April 2021 solicitations?
Let’s take ‘em in order! I should be able to muster up a comment on just about everything one way or another.
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Green Lantern #1: Oh this is gonna be bad. Heard only the worst about Thorne’s Future State: Green Lantern, and I assume Jo Mullein’s DCU debut will be wasted here to either function as some kind of ridiculous ‘popularity contest’ with Teen Lantern for who gets the bigger push, or as a way to put TL over with a few “good work kid, you got a future” comments. Also, and granted I don’t know how Morrison will end or this will begin, is the New Guardians angle being immediately dropped?
Robin #1: Dope suit, art, and premise, but it’s Williamson so I don’t care.
Batman: The Dark Knight #1: I’ll read this and I expect to like it, but between this being Kubert’s first big Batman project since Master Race, the ‘old but not quite retirement age yet’ angle, and the title, I’m concerned the shock ending here is that it’s actually a stealth DKR prequel.
The Next Batman: Second Son #1: So they really are committing here, though weird that this kinda makes Ridley’s Future State book basically a longform teaser for this. And I’ll get it as it comes out since it turns out this won’t be in that John Ridley’s Batman collection after all - sorry Dustin Nguyen, I love your stuff but I won’t buy an entire trade of material I otherwise already own just for one new story by you.
The Batman & Scooby Doo Mysteries #1: I got that whole great-looking Scooby Doo Team-Up run by Fisch for free on Comixology, I should read that sometime and see if this’ll be worth getting too as well, because it sounds like a hoot.
Challenge of the Super Sons #1: Glad people who want it are getting it, I do not care.
RWBY/Justice League #1: WILL BE GETTING A POST ALL ITS OWN
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Action Comics #1030: His powers waning definitely won’t help the standard pre-run fuming by a lot of Superman fandom, but it’s an interesting pairing with PKJ apparently doing mainly cosmic Superman adventures so I’m curious where he’ll go with it. That it’s particularly cited as being tied to Death Metal might validate my suspicion that the new ‘everyone remembers their entire mainstream publishing histories’ thing will play into Johnson’s description of Clark really feeling his age at the start of the run. And Janin on covers even before he gets in on the book proper! And that Midnighter description!
Superman #30: This sounds like where Johnson’s gonna start with that worldbuilding he touted, and I’m curious; definitely reads in this instance like him shoving Clark and Jon into some swords-and-sorcery-esque territory he’s familiar with.
American Vampire 1976 #7: Not reading, don’t care.
Batman #107: I assume ‘the events at Arkham Asylum’ are the ‘A-Day’ ominously brought up in Future State solicits. Tynion Batman, Jimenez as the regular artist now, whatever the Unsanity Collective is, all entirely my shit. More importantly than any of that though, GHOSTMAKER BACKUPS. And drawn by Ricardo Lopez Ortiz, artist on Steve Orlando’s excellent The Pull! Dope!
Batman: Black & White #5: Any other issue and ‘Jamal Campbell doing a life story of Nightwing’ would probably be the highlight, but in case you somehow hadn’t heard Gillen/McKelvie are making their DC debut on a Batman vs. Riddler story here, absolutely wild.
Batman: Urban Legends #2: Even more excited for this now that I’m onboard for the Grifter and Outsiders stuff given how much those features pleasantly surprised me in Future State.
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Batman/Superman #17: Injecting it isn’t enough anymore, I need to be on some kind of constant IV drip with this book. I was wondering whether it’d take the premise to further generational riffs or follow a history of mass-media Supermen and Batmen, but instead it’s veering off in a direction I never could have guessed and I couldn’t be more excited.
Batman vs. Ra’s Al Ghul #6: NOTHING CAN STOP THE ADAMSVERSE. NONE MAY DARE TRY.
Batman/Catwoman #5: Wondering how this Harley involvement plays in - I don’t imagine it’s quite what it seems given how King’s written her before. And love that Joker by Mann on the cover, major Clown at Midnight vibes.
Catwoman #30: No reason to assume this run won’t continue to rule.
Crime Syndicate #2: Dammit, I don’t think this book is going to be good, but I’m kinda tempted.
Detective Comics #1035: Wouldn’t be psyched, but Dark Detective was another pleasant surprise so I’ll give this a chance.
The Dreaming: Waking Hours #9: Again, not reading.
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Far Sector #11: Sucks a little knowing we’ll never see that little ‘Young Animal’ label in the corner again after this wraps. At least it’s going out on its highest note.
The Flash #769: In a vacuum this would sound dope but I have less than no faith in this, and goddamn that’s a terrible cover.
Harley Quinn #2: I’m sure it’ll be fine, no interest.
The Joker #2: I wanna believe Tynion will be able to make this work, he keeps talking like he has more freedom on this than he has some other books, but everything about this reads like the price he has to pay for relative post-Joker War freedom on Batman.
Justice League #60: It’s Bendis/Marquez on Justice League, lots of people will complain but I’ll mostly dig it. More interested in Ram V briefly getting to write the main crew in the JLD backup.
Man-Bat #3: I’d ask why this exists - and as a matter of fact I still do - but checking out some of DC’s digital-first output recently I see Dave Wielgosz has something on the ball, so maybe he’ll be able to make this work? Perhaps I’ll check it out in trade someday if worth-of-mouth is on its side.
Nightwing #79: I maintain, this is gonna be huge. And clever move to make for how to justify Nightwing keeping up his standard way of business after Bruce loses most of his money.
Rorschach #7: A comic I will purchase and let’s continue leaving it at that.
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? #109: DC’s highest-numbered comic (that hasn’t gone through an interim renumbering), astonishing. Not getting it myself, but respect.
Sensational Wonder Woman #2: Can’t say this sounds like my thing.
Suicide Squad #2: I’ve been swayed into checking out the Future State debut, but that’d have to really blow me away for me to follow into the main book.
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Superman: Red & Blue #2: Sadly if unsurprisingly DC’s clearly not stacking this with AAA attention-grabbing names in the same way as this latest version of Batman: Black & White, but there do seem to be some interesting names from outside the usual big two roster here. And the main and Bolland cover may disappoint but holy cow that David Choe variant.
The Swamp Thing #2: I have no doubt it’ll be incredible but time and again I learn I simply don’t have it in me to care about Swamp Thing regardless of the objective quality of the effort put into him.
Sweet Tooth: The Return #6: Another one I’m not interested in.
Titans Academy #2: Oh lord so this is where they stuck Billy Batson.
Truth & Justice #3: I continue to have no idea what if anything the unifying idea of this anthology is supposed to be.
Wonder Woman #771: Wonder Woman as troubleshooter for mythological mishaps isn’t a permanently sustainable or desirable status quo but I’m down for it for as long as it lasts if it’s any good (though that Immortal Wonder Woman preview...concerned me, in spite of Jen Bartel’s jaw-dropping art).
So that’s 19-23 out of 37 I’ll be getting - if DC’s standard for success with Infinite Frontier is the proportion of their line people will be checking out, I guess it’s winning with me.
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fatefulfaerie · 4 years
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New (Part 3/3)
Part 1: https://fatefulfaerie.tumblr.com/post/621364335842820096/new-part-13
Part 2: https://fatefulfaerie.tumblr.com/post/621446432569917440/new-part-23
“And safe travels!” Zelda exclaimed as she waved to the last of the guests, them crossing the bridge and disappearing into the approaching night.
She closed the door, it latching closed as she let out a sigh.
“That wasn’t too bad,” she remarked. “Chaos, sure. But we expected that.”
The only response from Link was the sounds the dishes made beneath the running water, the scrubbing, the tiny clatter when a clean plate would be put to the side.
“I think it went well,” she continued as she headed upstairs. “And now we have a new picture to put on the wall. I’ll have to ask Purah how she printed it all that time ago.”
Zelda sat down to her diary on the table, a habit she was happy to start after a hundred years of incoherent and manic thoughts. Not to mention seventeen years before that of nearly failing at the practice.
It was freeing, the first time she opened an empty diary to the first page. Before her was a future not weighed down by her past. She could look at things like a blank page, everyday something new that proved she was moving forward. For the past couple weeks since Calamity Ganon was expelled from Hyrule, she had written everyday at least something to resolve the day.
Yet as she placed her quill down she didn’t know what words to write, the black ink smudging, splotching on the page.
She dropped the quill back into the black bottle of ink with a heavy sigh.
Her gaze went to Link, as it always does, studying him as he cleaned with her head falling to rest on her left hand.
He finished the last plate, placing it upon the others and bracing his hands on the edge of the counter with a bowed head.
“I think we need to talk,” Link said without moving.
Zelda took a deep breath before she shook her head up and down. Remembering Link couldn’t see her she replied,
“Okay.”
His hands came off the counter and he turned around, heading up the stairs without meeting her glaze. Yet, it wasn’t difficult. Zelda’s head was downcast, on that black splotch as if it were a spider she was relentlessly watching, keeping an eye on.
Link decided to plop on his bed, staring at the ceiling with one leg bent and one straight.
“Do you recall what I said?” Link started. “On the field. When you asked if I remembered you?”
Zelda nodded.
“You said yes,” she replied, turning her head.
Link nodded.
“You apologized for your honesty earlier,” he continued. “But I told you I remembered you, maybe not everything, but I remember enough. My memory is fragile but that doesn’t mean that your honesty now should be changed by that. If I’ve done something wrong--”
“Link…”
“If I’ve done something wrong,” he insisted. “I want you to be honest about it. Going forward, I...I want you to be honest. And it’s not just you either. These past couple weeks have been courteous at best, but...I didn’t realize it was because of me.”
Zelda looked from Link back to the black dot on the page, interlocking her fingers.
“I spent a hundred years waiting for something definitive,” Zelda said. “It’s only because of my impatience that I snapped today. You should take your time to think about things...process things. I’ve had a hundred years and I didn’t even lose my memory. Please take the time you need.”
Zelda picked back the quill back up and started to write of her day, of greeting the descendants and relatives of the champions and sharing a meal with them.
Link sat up and studied her as she wrote in her diary.
He pulled the Sheikah Slate from its latch on his belt, the screen chiming before opening to a gallery of pictures.
He clicked on the first one, the normal one, the perfect one, the one that would likely be hung and kept and preserved a hundred years from today. Hopefully with less tragic death, but with just as much emotional weight.
Link swiped to the next picture.
Zelda was smiling bigger, his arm around her, but not much had changed. He swiped to the next one, stopping, holding the grips of the slate with both hands.
He didn’t even remember this one being taken.
Sidon, Yunobo, Riju, and Teba were all looking at the pair of Hylians with a smile as the couple stared deeply into each others’ eyes. It really was a beautiful picture, how well the love between them was expressed in just one look, how the sunset gleamed and made them glow.
Link swiped to the next and exhaled a sigh. Their lips were connected, but their bent, unrehearsed arms showed their surprise. It looked so forced, like at any moment one would pull away from the other. It looked as if they were completely different people from the picture before.
With a couple taps, Link had the prompt before him to delete it. After all, if this picture existed a hundred years ago, he would have been decommissioned and jailed for treason, and the assault of a royal if the King wanted to avoid the ruin of Zelda’s reputation. If not, it would become a scandal that would harm her father's trust in her even more. Even now she still had eyes on her, although she had tried to avoid it. If she decided to return as Princess or even rise as Queen, she shouldn’t let some minor infatuation get in the way.
But Link thought of Kass’ words as his finger hovered over the button.
Love. The princess’ love for her fallen knight awakened her power. That was what caused all of it in the first place. That one word and Link realized that falling in love with a memory wasn’t foolish because he had fallen in love with those green eyes before, that smile. He loved her back a hundred years ago and, Princess or not, he couldn’t deny that he felt the same now.
He rescued her from Calamity Ganon and he acted like he didn’t know, to protect her, to not embarrass her, to not force anything upon her. Somewhere along the line, somewhere within these two weeks he must have forgotten that she needed him too.
And so he hurt her by doing so.
With a certain resolve, he activated the camera rune, setting it so that it faced him instead of what was behind the Slate.
He grabbed it by the handle and approached Zelda. She turned her head at the sound of footsteps just seconds before Link planted his lips on hers.
SNAP
Her lips were parted and her eyes opened wide as Link withdrew. He offered her the Slate.
“A do over,” he said with a smile. “As requested.”
Zelda took the Slate into her hands. She stared at the picture and Link sat on the near bedpost waiting for her next words.
“Do you always do as you’re requested?” She asked quietly, still looking at the picture.
“I don’t exactly have any evidence to the contrary,” Link said.
Her gaze lingered on the picture for just another moment longer before she placed it on the corner of her desk without a word or a care. She went back to her diary and began to write again.
Link considered whether he’d done something wrong as the silence fell. He looked down to his hands as he thought upon it, scratching one thumb with the other.
“But for instance,” he continued, with a courage he hoped would work in his favor. “If I was requested to jump off a cliff for no reason other than certain death, I wouldn’t do that.”
“So you only do things if they aren’t absolutely abhorrent?” Zelda asked.
“Yeah...I guess…” He replied before panic settled within him and his eyes widened. “Wait...no, no...I didn’t mean…kissing you, it…”
Link exhaled a sigh, straightening the words in his head like the offerings of apples in a line of mysterious statues.
“I do what people request of me because I like helping people,” he explained, “finding them lizards or mushrooms or whatever they can’t get themselves. But with you it’s different...it’s always been different. I saved you because I needed to see you happy and free and...I kissed you because I wanted to. It was more than not abhorrent...it was a request I was actually happy to do. In fact...I would only ever kiss you.”
From Link’s point of view, Zelda showed no change.
But she had put down her quill, her cheeks had reddened and her heart had soared and sank and burned and froze all at the same time.
“I am sorry,” Link said, thinking he needed to speak further. “So sorry that I didn’t bring this up earlier. I knew you loved me, and I’ve been spending so much time asking myself whether or not I love you like I did then or whether or not you still love me now...that I’ve been unclear with you. And to be honest I don’t know if what I feel now is what I felt then. I don’t know if it’s more or less or the same or how it was different...but I do love you.”
Still no response.
“Goddesses, Zelda,” Link implored in her silence. “Please say something. If I’ve misread things or messed it all up we can go back to how it was this morning. If that is what makes you happy, I...I’ll be your knight attendant, I’ll protect you and defend you and nothing more. I’ll be by your side until you no longer want me to be.”
Zelda stood up and faced him quickly. She stared until she started shaking her head no.
“No,” she said, her voice breaking. “No.”
She stepped forward and took his hands. Her grip on them tightened as she bowed her head.
“I want you with me,” she said. “I need you...to stay...always.”
Link nodded in understanding.
“Okay,” he said with a slight chuckle that portended a smile. “Okay.”
He brought his hand to her chin to tilt her head back up, their eyes meeting before their lips did for their third kiss of the day. Each time it had gotten deeper, at first a quick peck, than something longer and much more intentional. Now it was something they delved into, Zelda’s fantasies about making out with her knight attendant coming to fruition as she felt his hand move to cup her cheek.
“So,” she prompted after they withdrew.
“So,” he repeated, his eyes dancing in hers.
“Does this mean we’re...together?”
Link nodded.
“I think so.”
“Do Hylians still call it courting?” Zelda asked with a tip of her head.
“I think so,” Link said, his face contorting in a way that broadcasted the fact that he was thinking, searching the ceiling for answers. “Although I think some of them have coined the term ‘dating’, where marriage isn’t definite and they just kind of spend time together. And then there's this thing where they forego marriage all together and just...hook up.”
“Y-you…” Zelda stammered. Her face was beet red. “You mean people…”
Link nodded.
“Yep,” he said. “Someone actually asked me once and I told them no thanks.”
Zelda shrugged.
“I guess we’re both kind of old-fashioned for these times,” she said.
“Seems like it.”
“Would it be strange to say that we’re courting?”
“No,” Link said in reply, smiling. “Just new.”
67 notes · View notes
Discord pt 90
[Date: 17/03, 02.33 PM GMT - 17/03, 03.53 PM GMT]
[This conversation was going on in #arg, partly simultaneously to another in #general. The second is referenced later and was posted separately before this one.]  
[Direct continuation of pt 89]
[After Void pointed out the gdoc change, Fetch added another message:]
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[Added was: “Please don’t tell them please don’t tell them please just pretend you never saw this just please.”]
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Void: “nvm may be just my bad internet fucking things up ignore me”
Jack the Observer: “Oh. I see it.
Little sunflower seeds in green and yellow :)”
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[Maxwell: “Where do you see that?”]
Jack the Observer: “Ask fetch, I think. He’s the one who edits the blog”
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Jack the Observer: “But it’s there, if you look.”
Maxwell: “Fetch....”
fetch: “It isn't though?? I'm looking at the doc right now and there's nothing about sunflower seeds”
Jack the Observer: “I can send pictures, fetch.
If you would prefer?”
Maxwell: “i cant find anything”
fetch: “jack. after yesterday do you really wanna push me.”
Jack the Observer: “Yeah, i kind of do, actually
I could
I feel like it’s important and relevant information”
Void: “fetch knows best about what is there just ignore what i said,,,,”
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fetch: “yeah. let's just ignore it.”
Maxwell: “but you all said...seeds”
donti (e): “... fetch please, this is serious.. it could endanger everyone here”
Jack the Observer: “Sunflower seeds :) leaves in yellow and green. You think if i won’t let Max hide it, I’ll let you, Fetch?”
fetch: “jack. drop it. right fucking now with that stupid fucking smile.”
Jack the Observer: “You are, in fact, just as important as Max is.
Unfortunately.
And it’s imperative that we keep all of you safe.”
Maxwell: “that...is one of the nicest things ive heard you say to us....”
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fetch: “i know the doc better than anyone. i know what's there and whats not. if I say there's nothing there then there's nothing there.”
Jack the Observer: “You put it there, Fetch.”
fetch: “there's nothing there.”
Jack the Observer: “ Uh huh. /s”
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jaynoblade: “he's right. there's nothing there. i just looked”
fetch: “im not ignoring anything there's nothing there.”
Jack the Observer: “Jay, what the fuck”
jaynoblade: “genuinely. i just looked. nothing”
donti (e): “hey hey hHEYyyyy chill”
Jack the Observer: “Is it gone — wait”
fetch: “check for yourself, jack”
[Context: Fetch deleted his edits about the seeds.]
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Jack the Observer: “Oh, no i still have it”
fetch: “as i said. there's nothing there.”
Jack the Observer: “I still have it. And i have more pictures if you want to see them.”
donti (e): “... seeds?”
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Maxwell: “thats just an image of a previous thing?”
fetch: “how do i know you aren't just editing shit”
[donti (e): “... seeds?”]
Jack the Observer: “I’m trying to have Fetch tell you first.”
kateza: “Hi good morning what’s going on?”
Mothbo: “Jack saw something no one else did”
[fetch: “how do i know you aren't just editing shit”]
Jack the Observer: “Fetch. You know I don’t lie.”
[Mothbo: “Jack saw something no one else did”]
Jack the Observer: “Haha :)”
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fetch: “but you sure as hell spout a lot of bullshit.
now for the last time. There's nothing. there. Fucking drop it.
please.”
Jack the Observer: “And now instead of knight you sound like Max
Crazy”
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Maxwell: “what?”
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Jack the Observer: ““Oh no, i don’t want to tell them, please i just want to suffer by myself and not accept any help even though I clearly need it, no everyone else is busy, everyone else is stressed, they can’t know please don’t tell them”
That’s what you sound like
And that’s what Fetch sounds like too”
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fetch: “you better watch your fuckin mouth, pal.”
Mothbo: “Jack, that's not going to help them all. I know you're hurt cos of Syd but don't take it out on them.”
Maxwell: “....”
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[Mothbo: “Jack, that's not going to help them all. I know you're hurt cos of Syd but don't take it out on them.”]
Jack the Observer: “I’m not angry, I’m amused. And I’ll admit, slightly frustrated. What is up with these people and their self esteem issues.”
fetch: “what's up with you and your attachment to someone that doesn't exist anymore?”
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Maxwell: “.....fuck off”
Jack the Observer: “If you don’t tell them within the hour ill see you in #img”
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[fetch: “what's up with you and your attachment to someone that doesn't exist anymore?”]
Jack the Observer: “Oh, so you don’t exist when Knight is out? Shut the fuck up”
Maxwell: “i....”
Jack the Observer: “I’m glad you’re not all acting so goody goody and nice talking me anymore. This is refreshing.”
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[People tell Jack and Fetch to stop arguing with each other. That just solved nothing and there’s no time to waste]
fetch: “i don't have the energy to fight anymore. there's nothing in the doc, whatever you have is edited bullshit, end of story.”
Jack the Observer: “Okay, we’re just going to ignore someone purposefully endangering their own health then. Sounds good to me /s”
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[kateza: “I just woke up, I’m assuming something supposedly happened with the doc, I’m assuming the edit history was checked can we please stop fighting I don’t like this”]
Jack the Observer: “I can see something important. I’m being forced to keep imperative information to myself. You can see why I might take issue with this.”
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fetch: “i thought you loved keeping information to yourself. that's what an observer does right. he just takes in information and does nothing with it. he doesn't get involved.”
Jack the Observer: “This is different.”
fetch: “of course it is.
just drop it.”
donti (e): “ah.”
Jack the Observer: “Yeah it fucking is different, Fetch. We fucking need you on this team. We’re meant to just ignore when you’re hurting? We’re meant to ignore when you’re endangering yourself?”
fetch: “i said. drop it.”
Jack the Observer: “Holy fucking shit not everything is about Syd”
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Jack the Observer: “Maybe this is just about you”
fetch: “well maybe I don't want to be paid attention to. i'm not a fucking zoo exhibit. just leave me the fuck alone.”
Jack the Observer: “I don’t know how many times? I have to say this? But if I saw you as nothing more than a “zoo exhibit” i literally wouldn’t care about this at all”
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Void: “fetch, people will learn one way or another. please at least take the chance to tell them yourself?”
Jack the Observer: “Clock is ticking”
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fetch: “there's nothing to tell. im fucking fine.”
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Jack the Observer: “There you go, sounding like Max again”
kateza: “wait, ok, so now fetch supposedly has the buds? Is that’s what’s going on? No one is catchinng me up everyone’s just arguing”
Jack the Observer: ““I’m fine I’m fine” you’re clearly not.”
[kateza: “wait, ok, so now fetch supposedly has the buds? Is that’s what’s going on? No one is catchinng me up everyone’s just arguing”]
Jack the Observer: “I can see something. Fetch isn’t letting me tell anyone.”
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fetch: “well MAYBE I DONT WANT YOUR FUCKING HELP.”
donti (e): “HEEEEY HEY
jacks doing what he can”
fetch: “YOU EVER THINK ABOUT THAT? YOU CANT FUCKING HELP ME.”
Jack the Observer: “...”
fetch: “QUIT TRYING.”
Jack the Observer: “...”
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Jack the Observer: “...
...
that was a bit too loud for me, actually. Ill be in #img in fifty minutes.”
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Jack the Observer: “good luck.”
fetch: “fine. i need a nap anyway.”
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Maxwell: “......”
[People talk about how important it is to share information, especially with how the situation currently is, and that they’d have to work together if they were ever going to resolve anything about this problem. They then note that if this in-fighting continues, more and more people might be dragged into Crown’s court. But then…]
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jaynoblade: “okay, this is somewhat off topic, but.... do we even really know who crown is? because we thought he was ranboo in enderwalk, but then in that one ask he implied that he isn’t”
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Maxwell: “hes something else then....”
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Maxwell: “uh small problem”
donti (e): “prince read the backlog.”
[This refers to the conversation that had been simultaneously going on in #general2.]
A random Spark: “I know...which means Prince probably now knows the deal with the three court members and why they're gone”
kateza: “which means we'll be having another mind wipe probably :/”
LLyr: “D:”
Maxwell: “OH NO OH NO OH NO”
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Maxwell: “i...”
donti (e): “if we had explained it fae would be wiped and then we'd be in trouble.”
Maxwell: “can we tell faem? fae already know....”
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Maxwell: “he only brought up me and fetch....should we tell him about marcus?”
donti (e): “... maybe?”
A random Spark: “It's a good idea to.”
LLyr: “if the dam has already broken, i dont see a reason to keep it hidden. maybe ask marcus what he thinks about it?”
Maxwell: “i wanna say his name...”
donti (e): “you already namedropped him,
go for it
he might as well get the facts.”
kateza: “i don't like this
i don't like where this is going”
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Maxwell: “jack what did you put in images”
Jack the Observer: “What i promised i would.”
donti (e): “fetches entry.”
Maxwell: “hes..oh god”
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Maxwell: “i messed up i messed up i messed up--”
kateza: “no no no
you tried to help max. you did what you thought was right and even if it didn't have the outcome you want you tried to do what was right and that's good of you”
Maxwell: “i made it worse no no no no”
Jack the Observer: “You calm down too.
Panicking isn’t going to help prince.
It’s fine. Let faem remember.”
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skekteksfurby · 3 years
Text
So let's talk about that 80-page neopets fanfic i wrote when i was like 14
so I posted about this a while ago but people to my surprise showed genuine interest in this thing. alas, the fanfic has been lost to time, i still have the file but it's damaged and I can't seem to restore it. Also, the entire thing was in dutch bc i no spoke english very well at the time. but i do remember a lot of the details, so i decided to post about this here to recall this embarrassing product of my imagination.
the plot: a found family consisting of a bunch of assholes tries to find jelly world and is then sent on a quest by the leader of jelly world to find a bunch of magical crystal shards spread across neopia. Reunite the shards, jelly world will be brought back to the main dimension in neopia.
the key players:
tama: oc, orange kougra. Prissy and extremely girly-girl type rich kid who was raised on krawk island being very spoiled by her governor parents or whatever. current chosen one that can open the gate to jelly world.
number twelve: oc, green lupe. number five's younger brother (by a lot of years). I never thought up a proper name for him so he is just number twelve.
sinsi: canon, brown ixi. she never really served a point but she liked to hang out with clop and play cellblock with him. idk i just thought her design was cute so i shoved her in.
shari: oc, blue wocky. basically the no1 fan of the prisoners with an enormous ego and amount of self confidence. she could change colors at will like a chameleon because she was a mary sue and i didn't fully understand the concept of paint brushes back then.
zeetin: someone else's neopet i was allowed to use, halloween kougra. Just the bad boy love interest for tama. shari's adoptive brother but after he and tama started dating they drifted apart.
the prisoners except the yellow knight because i thought he was boring: canon. Consisting of: clop (mute darigan moehog), barallus (unhinged korbat), meekel (shy and fearful blue kacheek) and number five (twelve's older brother, previous chosen one that could open the dimensional rift to jelly world).
shinwa: oc, fairy jelly acara because she's Special. basically the last leader of jelly world before the downfall. She sends everyone on a quest and appears in dream visions idk she's magic. her name means legend in japanese because i'm a genious /s
galgarrath and haskol: canon, grarrl and skeith. minibosses that chased the Crew to add some peril to the story because otherwise it would've been boring as tar
other bits about the story i recall:
running gags included disliking the faerie aesthetic and purple stuff in general. there was also a weird amount of alcoholic cider involved.
so the whole reason jelly world was cast into another dimension was because of some nondescript skeith wizard who was jealous of their prosperity cursed the land by shattering the magical crystal powering it idk. shinwa, having magical abilities herself, had the power to select a new chosen one that could open the rift and thus possibly restore JW every sixty years or so. 5 was the last one and succeeded in going there, but failed to restore the crystal and was promptly locked away in the dungeons of the darigan citadel. Tama, being the next, was our main Chosen One for the story. She was the main character i guess but i hated writing her pov a whole lot because she's so unlike me in every way.
The Crew(trademark) consisted of tama, shari, zeetin, sinsi, 12 and the (ex-)prisoners sans YK and yes they did succeed in finding JW.
oh yeah btw the prisoners broke out during some kind of plot convenience it was never properly explained nor was it ever established why the yellow knight wasn't there. Meekel also bailed on the quest for JW pretty soon when he figured out haskol and galgarrath were after them (to retrieve the prisoners because it pissed vex off that nobody would play his game anymore now).
Forced Hetero Romance(trademark) between Zeetin and Tama which I also hated writing
Shari had like 4 near-death experiences but kept getting into trouble either way because she's Stupid
the most compelling thing in the entire story was honestly the relationship beteen Shari and zeetin.
some of the official neopets canon was obviously thrown out the window because I didn't know everything (still don't) and also the canon in and of itself is wobbly to begin with.
one thing i established in my canon was that uni's didn't fly gracefully like pegasi, but rather had their wings move very fast like insects because they're so damn small and they're pretty hefty creatures. Clop also flew this way due to his similar wings-to-body ratio.
strangely enough, zeetin, who did have wings that were more proportional to his body, couldn't fly
Clop spoke in CTL: clop tapping language. 5 and meekel were his interpreters.
twelve had no personality to speak of seriously he was only there to prompt tama to go on her quest and run away from her dull life
the story ended at about 80 pages in when i lost my neopets hyperfocus and just kinda gave up. at this point in the story they had just gotten to JW for the first time, met shinwa, and been sent on their quest to look up the shards and restore the crystal to bring JW back into existence in neopia.
From here on the plan for me was for the Crew to split up and go across different parts of neopia to retrieve the crystals. would they end up restoring it? I have no fucking clue man i never got that far. i know that zeetinxtama was endgame, though his relationship with shari would be mended as well. think up your own ending if you will idc
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roguish-gallery · 4 years
Note
Did you ever make that joker tier list, I always like seeing what people think of all the different ones. Though if they put Romero last I can no longer respect them.
LMAO I DID! I think I’ve made it kind of obvious in this blog but I... don’t... particularly... care... for... the joker.... unless he’s, y’know, fun to watch. Cause he’s a clown, and clowns are supposed to be entertaining. But since you politely brought it up, and and because I have a deep respect for mutual Romero-lovers, I guess this would be a good time to explain my rankings and just discuss my general thoughts on each clown:
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General Thoughts:
For the most part, I don’t really care for the Joker. This is hardly an uncommon opinion here on tumblr, but I definitely fall on the side of the fandom that feels that he gets too much attention from DC. I get WHY they use him so often for films and comics, and I don’t have anything against *most* folks who consider them their favorite Batman villain, but at this point he’s used more for shock value and as a crutch instead of anything interesting. Like, instead of giving attention to the other Rogues, writers (at least for the comics) will try and make up some bullshit story that they can shoehorn the Joker into, ‘cause it sells. It’s tiring, and I feel like the character has lost his meaning; I can only read so many stories about the Joker, I don’t fucking know, wearing a suit made from dead babies and Jason Todd’s flayed corpse before I get sick of it.
I’m at the point where I’ll like any Joker who’s just fun to watch. I genuinely respect those who prefer darker interpretations of the character, but that isn’t me; I vastly prefer the lighthearted takes on him, because... at this point... writers who use the “cleaner” version of him tend to be more creative, since they actually have to write a Joker story that doesn’t rely on gore/torture porn.
TIER ONE:
Joker Baby: Self explanatory. Joker Baby is thematic, thoughtful, and intense. Everytime I watch this video, I shiver with fear and pleasure; something primal in me awakens whenever Joker Baby runs his fingers through his spray-on dyed hair, and ends up smearing green paint on his forehead- it represents the inner turmoil, the chaos, that resides within the disturbed body that is Joker Baby. Nothing can ever hope to top the artistic and cultural impact Joker Baby has had on society.
TIER TWO:
Batman Ninja: I genuinely believe that Batman Ninja is one of the most fun, organic, and creative things to come out from the Batman side of DC comics in like... hmmm... a decade, maybe (I could talk for hours about how much I love this movie but that’s something for a future post). This Joker is easily, and unironically my favorite interpretation of the character, period. I love his energy, his design, everything. This is the most fun I’ve ever had watching a Joker on-screen, and for that I’ve gotta give the film credit where it is due.
Batman ‘66: I looooove Caesar Romero. Batman ‘66 in general is one of my favorite pieces of Batman media, and I absolutely adore this Joker. The show is pure, genuine fun, and it’s nice to turn my brain off and watch a show where the entire cast was allowed to goof around. This Joker is just a cute, goofy little clown-man who likes to commit crimes, go surfing, turn Gotham’s water reserve into gelatin, and have wild orgies with Penguin, Catwoman, and the Riddler. I massively appreciate the hustle. I love his little mustache and his facial expressions. I’d give him a chaste little kiss on the cheek if I could.
The Batman: EXTREMELY CONTROVERSIAL TAKE BUT. I think TB!Joker is better than what people will give him credit for. I can only imagine how stressful it must have been to be the first Batman cartoon to follow BTAS and the writers for this show knew they were gonna be fucked no matter what they did with the Joker, so they just decided to try something completely different with him. Personally, I appreciate the new direction- he has a fun, unhinged energy. I’ve placed him higher than BTAS/BTNA!Joker simply because The Batman was the show that got me into the Rogues in the first place, and I’m just a bit closer to this Joker because of it. Also his vampire form was cool as FUCK in Batman Vs. Dracula and the scene where he gets drenched in blood at a blood bank is fucking awesome.
Batman the Animated Series/The New Adventures: Everyone loves BTAS’s Joker, and I’m no exception. Mark Hamill is fucking great, and the writers clearly knew the character well enough to create a version of him that can be fun and threatening. As an aside, I unironically like his redesign in BTNA- I remember Hamill mentioning somewhere that he thought it was neat that this Joker looked more like a shark (I’ll see if I can find a source on that... I think he said it in an interview with Kevin Smith?) and I kinda agree with him. the redesigns in the final season are hit or miss, but I didn’t get why so many people bitched about the Joker’s new look.
Batman Unlimited: Hear me out... Hear me out... Clown... funny... and cute... He wears a little crown and gives Solomon Grundy a little smooch on the cheek and it is as delightful as it sounds. Yes the Batman Unlimited films literally only exist to sell toys but that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy them on some ironic level.
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TIER THREE:
Lego Batman: He’s a gay icon. He has the range. Enough said.
White Knight: This is just a genuinely good, original take on the character, and the art in White Knight is absolutely gorgeous. 
Arkham: My friends and I joke that this Joker is basically a more unhinged version of BTAS! Joker and... yeah. I’m glad Hamill and Paul Dini got to fuck around with the character more, but I never really dwelled on the Joker parts of the games like I might have for other characters. I definitely liked him the most in Arkham Asylum, as he was more fun to watch. Arkham City was fiiiiine, but I think I replayed the game so much that I kinda got fatigued with everything about it. Genuinely hated his part in Origins, and I was pissed that he stole the attention from Black Mask and Bane (who’s the best fucking part of Origins IMO). I’ll admit that I... Haven’t... played... Knight yet (I have it on PC but my laptop is too wimpy to run it) but like... He’s dead at that point, so I’d assume he isn’t the main point of that game anyway. I love Mark Hamill and the fact I can personally beat the shit out of this Joker, so he’s ranked up pretty high for those reasons.
TIER FOUR:
Batman ‘89: TBH this Joker should be a rank higher, but I’m too lazy to hop onto PicsArt to change it. NIcholson was an excellent choice, and I apprecaite how this Joker makes use of the playful and unhinged aspects of the character. Also, his outfits are cute, and I love the museum scene.
Brave and the Bold: Technically this Joker SHOULD be ranked higher since he’s literally based on the more lighthearted comics in the 60′s but... ehhh... I haven’t really watched BATB so I don’t have any strong opinions on the show and how it handles the character. he’s ranked this high through beause I appreciate what they were going for.
Golden Age: The quality of comics are always subjective, based on the creative team behind them. Some I’ll like more, others less so, It’s kind of hard to rank the pre-52 comic version of the Joker because of this.
TIER FIVE:
Killing Joke: Read it, didn’t care for it. I acknowledge how massive the impact this comic had on... everything, but just because I recognize how important this graphic novel is, doesn’t mean I have to like it.
The Dark Knight: Ledger did an excellent job with the role, but uhh... I’m kind of sick of the alt-right chuds who are out there sucking this Joker’s dick. The fanbase definitely ruined the character for me.
TIER SIX:
99′: Eh
Endgame: No
Suicide Squad: NO
Death of the Family: Hate him. Despise him. Lame stupid dumb little edgy bitch.
Gotham (Jeremiah): I don’t particulary care for Gotham in general, but the only reason I ranked this Joker over Jerome is beause I thought it was kinda funny to see that they made him a little rat-man, and I liked watching all the fujoshi on here cry and complain that they can’t ship this version of the joker with the pre-pubescent Bruce Wayne in the show bc he’s too ugly.
Gotham (Jerome): stop shippping this freak (who is fucking eighteen years old) with a literal twelve year old child. what the FUCK is wrong with yall.
UNRANKED:
The Joker (2019): I don’t plan on watching this film, nor will I ever. I know this is ironic, coming from someone who runs a Rogue blog, but stuff that focuses primarily on a character’s deteriorating mental health makes me reaaaaallllllyyyyy anxious (it’s kind of a phobia) and considering that I don’t particularly the Joker, I have no reason to watch something I know will only give my dumb ADHD-ass intrusive throughts.
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haljathefangirlcat · 3 years
Note
MOR mozalieri angst and galadred jb 👀
OH MY GOD ARE YOU TELLING ME YOU’RE INTO MOR TOO SDFGHJKLSDFGHJKLK
... ahem. These are both really short because I jotted them down as a spur of the moment thing  and I have absolutely no idea when or if I’ll actually make something out of them. So I’m just gonna post everything I wrote for them since it counts as “a little snippet” anyway, lol.
The first one is angsty af and entirely the fault of that part of L'Assasymphonie where Salieri is playing with the knife while ranting about his impostor syndrome and his inferiority complex. Uh, and Le Bien Qui Fait Mal, too, but that goes without saying. If it ever went anywhere, it would probably include very pained love/professional admiration confessions, a idiots in love/mutual pining “wait, no, I’m pining for you but you wouldn’t even look at me!” “are you kidding me, I’m the one pining but I thought you hated me!” moment, and PLENTY of hurt/comfort. I have absolutely no idea about anything else, though, because I don’t even know where or when even the scene I came up with is set... which would be a pretty important thing to know, from a practical standpoint, tbh.
TW FOR SELF-HARM AND VIOLENT IMAGERY
He’d only ever thought of what it was like to love like that. To feel the bright-bladed knife plunge and twist and dig inside his chest, tenderly cut through quivering flesh and sinew, saw his ribcage open to open up his heart to the burning beauty and white-hot light streaming in from above. To seek that pain and hide away from that pleasure, and curse the man who was the cause of both while cursing himself for letting him hold such power over him, for loving him and for hating him, for always failing to live up to him, to be like him.
He’d never spared one thought to consider what it might be like to be loved like that. To be made aware that your very existence was a spring of endless suffering for one who claimed to feel an ever-growing affection for you, to be made into an obsession in the black of night and an ivory idol bathed in golden sunrises, to become an inescapable curse. To have that much power, and not rejoice in it or even want it. To not be cruel enough to stomach it.
Mozart didn’t need to mock him with his brash laugh or hurl cold words at him. It was the softness in his voice that made guilt well up in his gut like pouring venom into a bowl until it overflowed; it was the sadness in his gaze that cooled his heart until he shivered. It was his own shame at himself, washing over him once again in new, sudden, crashing waves for new, sudden, piercing reasons, that brought him down on his knees, brought his head in his hands.
And Mozart, he came down to him. He lowered himself and crouched on the floor to reach him. Put his arms around his shoulders for a moment, then drew back and took Salieri’s wrists in his hands, holding them gently, gingerly. Scared, or disgusted, or perhaps just careful not to stain himself with his blood. It was starting to cool. It felt sticky, dirty.
«Come with me,» Mozart said, and drew Salieri’s hands away from his face. Some distant part of Salieri’s mind felt he should not allow that so easily, but the rest of him just felt tired, so he did. How strange that even though he was the one shaking, his breath ragged and hitching, it should be Mozart to cry. He wanted to laugh at the sight, but found he couldn’t. He could only let himself be dragged up to his feet, and then into a chair when he started feeling lightheaded.
He even obediently raised his hand and stayed put as Mozart ran to fetch warm water, soap, and clean cloth.
The second one is, once again, inspired by one of your fics. ;) Remember when you wrote that artist!Jaime/tattoo artist!Brienne fic where they bonded over Arthurian characters and I was like, “someone should introduce both of them to the concept of Galahad/Mordred because they’d love it so much for their own different reasons?” Ideally, this should be the fic where they actually get introduced to it... if it ever went somewhere.
The basic plot would be: “Jaime was overjoyed when he found out he could pour his old love for all things Arthurian AND his passion for drawing into fandom. His first fanart were all very dramatic, very romantic Mists of Avalon -inspired Arthur/Morgana pieces because he identified with that due to his ‘fated’ relationship with C., but as that started to go sour, he branched out into edgy, purposefully badwrong Arthur/Morgause stuff. Eventually, he found out about Galahad/Mordred and got really into the whole ‘doomed man on the path to making all the wrong choices finds redemption through connecting with another misfit with a high moral drive and noble nature who may have his own issues but believes there’s something good in him for some reason’ aspect of it. That’s when Brienne, budding fanwriter mostly into gen stuff due to romance bringing back bad memories, found his art and unexpectedly got hooked to the whole ‘noble-hearted and justice-loving misfit can’t really connect with anyone on a deeper level until he meets snarky, sad not-so-doomed man who actually sees HIM beyond both the brave knight thing and the ‘will never fit in anyway’ thing’ aspect. Now, they regularly chat through comments and tags and the occasional message. But things get more complicated when Jaime, who actually lost a hand in an incident years ago and had to relearn to draw after that while suffering the ableism of the usual suspects, finds the courage to post selfies on his blog both with and without his prosthetic hand to show the world and himself that the hardships he had to overcome don’t mean he’s less of a person or less of an artist or less in any way. That’s when Brienne goes from finding him interesting and funny and actually pretty charming to finding him HOT. Which scares her a whole lot due to her past experiences. But that’s okay because they’ll never see each other irl anyway, right? Unless they find out they actually live in the same city and Jaime asks her to meet to work on a collaboration they’ve been thinking of for a while but never really got to work on until now...”
And here’s what I currently have:
But then Mordred is staring at him again with those too-green eyes of his, except that this time there’s no mockery or coldness in them, and Galahad’s been warned again and again not to get too close to him and he’s been told over and over that he can’t trust him, but now he thinks that maybe, maybe he really does understand –
 Brienne stares at her screen. She actually described Mordred’s eyes as gray. Didn’t she? Usually, she picks dark gray, or dark brown, or dark. And yet, in this one story, they’re suddenly green.
Okay, time to take a break from revising. She gets up from her chair, rolls back her shoulders, and goes to grab a snack and a glass of water. She tries not to wonder what’s gotten into her – but she doesn’t really need to anyway, because she has a feeling she already knows.
Not that there’s anything bad about it. In a way, it only makes sense. He’s the artist who got her into the ship in the first place, and they’ve had a few pleasant conversations in the notes to his posts and, eventually, in the comments to her fics. So, it’s not that big of a deal if she associates him with these characters. And… well, recently he’s started posting selfies on his tumblr. And fine, she might have some sort of pathetic little celebrity crush – is that even the right term? Is he a Tumblr celebrity? – on him. Truth to be told, it’s not even as pathetic as the crushes she’s had when she was still in school, because at least he’s never insulted her or made fun of her looks, and she’s reasonably sure he wouldn’t even if he ever had the chance to. Which he won’t get, but anyway…
Anyway.
Apparently, the lines might blur when she’s distracted. Big deal.
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levaer · 4 years
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pretentious post about quincy culture and folklore, because kubo designed them with very strong national attributes which were barely addressed - if at all - and i’m here to do them justice.  also because some ppl have wack takes on the quincy.
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i want to preface this by reminding yall that, while kubo used an european imagery for the wandenreich, it’s reasonable to assume that quincies are from all over the world, and therefore we can’t really speak of one homogeneous quincy culture. yhwach’s army is itself very ethnically diverse; it’s safe to assume every quincy carries their own cultural baggage with differences tied to their origins.  however, the goal of this post is to highlight not the differences, but rather what shows the quincy all belong to a single national entity based on a common set of values, traditions and folklore.
the culture of blood  — starting with blood seems somewhat fitting to me, since the quincy arc is called the blood war. blood is the red string that ties all quincies together:  the blood of their king, and through him, the blood of god. first of all, all quincy have blut  –  latent or not, the ability allows them an offensive or defensive use of their blood vessels. then, drinking yhwach’s blood is the culmination of the schrift-bestowal ceremony. as in the bible, the blood of the sacrifices marks moses’ covenant with god, and in mass you drink the blood of christ, blood marks the covenant of the quincy people as well.  one so strong it cannot be watered: ichigo, gemischt quincy by heritage, cannot resist the ancestral urge that is inherent in his blood when facing yhwach  – going as far as to turn against whatever he stands for, slashing the soul king, unconsciously activating blut too. blood is always thicker, isn’t it? and maybe that’s why quincy are adamantly attached to the concept of ‘blood purity’. while outdated it may be, i think it should be regarded as the expression of a cultural tendency at self-preservation of their kind as yhwach’s heirs and the soul king’s descendants. a tendency at preserving the holy covenant that exists within their blood.
the many-pointed star  —  throughout the last arc, we see that yhwach has several emblems of his own (the wendehorn, the three-pointed star resembling of a Y) but the most famous quincy symbol is the pentagram inscribed in a small circle.  the word pentacle or pentagram originally meant 'any symbol that protects against evil spirits' (very fitting for the quincy) and it exists in almost all the cultures. in a christian context, which seems to be the background for many european quincies, the pentagram symbolizes the star of bethlehem (christ’s place of birth, it gives me strong yhwach vibes), the five wounds of christ, and the five virtues of knighthood:  generosity, courtesy, chastity, chivalry and piety (”sir gawain and the green knight”, line 663, late 14th century). the quincy, especially the sternritters, aside from having ‘star’ in their name and the heavy religious themes, also retain a strong knight imagery. my point is, i’m sure quincy symbols vary across the globe and across the centuries, but the pentagram stays, as if it was some sign of an ancestral fear and the will to fight it.
the honor of the quincy  —  i stated in a post how i believe the concept of ‘quincy pride’ to be a relatively new one, which the generations following the genocide came up with in order to cope with the collective trauma and unite, in spite of it. so, i can’t say it’s effectively a rooted cultural element – but i can say that it will be one. the sons and grandsons and great-grandsons of the victims of the genocide will remember, the survivor of the blood war will remember. quincy pride will continue to exist, it will grow wings and travel, because as i said, yhwach’s army was ethnically diverse and so, i think, were those involved in the massacre.
the emperor’s song and other stories  —  all human groups feel the urge to tell themselves. when a group is persecuted, oppressed and systematically brought on the brink of extinction, that urge is amplified to the point it becomes a way to carry on, as individuals and as a collective. in canon, we are introduced to the kaiser gesang, in all things a legend narrated by the quincy over the span of centuries, supposedly written and represented artistically and passed down from generation to generation. not to be too insistent but yall, the presence of legends and myths is constitutional of an organic community. if the quincy have legends such as the kaiser gesang, it’s not far-fatched to believe they were not just people scattered on earth to annoy shinigami; more importantly, if the quincy, no matter their geographic origin, share common legends – imo that confirms a sense of national identity, despite maybe not belonging to the state yhwach was forming. it’s also safe to assume the kaiser gesang was not an isolated case.
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akitokihojo · 4 years
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Enchanted - Interlude
Before last weekend, this little part didn’t exist. I had a craving for more inukag softness and figured the creation of this would also be a good way to say thank you to those who’ve followed and read and responded positively to this story up until now. I really don’t have the proper words to express how happy and grateful I am to all of you, so I attempted to communicate that through this short bit!
Part five will be posted later today!
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She hadn't even noticed him, completely absorbed in what she was doing - or she just couldn't hear his footsteps approaching while she kneeled so close to the stream. He took advantage of her unawareness, treading over twigs and dried leaves carefully until he stood just a few inches behind her. Crouching carefully, Inuyasha readied his hands, making a deep noise he knew would startle her as he quickly and tightly grasped the sides of her arms. Kagome screeched, a shiver running over her entire body as she lost her balance and almost toppled forward into the water, his hold on her preventing the fall.
He laughed, bringing her back as she looked over her shoulder, her panicked expression shifting to offense as she wriggled from his hands. He laughed even harder, jumping to his feet and back as she turned to push him away.
“You’re such a jerk!” She shouted, flicking the remnants of the water on her fingers towards him! “You scared the crap out of me!”
“Just what I was going for!”
“Shouldn’t you be at home or something? Aren’t you still grounded?” Kagome mocked, standing up and whipping her hands to the side in an attempt to air dry them quickly.
“As a matter of fact, no.” Inuyasha feigned a grimace, stepping forward to hold her arm so that there was no risk of her stumbling into the stream. “I’ve been off the hook for almost a week. I’ve just had some things to take care of. What are you doing out here?”
“Kaede wanted a specific herb, so I came out to find it.” She pointed to a little bucket a few feet off to the side, a small, green plant poking out from the soil its roots were snuggly blanketed in. When the prince’s attention was turned, she wiped her hands on the front of his dark blue cloak, drying them as thoroughly as possibly with the smuggest smirk she could conjure. “I was washing my hands when you came up. How’d you know where I was?”
Inuyasha looked at her with baffled amusement, chuckling but never stopping her. He tapped the tip of his nose with a finger, silently telling her he’d caught her scent before lowering his hand to brush some loose dirt from her hip. She was wearing a long, white dress, black stitching trimming the edges of the scoop neck and sleeves. A black string laced just below her breasts and down the center of her abdomen tied the cloth snug against her waist, and her wavy, dark hair contrasted beautifully with it all. It was bold to wear such a light color while uprooting a plant, but she’d managed to get out of it with minimal stains, and the few that had caught weren’t deep or eye-catching in the least. Not if anyone was paying attention to what was important. With the dense clouds setting in overhead, the forest lifeless and dull, and the world being filtered in the dreary colors of the winter season, Kagome walking through the woodlands in a long and flowing dress of white really helped solidify his original idea that she was actually a nymph. He could practically see the tiara of vine and baby’s breath adorning her head.
There was a cleared throat from behind Inuyasha, clearly intended to interrupt their moment, and Kagome glanced over, noticing two guards watching them. Slightly uncomfortable, like she might be doing something wrong, she withdrew her hands, taking a step back as Inuyasha lolled his head in their direction. It was the same two people that had been there on the first day she met the prince. The man was giving a knowing smile, his head tilted and indigo eyes alight with humor while the woman beside him gave a sympathetic grin, as if to apologize for her partner. She was in the same uniform as he, her coat and pants a little more fitting for her petite body, but still looking flexible enough for her to take action if need be.
“You remember my escorts.” Inuyasha groaned, holding a hand out in a presenting manner.
“How could I forget? Sango and dirty mouth, right?”
The female knight immediately snorted, hiding the laugh behind her palm while Inuyasha didn’t even bother to bear the same courtesy.
“I didn’t - I didn’t even do anything to deserve it this time.” Miroku muttered, bemused.
“You always deserve it.” The prince sneered.
“Wow. So much fun. So glad we came.” 
“Alright, alright.” Inuyasha waved him off, turning back to Kagome. “So, it took a good day and a half, but we tracked down the man.”
Kagome watched his ember eyes travel from hers to the healing mark on her cheek. She’d had a fun time coming up with a detailed lie on how she’d tripped over her own feet and face-planted into something when Kaede asked about it. But she wasn’t a very good liar and the herbalist didn’t even need her wit to catch onto the impracticality of it all, so Kagome just insisted a lot could happen in the dark and pretended from then on that she was too embarrassed to talk about it.
“His name’s Bankotsu, and he’s been taken care of.” He said, grazing his thumb over the fading scratches.
“Yes,” Miroku stepped forward, a genuine grin on his lips. “Thank you for reporting him to the guards when you did. We couldn’t have found him without the scent on the cloak you gave us.”
Kagome resisted the curious furrow of her brow, glancing at Inuyasha who merely stared at his aide. Without a queue from him, she could only think to play along; the prince wasn’t supposed to be out that night, so she didn’t want to be the one to blow his cover - especially after he’d saved her.
“Uh - sure. No problem. It was the right thing to do.”
“I’m kidding. I know you’re lying and I know everything that happened that night.” Miroku plainly stated.
“What? Why’d you set me up!?” She asked incredulously, flashing a glare toward a grimacing Inuyasha.
“Because he owes me one and you called me a dirty mouth.”
“He got Koga to act as if you reported the assault to him, who then reported it to the council, who then - you know, it’s a long chain that had to completely jump over me which Miroku was responsible for.” The prince explained. “But he’s got his payment now, and he’ll be shutting up.”
Sango nudged her partner to make sure he heeded Inuyasha’s word, then made a vague gesture to the prince with a slight twist of her expression.
“And,” He drawled disappointedly. “I have to get going. We were passing through on the way to run an errand.”
“Oh, okay.” Kagome gave a tiny nod, smiling softly. 
It didn’t feel right to leave with just that. After the other night, their feelings, learning so much about one another, touching, walking away with a simple goodbye seemed beneath them now. He could physically feel the eyes of his aides watching him, though, and it quickly created an awkward tension as he fumbled over his thoughts on what he could possibly do to say hey, nothings changed and I’m still in love with you but my guards are watching like vultures and I’m not quite sure what’s appropriate right now because I’ve never really done this before and apparently I’m not too good at it. He wanted to kiss her - even a little peck would do - but felt increasingly uncomfortable as the two continued to stare. Clumsily, Inuyasha cleared his throat and briskly kissed the top of Kagome’s head, to which she gave a surprised and breathy squeak. 
“I’ll - uh - see you -“
“Oh, come on! You can do better than that, Romeo.” Miroku taunted.
He felt his own face ignite in a wave of heat, his expression dropping pleadingly. At his side, Kagome turned, understandably hiding her own humiliation from the people he used to call his friends.
“Could you give us two minutes, guys?”
“Just two? What are you gonna get done in two?”
“OH-kay, we’ll be going!” Sango pinched the back of Miroku’s arm, exasperatedly dragging the idiot around the curve in the trail where they couldn’t be seen anymore. 
Inuyasha hid his aggravation behind his palm, massaging one of his temples with his thumb until he knew they were gone and some of the awkwardness dwindled. Turning to Kagome, he noticed the deep pink of her cheeks, her brown eyes staring off at a bush behind them while sucking on her bottom lip.
“I’m sorry - I hate him - I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay.” She uncomfortably laughed, bowing her head shyly. “I guess we’ve gotta get used to that, right?”
“No, because I’m killing him tonight.”
Kagome laughed again, this time the return of her stability bringing back the melodic ring in her voice. His eyes were glued to her smile, softening whatever edge he’d previously felt, and in his peripherals he noticed her hand slowly, waveringly inching toward his own. Inuyasha stayed perfectly still, allowing her to move at her own pace until the tips of her cold fingers curled around his, and when she was there, he helped to firmly entwine them together. As she glanced up, biting the side of her bottom lip, brown eyes captivating him, he decided to take full advantage of their momentary privacy.
“Come on.” He whispered, pulling her a little ways away toward a large tree to conceal them.
“Where are we going?”
“Shh.”
“Inuyasha.” She giggled faintly. He guided her around the opposite side of the trunk, never letting go of her hand as he leaned his back against the bark and brought her closer. 
Kagome happily stepped inward, her smile widening as the prince, her prince, tenderly swiped some hair behind her ear, the pads of his fingers following the curve of her hair and tickling over her collarbone.
“Hi.” He sighed.
“Hi.”
Inuyasha closed the gap that remained, grazing his lips over the plush of hers, feeling her press onto her toes to seal them together. The soft touch quickly heated, their seconds together being spent wisely. He released her hand as she gave a slight suck to his bottom lip, snaking his arms around her back to hold her closer, feel the way her body arched into him, kiss her deeper. They’d only shared a moment like this once and yet he already felt himself growing selfish and addicted. The prince felt her hands climbing up his chest, the motion tedious and deliberate, and if he was fooling himself into thinking she had the same thoughts of codependency as he, that was just fine by him. Once her fingers met his neck, Inuyasha inadvertently dragged in a sharp inhale from the shock.
“Your hands are freezing.” He murmured into her mouth.
“Warm them for me.” Kagome giggled, her fingers curving around the back of his neck, threading into the silver hair at the nape.
If Inuyasha could spend the rest of his life kissing her, tasting her, rubbing noses, hearing her sighs, breathing her in, nothing more - nothing less, he’d easily consider his years well spent. It was like they matched each other perfectly, synchronized, and the way she molded against him was so comfortable that words failed to describe how elated he was.
His name was called by one of his aides, and immediately he groaned defeatedly, the thick noise reverberating between their lips. As if it never happened, he continued kissing her, holding her impossibly closer for one more moment. Again, his name was called, and Kagome pulled away an inch.
“I think our time’s up.”
“No, ignore them.” He kissed her. “They’ll go away.”
Giggling, she gave him one last, delicate kiss before stepping back from him so he wouldn’t be tempted to neglect their calls further. If they came over and found them this way, she’d most likely die of embarrassment. 
Once more, Inuyasha’s name was called, this time more croaky than the last. He’d missed bringing that desperate cry from Miroku. 
“Alright, alright! I’m coming!” He drawled. Reaching an arm over Kagome’s shoulders, he pulled her close as they walked back, tucking her into his chest so he could easily kiss her head. She wrapped her arms around his waist, walking in sync with him as they came back to the path where his guards waited.
“I hate you.” Miroku chided.
“Sorry. She was showing me a tree.” Inuyasha said, shrugging.
“You’re filthy.”
The prince chuckled, giving a flick of his hand so they’d head off knowing he’d be right behind them. They followed his silent order, and with the small window he had, Inuyasha curled a finger beneath Kagome’s chin and tilted it up for his advantage. Just a small kiss this time, but she smiled into it and his knees almost caved.
“I’ll see you later.” He whispered.
“Bye.”
| Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Final |
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virareve · 4 years
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While languishing over the fic exchange, I recently noticed that some of the first few times I shared some drabbles/one shots I posted from a collection of short J/B writings I’ve put up on AO3, I was just sharing a link to the main work and not the specific chapter. I wanted to reshare some of the ones I was most proud of/cared about the most that I didn’t properly link to previously.
For anyone who prefers, I’m posting the text to the chapter below as well. :)
Summary:   Unsent Letters from Kingsguard's Lord Commander Jaime Lannister are leaked to the press.
King's Landing Chronicles, Issue 1011
Excerpt from page 2:
Love Letters from the Lord Commander By Pia Waters
Once thought the coldest, cruelest man in the Six Kingdoms, unsent letters from the head of the royal Kingsguard’s Lord Commander shed light into the enigma that is Jaime Lannister, and reveal that he is not so much a mystery as he is a man with his own inner turmoils and a love long gone.
Content leads royal experts to believe that the letters were penned sometime after he was reinstated to the Kingsguard, following the execution of Dowager Queen Cersei, his sister, for plots against the crown. (This was the last time state sanctioned capital punishment was permitted before 'Ned's Law' was enacted and banned capital punishment throughout the six kingdoms.) Readers will also notice the subject of the letters does not appear to be the late Queen, his alleged lover for most of his career. Many are surprised by the emotional depth thought nonexistent in the man the press popularly dubbed the Kingslayer but King Tommen and the newly coronated Queen…( Cont. on Pages 5-7 )
- - -
King's Landing Chronicles, Issue 1011
Excerpt from page 7, The Last Letter:
What is more beautiful, my love? Love lost or love found? Don't laugh at me, my love. I know it. I'm awkward and naive when it comes to love. I ask questions straight out of a pop song. This doubt overwhelms me and undermines me, my love. To find...or to lose? All around me, people don't stop yearning. Did they lose or did they find? I can't say. A motherless child, who is raised by a heartless father, has no way of knowing. He lacks a first love. The love for his mother and father. That's the source of his awkwardness, his naiveté. You said to me, as the snow whirled down on us in Winterfell, "Stay." But I didn't do it. There, my love, is love lost. That's why I've never stopped wondering, since that day: Where have you been? Where are you now? And you, the shining pinnacle of my regrets, did you lose or did you find? I don't know. And I will never know. It hurts to even remember your name, my love. And I don't have the answer. But this is how I like to imagine it, the answer. In the end, my love, we have no choice. We have to find.
- - -
Brienne dropped the paper, swiping at the tears in her eyes.
“Oh Jaime,” she sighed, feelings of nostalgia bubbled in her. Now that so much time had passed, it no longer hurt to think of him. And her mind could only think of him now. Jaime with his part-time irksome, part-time cheeky smile. And his mischievous green eyes. Or his gazelle-like gait. Or the way he smiled and she felt like it was just for her.
It was nice to feel like that.
It was nice to feel warm at the memory of Jaime and not angry at herself for remembering him.
She traced the text on the glossy paper of King's Landing Chronicles. Sansa had mailed it in from the mainland with the insistence that she read it.
When Brienne and Jaime had stopped seeing each other nearly eleven years ago she'd been heartbroken and distraught. The memories in Winterfell had quickly proven too much and she left her new home for her old one. It was a comforting choice in the end. There was something welcoming that she felt on Tarth that she had not felt before. Something that perhaps the change she sought inside of her, and had experienced on the mainland, allowed for as she sought to build a life of her own.
Over a decade since, and she felt calm in knowing she’d met that goal. That her life in smalltown Morne was something that existed without ghosts of her dead mother and siblings and memories of a man she expected would never enter her life again.
Unburdened, she sat comfortably at the dining table her father had carved for her and her family. The laughs from her children, young and precocious and so full of love, teased into the house through the open windows. They were accompanied by the squeaks of skin against water and thick plastic as her children went through the slip-n-slide she’d made for them, over and over again.
Oh, how she loved Gal and Alys.
The choice to embrace motherhood and start a family after she’d given up on ever finding love again, had been easily the most rewarding thing in her life. It was something she had wanted as much as she wanted to fall in love. Raising her two had been a balm for so many internalized wounds, and the pain that used to flare constantly became forgotten and relegated to a dusty corner of her memories.
And yet to know that she’d still been on his mind brought a sharp relief to know that Brienne of yesteryears had not been a fool. She’d been in love and had been loved. None of that could be called a mistake.
Learning what had been in his mind, she could say, too, that the end was not her fault. Here was physical evidence to put her fears at bay and tell herself “Look, you are whole! It was him who was broken!”
But it sounded rather cracked and jaded and Brienne wasn’t feeling cracked and jaded herself. She had loved him and he had loved her.
Not all who loved were allowed to be together. It was the theme of her own parents’ tragically short love story and she would be remiss to think it could never apply to her. As sad as likening her story to her mother and father's was, she could also find the evidence she needed to point out to herself that what had existed in those brief months was a love story.
It had to have been. Because once he’d left, Brienne had never wanted to love another man again. The ending might have been harsh, but the rest of it was a fairytale. No one could ever know her, ever understand her, as well as he had. She had been prepared to never be loved in life and now that she had experienced a love to end all loves, she didn’t ever want to fill in the gap with a poor replacement.
She no longer felt like she needed to.
Brienne shook her head and stood up from the table, brushing her fingers gently over Jaime’s words one more time.
“Love bugs!” she called out, making her way down the back porch, pulling off her own clothes to reveal her own swimsuit underneath, “Wanna learn a trick you didn’t know Mommy could do?”
She jogged slowly past them in the direction of the nearby cove.
“Yeah!” they screamed joyfully.
They took off as fast as their much smaller legs could take them and crashed into her sides, each grasping for one of her hands. Alys was quick to intertwine her long, nimble fingers with her mother’s left, while Gal was clumsily forceful as he wrapped both his hands around her right in an airtight clasp.
Leading the children on, Brienne brought them to a short cliff overlooking the cove and kneeled before them, “Now we’re only ever going to do this with Mommy’s permission and an adult with you okay?”
The two of them nodded vigorously, enthusiastic at the prospect of whatever she was going to show them.
“Alright,” Brienne grinned, standing up and letting go of their hands. “Watch me and do what I do.”
Putting a good distance between her and the cliff's edge, Brienne squatted down into a runners position and quickly pressed off against the earth with a mighty push, speeding towards the edge. On reaching it, she pushed off with all her might and yelled into the air with a freeness she rarely allowed herself.
“Goldenhand!” she screamed, like a knight invoking the legends beside her into battle.
She’d forgotten what it was like to freefall in exposed air, exhilarating and a little bit terrifying all at once. But the air was warm and her hair experienced its own descent as gravity pulled her down and she couldn't help the want to yell again. So she did.
The ocean welcomed her lovingly when she breached the surface and for a moment, Brienne thought of Jaime, taking her just outside of Casterly Rock, encouraging her to take the leap.
Above the children cheered when she surfaced, then swam backwards to put space between her and the bottom of the cliff.
“Your turn!” she yelled, cupping her hands to her face.
Gal and Alys looked at each other. They grinned and moved away from view.
With them out of sight, Brienne briefly allowed her eyes to close, lapsing into that memory of Jaime, sunkissed and smirking as he pulled her after him into the water. His bright, light laugh as she screamed bloody murder and he yelled out “Goldenhand!” like it was the normal battle cry for this sort of event.
“Goldenhand!” the children screamed out in delight and she opened her eyes to watch Gal and Alys catch air. Of course, without her there, they’d decided to jump in holding tightly to each other’s hands.
Brienne couldn’t stop the love that overwhelmed her heart.
Their identical faces were lit with joy. Their golden hair fluttered in the Tarth wind.
When they surfaced, they paddled over to her, trying to talk over the other in their battle to hold all her attention. Their emerald green eyes glittered with impish glee.
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brooklynislandgirl · 4 years
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@mynameisanakin​ {{xx}}
To say time was immutable was the worst kind of fallacy. It can be stretched or dilated. It can be shrunk. Filled to the very possible edges or shut up and forgotten. It was subject to individual perception which then was galvanised by a cohesive agreement to believe in the same fractured set of moments corresponding to external reality. At least that was what her Master had explained to her once. She wasn’t sure she understood what he meant then, nor is she sure she has a grasp on it now. Or if both were the same and she just chooses to see it differently. What she is absolutely certain of is limited to a minor handful of things. The first being that hours ago the Temple had come under attack. Which meant that somehow, somewhere, something had gone catastrophically wrong. It’s the sound of screaming and pounding feet that first alert her. So of course instinct takes over. She ushers her charges ~younglings that are injured, sick, and otherwise impaired~ to the safest place she can think of.
Thrulan knows even the forgotten places, pathways that most Jedi are unaware even exist. There aren’t so many. Only three. She gives him medicine for them. All of the credits she can scrounge so they aren’t a burden on his small family. The only other thing she knows with absolute certainty is that Anakin is still alive. The agony he was in was significant. Had nearly buckled her to her knees and she wasn’t sure if he felt her reaching out to him. Offering what strength she could that he might take it, enfold it around himself, to protect him until she can find him. Likely wishful thinking, but she wanted to believe it so much that she simply accepted that as a truth. Especially when she can’t feel him reaching back. That there’s distortion thick and heavy between them.
She can only fear the worst; that Anakin is here, and she knows he is. That he is trapped in some corner unable to free himself. That he is hurt. That he is...no. Twisted and cloaked as his brilliant presence in the Force has become, it isn’t waning. She won’t let that be the truth. She won’t let him go so easily.
That becomes a third thing. The halls as she moves are too quiet in places. Too loud in others. The great library is empty. There’s so very little to find there. Even the Temple Guards are not at their posts, and of course, why should they be? They were under an attack, there was better places for them to be. Her sabre flashes as she makes her way ever closer to Anakin. Though she’s brought up short when she sees who the invaders really are. As if she wouldn’t know the legion by sight. These men, never just clones, who have been under his command, whose wounds she’s mended, whose grief she tried to ease, whose deaths and sacrifices she’s recorded painstakingly for the archives so that they might be remembered beyond purpose, beyond what they had been created for. Only to be betrayed. Why would they have turned on Ana-
No. Not...turned. Parrying blaster fire as best she can, she senses....a link. They...They... Two clones go down and she tries to press forward, stopped in her tracks seconds later by a third trooper she hadn’t seen in the shadows. His rifle is aimed at her, held level. But he hesitates. Brows knit above her eyes, sweat damp strands of hair threatening to slip into her vision as she tilts her head. “....Biscuit?” Against all hope, the trooper removes his helmet, confirming that this was in fact the one she thought him to be. The one who still had an both legs thanks to her. “My Lady. I am so sorry. I don’t want to do this.” Not General. Not Master or even Knight Ivers. Not Melakeni. But...lady. She swallows past the rapidly constricting lump in her throat.  “Wha... what is happening, here?”
The trooper looks sick, green under his tawny skin in a way that is both natural and unnatural to her and the more he speaks, the more his face hardens into a mask of duty and remorse.
He doesn’t attempt to kill her when she staggers back under the weight of this new knowledge, one palm splayed against the smooth metal wall to catch herself mid-collapse. Her mind reels. Her sabre thumps dully against the floor as that hand comes up to her chest.
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She takes hold of the Force and wraps it around her like an impenetrable wall that nothing can escape from or press advantage into as her heart breaks. The faces of her friends sweep through her memory alive and full of life. They are gone. As are the Masters she has spent the last decade serving. 
Remember these lessons well, little padawan, for suffering is a crucible of strength. Her Master’s voice comes to her unbidden and she knows he still lives as well. Where she cannot quite tell. But the voice, a silken thunder of a whisper in her ear, is not wholly wrong. She knows as terrible as the Dark Side must be, that the Jedi had long ago become corrupt. They slaved under the will of the people, currying favour and gathering quiet power until they no longer resembled what they once purported to be; servants of the Force.
And the Force is a living and breathing thing. A river that flows through everything from the most infinitesimal speck of stardust to the edges of the galaxy and perhaps even beyond, to places unknowable beyond the imagination of even the greatest enlightened minds. Its intention was not to steal and enslave infants. Its will was not to be ruled by fear of upsetting those in power in exchange for some small semblance of a voice in galactic matters. The Jedi Order, she can see more clearly now than ever before, was nothing more than rotting fruit on the Force’s branches, dragging it down with the weight of its corruption.  And as surely as the tears flowed freely down her face for what she knows has been lost because of it, for the innocence and sweetness and life that was now nothing more than a guttered candle, she understands that the will of the Force was for Anakin to... to wipe clean the slate. To destroy every last vestige of what was, in order for what could be to come about. The restoration of balance, to restore the Force itself and not what sentients had made of it.
She recalls a poem she had read in the archives, only a fraction of it as she let go of her anger. Her confusion. As she gave herself as always, to the Force and its will.
Even as it is for your growth, so it is for your pruning. Even as it ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun, So shall it descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.
Biscuit retrieves her lightsabre without a word of protest from her. She can hear the sigh as she looks up into his face. Despite this directive of his, there is some kindness left in the clone. “I’ll make it quick, Lady. Painless.” “A moment more, please?” He nods. She straightens up as sharply as her spine will allow, and levels her chin. She passes a hand over her face to wipe away any traces of emotion that lingered damply on her cheeks and tried, ridiculously, to straighten her hair. Doing so, she conceals clever little gestures with her fingers. “You should take me to him. He will want to do this himself.” “I...I should take you to him. He will want to do this himself.” She takes a step forward, relieves him of her sabre, and wraps a delicate hand around the white and blue armour. Her steps to the grand hall are silent compared to his own and they do not speak during the trek. She looks neither left nor right. Doesn’t look at the bodies strewn where they fell. Does not acknowledge the char and pockmarks that scattered across the walls from blaster fire. The fire and smouldering ash does not make her tremble though she fears that only second to what they will find. The smoke doesn’t bother her at all. In fact she forgets to make herself breathe in those achingly long moments. The Temple all around her that was once home is now a tomb.
Biscuit leaves her there in the centre of the hall. Takes a stance somewhere out of her periphery and she wonders later how badly he will be punished for allowing her to cloud his mind. For allowing her to come into the presence of his Lord armed and utterly capable of cutting him down if she were fast enough, clever enough.
And what does she find? Significantly more than she had hoped but disturbingly less than what she feared. He looks like a ghost haunting himself. Blurred and fractured at the edges, worn so thin she can practically see Coruscant beyond the doors behind him. Awash with old blood and new, and light that could be either from the dying of the day. His eyes are so hollow. His face drawn and remote and before he even acknowledges that she is there, she can feel him crawling over a threshold of breaking. This is not a man proud of what he has done, not a man who will ever sleep again knowing he has done the right thing, even if that is exactly what Anakin has done. Frangible arms wend around her in his terrible silence. Her eyes close as he brushes his mouth against the crown of her hair and breathes her deeply as if for the first time he can. Breathe. Take air deep into his lungs and scour his psyche with her presence. A hand comes up to his chest where his heart beats strong but erratic. And then? It isn’t a question. Nor is it a command. It isn’t even a choice because choice implied she had a say. No senator, no chancellor, no master, no living being loves Anakin the way she does. Nor had they in all the years before except for maybe his mother. And in an entirely different way. No. It isn’t a choice. And no one would ever have been foolish enough to believe that it was. She untangles herself from Anakin. Braces one foot behind her, shifts her centre of gravity. With preternatural reflexes, she reaches for and takes hold of her sabre. Thumbs the near flat depression on the hilt and allows the purple blade to ignite in the gathering gloom around them. Sees its glow flash in glossiness of his eyes.
Her other hand comes up. There’s a little flip and suddenly the blade is laid across both hands, and she curtsies before him, deep and tired and inscrutable. She does not have a heart, but if she did, it would be bleeding for her little sun, for her Anakin. “In all things, in all ways, I am yours to command, my Lord.” Loud enough to be heard by the gathered clones. Then quietly, more intimately, meant for his ears alone... “That is maybe the stupidest thing you have ever asked of me, Ani. The answer is always yes.”
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thecomicsnexus · 5 years
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Final Crisis
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CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS #12 MARCH 1986 BY MARV WOLFMAN, GEORGE PEREZ, JERRY ORDWAY, TOM ZIUKO AND TOM MCCRAW (RE-COLORED VERSION)
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SYNOPSIS (FROM DC DATABASE)
In Brainiac's starship, Dolphin, Captain Comet, Rip Hunter, Animal Man, the Atomic Knight, and Adam Strange convince the reviving robot that his memory was tampered with to make him forget the Crisis. Admitting that his power is inadequate to battle the Anti-Monitor, he sets course for the world of a more powerful being. On Earth, the Anti-Monitor's visage is seen in the skies all over the globe. He repeats that the Earth is now in the anti-matter universe. His past victories over positive universes are meaningless, he says, because of the super-heroes' efforts to stop him. When he lists Supergirl and the Flash as casualties, Kid Flash demands to know what has happened.
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The Supermen scan the globe and watch the populace panicking. Harbinger appears, and teleports them to a chosen destination, then gathers Dr. Light from Japan, leaving Sunburst to defend the island. When Dr. Light states that she caused Supergirl's death, Harbinger replies that the battle had already killed Supergirl, and that the Anti-Monitor's final attack merely gave her a swift death. In the skies, the darkness splits into a million shadow demons, which begin an all-out attack on humanity, and the super-heroes mass to resist them. The Global Guardians team with other heroes to free their native lands from the threat, but the demons' numbers seem endless. The Phantom Stranger summons Dr. Mist to help revive the Spectre who lies comatose. Below, Harbinger has gathered a large group of heroes, along with Pariah and Alex, to lead a final assault on their nemesis. Alex creates a bridge between universes, and they depart near Apokolips.
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Brainiac's ship goes into stationary orbit, and he and his guests teleport to the planet, where Darkseid appears and introduces himself.
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Back on Earth, the majority of the heroes are still battling the demons. The Dove is slain by a shadow-being as his brother watches in horror.
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In Dr. Fate's Salem tower, the magically powered heroes have gathered to pool their shamanistic might. The Earth-2 Green Lantern and Dr. Occult form the nexus of their energy.
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On Qward, in the anti-matter universe, Harbinger and the heroes have arrived in the Anti-Monitor's old headquarters. Kid Flash insists on joining them because of his mentor's demise. Suddenly, an image of the Flash appears to him—the last one Barry cast before his death. Wally follows the afterimage to where an insane Psycho-Pirate clutches at an empty uniform. Kid Flash knocks him out, and realizes that Barry Allen is truly dead when Lady Quark finds his ring. Pariah informs them that a great concentration of evil lies before them. They follow to find a towering Anti-Monitor, ready for the final slaughter.
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In Atlantis, Aquaman leads his underwater legions against the shadows. Lori Lemaris saves a trapped Mera with a force beam. A demon closes in on her and kills her. In Chicago, Green Arrow of Earth-2 is killed by a shadow. In Philadelphia, Cyborg, the Son of Vulcan, the Vigilante, and the New Wildcat continue rescue operations.
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In New Orleans, Shade the Changing Man witnesses the death of Prince Ra-Man. In Skartaris, Travis Morgan leads his forces against the black menaces. In Gotham City, both Clayface II and the Bug-Eyed Bandit perish at the hands of the demons. In Salem, the tide finally turns. The supernatural crusaders send their combined force in a net of energy to gather the demons from the Earth's surface, and bind them helpless in space. Over the Earth, lives have been lost, including those of Kole, Huntress, and Robin, but other lives have been saved. For a moment, the survivors can take stock.
On Qward, the Supermen of Earth 1 and 2, Captain Atom, Lady Quark, Firehawk, Wonder Woman, and other tarot's strike at the Anti-Monitor, but he ignores their blows, feeding on the energy of a nearby star, As Dr Light absorbs the energy of one of the binary suns they are between, the Anti-Monitor feels his power draining away. Alex begins to drain the anti-matter energy away from their enemy. Negative Woman uses her negative-self to bind the Anti-Monitor and inhibit him: then Harbinger leads all the energy-producing heroes against him, Dr. Light blasts him with the energy of a sun, and he falls into the ruins of his fortress. Alex creates a dimensional hole, large enough to enclose the Earth and return it to its proper universe. The heroes follow. The ball of bound demons hover and then fall on the fallen enemy. Thus, the Anti-Monitor absorbs his slaves energies and rises again, while the heroes start to give battle. Wonder Woman is caught in a withering flash of power, and is borne away to an unknown destination. Superman of Earth-1 and Lady Quark vow deadly revenge, but Kal-L knocks them out, and tells Superboy to take them back. Since he has no world and no wife to return to, the elder Superman has the least to lose. Then he confronts the monstrous Anti-Monitor, and batters him. Superboy sends Superman and Lady Quark back through Alex's shrinking body, and turns to aid him. Superman continues his one-man war against the Anti-Monitor, striking telling blows, while the villain, his power waning, absorbs more energy from the anti-cosmos, and blasts him and Superboy. Darkseid, watching the conflict on a viewscreen, proclaims his planet to be endangered if the Anti-Monitor survives, sends a power burst at him through Alex's eyes. The enemy, devastated, is hurled into the core of one of the binary suns. Superman, Superboy, and Alex are stunned to see the spectre of their enemy rising from the sun. Superman smashes into his foe's fiery body, scattering him: the remains fall back into the sun and the star begins to implode.
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They bravely await the end and Superman wishes that Lois could have lived to see their triumph. At that, Alex produces Lois from a void-pocket in his body where she had been sent to wait. She tells her husband that she had been to a tranquil world. Alex cannot return them to Earth but he can take them all to this beautiful world. Superman, Lois, and Superboy opt for that choice. The foursome vanish seconds before the exploding sun would have reached them.
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Back on Earth, Lyla is explaining facets of the Crisis to Pariah and Lady Quark. Wonder Woman was returned to the clay which Aphrodite and Athena had given life, then spread across Paradise Island.
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Time then continued to reverse itself, as the Amazons were returned to their original homeland before they fled Man's World. Zeus brought the homeless Wonder Woman of Earth-2 and her husband Steve Trevor to Olympus, where they could live peacefully. The bodies of Robin of Earth-2, the Huntress, and Kole were never found. All those who died were mourned. In Keystone City, Jay Garrick determined that Kid Flash's illness was in remission, his body chemistry being changed by a blast from the Anti-Monitor. He could again move at super-speed, though only to a maximum of Mach-1. Wally donned Barry Allen's uniform, and announced, "From this day forth — the Flash lives again!"
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The Great Disaster will not exist in the Earth's future, but a lost child will be found in Command D. adopted by General Horatio Tomorrow of the Planeteers, and named Thomas. Jonah Jex will be torn from his era to fight in the future, while the Guardians of the Universe must face the first division in their ranks. Thus, Lyla concludes her tale, and Lady Quark and Pariah ask her to help them explore their new homeworld. They leave with her, honoring the memory of their benefactor, the Monitor. And, in Arkham Asylum, the staff discuss a new patient who seems beyond help, straitjacketed in a rubber-lined room. Roger Hayden, formerly Psycho-Pirate, gibbers about Earths beyond numbers, the Anti-Monitor, and the memories, which only he had been allowed to keep.
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NOTORIOUS DEATHS IN THIS ISSUE
Anti-Monitor
Dove
Green Arrow (Earth-2)
Huntress
Kole
Robin (Dick Grayson, Earth-2)
Sunburst
Bug-Eyed Bandit
Clayface II (Matt Hagen)
Lori Lemaris
Ten Eyed Man
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REVIEW
The ending of Crisis is the only part of it that remains canon after it (as it happened on new earth). Although many things about it will not remain (no one will remember the multiverse, not even the ones that survived it). Same will apply to deaths like Huntress, who will be completely replaced post-crisis.
So, was it worth it? Absolutely. Wolfman’s idea of rebooting the universe every 10 years would have been a great idea, but sales will not always allow for it (this is the reason DC was never able to do a complete reboot, you don’t fix what isn’t broken, namely Batman, Legion of Super-Heroes and the Green Lantern Corps).
As for its legacy, this event is the father of all events. Cross-overs and team-ups have been plenty, not only at DC, since the Golden Age. And while there have been similar events in 1982 and 1984 over at Marvel, they barely had any impact (Spider-symbiote being the one thing to remember). Crisis was a whole different thing. But sadly, it happened at DC, that means that not all the opportunities will be taken seriously.
Crisis offered the chance of a blank slate, but instead, the relaunch was sloppy and as a result, the universe required a soft reboot less than 10 years later. Crisis tie-ins are a good demonstration of how slow DC was to react to what they were doing. They do not match the chapter of the month.
Another interesting example is Wally West, who was restored in the end, with a slower speed, and became the Flash. However, it would take more than a year for Wally to take on his own book. This coincided with Justice League International and the end of Legends. Wonder Woman suffered the same delay as well. There were no plans to what would happen afterwards, because DC wasn’t fully aware of what they just did. They were too busy closing down titles, and the reaction to restart everything was delayed, sometimes by more than 5 years. Fortunately, the man of steel would end the year with one of his most emblematic runs.
As for the story itself, the science makes little sense, but I am willing to forgive those flaws. The essence of the event was to revisit the DCU history, to streamline everything and to showcase every single character they had. It was supposed to launch in 1983, but it had to wait until the 50th anniversary (while a long research had to be done to figure out the full DCU history). This story accomplishes that. The tie-ins... not so much. But Crisis as a story works very well. Without tie-ins.
There is a lot of love poured into it as well, and you can tell. Those final sequences with Alex Luthor, Kal-L, Lois and Superboy-Prime are beautiful and sad at the same time (again, DC would shoot themselves in the foot by desecrating that ending in 2005, but that’s a story for another time).
You cannot imagine another penciler for this story either. George Perez is the god of team-ups. Since then, he had some replacements, most notoriously, Phil Jimenez, but in 1985, it was pretty much him. And the art is so beautiful, and so meaningful, Crisis on Infinite Earths became on of the greatest achievements in comic-book history.
Jerry Ordway had to step in after Giordano and DeCarlo, for reasons I do not know. He was the perfect choice for this event. His style adds some clarity to Perez style, where Tanghal wouldn’t have dared to modify too much. As a result, you get an interesting hybrid. Ordway’s realistic faces, with Perez crazy layouts and detailed backgrounds.
The art in general is something to admire over and over. That scene where the shadow demons break apart and darkness becomes sky... that’s Michael Bay High Octane shit. You are basically watching a disaster movie.
Some of the deaths in this story mean nothing. Losing Green Arrow from Earth-2 or Helena Wayne will not have an impact. But they can seriously affect some readers.
One thing I didn’t mention before, was that New Genesis was actually part of the Crisis, as Darkseid only cloaked Apokolips, but apart from Crisis #10, I haven’t seen anything happening over there in other books.
Now, which version should you buy? All of them.
I grew up reading the spanish adaptation, which was pretty much the original with translated text. Then I bought 1998′s slipcase, which was already re-colored. I really think this one was the best as the wrap-around cover has the full Alex Ross painting. 2015′s deluxe edition includes the History of the DCU, with a new cover by George Perez. Perhaps this one adds more value. There is also a very expensive edition coming at the end of the year that includes all the tie-ins, but as you may have read, not all tie-ins are good or worthy of reading with this saga.
Then I actually recommend the digital version, as this book is so beautiful, you don’t even want to touch it.
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I give this story a score of 10
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