#i figure this somewhere in the remake timeline | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

wavesmp3 · 5 months

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shawna!!! i picked up “the sea is yours to take” and genuinely so In love with your world building! can i know how you plotted the story out or how this world even emerged :OO

omg genuinely so excited to answer this ask, like you have no idea. i pulled out my laptop for it hehe

so as a disclaimer i must start by saying that i first started creating this fic and the world around it in 2019 (which can you believe was 5 years ago lol) AND i haven't really revisited all my notes since i was working heavily on this world in 2020 AND my notebook with all the details and brainstorming i did is at my parents' house and therefore do not have access to for the time being...

all of this to say that i am a little muddy on all of the nitty gritty details, but we continue forward nonetheless!

so as i said the initial idea that turned into this world came to me in the summer of 2019 in a silent chapel in the form of this drabble

(which, a note on the silent chapel part lol, i'm not a very religious person and i had never been to one before that but i think going to a place like that and thinking of the drabble there is why the piece has a strong emphasis on religion and like religious institutions, a lot of which was inspired by catholic ideologies such as the very idea of seven sins and seven gifts. and a lot of the emphasis on the religious beliefs of that world might not be as obvious in 'the sea is yours to take' (tsiytt) but it has more importance in the other installations (read: the world is ours to remake, posted as an original work somewhere on my blog as well as the crown is his to wear which was supposed to be the third and final installation that i never got around to writing rip)

but back to the point -- the drabble kind of set up the main plot which, to put it briefly, is that there is a king who is up to no good so much so that his own son is looking to overthrow him.

(note that the drabble was slightly different when originally posted and had been edited after the fact once i had created the entire world and overarching plot, but it was mainly the same as it stands right now apart from the naming of a couple things. fun fact: the gifts were called the virtues in that drabble)

and from there i kind of let my mind run wild.

i can't remember if i did most of the plotting/creation of that world during 2019 summer or if i did it during 2020 summer, but the main point is that i had almost a full year of just on and off thinking about this piece and this world

so from there (ignoring the timeline of all this world building) it was mainly just figuring out the answers to a whole bunch of questions like: why is the son trying to overthrow the king? what is the 'no good' that the king is up to? why did the prince seek out this other character in the drabble? what does that character know that can be of help? how or why do they specifically know it?

and it continued and continued like that for a long time until i had a pretty good understanding of what i wanted the plot to be. and because of the nature of the overarching plot with the plans to overthrow the king it kind of also did a lot of the world building too. i again had to ask and answer questions like why are all the sins and gifts apart from fortitude dead? why would the nomads know something that the rest of this world doesn't? why have the nomads ceased communication with the rest of this world? and a ton of other questions and answers that literally wouldn't even make sense with what is discussed in tsiytt but kind of helped informed what tsiytt needed to set up for following installations to make sense.

(note: kind of hate the naming of the nomads and the nomads land, it just feels wrong and a bit offensive of a word to use in the context that it is. i was young and really the only thing i was thinking about was the fact that it sounded like no mans land)

anyways this whole lengthy explanation is again just to say that i knew a certain couple of scenes needed to happen to drive the plot forward: like not knowing why fortitude sent the prince away, fortitude killing lord seth, the ending scene, and then a couple others that i won't say because they're probably spoilers.

and from there i just got to add in scenes to build out the love story as well as the characters. i wasn't following a very serious outline (especially when i started to write in may 2020) but rather just following my heart and letting words and scenes come out as i was writing them. but then because i was just thinking about this world and this piece so much i started to think up scenes that i wanted to write that would only happen much later. and so from there i was following a very loose outline. which was really just a whole bunch of bullet points of scenes i wanted to add. like they were so unserious. and to show how unserious, here is a sc i pulled of them (thank you google doc version history)

LOL

anyways i think that's kind of all i have to say right now, but i could really talk about that piece and that world for years, there is so much depth that will unfortunately never leave my little brainstorming notebook. even details like the zalazar river have so much more history and meaning to it than is explored or even brushed on in tsiytt.

i really apologize that this got so long (and if you can believe it, this is me trying to keep it short) and if it makes absolutely no sense. but if you have more questions or things you wanted to discuss or ask pls pls pls go right ahead. my ask box or dms are always open!! i love any excuse to talk about this world and these characters. they're my heart.

#asks #the sea is yours to take #the world of gifts and sins #i wonder if i'll ever pick this work back up #also moni im loving your new icon!!!#sorry if this didnt even answer your question also #its been so long since i really digged into this world #when i remembered back to it it felt like looking through a massive library and not knowing where to start lol #another side note that some of this world and the style of the writing/world building is inspired by kirsten cashore #and specifically fire and graceling by her #i def rec those books #theyre some of my absolute faves

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pink-strawberry-kissess · 1 year

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What do you think Ada would've done in Village if the developers had gone ahead with her being in the game?

Also what do you think she was actually doing at the time because she was cut for conflicting scenarios but Capcom never actually said what those conflicts were...

she was initially supposed to be a masked figure that was supposed to save ethan at some point- but it's never elaborated on

"An early plot point was to have Ada, disguising herself with a mask, help Ethan escape from his trial," the art director added. Drawings show enemies getting ambushed with a flurry of crossbow bolts. Given how hard it is to reload a crossbow quickly, that's pretty impressive.

i genuinely don't know. re has always had off screen stories that are going on during the main line titles, and they seem to be more concerned with main line titles at the moment. i know there's a lot of talk about more remakes, and they're going to focus on re9 and re5 remake before anything else.

if we're going to think about re9, a lot of the characters are in their 50s-60s depending on the timeline- but also i wonder if death island will help push the storyline along.

but going back to her concept art, if she was there, i assume to gather something????? or steal something??? but obviously if there's conflicting scenarios then is she already doing something in the background somewhere else?

like was she not written in because she has her own storyline somewhere else and they didn't realize with the timeline?

I DON'T KNOW BUT SHE WOULD'VE BEEN AMAZING

#ask heart #heart answers #ada wong #resident evil 8 #resident evil 8 village #ada wong concept art #concept art

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setr0spect · 11 months

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Rewriting/Remaking the Episode Shadow from Sonic Forces!

So, the Episode Shadow was pathetic in relation of Infinite's past, I have recreate the episode a few months ago and I decided to post this. There will be some stuff that I already explained in the previous post. Oh, one more thing, if you guys think that Shadow, Tails, Whisper and probably other characters that have suffered a lot, my guy, you didn't read this Sonic Rewrite.

EPISODE O: Zero to Infinite

We play with Infinite, but here he is called by his true name, Zero. The episode is about why he is doing all that world domination thing. I don't know if the episode should be unlocked after the player finishes the game or when the player buy the DLC. Oh, one more thing, Mephiles is back... so this Mephiles here of MY story is from a timeline where he succeeds in destroying the world, he acquires so much power, that he traveled to other world/timeline to continue with his chaos thing, but after using a super chaos control, he loses like 90% of his power. Now to the Jackal Squad, 7 members, included Zero as their leader, and no, they never meet with Eggman, and the events of Episode Zero happens after Shadow the Hedgehog, the game, after the failed invasion of Black Doom (I'll change for this so you guys will understand in the future). The ambitions of Mephiles are simple, he wants to try something else, instead of spreading chaos, he wanted someone else to do that for him indirectly for his entertainment, like the butterfly effect.

In the episode we play with Zero the Jackal, the event of this episode happens in Valley of Broken Glass (it needs to be somewhere with sand, ok?) there is a cutscene in the beginning, and then you start playing a simple Sonic path, during the path the sun is dropping off.

Zero, running back to his fort in Valley of Broken Glass, not in a hurry, when he arrived, it was very... quiet... this is not normal to happen with his squad! He knocks at the door, no one responded, he tries jumping the wall, it was easy... but then he saw what happened, blood everywhere, a dismembered body next to him, it was Cinq, (to be honest I really don’t think SEGA would show something like that but ok) he looks up, right in front of him, someone holding Quatre, he was calling his boss for help, then the figure who was holding him in the neck looked behind... It was... Shadow the Hedgehog?!? Zero started to shake, why would he do that? Zero was terrified, he looked around, and saw the others... dead in all worst ways possible, then “Shadow’’ lowered down Quatre on the ground, wounded, Quatre couldn’t stand up. Zero grabbed his sword and started walking towards the enemy, then a dialogue happens here:

“Shadow”: Ah, the Ultimate Mercenary, finally came out hum? What kind of leader abandons his own squad?

Zero: Y-YOU! W-WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO THEM? YOUR MON-

Before Zero could finish his sentence, “Shadow’’ teleports right next to him and start to whisper:

“Shadow”: Shhhh, now is my turn to talk, you see your friend over there? I'm going to finish him off if you lose this fight, ok?

Then we have a boss fight against “Shadow”, unfortunately, it is a battle that Zero cannot win, and he paid the price, “Shadow” with his crystal claw made a scar on Zero’s right eye, for his luck it didn’t blind his eye. Then “Shadow” brought Zero’s best friend right in front of him, he called for his name, Zero tried to attack “Shadow” again, but he punched in his stomach so hard that made Zero fall again, and another dialogue happens:

“Shadow”: You think you can save him? Look around! You couldn’t help your companions, and now they are dead, because of your weakness, your friend is next.

“Shadow” summon a sword in his hand, then used to aim right to Quatre’s neck.

Quatre: Boss... Zero... don’t look... please...

Zero: N-No... NO... p-please PLEASE I BEG YOU STOP!!! NOOO!

“Shadow” finishes Quatre right in front of Zero, in that moment, Zero has totally lost the ability to speak naturally.

(In this scene we could have the shadow of the moment when Quatre is killed at least)

Zero: …

“Shadow”: Its interesting how fragile the mobians are, and how superior I am.

Zero: …

“Shadow”: Look at your squad, all dead now, didn’t had a chance.

Zero: …

“Shadow”: Do you know what each of them said before they died?

Zero was paralyzed, just staring at his former best friend, “Shadow” started walking slowly towards him, then said:

“Shadow”: They said, ‘Where´s boss?’

Zero started to have flashbacks about his squad.

“Shadow”: G.U.N certainly will like the results of the missions.

Zero: ...

“Shadow”: Well, aren’t you going to say something?!

Zero: …

“Shadow” then grab Zero by his neck and pulled him up.

“Shadow”: Inferiors like you deserve to die, but I will let you live, I want you to remember this day forever.

“Shadow” threw Zero to a wall so hard that it collapsed, in that moment, Zero was unconscious.

After some time, Zero woke up, very wounded, it was morning and was raining, he started to walk back to his base, when he saw a pile of bodies all charred, Zero was destroyed physically and mentally. He started to cry, clenching his fists, screaming the name of Shadow.

4 months later, Zero is walking in the city, which one? Idk there is a lot of cities that is in the name of Archie and they wouldn't let me use them for some reason, now back to the story, he started to hear people celebrating the victory of Mobius over Black Death invasion (Shadow the Hedgehog 2... yes, we all want Eclipse the Darkling again right?), they were talking about how G.U.N with their new agent, Shadow the Hedgehog, defeated the Black Arms and destroyed the New Black Comet , in that moment, Zero was in rage, “How could this world trust easily in those monsters? Heros? No, they are not heroes, no one is, everyone is being a fool!” he thought to himself, but what could he do? He has nobody now and no means to avenge his squad, then he heard something about Eggman, oh yeah, he knew a bit of Doctor Eggman, he knows that G.U.N is after him a long time since the world was in pieces (Sonic Unleashed), the jackal decided to go after him, maybe Eggman have something useful to his revenge.

Then we have the Rise of Infinite, it's like the comic but he is alone, also, doing his new scar, he is using a mask that covers his right face, here we play again with him, destroy some badniks, manage to get inside of the base, until we reach the boss fight with Eggman. Something that I wanted to add is for the details of his depression, we can notice that we play with him after the incident, in this mission, he is more sad, his eyes aren't so opened, I created the AFK Stages, similar to Sonic’s animation when you are not moving him.

AFK Stage 1: Zero will grab his sword and start to look at it with a sad expression.

AFK Stage 2: Zero will grab a photo of his former squad with a sad expression.

AFK Stage 3: Zero will start to cry with his head up and his hand covering his eyes.

NOTE: if you move in the stage 3, he will do a rage expression, he keeps the photo in his pocket and return to his normal animation.

After the boss fight, when Eggman is about to be defeated by Zero, he tries to defend himself using the ruby, which makes it create a vision of the future, at least it was it look like, both saw the main base of G.U.N destroyed, and a familiar Hedgehog fallen, it was Shadow.

Eggman: Shadow? Defeated? OHHOHOHOHOHO this phantom can really show good stuff!

Them Zero takes down Eggman with a kick and grab the ruby, after a moment, the illusion disappears and they were back to the lab, Zero, after 2 years without speaking, ask:

Zero: Tell me Eggman, what do you know about Shadow the Hedgehog?

Eggman: What? Humm... well, what exactly do you want to know? He is the one who stopped Black Doom’s and Black Death’s invasion, he got a new alien brother called Eclipse the Darkling, he is the Ultimate Lifeform also creation of my...

Zero: He is also the one who stopped you from taking the Chaos Emeralds to use them in... whatever you wanted to use them.

Eggman: Correct... I have a feeling that you won't send me to behind cold bars, what do you want from me?

Zero: We may not share the same objectives, but we share the same enemies, one of your problems is responsible for... let's just say that I want him dead.

Eggman: Who? Sonic?

Zero: Shadow. Shadow the Hedgehog.

Eggman: Uh... ok, look I was running some diagnosis with this strange ruby, and it seems to have a strange power, I don’t know, I'll need to study more, tell me, what is your name?

In that moment, Zero decided to change his name, he didn’t want his reputation of Ultimate Mercenary to be destroyed that easily, besides, Eggman could find something and use against him, the more someone knows about you, the more you became vulnerable, he thought of something that would be the opposite of his former self.

Infinite: My name is Infinite, Infinite the Phantom.

Eggman: Alright Infinite, but I need to be sure that you are not going to lure me to G.U.N, why should I work with you?

Infinite: I could just kill you right here and right now because of what you have done to our planet, besides, you know what I'm capable of, we both also have problems with G.U.N.

Eggman: What is your problem with G.U.N?

Infinite: I have enough problems with them to work with you... let me ask you something, do you know about the Space Colony ARK incident, don’t you?

Eggman: …well, Humm... I-

Infinite: As far as I know, your grandfather, Gerald Robotnik was working in a cure for his granddaughter, Maria Robotnik, am I correct?

Eggman: Yes.

Infinite: But G.U.N just got there to ruin everything, they didn’t only arrested Gerald, but they killed his entire team, and, killed Maria in the process!

Eggman: Get to the point!

Infinite: Do you want revenge?

Ivo never thought of getting revenge on G.U.N for what they had done to his family, in that moment, he started to think more than the Chaos Emeralds, what were their use for? Destroying Mobius would be the last thing Maria ever wanted, he could reshape the entire planet, maybe creating an Empire!

The Phantom ruby started to glow and levitates to next to Ze-… no... Infinite, then he hears a strange noise, like whispering something, then he grabs the ruby

Infinite: We can both take them down, with this ruby, with my abilities and your intelligence in technology, we can destroy all the corruption in this world, so you can avenge her death and your grandfather! Just for you to know, if you accept this offer, I will need to search for allies, so we can work as a team, since this will be so big that not only two people will be able to retain control. What do you say?

Eggman started to think, he looked at the destruction made by one simple jackal, and the mobian was right, in the future, he cannot control everything alone, he would need help.

Eggman: Alright, we have a deal.

They shake hands and the episode ends.

Thank you if you reached to the end, I may post this on the A03 or on the... urgh... Wattpad. But hey! Leave your opinions here in the comments and share with your friends! And see you all next time.

#sonic forces #infinite the jackal #sonic au #sth #sonic the hedgehog #sonicthehodgeheg

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mareepsbite · 9 days

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TIMELINE

This is a personal timeline, and includes original, non-canon events. Canon events are also much closer together, since I’d like to catch up with everyone else’s current sooner rather than later! And I’m still on HeartGold, so…

I’ll typically be using the events of remakes, rather than the original games, due to added content.

————————————————————

The events of Legends occur.

Many, many years pass.

The events of either FireRed or LeafGreen occur. Team Rocket is mostly disbanded in Kanto and most remaining members relocate to Johto to lay low for a bit.

Sting starts slowly developing in Unova, the founder seeing the defeat of Team Rocket as an opportunity. A small amount of scientists from team rocket abandon ship and join Sting.

Less than a year later, the events of AlphaSapphire occur. Disaster is averted and both Team Aqua and Team Magma combine into an unnamed organization (it doesn’t have a name yet bc I need. To think of one), redirecting their efforts to more legal activities. Recycling, “save the Lapras”, “restore the plains”, and more campaigns are started.

Sting becomes Sting Corporation due to the founder worrying that, without the corporate label, their more illegal activities will be easier to find out. They offer funding to legitimate charities and organizations, including the new unnamed aqua/magma mashup organization, to curry public favor.

There’s a few years where more “evil teams” start to develop in the power vacuum left behind by multiple teams being disbanded. Team Rocket’s strength is recovering enough to try something again.

The events of HeartGold (Johto) occur.

↑ The timeline is currently somewhere during the above events.

The events of BrilliantDiamond or ShiningPearl occur around the same time as the events of HeartGold (Kanto).

Sting Corp comes under scrutiny for mundane illegal business practices. Nothing “evil team” related, so most people don’t care too much, but the company still loses a good amount of trust from customers and organizations they funded.

The events of Black or White occur, quickly succeeded by the events of Black2 or White2, which also occur at the same time as X and Y.

The events of Moon occur. (and then POSSIBLY time is set back and the events of Ultra Moon occur, if I decide that it makes more sense. I’ll figure it out later.)

Less than a year passes before the events of Sword or Shield occur, again quickly followed by the events of Scarlet or Violet.

————————————————————

SOURCES

[1] [2]

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trenchcoatsbi · 8 months

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SO. how the Kingdom worked in my Voidling timeline.

Basically you ahd all the canon towns and kingdoms on Earthbread, but at the center of it all was a kingdom that I don't think had a name, so we just called it the Kingdom.

It's the stand in for the kingdom you build in game, and it was bascially a place to go if you were escaping the war. If you had nothing left, if you needed to escape, if you just wanted a break from your birthplace, the Kingdom was right there. And after the war, it kept exisiting as it did, acting as a place for others to start anew if they were outcasted by the rest of the kingdoms.

There were a bunch of 'districts', each one themed around a specific biome (like a wintery area or a remake of Dragon's Valley) or preeixiting kingdom (like the Hollyberry Kingdom or the City of Wizards). There were also some nonthemed areas. There was a large beach which held a bunch of events, offshoots of the three 'main' schools as well as schools for those who wanted something different, there was a large marketplace somewhere as well.

As for the canon cookies, they ended up there for several reasons. Sparkling had the juice bar, the TCC champions ran away from their schools, Stardust and Space Doughnut wanted to learn how to live, Crunchy Chip and Wildberry needed a break from their respective kingdom, etc. I also think most of the cookies of darkness ended up there as well after the war, trying to heal and fix their mistakes.

It was a really nice place :]

I actually have one specific memory: I couldn't sleep and had recently arrived in the Kingdom. at some point before I ended up there, I had spent a long time in a cold and empty environment, and as hard as it was, I missed that. So, I wandered over to the winter kingdom area, and just kinda sat there watching the snow fall onto the trees filled with lanterns.

So yeah, honestly this is just something I've been trying to figure out for a couple months and it's fun to talk about :D - Voidling Anon

oooo I know nothing about cookei run but that sounds cool :]

#phil posts #sbi asks #voidling anon

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ideal-girl · 1 year

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The next story will be kinda similar to Sam’s Story. BTW, the very first story you said you had more to say about the ending where Mandy destroyed Beverly Hills… do you still have time to explain why it had you shook?

Yes, I do have the time. 😊

Mandy is aware of herself being somewhere between an image and spectacle (or bankable superstar?!). That awareness is displayed in the episodes of "Futureshock!" and "Mandy Doll Mania!". She became a powerful media figure in "Futureshock!", deciding to remake the world in her own image. In "Mandy Doll Mania!", she launched a doll line, featuring three versions of herself: Malibu Mandy, Cowgirl Mandy, and Career Mandy. Those dolls are were idols representing Mandy, marketed and sold to Mandy's target audience: girls who would make her a household name.

I know that Mandy never got to know that she became a mass media powerhouse diva because that timeline was voided out by the spies. My mind still forces some continuity between the Mandy of "Futureshock!" and the Mandy of "Mandy Doll Mania!" as they were both supreme manifestations of her desire to be worshipped as a new age goddess. I see that desire manifest itself in your story, "Corpse Mandy" too. I just find your portrayal of Mandy's character and her transcendent motivations to be cooler than featured in the original series. That's because she achieves transcendence and godhood via death and a true rebirth.

Corpse Mandy discovered that beauty was an inner experience, but beyond just having a charming or charismatic personality. She is now a ghost in a shell. Beauty is a powerful, supernatural force that enraptures and also destroys. That destruction gives way to perhaps a greater truth, and then freedom from superficial half-truths. That seems to be the message Mandy was trying to teach by destroying bodies and freeing their souls, or at least I perceived it that way. But I can't help but notice that just like in "Futureshock!", Corpse Mandy sought to recreate the world in her image too. Now that she is a soul or ghost in a shell, she is going to transform everyone else into one too.

"Futureshock!" portrayed Mandy as a villain, and I guess she qualifies because she was going to remake the world in her image with or without the consent of the planet. I just didn't think she was malicious in doing that (I am a Mandy Apologist). I always thought that she knew that she had mastered the concept of popularity and fame (Mandy would get an A+ on the Ulmer Scale), and wanted to liberate others from the rat race and suffering inherent to those things by bequeathing her knowledge/essence to them. And so Mandy not only wanted to be worshipped as a new age goddess, but she wanted to liberate her followers (willful or not) from the earthly suffering that she once experienced herself. That is best expressed by your story "Corpse Mandy", and that's why I was shook by the entire story, but especially by the ending.

Mandy has freed souls, starting off their reincarnation process. There is a place, or at least a state of mind, that is greater than what's going on in Beverly Hills or places like that. Mandy would know, considering that she has mastered materialism (consumerism) and the material plane itself. She's only trying to help herself and others, and she exchanged her humanity for godlike abilities to be able to do so.

Beautiful.

Also, I am looking forward to your next story. I enjoyed "Sam's Story".

#corpse mandy #totally spies #mandy

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semi-imaginary-place · 1 year

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I played kingdom hearts union x early in its release days like 2016 and i tried really hard to stay up with it but im just not built for the mobile gaming meta which is geared for daily/weekly engagement over the course of years. i've had this problem with every mobile game i've ever tried to get into, i've tried like 10+ and genuinely wanted to get into these games but i just can't. Anyways eventually I couldn't keep up with ux's powercreep and pay to win gacha, and more importantly its rate of story development. UX is like 98% filler content 2% series breaking story revelations and that actual story only dropped like once a year so I'd play for a year to keep my medals semi competitive because story is also gated behind medal strength all to get a 10 second cut-scene that left 50 million questions and eventually i just could justifying playing ux as being worth it. so i quit a few years later and havent touched the game since and now im rewatching the cutscenes and yeah when ux is good its good and that good part is just inundated with filler. I'm rather fond of the artstyle its like little paper dolls and the devs manage to put so much emotion and nuance with those simple animations its one of the several impressive parts of ux.

a list of revelations. the disney worlds the player visits are fictional, projections made from the book of prophecy to collect lux. each union member has a chirithy, chirithys are dreameaters and thus daybreak town is in the realm of slumber, chirithys are tied to their union member. one fades away when their union member is lost to darkness, i assume ephemer's turns a darker shade of gray. quests 362-275 the plot really begins.

quest 401 the first dandelion metaphor. in a fashback to the day the player meets ephemer, ava compares ephemer and other union members to dandelions, wishing to entrust the future to them somewhere far far away. oh this is the beginning of unchained x. wait this is showing an alternate timeline in which ephemer didn't go missing. ah that was a dream

wait. you're telling me the japan exclusive kingdom hearts x doesn't have the same plot as ux. ux isn't a remake of x its a sequel and we're in a timeloop or memory or datascape or something??????? NOMURA! NO! Bad game dev! Bad! STOP PUTTING CRITICAL PLOT INFORMATION IN JAPAN EXCLUSIVE MOBILE GAMES THIS IS LIKE THE 4TH TIME!!!!! uuuuuuuuuuuuuu time to figure out what khx was about.

uuuuuggaisdadf;o;jkal/k so it so yeah ux reuses x content under the premises that player character is reliving their memories but then continues the story. it seems like i played through most if not all of the x content. i got pretty far huh like through the 700s quests. I wonder why they changed the gacha from cards to medals? cards feels more appropriate since its already a recurring motif for kh like chain or memories or luxord.

quest 425: the ava battle. i remember being stuck here for like a month because my medals were too weak and so i had to grind and gacha until they were strong enough bleh. ephemer sent the dream of exploring the tower with the player. ephemer is in a unchained state in another realm. dont know what that means. and if he can send dreams ava says he's close to "that realm". huh

quest 525. got stuck on this one too.

quest 540: i vaguely remember the enemies here were green. i do appreciate how khux is the story of things going from ok to bad to worse. the enemies here look like heartless but they can talk and are seeking lux. also second time player character talks. purple chirithy! i remember you. is the implication here that purple chirithy used to be the dark gray chirithy we saw earlier? ah so those heartless were former union members filled with darkness. i vaguely remember this and that dark chirithy is a nightmare. purple/dark chirity's wielder is close wonder what that means.

quest 555: they speak again! confirming that ephemer is their friend. the player character petting chirithy was a nice touch. union leader implies they killed ephemer eventhough earlier ava said ephemer was in another realm. i joined unicornis btw.

The Player: "And then I met Ephemer. We didn't know each other for very long, but he left a lasting impression. Not all of our memories are good ones; in fact, he even broke one of our promises. No matter what happened, I knew we were still friends. But you took him away from me."

The Player: "I feel sad, I feel angry, I feel hurt. Maybe that means I have darkness in my heart; I don't care."

The Player: "But I can't let you get away with what you did to my friend. Even if I have to fight you, even if I don't stand a chance, even if I may disappear... I will because I know in my heart that Ephemer would do the same if he were here."

The Player: "Master Ira, I mean no disrespect, but this is something I must do."

Ava's dandelions, a hope for the future cast to the wind. seeds to begin anew. yeah this part where the player character chooses to stay stuck out to me when I was playing. first, quest 555 is where the player characters shows real independence and agency from the player, they have their own thoughts and feelings about ephemer and the end of the world. second, that their greatest concern was not with the destruction of the world, the war, or the legacy of keyblade wielder but of the unchosen left to fight and die, and that the player character chooses not to be one of the special.

the recent kh games have really gone far with the fictionality of the narrative. very post modern meta texual like sora "dying"? and existing the fictional world for the non fictional one. "world outside" here is again vague. if daybreak down is indeed a dream realm then why would ava specify that the dandelions are going to train in worlds made of dreams. but if this is a dream then the dandelions are going to the universe of the main series? i mean thats where luxu/braig ended up with the box. i definitely need to read a plot summary when all this is over.

#kh #kh ux

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writefightandflightclub · 3 years

Note

I really enjoyed your Nathan fluff 🥺 we love this angry peach fuzz king 👑💖 would you ever write him being comforted after having a nightmare? 💕

First of all, LOL @ “angry peach fuzz king” 🤣🤣🤣

Second of all, here you go! 🧡 I will warn you - I think I forgot the fluff a little bit though. It became more hurt / comfort? More angst than expected? It ends nicely though and comfort is given to Nathan - but only after I’ve subjected him to rattling around in his own head and house for a bit.

Through the looking glass (Nathan Bateman x GN!reader)

Summary: Nathan has nightmares after The Incident. After so long alone, he doesn’t realise how badly he needs a little comfort - and maybe he doesn’t believe that he deserves it.

Author’s note: hopefully this isn’t too similar to All Better. I know they both take place post-stabbing, but I tried to give this a different focus. I know I could have made the nightmares based off of anything given the ask, but this timeline / focus seemed most sensible to explore the character.

Warnings: nightmares following traumatic incident (a stabbing); mentions of blood and injury - not graphic. Self-harm (punching the bag until injury); Body horror if you squint (some gruesome descriptions occurring in-dream, but fairly abstract); swearing; implied alcoholism recovery if you squint; mentions of therapy; Nathan mildly injured in fic; reader offering comfort.

Rating: MATURE for themes mentioned above.

GIF: by @santiagogarcia (this whole gifset is magic- check it out + reblog!)

Nathan wakes up breathless, plastered to the covers by a sheen of sweat - and not in a good way. On instinct, or out of habit by now, or maybe somewhere between the two, his palm slides over his body to the site of the wound.

He is so slick that he half-believes he is soaked with dank, deep blood again, until his fingers trace over nothing more than a half-concave, half-ridged scar. The lack of searing pain is the next point of evidence leading him towards an alternative conclusion. He’s not dying (again).

It’s just another gruesome nightmare.

Although… there is nothing “just” about it.

The nightmares are pretty brutal. Brutal enough for him to wake with ragged breaths and a hammering heart, his sheets dampened and coiled up around him. Enough that it takes effort to sift through the layers of terror and distinguish reality.

With what can only be described as a whimper, Nathan swings his legs over the edge of the bed, bringing himself into a seated position and bracing his head in his hands until his racing heart levels.

In his mind, he’s telling himself to be logical about this. That Ava hasn’t truly arrived to finish the job she started; but logic is not the safe haven it used to be.

She could come back.

She’s still out there, somewhere, and Nathan distinctly got the impression, last time, that she was vehemently not a fan of him.

His hand trembling, Nathan reaches for the glass of water by his bedside, glugging it down so eagerly it spills into his bushy beard.

Since the… accident? Malfunction? Functioning just fine, actually? Failed experiment? Greatest achievement known to man? Attempted murder? (Truth be told, Nathan isn’t quite sure what to call it, so he simply calls it The Incident.)

Since The Incident, Ava has begun to regularly visit him in his sleep.

The visitations are not waning with time. In fact, they are happening more often, not less. They are happening more since you moved into the house.

It’s a bad fucking time to have quit drinking.

You’d been sent by the board. Something about Nathan taking “tortured genius” a slice too literally. Something about him being in isolation too long and needing another human around in the compound.

Well, that’s not technically true, is it? The shit all started when he opted to get social, after all.

Fucking Caleb.

Before that, he was doing just fine.

Nathan doesn’t like it at all - having you here. Being watched. Observed. Having someone monitoring his actions. Waiting for him to either fuck up or prove himself.

Ironic really, considering where he kept Ava. The experiments he ran on her.

She’d probably find it poetic, if she could truly understand such a concept.

At the thought of her, Nathan physically shudders, and reaches for an old vest to haphazardly mop the excess sweat from his skin. Then, he balls up a change of clothes and tracks nude to his wet room, feeling relief as the luke warm water sluices over his skin.

He watches himself in the mirror as he stands there naked. It’s not a vanity thing - at least not any longer. These days, he examines the way his form has changed since it happened. He lost some of his muscle and bulk during recovery, whilst unable to exercise, his arms slightly smaller and his abs softer. His stomach a little more rounded.

There’s also the puckered scar, of course - that permanent reminder of where he was skewered through the chest like a piece of kebab meat.

His gaze travels up over his body, until his eyes settle on his still haunted face. He doesn’t have his glasses on, and somewhere between the blurred vision, misted mirror, clouding steam and sluicing water, his reflected face distorts. It transforms - for the briefest of moments - into her.

Still amped with adrenalin from his harsh awakening, this briefest flash sends a surge of panic zipping through Nathan’s chest, his heartbeat racing so hard he can feel the pounding of blood in his ears.

Fuck, he curses, reaching his arms out to brace himself against the shower wall above him, his body trembling and his head dipping down between the cradle of his broad shoulders as his legs threaten to buckle.

He turns the water cold, until it is practically glacial and thundering on to the back of his neck, subduing this spiking heat.

She really did a fucking number on me, didn’t she?

It’s true though.

Ava is haunting him. When he sleeps - and at other times too.

Nathan didn’t know robots could do that. Didn’t know they could spawn ghosts.

Nathan doesn’t believe in ghosts, of course… but he does believe in trauma and its effect on the brain. He at least concedes that it is natural to continue to feel afraid; but this?

Being dogged by the spectre of her taps into Nathan’s deepest insecurities.

After all, there is nothing a genius fears more than doubting his own mind.

Nothing a God fears more than his own mortality.

And the man? Turns out, there is nothing he fears more now, than dying alone.

With a ragged breath, Nathan towels off and pulls on his grey sweatpants, tugging on his black zip-up hoody over his bare chest. And then, keen not to return to his damp, tangled sheets, he tracks towards the kitchen - mainly for want of any more favourable option.

Of course, he had returned to the compound after The Incident. Something about that many fibre optic cables being a bitch to lay down. Sunk cost fallacy and all that - too much already invested.

But it possibly wasn’t the best choice for his recovery.

Nathan has certainly gotten more used to walking down that hallway since he returned from the hospital, and yet he still finds himself holding his breath until he is free of it. Still finds his pace is just a little faster as he passes through. His gaze deliberately averted from that spot.

Once, you’d found him lying in it.

Lying in that exact spot, his body arranged like a crime scene photo, his eyes closed.

Hey, it’s hardly his least healthy coping mechanism, is it?

What in the fuck are you doing, Nathan?

Re-enacting my death, obviously.

Uh-Kay…. A beat. A devious smile. Shall I get some popcorn?

Absurd as it was, he had laughed. Laughed for the first time since it happened, and, with an extended hand, you had helped him up off the floor.

Still, now that he’s alone, he does not dwell in the corridor, colder and darker as it is without your light in it, and he tries not to think about your face or hers as he pads to the kitchen.

When he arrives though, he bypasses it entirely - heading out on to the decking, the crisp night air soothing his hot skin.

He wants to be outside.

There are too many ghosts in his house now.

He has tried to shake it. Tried to desensitise himself to Ava’s face. Spent longer than strictly necessary poring over footage of her.

He built her. Shouldn’t that take the fear out of things? Not to mention the fact Ava’s face was simply a composite of some manipulable nerd’s wank bank browsing history.

Fucking Caleb.

Still, once Nathan had looked her in the eyes and seen a rage that was all too human, things seemed a hell of a lot different.

Nathan crosses to the punchbag on the deck -lit by creeping dawn- on instinct, or out of habit, or maybe some combination of the two, his unease riling him enough to sock some punches at its midsection. Right at the equivalent site of his corporeal puncture.

He punches so hard that the skin on his knuckle splits, but Nathan doesn’t stop. He throws punch after punch until his hands are scathed and bloodied, and a trail of spit hanging from the corner of his mouth. Until he hugs the bag - the closest thing he has to a warm body to hold - and slides down it, coming limply to his knees, wiping his face on his sleeve.

He stays there, dead eyed and still for some time, the pain in his hands raw and singing. Unpleasant, but better. Better than what he was feeling, and worse all at once.

He considers his tired, cumbersome body, and contemplates remaking the world one more time. Uploading his mind into a machine or some shit, so that he doesn’t have to contend with the fragility and failings of his own existence.

He stays there, until some motion in the interior of the compound causes the light and shadows to dance differently over him, and he looks up to see your figure there, cast in a soft halo of yellowed light.

He tips his head up slightly, opening his mouth as though he might cry out to you for help, but no sound comes out - only a thin, dry croak.

So, instead, Nathan watches you for a moment, moving seamlessly around his kitchen as though it is your own. Maybe it is - more yours than his now.

Observing you like this, through the tall, cinematic windows, it is as though he peers in on another world entirely. Something less resembling a nightmare.

Lighter than that. Something more like a good dream, albeit a good dream that Nathan cannot be part of. One he can only ever watch, from the outside looking in, always fated as he is to be on the other side of the glass.

Truth be told, you haunt him too. You represent everything he could have and yet doesn’t deserve.

You appear in his nightmares and his dreams, in various terrifying and beautiful incarnations. Many variations of which his therapist would have a field day with, he’s sure - or, she would, if he’d ever fucking call her.

When you first arrived here, he was plagued by grotesque visions of you. Grotesque visions of the skin being peeled back from your body. Sometimes, circuitry beneath, and other times, muscle and bone. Sometimes, Ava’s face was buried beneath the chilling slip of your fleshy mask.

Sometimes it is a better dream. Sometimes you save him. Sometimes he saves you.

Sometimes it is a good dream. Ava isn’t there at all. But the good dreams never seem to last for long.

Sometimes you kill him, and sometimes...

The glass door slides open.

“Reenacting your own death again, are you?” you tease, though not unkindly, interrupting the spiral of Nathan’s incessant thoughts.

A lump forming instantly in his throat, Nathan swallows thickly, and looks up at you helplessly with a thin, joyless smile. He snorts as though it’s funny, but it really isn’t. “Over and fucking over.”

You nod once, and, without hesitation, you extend your hand towards him. Your gaze cuts through him as you search his face and he feels suddenly see-through, as if he’s about to be hit with some Shyamalan-esque twist. Was he the ghost all along? Did he die here after all?

If so, is this purgatory because Ava is here too, or heaven, because you are?

Christ. So fucking schmaltzy, Bateman.

After hesitating, Nathan takes your hand and you yank him to his feet, drawing him inside, through the looking glass.

The room seems warm on the other side. It feels… safe.

“What happened?” you ask, as you look down at your joined hands, your thumb painting a smear of red across his split knuckles.

You mean now. What happened now, but Nathan’s mind harks back further than that. In his mind, everything is connected. Every thing threaded to another. This one smear of blood to that weeping flower of red.

The thought -the thoughts, all of them- halt him in place, his feet firmly planting on the ground. Nathan’s hand clenches tightly around yours as though it is a lifeline, as he is cast adrift on this familiar crimson tide, his face growing increasingly angular and stern.

“She...” He swallows, unable to complete that precise thought, his eyes dropping down to his feet.

You turn your body towards Nathan as he croaks, still not letting go.

Your eyes flitting around his face, attempting to search his eyes, you tentatively step closer, sliding your palms slowly over his tense shoulders, feeling them rise with an uneven, stuttered breath as you do so.

He’s so tired. He’s so very, very tired.

And it happens all at once on the exhale.

Suddenly, your arms are tugging him closer, and his face is contorting as a violent smattering of tears beads in his long lashes. You are encasing his body in your embrace and rubbing circles into his back as his buzzed head sags all too willingly toward the junction of your shoulder, your fingers splaying along the smooth flesh at the nape of his neck and pads dancing over the gentle prickle of his hair. You are shushing and soothing and reassuring and squeezing and smoothing and cradling and Nathan can feel it. Can feel his heart race in his chest and…

Finally.

Finally, his heart is not pounding because he is reliving his death.

It is pounding because he feels alive again.

When was the last time he cried, even? The last time someone really hugged him? He doesn’t remember the last time. The serendipitous combination of Nathan willing to be vulnerable, and another being willing to hold space for his pain is an all too rare thing.

There’s a reason -or several - he’s so emotionally constipated, after all.

Fuck. I’m taking a huge emotional shit right now.

Nathan remains in the welcome circumference of your arms longer than is strictly necessary - until the tear trails over the bridge of his nose begin to feel cloying. Until his breaths steady, and until his thoughts and ego creep back in. Until he notices the way his hands are clasped at your waist like claws, fingers sinking into your softness, and he thinks to release you.

Then, he leans away, a weight on his brow making his expression stern.

He waits for you to judge him, another swallow trailing thickly down his throat.

However, your eyes are kind and level, dancing with soft concern. Not with judgement or satisfaction or pity, or with anything he fears.

It is refreshing not to feel so afraid.

Finally.

“She…” Nathan begins again, finally finding courage. All at once his eyebrows shoot up towards his hairline. “She fucking stabbed me.”

You take his words in. You listen.

His “reveal” is simple. Plain and factual. A little indignant. Kinda salty. It’s not overly emotional, or articulate.

But it is enough.

Your eyes narrow, and you nod slowly, trying to understand the true meaning beneath his words.

You even reach up to cup Nathan’s face, his springy beard a cushion beneath your gentle palm as you hold him. “Yeah, genius,” you tease, with a tentative, lopsided smile, dropping your arm all too suddenly, perhaps as you catch yourself. “I got that from context.”

In response, Nathan chucks air from between his teeth, bringing his hand up to comb through his beard - perhaps to obscure his involuntary smile, or perhaps chasing your tender touch, the impression of it left warm on his cheek.

As he brings his hand up, your brows draw together, and you hook his bloodied paw delicately in yours, examining the wound, and leading him gingerly across to the couch as though his whole being might be hurting along with it.

It is.

You order him to stay put while you fetch the first aid kit, and then, in stages, Nathan watches you with fascination as you painstakingly clean and tend to his wounds, without ever being asked to.

He watches you carefully swipe the angry red away from his skin, and, to his overactive mind, it’s all connected. This red is one and the same with the flower of blooming red from The Incident.

Ava hurt him then, and she is hurting him now too.

And you…

“Going to tell the board about this?” Nathan asks, his voice weak and scuffed.

You search his eyes, holding your words back for a moment before answering. Then, you launch them on a big breath. “Fuck the board, Nathan. I told those assholes to stick it.”

Nathan blinks in confusion, shaking his head, his hand flourishing emphatically through the air. “Then… what the fuck are you still doing in my house?”

“Well. I’m… here for you,” you admit, sucking in air through your teeth, your voice shrinking. “If you want that.”

Well, that’s news to him.

Welcome news, perhaps?

You’re not watching him at all, are you? Not observing. Not asking him to evidence his humanity. Not waiting to see whether he fucks up or proves himself.

Instead, you’re seeing him. You’re seeing him and you’re not running.

Nathan had begun to think that maybe he was the nightmare. He’d begun to think he might always be haunted.

Always alone. That he might die that way; again.

And now, here you are.

Nathan thinks about that. He could so easily revert to his old ways, in this moment. Of pride and ego and stubborn independence.

But, perhaps those assholes from the board got a few things right - he’ll admit.

Maybe he had been in isolation too long. Maybe he didn’t need to take “tortured genius” quite so literally.

And so, Nathan almost protests. Almost rejects your presence and your comfort and pushes you away. But the truth is, he’s just so… tired. He’s had so many nightmares, and this time, he’d like to be on the other side of the glass. He’d like to step into that dream.

Nathan takes a deep breath, and releases on the exhale. Releases more than air.

He slowly, ever so slowly, shifts towards you on the couch, angling his body until he can safely dip his head towards your lap, his nose pointed in towards your abdomen and his knees curling around you.

“Th.. this okay?” he asks weakly.

You throw your splayed hands up into the air in surprise as the weight of Nathan settles there, but as he curls his arms around your middle and shuffles closer, you ease into it. You snake your fingers in intricate caresses over his head and neck and shoulders.

“Yeah, Nathan. This is okay,” you soothe gently, voice taut with emotion.

You comfort him.

And finally, Nathan does not need to peel your skin back to know what’s underneath.

He knows you’re not a robot, and that, as your kind touch finds him corporeal, that he is not a ghost.

He closes his eyes. And this time, when he next wakes, he knows that whether the dream is bad or better or good, it doesn’t matter. Because you will be there with him.

He wants you with him.

It’s not at all natural to him, to have you around. For the longest time, he didn’t like it. It didn’t come instinctually, and he has formed no familiar habits.

It isn’t easy - he doesn’t make it easy.

But he wants it to be.

And, in your arms, he can finally dream that it will all work out. What’s more; he can dream he deserves it, too.

#Nathan Bateman #Nathan Bateman x reader #Oscar Isaac #ex machina

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superb-fox · 2 years

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Ya know, Legends Arceus may have it’s issues, but the plot of that game is GREAT! The lore it introduces with the noble pokemon, the clans, the history rich in sinnoh, it’s all great. Not to mention how they have quests that pay off random npc dialogue from the original dpp! There’s a lady in floaroma town who talks about how the town was a barren wasteland where nothing would grow no matter how much people tried until someone gave thanks to the flowers and they all blossomed into a beautiful meadow. You can PLAY OUT that story as a quest! How cool is that? There are so many more examples too! However, all this great stuff just really... emphases a problem for me, that being how TERRIBLE the gen4 remakes really are. In a region all about time, space, and lore of the past you have another side game where you GO INTO THAT PAST and it’s not used at ALL in BD/SP. Now sure, that’s because it’s a “faithful remake” (which is literally the stupidest decision they could have made for more reasons than just this but let’s focus) but come on! You don’t even have to do much!! Some dialogue about how alpha pokemon used to roam around, some references in snowpoint city about how it used to be a pearl clan settlement, any at ALL mentions of the noble pokemon! Are we to assume they just... stopped being cared for? Pokemon that had supposedly been blessed by literal deities that have been protecting the land for centuries just... gone less than 200 years. The clans that lived in the region for millennia just disappeared without a trace by ddp. In a region that has such a heavy emphasis on the past there’s just... nothing on the actual past we see. It is SUCH an absolute let down. There are things that we can infer about the time between PLA and DPP like how certain forms and pokemon are gone because of human settlement and changes to the region, it is a long time. And we can assume the same for the map and how it doesn’t match 1:1 geographically but... come on. Nothing on the clans, the nobles, any of the important figures? This wasn’t millions of years ago either, this is their grandparents grandparents! Now, granted you may be thinking “oh but you cant integrate that into the plot because it’s a remake! You cant change too much or it’s a totally different game! There’s no time or place for all this!” and you are right to an extent, information about these things should not be shoehorned into the remake plot over the gym challenge and team galactic. But there is PLENTY of time and space for information about this! Npc dialogue, new dialogue from characters if you talk to them later (say instead of Mars disappearing after the team galactic plot she appears somewhere and talks about her ancestor from the diamond clan), and the POST GAME!!! Every single remake dating back to the gen 1 remakes has expanded the game it’s based on in the post game! FR/LG had the rocket subplot on the sevii islands directly linking to the future events of GSC. HG/SS had more kanto areas restored and way more interactions with gym leaders and important people. OR/AS had the entire meteor thing with rayquaza! Why can’t BD/SP have a post game expansion about say... helping Cynthia learn about the past? Digging up information about the clans, noble pokemon, and why they’re gone? It’s a perfect pairing! All you have to do is run around and ask important npc’s about their family. You could integrate the underground and digging up clues! Maybe find new areas to explore that have the lore! Fucking ANYTHING!!! Now the argument could also be made that PLA is a side game. It’s not canon, everything explored there doesn’t come up in DPP or BP/SP because it’s all from a non canon side game. And that’s true SURE, I cannot dispute that but... you’re telling me it wouldn’t be cool anyway? OR/AS already established the idea of alternate timelines, why not pair the remakes and the side game as it’s own timeline outside DPP? Or even if they’re not canon just use that lore in a unique way. Hell, just from MARKETING that makes sense! You have to play this side game to get all these references and lore! Game Freak already does that with selling the pair of games and are SHAMELESS when it comes to cash grabs, who cares! Pair the lore together, make people buy more games, there’s NO downside to all this. I know the answer to why this all isn’t a thing is because they absolutely did not give a single shit and just crapped out a terrible remake for money but... besides just being a terrible remake all this musing leaves me wanting so much more it hurts and makes me despise the BD/SP remakes even more...

#pokemon #pokemon legends arceus #pokemon brilliant diamond shining pearl #pokemon bdsp #pla

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fallintosanity · 2 years

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😸

haha, I had an absurd amount of fun trying to figure out which cookies Sephiroth liked. I didn't want it to be anything as mundane as chocolate chip, and something about the words "strawberry cream" makes it 10x funnier to me that they're the favorite of Final Fantasy series' most notorious evil villain.

This was also a little bit of me-the-author lampshading the fact that nobody ever freaking comments on Sephiroth's slit pupils. I know I ranted about it in the chapter notes, and that there are potentially perfectly valid reasons for it, but like. COME ON. Noctis, as a complete outsider to the world, doesn't have the context or the history to not comment on it. (And as a cat lover, he has the relevant physiological understanding to recognize the meaning behind the pupil motions.)

On the more serious side of things, Noctis is also thinking about Ravus here, and the still-new-to-Noctis revelation that the daemons he'd been indiscriminately killing, were in fact innocent people and animals infected with Starscourge. Counting his time on Gaia, it's only been about eight months since everything that happened in Gralea, at least as far as his perception of time goes. (It's actually been close to five years, but in canon he doesn't seem to have any awareness of how much time passed in the Crystal until Talcott tells him.) After learning about mako mutants during the mission to Rocket Town, he's seeing uncomfortable parallels between mako mutants and daemons. Given how SOLDIERs are made, Noctis is trying to figure out whether Midgar is another Gralea waiting to happen - i.e., that the entire populace, starting with its military, will get turned into monsters.

Finally, I wanted to use this conversation, despite Noctis's questions, to humanize this timeline's Sephiroth a bit. He likes cookies! He gets excited to see his favorites, and takes extras! We spend most of this fic inside Cloud's head, and he sees Sephiroth and the Calamity as the same person monster, but they're very much not.

In Crisis Core, at least pre-Nibelheim, Sephiroth is intensely human. He sighs, he leans on things, he (within the limits of the PSP's graphics capabilities) blinks and breathes, he visibly winces and yanks the phone away from his ear when Zack yells too loudly. Meanwhile, the animators for Advent Children mentioned in an interview that they deliberately stiffened AC!Sephiroth's animation - unlike all the other main characters, he doesn't blink, doesn't breathe, doesn't show signs of effort while fighting, etc. They wanted him to look alien and inhuman, to emphasize that he's become a monster in truth.

I wanted to do the same in this fic - to delineate between the pre-Nibelheim Sephiroth who's remarkably human despite his alien genetics, and the Calamity who has cast aside all his humanity. Noctis noticing, and remarking on, the fact that Sephiroth got excited about cookies is meant to help readers remember that Cloud's perception of Sephiroth is biased, and this Sephiroth is still a human guy in his early twenties, despite his extreme military upbringing.

(This scene is also a nod to my desperate desire to see Sephiroth's pupils actually do the thing in Remake somewhere. C'mon, Squenix, make it happen!!!)

Ask me stuff?

#sanity's final fantasy crossover fic #sanity replies #ask meme #final fantasy vii

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doitwritenow · 4 years

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IronStrange Starter Kit - Master Fic Rec List for all Y’all Because You’ve been Asking and I’ve been Avoiding

Hi! All you anons and askers, I made a list!!! Hopefully some of these are what you’ve been after. :D

(Please reblog this, lol, I spent too much time on it...)

General rules: These are complete unless indicated otherwise, and end happily unless indicated otherwise. There’s a variety of ratings, as I have no qualms against smut, but I don’t usually read it outside of a larger plot. So I don’t think there’ll be many explicit stories on here. Word counts vary; I indicate general length but don’t go into specifics. What else, uh... Bold stuff is the headers and general subjects. I link the titles. Block quotes are author summaries. Enjoy!!

Okay so first off, there are a couple of Fandom Staples who just have leagues worth of good short stories, and if you haven’t read them, then definitely treat yourself to the array:

A Thousand Futures of Me and You - VisionaryGalaxy (Vishanti, what a legend, ily so much). This is a series of unconnected one-shots, each their own and covering a variety of tropes and moments and themes and AUs. They’re so fun (and/or painful and/or thought-provoking and/or tense and/or sexy)! In-character and amazing, consistantly.

Prompt Collection - amethyst-noir (Arbonne). (Also a legendary human). This is exactly what it sounds like: a series of prompt fills in all sorts of tones. You’ll almost certainly find something here that feels like it was just made for you!

Alright, onto the individual stories and series!

Long fics/series:

The of overqualified hands and pi figures series - lantia4ever. (This was my first Ironstrange story, and it is no less magical now.)

A series of one-shots, all set in the same alternate verse in which Tony and Stephen first meet following the events of the first Avengers and then continue to meet after that throughout the canon up until Infinity War and eventually beyond it. Becoming friends - and more along the way.

Time After Time - fancylances. (I love love LOVE this one. Highly recommended.)

Tony Stark is unstuck in time. Stephen Strange might just be the only person in the universe qualified enough to help.

Citizen Erased - Imagined. (This author. Just... such a wonderful, talented, stunning person who makes wonderful, talented, stunning works. This story is masterful.)

What do you do when no one in the world ever manages to remember you?

Anyone who sees Tony Stark promptly forgets he ever existed after mere seconds. When everyone he has ever cared about has lost their memories of him, he goes to Stephen Strange, possibly the only one who can help him lift the curse. But a terrifying danger is coming, and saving the world isn’t an easy job to do when no one can remember who you are.

if only the gods had mercy on us and it’s sequel a soul too deep - orphan_account. (Vishanti, this series... It’s so beautiful and emotional and heart-breaking and heart-warming. And it has so few views for so many words! One of my absolute favorites, VERY highly recommended.)

Tony Stark loved Stephen Strange. He loved him more than anyone could ever imagine. But then a terrorist group attacked the convoy. Then there was a car accident. In the middle of it all, there is tired, battered love. (And, maybe, a little bit of genius)

From the Top - lucifersfavoritechild. (Everyone reads this fic. Written by the blogger Monarch Of The Ironstrange Ship, it’s an MCU rewrite around the relationship. Very fun.)

“Stephen, if you’re . . . there somewhere . . . when I drift off, I’ll be with you again. I can’t wait.”

|| Personally, I think the MCU would be much better as a love story between Stephen Strange and Tony Stark. Don't you?

Starting from Iron Man, and going all the way to Endgame, with all the appropriate stops in between. Let's take it from the top.

UNFINISHED: Skin Deep - Mystical_Magician. (Super cool premise, and super interesting to read! The dynamic here is very fun.)

A battle that should have finally killed Stephen instead launches him into a parallel universe. Exhausted from centuries as Sorcerer Supreme, he chooses instead to explore this new world in any animal form except human. Having hoped for peace at last, he can't stand to be looked up to, to be responsible for others, to have the world on his shoulders.

If he'd hoped to avoid excitement, however, he really should have stayed away when he noticed an enormous explosion and a falling metal suit of armor as he passed through Afghanistan.

UNFINISHED: The End of Infinity - FriendlyNeighborhoodFangirls. (Self rec. Very long, very slow-burn. Canon-compliant Endgame fix-it. I’m trying so hard, lol.)

In 2023, the battle for the universe has been won. At a cost no one can forget, the fight is over—for all but one. Stephen Strange has an idea. An impossible idea spanning dimensions and timelines, life and death, and the lines of good and evil. But he's played impossible odds before—perhaps he never stopped.

All that Loki wanted was to fight, one last time, for the fate of his universe. So when he finds himself fighting for another, crashing into the past, he has a few intended words for the wizard that forced him there. But not before he finds a boy. Or, more accurately, before the boy finds him.

Peter Parker had been waiting for the next mission. He just doesn't expect it to come from the future, armed with a ridiculous story demanding a ridiculous quest. And he doesn't expect not to be able to tell Mr. Stark.

Tony Stark is trying to rebuild from the Civil War, knowing that someday, something will come that he needs to be ready for. And he doesn't know it yet, but two universes are trying to rebuild around him, and that something is already here.

Seven Stones. Five dead. Two universes. And one impossible quest to tie it all back together.

UNFINISHED: Sunrise in Exile - Ragdoll (Keshka). (Another fandom favorite! And for good reason. This is really really good!)

Tony does the math and realizes their best chance to save the universe is by... not confronting Thanos on his own turf.

So he steals a wizard and a spider and a space ship. And he runs.

(Three humans and an A.I in space, the alien friendships they make along the way, and discovering how science and magic might coexist in a universe where they can be one and the same.)

Shorter plotty ones:

Out of Suffering - Mystical_Magician. (So this author??? THIS AUTHOR??? Very very good, much yes, very good.)

Stephen Strange does not like people, but 14,000,605 lifetimes of fighting and dying alongside this small group have worn down his walls. He likes them, gods help him. He might even consider them friends. It’s really for the best that they all go their separate ways once Thanos has been defeated. In their eyes, he’s barely even an acquaintance.

Now if only Tony and Peter would stop surprising him.

moros - spookykingdomstarlight. (Almost got a spot in the angst section. Very good).

There were fourteen million universes Stephen had birthed into existence and let die and, in far more than he cared to count, the visitor standing before him had become something… dear.

Shaking is Caring - mariadperiad20. (This is just STUNNING. Highly loved.)

5 times Stephen's hands would shake, +1 time they didn't.

It's Kinda Chalky - DestielsDestiny. (This one’s pretty short, but definitely worth it.)

You can live an entire lifetime by looking into someone’s eyes. His sister used to say that all the time. Stephen never gave it much thought back then. These days, he can think of little else.

Something Magic - Imagined. (Beautiful!)

There is only ever one rule that matters:

do not fall in love with the enemy.

An Idiotic Theory - FriendlyNeighborhoodFangirls. (Self rec! I tried to be funny.)

His wizard has been cursed, again, and Tony's already used up his luck for the day.

(Stephen says it's not a curse. He says Tony's whole daily-allotted karma-based luck theory has minimal merit, citing the fact that Tony had come up with it while he was drunk.)

Tony really should have saved his miracle.

Love Through Time - babywarg (morphaileffect). (I love this one. It sticks with you.)

Tony discovers an old drawing of, and finally remembers, his invisible friend Stephen from when he was a child.

Alternates - doobler. (Super cool!)

After being punked by a lowbrow magician, Stephen finds himself falling through doors to otherwordly dimensions. How will he ever get home?

132 - 28ghosts. (Soulmate AU! Very fun, incorporates Stephen’s time-loop with Dormammu.)

Ninety-nine point eight percent of humans have a soulmate mark that tells them the age their soulmate will be when they meet them. Tony Stark has a mark. It's just that his is...different than most people's.

(Or: six people who aren't Tony Stark's soulmate, and one who is.)

and when the world falls (I will fall with it) - HeavenChild. (Another multichap soulmate AU. Absolutely lovely.)

Tony will give anything to those he loves.

People will take everything he gives before leaving him in shambles.

Rhodhey, Pepper and Vision have had enough.

Or the five times Tony had his heart broken and the one time he didn't.

i saw the end of the world - JumpToConclusions. (Why has no one read this fic??? It’s so good!!! Stephen knows the future since he saw it on Titan, and things grow more complex from there.)

Tony and Strange are trying to make this work, this being remaking The Avengers. ...And maybe they'll stumble into something else along the way.

Tiresome heart, forever living and dying - Mystical_Magician. (R e a d t h i s p l e a s e. The mythology is so cool and the symbolism is so beautiful and the prose is so satisfying. One of my absolute faves.)

As a fledgling crane, Stephen was too curious for his own good, and it was this curiosity that led to Eugene Strange finding and stealing away his feather robe. Trapped in human form, cruelly forged into the perfect son, not even his father's death freed him when his robe was so well hidden. He only managed to break his father's mold after breaking completely in the aftermath of his accident, and slowly gluing those broken pieces back together at Kamar-Taj, but not even magic could find what had been hidden. Enter Tony, after the defeat of Thanos.

Fluffy ones:

From The Outside - Live. (Hilarious.)

Being a sentient life-form surrounded by humanity can be hard. Especially when said humans just can't admit their feelings for each other.

Sleeping Iron Man - Golden_Asp. (Another fun one. Perfect balance of ridiculousness with a touch of angst to make it interesting.)

Stephen Strange stared at the Avengers on his doorstep, Tony Stark flung over Steve Rogers' shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "He touched something, didn't he?" "Yuup." or The one where Tony touches Sleeping Beauty's spindle, is put into an enchanted sleep, and everyone, even Rocket Raccoon, take their turn kissing him. But Tony only has one prince charming.

Doctor Ob(li)vious - lantia4ever. (One of my very favorites. So cute.)

Stephen starts getting some weird looks from the Avengers, spanning across disturbed, confused and even scared all the way to curious. He dismisses it at first until weird turns into knowing.

And knowing turns into realizing...even if the scheming teenagers had to all but paint it on the walls for him to do so. Oh wait...

Applied Combinatorics in Two-Player Games - 28ghosts. (Short and fun and full of snark.)

After a battle, Tony Stark and Stephen Strange argue about games.

“Chess is not a solved problem.”

“Has been since ‘97, Kasparov versus Deep Blue. Kasparov, 1; Deep Blue, 2; three draws.”

“Chess is a game, not a problem.”

The Courtship of Peter Parker's Father (Figures) - flyingonfeatherlesswings. (Peter plays matchmaker! Adorable.)

Peter couldn't stand to sit by while Tony and Stephen danced around each other any longer. Something had to be done.

Speaking Eyes - Vrishchika. (Not Steve Friendly. Tony is amazing in this. And Stephen is so fantastically dramatic.)

Tony has always had expressive eyes.

The Signs of Sleep Deprivation - FriendlyNeighborhoodFangirls. (Another self-rec. <3)

"Tony said to put the potato in the dishwasher, so that's what I did."

Sometimes, Avengers just show up to say hi. Sometimes, they all show up at once, and Tony makes an party out of it. Sometimes, he invites the snarky, oblivious, somewhat insecure wizard because, and Peter quotes: "everyone else is coming".

Sometimes, something needs to be done.

Show Me Your Scars (And I'll Show You Mine) - Imagined. (Adorable. Lovely. Imagined does it again.)

The worst part is that Stephen keeps tucking his hands away, just as Tony wants to hold them. He keeps hiding them, surreptitiously, no matter what they’re doing. It’s only when Tony kisses Stephen, or hugs him, that he feels the hands settle on his back, uncertain, ready to pull back within seconds.

It only makes him want to cuddle up to Stephen even more, but he backs away, not sure if it’d be welcome.

Promise? Promise. - sharonscarters. (AU, kidfic, absolutely adorable.)

A four year old Tony Stark runs away from home and finds his Guardian Angel.

What The Doctor Ordered - wakandan_wardog. (Post CW. Kind of not Rogues friendly? So fun, makes me smile. I re-read this one a lot.)

The Rogue Avengers are called back to New York because the heavy hitters are going to be needed against Thanos. Of course, there are some truths that Steve Rogers will need to accept sooner rather than later. Tony Stark has moved on and Stephen Strange will not suffer fools lightly.

Hurt/Comforty ones:

Among The Chaos of The Stars (You're My Safe Harbour) - ShootMeDead. (Oh my vishanti. OH MY VISHANTI. So so so so SO good.)

Stephen has always been able to hear the stars. Tony is the only one who can silence them.

each night like a white noise frequency - Phierie. (I ADORE THIS FIC. OKAY. I LOVE IT. READ IT.)

Stephen is no stranger to making hard choices. He doesn’t regret his actions on Titan, but months later they weigh on his mind heavier than ever; the cracks begin to show.

Just An Accident - CucumbersInGold. (I really like fics with Stephen’s hands and the difficulties thereabout. Idk, just one of my favorite things. This is beautiful).

Stephen's hands act up.

Learning, Unlearning - Caaaaaaas. (More character study than anything else. Really good.)

Whatever Stephen wanted with life, life just didn’t seem to know what to do with him.

In which Stephen learns and unlearns some very important lessons.

your eyes have their silence - doctortwelfth. (Oh look it’s another scars fic. I told you I liked them.)

Tony is gentle with Stephen’s hands even when Stephen forgets to be.

Burning Lines Into The Snow - petroltogo. (Not very Steve friendly. Short and sweet.)

Post CW: It's not just the team that's so broken they are barely able to comprehend how many parts they're missing now, how many have been ripped and twisted and torn. It's Tony as well, right down to the core, the damage so far-reaching even he doesn't know how to fix it.

And then there's Strange, who has his own way of covering the cracks.

Old Bones - CJtheWeeb. (Owch. Dumb geniuses trying to be invulnerable.)

Sometimes Stephen Strange has great days, where he was nearly pain free and his hands still enough to where he could pick up a cup of water and barely spill a drop.

Today was not one of those days.

something taken, something new - meowrails. (So in-character. The premise was a little off to me, but I’m so glad I decided to read this one. I really really like this fic.)

The ChronicConnection implement and app allows a person that lives with chronic or illness-induced pain to transfer their burden temporarily to a willing loved one.

Tony and Stephen sign up as beta testers.

Angsty ones (happy ending unless otherwise mentioned):

day one - days4daisy. (THIS IS SO GOOD OKAY IF YOU READ NOTHING ELSE ON THIS LIST READ THIS).

Three days in Stark Tower. Stephen must be in bad shape if he just agreed to this.

His Merlin - babywarg (morphaileffect). (This author keeps showing up on this list because they are A LEGEND. A LEGEND I TELL YOU.)

As a child, Tony imagined himself a Knight of the Round Table. Little did he know he would grow up to be a king. And that he would have a wizard by his side to lead him to either glory or destruction.

there is no heart for me like yours - turtle_abyss. (Soulmate AU! Wonderful. <3)

Being able to feel your soulmate - a phantom touch, a bone-deep awareness - is a divine torture. To know, but not see. To seek, but not find. To feel someone holding your hand and not be able to hold theirs.

Grace - StrangeMischief. (*cries in beautiful fic* Happy ending!)

“Pain’s an old friend.”

Us...Me - StrangeMischief. (This will hurt you. So melancholy. Pepper and Tony live their life, and Tony remembers. Not a happy ending.)

“I don’t believe in happily ever after.”

One-Thousand Cranes - FriendlyNeighborhoodFangirls. (Self rec, sorry. Hopeful ending.)

After it all, a man with shaking hands makes a wish.

courtesy - deathofglitter. (Dealing with the fourteen-million futures. So good.)

Stark looked at him like he looked at the amulet that rested on his chest like a steady promise - dutiful, a bit burdened, and trying to hold a profound lack of personal emotion whatsoever, still personal enough to protect as anyone would a precious object.

La Douleur Exquise - BananasofThorns, StrangeMischief. (More pain. Pepper and Tony, and Stephen watching and trying not to wish. Very good, no happy ending.)

The before was easy. There were fewer boxes in their minds and no chains around their hearts. There was no hurt. No tears. No dreams.

But those days were long gone.

Stigmata - babywarg (morphaileffect). (AU! Soulmates again. Very interesting, beautifully done.)

Since Stephen was little, mysterious wounds have appeared and disappeared on his body, leaving mysterious scars. His mother says it's because he's one of a Pair, and he's absorbing pain meant for someone else.

*wipes brow* PHEW! That gotta a little more in-depth than I first intended... Have fun, my MysticIron friends. Happy quarantine.

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oscopelabs · 3 years

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Christopher Nolan: The Man Who Wasn’t There by Daniel Carlson

So, we’ll start with the fact that all movies are make-believe. It’s a bunch of actors on a set, wearing costumes and standing with props picked out by hordes of people you’ll never see, under the guidance of a director, saying things that have been written down for them while doing their best to say these things so that it sounds like they’re just now thinking of them. We all know this—saying it feels incredibly stupid, like pointing out that water is wet—but it’s still worth noting. There is, for example, no such person as Luke Skywalker. Never has been, never will be. He was invented by a baby boomer from Modesto. He is not real.

And we know this, and that’s part of the fun. We know that Luke Skywalker isn’t real but is being portrayed by an actor (another boomer from the Bay Area, come to think of it), and that none of the things we’re seeing are real. But we give ourselves over to the collective fiction for the greater experience of becoming involved in a story. This is one of the most amazing things that we do as humans. We know—deep down, in our bones, without-a-doubt know—that the thing we’re watching is fiction, but we enter a state of suspended reality where we imagine the story to be real, and we allow ourselves to be moved by it. We’ve been doing this since we developed language. The people telling these stories know this and bring the same level of commitment and imagination and assurance that we do as viewers, too. The storyteller knows that the story isn’t real, but for lack of a better way to get a handle on it, it feels real. So, to continue with the example, we’re excited when Luke Skywalker blows up the Death Star because he helped the good guys win. For us viewers, in this state of mutually reinforced agreement, that “happened.” It’s not real, but it’s “real”—that is, it’s real within the established boundaries of the invented world that we’ve all agreed to sit and look at for a couple of hours. Every viewer knows this, and every filmmaker acts on it, too. Except:

Christopher Nolan does not do this.

There’s no one single owner or maker of any movie, and anyone who tells you different has their hand in your pocket. But there’s an argument to be made that when somebody both writes and directs the movie, it’s a bit easier to locate a sense of personhood in the final product. (This is all really rough math, too, and should not be used in court.) Christopher Nolan has directed 11 films to date, and while his style can be found in all of them, his self is more present in the ones where he had a hand in the shaping of the story—and crucially, not just that, but in the construction of the fictional world. Take away the superhero trilogy, the remake of a Norwegian thriller, the adaptation of a novel, and the historical drama, and Nolan’s directed five films that can reasonably be attributed to his own creative universe: Following (1998), Memento (2000), Inception (2010), Interstellar (2014), and Tenet (2020). These movies all involve themes that Nolan seems to enjoy working with no matter the source material, including identity, memory, and how easily reality can be called into question when two people refuse to concede that they had very different experiences of the same event. Basically, he makes movies about how perception shapes existence. How he does this, though, is unlike pretty much everybody else.

Take Inception. After a decade spent going from hotshot new talent to household name (thanks to directing the two highest-grossing Batman movies ever made, as well as the first superhero movie to earn an Oscar for acting), he had the credit line to make something big and flashy that was also weird and personal. So we got an action movie that, when first announced in the Hollywood trades, was described as being set within “the architecture of the mind.” Although this at first seemed to be a phrase that only a publicist could love, it turned out to be the best way to describe the film. This is a film, after all, about a group of elite agents who use special technology to enter someone’s subconscious dream-state and then manipulate that person’s memories and emotions. The second half of the film sees team leader Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) and the rest of the squad actually descend through multiple nested subconsciouses to achieve their goal, even as they’re chased every step of the way by representations of Mal (Marion Cotillard), Dom’s late wife, who committed suicide after spending too much time in another’s subconscious and lost the ability to discern whether she was really alive or still in the dream-world.

I say “representations” because that’s what they are: Mal is long dead, but Dom still feels enormous guilt over his complicity in her actions, and that guilt shows up looking like Mal, whose villainous actions (the representation’s actions, that is) are just more signs of Dom not being able to come to grips with his own past. It’s his own brain making these things up and attacking itself, and it chases his entire crew down three successive layers of dream worlds. You get caught up in the movie’s world as a viewer, and you go along because Nolan is pretty good at making exciting movies that feel like theme-park rides. You accept that Dom and everybody else refer to Mal as Mal and not, say, Dom. Dom even addresses her (“her”) when her projection shows up, speaking to her as if she’s a separate being with her own will and desires and not a puppet that he’s pretending not to know he’s controlling. It’s only later that you realize that the movie is in some ways just a big-budget rendition of what it would look like to really, really want to avoid therapy.

Which is what makes Nolan different from other filmmakers:

None of this is actually happening.

Again, yes, it’s happening in the sense that we see things on screen—explosions, chases, a fight scene in a rotating hallway that’s still some of the best practical-effects work in modern action movies—but within the universe of the film, none of what’s going on is taking place in the real world. It’s all unfolding in the subconsciouses of Dom’s teammates. In the movie’s real world, they’re all asleep on a luxury jet. They’re “doing” things that have an outcome on the plot, but Nolan sets more than half the movie inside dreams. It’s a movie about reality where we spend less time in reality than in fantasy. Half the movie is pretend.

For Nolan, filmmaking is about using a dazzling array of techniques to create a visual spectacle that distracts the viewer from the fact that the real and true story is happening somewhere else: in the fringes we can’t quite see, in the things we forget to remember, or even in the realm of pure speculation.

Memento arrived like (and with) a gunshot. It seemed to come out of nowhere and leave people struggling to describe it, and they usually wound up saying something like “it goes backward, but also forward at the same time, except some parts are actually really backward, like in reverse, so it’s maybe a circle?” Written by Christopher Nolan from an idea originally shared with him by his brother, Jonathan (who eventually turned it into a very different short story titled “Memento Mori”), the film follows a man named Leonard (Guy Pearce) who has anterograde amnesia and can’t form new memories, so every few minutes he sort of just resets and has to figure out where he is, what he’s doing there, and so on. He’s on the hunt for the man who attacked him and his wife, leaving his wife dead and Leonard in his present condition, which you can imagine does not make the gathering and synthesis of clues easy.

What’s more, Nolan puts the viewer in Leonard’s shoes by breaking the film’s linear timeline into two halves—call them A and B—and then alternating between them, with the added disorientation coming from the fact that one of those timeline halves plays out backward, with each successive scene showing what happened before the one you previously saw. So, if you numbered all the scenes in each timeline in chronological order, they’d look something like this when arranged in the final film: Scene A1, Scene B22, Scene A2, Scene B21, Scene A3, Scene B20, etc. You get why it messed with people’s heads.

As a result, we spend most of the movie pretty confused, just like Leonard, whose suppositions about what might or might not take place next begin to substitute for our own understanding of the film. It’s not until the end that we find out the shoe already dropped, and that Leonard killed the original attacker some time ago and has since been led on a series of goose chases by his cop friend, Teddy (Joe Pantoliano), who’s planting fake clues to get Leonard to take out other criminals. In other words, we realize that the story we thought was happening was pretend, and the real story was happening all around us, in the margins, memories, and imaginations of the characters. The most honest moment in the movie is the scene where Leonard hires a sex worker to wait several minutes in the bathroom while he gets in bed, then make a noise with the door to wake him, at which point his amnesia has kicked in again and he briefly thinks that the noise is being made by his wife. He’s wrong, of course, but this is the only time in the movie that we actually know he’s wrong. It’s the only time we truly know what’s real and what isn’t.

Yet you can’t talk about Memento without talking about Following, Nolan’s first feature. Although the film’s production was so extremely low-budget you’d think they were lying—the cast and crew all had day jobs and could only film on the weekends, so the thing took a year to make—Nolan’s willingness to dwell completely in a make-believe world that the viewer never knows about is already evident. It’s about a bored young writer who starts following strangers through the city for kicks, only for one of those strangers to catch him in the act and confront him. The stranger introduces himself as Cobb—I kindly submit here that it is not a coincidence that this is also Leonardo DiCaprio’s character’s name in Inception, but you already knew that—and reveals himself to be a burglar, spooked by the tail but willing to take on an apprentice. Cobb trains the writer to be a burglar, only for the situation to ultimately wind up implicating the writer himself in a complex blackmail plot. You see, the writer didn’t latch onto Cobb in a crowd; Cobb lured him in. The whole movie has been Cobb’s story all along, with the writer as a patsy who doesn’t understand the truth until the final frame. None of what we saw mattered, and everything that actually happened happened off-screen just before or just after we came in on a given scene. It’s like realizing the movie you’re watching turned out to be just deleted scenes from something else. You can’t say Nolan didn’t show his hand from the start.

That same general concept—that the movie we’re watching is actually the knock-on effect of a movie we’ll only glimpse, or maybe never even see—underpins Nolan’s latest movies, Interstellar and Tenet, too. Interstellar has some concepts that are iffy even for Nolan (it makes total sense for someone to do something for another out of love, but somewhat less sense that that love somehow reshapes the physical universe), but it’s still a big, bold approach to exploring how time and perception shape our actions. As the film follows its core group of astronauts while they search for potentially habitable new worlds, they encounter strange visions and experiences that turn out to be their handiwork from the future reflected back at them. Sure, it raises the paradoxical question of whether they had a first mission before this that failed, so now their future selves are intervening to make the second one (which feels like the first one to the astronauts the whole time) successful, and all sorts of other stuff that your sophomore-year roommate would like to talk with you about in great detail. But so much of what we see isn’t the stuff that happens, or that winds up being important. There’s the great scene where the astronauts land on a planet near a black hole, which is wreaking havoc on how time passes on the planet. A minor disaster delays their departure for the main ship still in orbit, but when the landing team returns, they find that more than 20 years have “passed” since they left, with the one remaining team member on the ship having spent more than two decades waiting for them to return. It’s a moment of genuine horror, and it underscores the fact that what we thought was the one true reality was just the perspective of a handful of characters we happened to follow for a few minutes. There were whole things happening that changed the plot and story and direction of everything that would follow, and we never saw them; we didn’t even know we’d missed them.

Tenet is, of course, the latest and most recursive exploration yet of Nolan’s obsession with showing us a story that turns out to be mostly fake. It is almost perversely hard to even begin to explain the film (Google “Tenet timeline infographic” and have fun). One way to think about it is to imagine if the two timeline halves from Memento somehow existed at the same time, with people moving both forward and backward through time while inhabiting the same location. Basically, some scientists figured out how to “invert” the basic entropy of objects, so that they exist backward: you hold out your hand and the ball on the ground leaps up into it, because you’ve dropped it in the future, so now you can pick it up, etc. … Look, it doesn’t get easier to understand.

The upshot is, though, that we spend the film following the Protagonist (that’s his name), a CIA agent played by John David Washington, as he’s tasked with tracking down the source of the inverted stuff to figure out what’s unfolding in the future and why it’s suddenly started to make itself known in the present. He gets marginally closer to understanding the truth by the end of the film, but because this is a Nolan film that is maybe more expressly about the nature of reality than anything he’s ever done, his journey doesn’t so much take him forward as it does in a large circle. Because, and stop me if you’ve heard this, the true story of Tenet is taking place outside the Protagonist’s actions and knowledge, alongside him but invisible, often steered by people who themselves are moving “backward” through time and thus have already met the Protagonist in the future and are old friends with him by the time he meets them in his youth. Even more brain-liquefying, some of these people have been working under the orders of the Protagonist himself—the future version, that is—because his past self has already achieved the victories that allowed him to send the future people backward through time to meet his younger self so they’d achieve the victories that allow him to etc., etc., etc.

With Tenet, Nolan didn’t just make a movie that challenged perception, like Memento, or that dwelt in fiction, like Inception. He made a movie that can only be understood (to whatever degree true understanding is possible) by rewatching the movie itself, over and over, as the multiple timelines and harrowingly complex bits of cause and effect come into some kind of focus. The whole movie itself isn’t happening, in a sense, but is just the ramifications of something else, the echoes of a shout whose origin we’re straining to pinpoint. It both is and isn’t.

Christopher Nolan is a talented director of action-driven suspense thrillers. He’s canny at controlling the audience’s emotions, and he knows how to put on a dazzling show. Plus he’s fantastic at picking when to deploy non-computer-generated effects for maximum impact. But you could say that about a lot of other directors, too. What sets Nolan apart from the rest, and what makes him a director to keep watching and returning to, is the teasing way his movies wind up being just deceptive enough to fool you into thinking that you know what’s going on, then just harsh enough to disabuse you of that notion. Looking at what seems to drive him, I don’t think Tenet is his best movie-movie, but it’s his most-Nolan movie. It’s almost a culmination of his continuing efforts to tell stories where what you see and what actually happens are two different things. It’s not that he makes puzzles to solve. There is no solving these movies. Rather, it’s that he sculpts these delicate artifacts that only let you see two dimensions at a time, never all three, no matter how you twist your head. Craning back and forth, you can almost see the whole thing, but not quite. Some part of it will always have to exist in your memory. And that’s where Christopher Nolan likes to be.

#chrisopher nolan #tenet #memento #following #following movie #christopher nolan film #inception #inception film #memento film #tenet film #interstellar #interstellar film #oscilloscope laboratories #musings #film writing #beastie boys

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occassionalfanficwriter · 4 years

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Unyieldingly Yours,

Summary: Mammon had always been used to having pacts masters that never treated him kindly. He figured that the new human exchange student was the same except he's been recieving gifts for no reason at all and his new master treats him like he's the favorite among his less troublesome brothers. And now there's another ring on his finger and suddenly his master isn't his master anymore.

Or a love story that happens out of sequence.

A/N: The story is told in medias res. I wish the keep reading option was fucking available on mobile.

Tags: Friends to Lovers, Fake Relationship, Slow burn only because Mammon and Mammorons are two halves of a whole pining idiota, local oblivious insecure demon in love with his sugar guardian human who pampers him to spite the world, Pretend Marriage up until it becomes the real deal, Hurt before Comfort, Intimacy disguised as helpfulness that would make Jane Austen proud, Love Words are: praise kink and acts of service, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence e.g. we went back to the orginal timeline, Through Love Miracles Happen

Rated: E for explicit descriptions of cock sucking (and emotions)

The facts of the matter are this:

He, the Avatar of Greed, is the first demon to get married.

His spouse is the human exchange student.

They are married in Devildom, the Human World, and the Celestial Realm.

His marriage is a sham.

Of the four facts about his current life, the fourth one is the one that bothers him the least. He knows his worth and it isn't much. He's happy enough that his Human was sparing his pride and dignity. That he doesn't have to worry that one day he'd go home and see someone else with them or have to go and stake his claim loudly and over and over again.

Everything was still the same as before they married. He invests and it fails, his Master/ Spouse/ Human bails him out. He has no money to spend and Blackie is out of the wallet and in his hand to use. His brothers gang up on him and his Human/Master/Spouse is there to save him even if sometimes he did whatever crime he was being accused of.

Mammon is used to being treated unkindly because that's what you get when you failed a rebellion. What he isn't used to was this:

"Mammon, can you get my book from the table?" accompanied by a sweet, pleading smile he couldn't resist.

"Darling, come with me to check out this new café?" said with a loving look and an arm hooked to his.

"Hello Love, your tie is as crooked as always!" a complaint without any bitterness or dislike and was instead said with great care as hands slid to his neck to redo the tie interspersed with quick and short kisses to his exposed collar bones, neck and finally his lips.

In short Mammon isn't used to you or your tender affections or your niceness or you being kind to him. Because it isn't really real when you have this gleam in your eyes that he knows all too well. It's defiance of what is expected and he knows it won't end well if he really goes and let himself believe. Defiance is what led to him being a demon. Love was what made him Fall and he doesn't want to do it a second time.

Except...

Except that he was greedy for the things no one could have easily.

Except that you were the exception to his rule and you had made him the exception to yours.

You'd made yourself a home in his heart in a place where their Father once was, branded him as yours in a way no one would ever be able to do. Your love was not a finite source and you forgave him for his sins far more easily in a way Father never would.

You had made him better...good in a way that a demon shouldn't be and you had accepted all of him, flaws and all and still proclaimed him beautiful, eyes shining as if you were seeing who he was before the Fall, before the Celestial War and it makes it harder for him to resist.

To believe that this marriage meant more than a way to spite Lord Diavolo and his schemes, to spite his brothers, to spite their Father, and to spite every human that called him as he was a Greedy Bastard.

He muses all of this as he watched you putter around your home in the human world. One that both of you had bought and registered as shared property. He looks at the homey but extravagant decorations at the wide windows that let the sun in and how it reminds him of his former home.

"Mammon! Where did we put the liquid polish?!" You whined and turned to him.

He moves away from his place on the wall and guides you to the cabinet tools and teasingly said,

"Jeez, what would you do without me?"

"Well, good thing we'd never have to found out!" You retorted as you pulled him towards the loveseat and instead of the sensible option of the L-section.

His traitorous heart stutters.

And he knew that he was destined to Fall again. As you gently removed your wedding bands, hands tenderly holding his, and with your lips kissing the spot where his wedding ring would have been resting...he wishes that you'd catch him if he did Fall again. That his lungs would not hurt from the impact of landing on the cold hard ground, that he wouldn't be left to remake himself once more stained with mud and dirt.

He kisses you softly, tenderly in a way that he once used to before the War. When softness was not a death sentence and a crime. He holds you close and tight in an embrace that demons aren't supposed to do.

Here are the things Mammon doesn't know:

That somewhere between forming a pact with him and late movie nights you had seen him.

That you had never meant for things to end up like this, a complicated mess of emotions.

That Love was a choice and you had chosen him.

You had arrived in Devildom not knowing what to expect beyond the worse and Mammon on your first meeting had done nothing to prove you wrong.

Until that moment in the classroom. When he had told his story about helping that child in the hospital. You had taken one look at him and you knew he was telling the truth even when Levi said differently.

You knew best on how to make a truth sound like a lie afterall.

Somehow from that point you paid a closer attention to Mammon. Silently observing him and noting what he likes and dislikes. Piecing together who he was beyond the Avatar of Greed, beyond being the Second Brother, beyond the demon who you had a pact with.

It was a like a puzzle whose entire picture was discordant. He was a demon capable of ruthlessness, and yet he was an emotional mess. A demon that empathizes deeply. He was smart and yet he could be an idiot sometimes.

He was perhaps the most humanlike among them, in a way that never ceased to surprise you.

"Oi! Why are you staring at me like that?" Mammon complained.

And you kept your smile before looking away from him.

"!"

"You-you've been hanging out too much with Lucifer and Satan!"

"Oh? Have I?" You teased him.

"Yeah! You've got the same evil smile as them now!"

You laughed softly and beckoned him to come close. And Mammon, never one to deny himself of a chance to plaster himself unto you, leaned over. Your voice softly whispering unto his ear,

"I just wanted to look at my favorite demon."

And then a soft kiss to the corner of his mouth which Levi saw as he entered the Common Area. And it started from there, tender touches whenever one of the other brothers were present.

A hand on his shoulder, or using his body to lean on, a gentle tug of his hair to keep him quiet during a marathon sometimes with a kiss to his head to pacify him.

If you were feeling bold and particularly touch starved you'd watch a horror movie with him and be the big spoon just so he can hide his face on your chest and you'd kiss the crown of his head until the scary moments passed.

And if you were lucky you'd get to sleep with him. (If you were extra lucky he'd sleep naked and let himself be held and then you'd wake up in a tangle of limbs ,and Mammon would take your breath away with the way the moon shines on his sleeping visage.)

In rare moments, when it was just you and him, you'd look at him and try to see past who he was now to catch a glimpse of the Angel that was. And you like to think that you do see what he was as an Angel.

It was in the gentle way he'd somehow look when lost in his thoughts, a private moment within his mind that he'd let you see sometimes. It was in the way he'd touch you on the days were being a human was hard. It was the way he'd look at you when you'd give small trinkets that now decorated his room.

In the way his face lightened up when you'd place a spare toothbrush on your bathroom for him to use.

It was in this small moments where the two of you integrate each other into a routine that was slowly being shared between you two. Sometimes you loved him too much that it hurts.

In between the small gifts that reminded you of him, in the stolen glances, and pretending like everything wasn't a calculated dance between the two of you...foolishly you realized that you had already loved him. There was no grand epiphany or the feeling of time stopping.

There had only been you and him, in the music room. Teaching him how to play Tchaikovsky, laughing along and smiling at his antics. He was talented at it and you had wondered if it was inherent or it was due to his long lived life.

As quick as the notes that the two of you began to play, you realized you had fallen in love and you continued to do so, following his lead and not regretting it for a single moment.

"You're just like this piece" You thought as the tempo changes from fast and playful into slowing down into a gentle playful beat, and as the piece ended and the notes lingered in the air you knew in the very depths of your heart, you would never be able to love anyone the way you came to love Mammon.

"Mammon, marry me?"

You asked, impulsive but certain.

"I'm a demon!" He blurts out, cheeks red.

"And I'm a human."

"I'm drowning in debts—"

"I'm rich."

"Well I'm poor!"

"How can you be poor when my assets are yours to spend?"

"Yo-you can't just do that! What if a real scum emptied out your bank account?!"

"Don't be ridiculous, you're the only one who'll get this treatment."

He chokes on air and flails about.

"Those aren't good enough reasons!"

"Then what about this: I love you."

He stops and blinks and covers his face with his hands, "That's not fair..."

You smile and kiss him softly on his forehead.

"I love you," You repeat "in ten thousand realities I'd choose you and love you."

"Just me?" He asked with a small voice, vulnerable and yet filled with uncertain hope.

"Just you."

And he smiled at you so brightly it felt like seeing the sun for the first time. He never stopped surprising you.

"Mammon, be my only man."

"Okay."

The thing is that its easy to forget that love was a choice. That no matter how many times you've used a spear as a walking stick it didn't change the fact that it was still a spear. That in the euphoria of love, of being human, you forgot that they had to shed what made them an Angel.

The thing is its easy to get wrapped up in your hurt and drown yourself in it to avoid the uncomfortable truth of the matter:

You were just a blip in his long life, and yet he would have loved you with the entirety of his being.

Loved you without leaving some for himself. And you had selfishly decided to carve out his last remaining hope because you had made your decision long ago.

Your Mammon over everything else. Not even a version of him could compare to the one you held on the palm of your hands. So you had closed your eyes and turned around, went back and ignored the pleas of staying and heart broken sobs as he begged you.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't leave me, please..."

"You have questions." You state, as you cleaned your wedding ring.

The light catching the engraved words inside the ring.

"Why me?" He asked and hugged you tighter, clinging and drowning himself into the sweet scent of your shampoo.

You stayed silent, unsure with how much of your heart you wanted to bear. Afraid of being known and found wanting.

"Sometimes...I dream of him...the one you didn't choose..."

"The one I abandoned" You thought bitterly.

"He...he just went and lived in the human world...in the place you used to lived in..."

You kept silent and played with the ring in your hand.

"Did you know that he had planned on confessing...? He wanted to give her one of his rings..."

"Mammon..." You begged him.

"Tell me...why come back when the outcome would have been the same?"

"Because he wasn't you. He isn't my Mammon, I had no presence in his life!" You turned and glared at him, unwilling to shed tears, and reveal how the thought of losing him hurt more than leaving a version of him behind.

You didn't want him to know how you've grown used to him in your life that even if you had stayed back there you'd end up searching for the traces of him in that Mammon.

"I love you, this you that married me! I'm in love with you! Beyond reason! Beyond everything the world can offer me!" You cried at the unfairness of him asking this of you as if your love that was blatant to the world was not real.

"How am I supposed to believe you?" He asked.

Hurt and fear etched in his blue and gold flecked eyes.

"With the way that I am here, in this moment with you, in your embrace, cleaning our wedding rings together." You answered as you cupped his face and looked at him in the eye and let him see the depths of your love for him.

"This is real" You say kissing his forehead, the gap between his eyes and then his lips, softly and sweetly as if he was the most precious treasure on all three realms.

And he was.

"I am in love with you, the angel that fell, the demon that rose from the ashes of who you used to be. I am in love with the you who trips over his words, the you who loves your siblings. I am in love with you who is more human than me."

You confessed, "How can I not come back to you? When you are my home? Mammon, we could divorce and undo our pact and even so I would still love you and no one else would be able to fill the hole you'll leave in me if our love fades..."

"I'm scared that one day I'll have nothing left of you. That I wouldn't have any way to prove to myself that you were real."

He whimpered.

"Then let's find a way."

"What if we fail?"

"What if we succeed?"

He looked at you, tears in his eyes and it reminded you of that Mammon you had hurt so cruelly for the sake of the one you held carefully on the palm of your hands.

"The truth is that I have loved you from the start, in that classroom as you confessed your kindness."

"That long?!"

You smiled through your tears, "Do you understand now? I'm only kind because you are, you can be greedy of me, covet all of me. You can want all of my kindness because it was all for you."

You wiped his tears and kissed the corners of his eyes. Kissed his lips deeply and tasted him.

He held you closer to him, chest to chest as his hands moved to your hips. You rutted against him lost in the sensations of his lips against your skin, leaving a trail of kisses from your neck to your now bare open chest.

He presses harder against you, giving you the friction to heat up your insides and you moan when his fingers enter you and he begins his ministrations. You miss his lips against yours even if your hands had traversed his chest and was now fumbling to unzip his pants.

The sex this time would be different.

"Let me worship you" You asked with a dazed look in your eyes from the love and lust you felt for him.

He laughs softly as if he had never known you were not the most devout of believers.

"Turning away from your God now?"

You smile enticingly, kissing him on his cheek, resting your entire weight on him.

"One cannot serve both God and Mammon," you whispered in his ear "Therefore I will serve you."

And Mammon feels the heavy weight of your words, clutches you tighter as your words settle between the two of you and lingers in the air.

"You can't," He paused to exhale "you can't take that back."

"I'd never."

He takes you into the bedroom and you worship him. You leave a trail of kisses across his muscular and toned chest, leading downwards to his thick cock standing at attention.

You paused for a moment to admire him.

"Why did you stop?" He whined.

"I think I am starting to understand what Theresa was on about."

And Mammon snorts and looked smug up until you take his whole cock into your mouth and start blowing him.

"Fuck!" He curses hands curled into your hair as he thrusts into your mouth. You take more of him in letting him fuck your mouth while your hand teased his balls.

He looked at you and saw you look so smug even when your mouth was getting fucked.

"Why did I ever—" He moaned "think that you were innocent—"

You take him deeper and as your gag reflex went away and Mammon comes down in your throat and you let out a pleased hum that made him come harder.

"Because I'm good at being a real hedonist~"You teased him and you pushed him back down gently on the bed and climbed on top of him.

His hands rests on your hips

You think back on all the names and endearment you've called him as you idly traced upon the white markings on his skin. His cock was already twitching in interest.

"What are you thinking?" He asked, gasping as your right hand played with his nipple.

"What I would I name a painting of you" You replied before sucking on his other nipple and lightly biting it.

"And?"

You looked at him and smirked,

"Chamahel."

There is power in naming things.

He had fallen for so long that he had forgotten what he used to be before being Mammon. Before turning a word into a name and owning it.

In the place in his heart where their Father's Grace used to dwell, in that place in his mind where the name he had been bestowed was forcibly crossed off, becoming unutterable in his tongue something had changed. He had been redeemed.

And it had come in slow and almost unnoticeable small increments with each passing moment he had shared with you. Briefly, he wondered if it was because of your love.

And then he discarded that thought because nothing was more important than knowing that he was—is loved by you.

Here are the things that both of you have come to know:

That through love a demon, even an Avatar of Sin, can be redeemed.

That long lasting love exists only because both of you kept on choosing each other.

That a marriage can last through several lifetimes because the soul never forgets.

And that Paradise was not where Heaven was but instead in the time shared with your lover.

#obey me #obey me mammon #mammon x reader #mammon x mc #R-18 #im on mobile so forgive me for the mistakes #will crosspost this on ao3 once i get an access to a laptop #one shot #might expand later on but who knows #not me definitely #fanfic

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