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#just two characters bonding over animals being easier to deal with than people
chaoswarfare · 1 year
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dp x dc prompt #25
Vlad is usually pretty bad at dealing with humans on a personal level. good thing cats aren’t people.
after his plans for the Fentons fell through, Vlad put all his energy into his cat, Maddie. soon, cats took over his personal life and he had a small army of furry companions. but since there were only so many cats he could take care of himself, he started funding animal shelters. and the most underfunded shelters happened to be in one Gotham city.
He didn’t plan on the Wayne child also volunteering undercover at shelters, or beginning to see him as more of a son. Maybe it just took someone just as bad at dealing with people as him to start feeling human again.
or- the redeemed animal shelter volunteer Vlad that nobody but my brain asked for.
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superemeralds · 4 months
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🌷How will they deal with saying goodbye?
👯‍♀️How often do they see the others? Their other friends, too?
🖤Free space! Ask what you like, or request a random headcanon
<- hit us with your weirdest shot?
🌷shadow and omega b oth have very complicated relationships w the concept of good bye. they don't really age or die? omega specifically has the advantage of having very limited emotion and a highly logic mind, so he would not waste energy mourning and accept when things end. Shadow is def still trying to figure it all out. as of rn in universe ofc he doesn't have to think abt it much yet, he's doing his best to prevent his friends from harm right now, and he'd rather just face the problems as they happen. especially in shth he learned that theres no use thinking about the what ifs, because there's a right now that needs to be dealt with. the more he thinks about what differenciates him from others the less he can concentrate on what matters: the things he's got in common. like the ground beneath their feet, the star they orbit around, the wind that blows in their faces... He knows about the inevitability of death enough through maria, and he will try his best to not make the same mistake twice. he's determined to move on. ofc its easier said than done, especially in the conceptual event that rouge would fall in combat or even worse.. because of a mistake that he made.. but there are so many possibilities that i could analyze we'd be here for ever.........
rouge herself i think hasdealt with loss before, and she might have had some history with people that she has cut out of her lives. it might seem cold but i think she as a person has mastered the art of severing. whether its healthy is not the question rn... she def has a very soft spot for shadow and omega, tho as stated above these two are really hard to kill so there's not much to worry about in that regard, if anything it's a worry that might not plague her right now, but eventually she's going to think about what it means to be the one that's being severed by forces beyond anyone's control
anyways i dont wanna get existential this morning so this is where i stop
👯‍♀️I headcanon rouge has some friends she regularly meets in her bar (i'll let it be open if it actually belongs to her or if she's just a regular) and she would def visit knuckles every now and then. not saying she'd like. actually talk to him tho. might just lurk in a bush and stare at the master emerald
omega is a tough one to think about tbh. i admittedly don't have too many thoughts on him outside of being part of the team... this is telling me i need to dig more into his individual character tbh. what would he do for fun? when not with the otehr two?? Maybe he actually is like a gamer playing shooters and made friends in voice chat. no one believes him when he introduced himself as killermachine, they think its just a nickname
shadow likes solitude, but i really like that one bit in the recent twitter take over where he and knuckles stood in the forest for hours watching the plants and animals and hwo the light changes throughout the day while going through the leaves etc etc... theyre both very connected to nature in their own ways and i think they could bond over that. also about how they both prefer solitude. they can be alone together! they dont need any words, they can just exist next to eachother for a few hours and feel good about it. he also most surely hangs out with sonic every now and then. hangingout being racing and having a good fight together. though im sure sonic can eventually convince him to spend proper time together. for example making a race into a trekking tour where they go random places sonic knows or doesnt know yet, and they learn about the culture and obviously the food. shadow does seem like someone who'd like to learn about the planet, and sonic's the type of guy who's super eager to have someone to show around and explore with that can keep up!
🖤oh man idk weirdness is super subjective. uh. i wrote a fanfic once about how team dark and team sonic have a bowling competition
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yjwhatif · 2 years
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YJ EPISODE 14 NOTES… let’s do this (spoilers below)
Dick shows some serious growth since S3. I love that opening scene - Dick asking Kaldur how he’s doing then pointing out that he might need to take a break before his unprocessed emotions break him. He literally says all the things I said in my Kaldur post and I was very happy to hear him say it. Also I really like how dick acknowledges the dick move he pulled of essentially dropping out after Wally died - pointing out how selfish it was of him to leave Kaldur to deal with everything - despite Kaldur going through the same tragedy and more. Dick shows so much personal growth in this scene - he was still not over losing Wally in S3 and it showed in his behaviour - to avoid his grief he focused on the mission. It took Will, Conner and Artemis talking to him at different occasions to help him realise avoidance and detachment doesn’t make the pain go away — and I think that’s what Dicks trying to do for Kaldur now. I love their bond - it’s not seen enough.
Ok this is definitely gonna end up being really long…
I’m so glad I read the tie in comics set in Atlantis before watching - it made things so much easier to follow and more impactful than if I hadn’t. Again I wanna reiterate, if you haven’t read the s1 tie in comics - especially the two set in Atlantis then you really should - 1, because they’re great, and 2, because all these characters are introduced in them and a lot of the dynamics we see in this episode are established from those comics. (Heads up I will be mentioning things from those comics plot in the points below…)
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Topo and King Sha’ark are unlikely besties and I’m here for it. A bond established established in the comics after topo saves Sha’arks during the purists ambush - and its a well known fact that saving someone life creates a forever bond - whether you like it or not Sha’ark.
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La’gaan playing with Artur is the cutest thing ever and is then immediately out cuteified by the way La’gaan interacts with Coral and later Rodun - seriously how do Grandon do this - I never used to care about romance in media and now - ever since that 7th wheel comment - I can’t get enough of it. They’re throwing all these adorable AquaFamilies in my face and I’m rooting for them all — but that means I’m terrified for everyone because I know something bads gonna end up happening. Just let them all be happy please 🙏
This shot is just so pure 🥺
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GROWTH!! There is so much growth present in all these characters - it shows how times change and so too do people. (This will probably be getting its own post at some point)
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Ronal definitely has some sort of feelings for Lori - he’s a pompous jerk but always a little smitten around her. These two definitely had a dynamic in the comics - he seemed to have a particular distain for her and she certainly wasn’t afraid of fighting back his attacks. Maybe the hate he thought he felt towards her was really unrealised attraction corrupted by learnt prejudices. There’s also a chance she saved his life in the comics when Sha’ark tried to eat one of the hooded purists - though I don’t know if that was actually him since he was still hooded - but maybe he feels a sense of loyalty or indebted to her. Either way, Ronal intrigues me.
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I have already posted something about this but since the general consensus was Delphis is around 20yo I’m gonna add some stuff to it… Garth seems to show the smallest bit of interest in Delphis as he’s leaving the council - it’s blink and you’ll miss it but by the rules of animation it’s there for a reason. Someone pointed out on that post that Garth and Dolphin have been together in dc canon so maybe it will become something in yj. I honestly can’t imagine Kaldur taking it too well if they do - it might be a bit cliché but I would totally buy Kaldur still holding a bit of resentment towards Garth for dating Tula after he became Aqualad - now he wants to date his adopted sister — the nerve of him.
Wyynde, Kaldur & Delphis remind me of Conner, M’gann & Gar. I’m living for all these family dynamics — they’re so pure!
I am very glad to see Conner is in fact still wearing underwear - because that would have been a really awkward conversation when Ghosty wakes up — oh and Phantom Girl will now and forever be referred to as Ghosty - because it’s really hecking cute.
I really love all the Phantom zone content we get - it’s really cool to see Conner doing stuff on his own - he tends to be a character that’s always grouped with others and acts as the voice of reason. Here he’s isolated and stuck in the unknown with nothing but his mind - so we’re seeing him in a who new light as he essentially has an existential crisis.
I am here for Wyynde constantly trying to get Kaldur to relax and not focus on work stuff when he shouldn’t have to. I truly love him with all my heart and am absolutely terrified something very bad is definitely going to happen to him and that’s gonna be Kaldur’s breaking point and I am NOT OKAY WITH THAT!! Please don’t hurt Wyynde!🙏
Is Arion following Kaldur ? he was in the algae bar sat at the table next to them - angled perfectly to watch them… what is he up to
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Wyynde going from flirty winky face at Kaldur to sad guilt ridden face as he notices Lori sat alone at the bar. I’m gonna keep saying this - but I love him! I also love this whole scene at the bar and I’m gonna go into that in a separate post.
Kaldur punching Sha’ark and no one batting an eyelid because that’s the only language Sha’ark listens to — “I respect your strength, schoolmate”
Nice touch having Samad’s new job being on a fishing boat and loving it while the Atlanteans are almost at war with each other because of the effects of human pollution and overfishing — kinda plays into that perspectives thing that’s through the episodes
It’s nice to see Violet helped Gabriel’s family get out of Qurac and is staying connected with them - or at least with Madia anyway. It’s nice to see Violet has found trust in her - after everything that happened with Jace that psychotic witch, it wouldn’t be surprising if Violet had some serious trust issues.
Conner and Ghosty are really adorable - I love that he’s just talking to her even though she’s unresponsive - he’s a good little soul.
HALO CAN HEAL OTHER PEOPLE!!! This is so cool - I can’t wait to see how else their powers have evolved - I knew rainbow powered Violet was gonna be epic.
I’m here for Lori calling Ronal out on his rudeness and him immediately backing down and apologising to her - these Atlantean dynamics are really compelling and I want more.
The only content I’ve been exposed to which depicts a polyamorous relationship is in the Les Mis fandom so it’s pretty cool seeing an official explicit representation on screen. I already posted something about my immediate reaction to the relationship reveal (here) but I wanted to add on that I love that this is a show where polyamory makes more sense than adultery - and I’m here for it. So much romance in media revolves around jealousy and cheating and confrontation and I just can’t be arsed with it — but La’gaan and his growing family are just so wholesome and loving and sweet and I honestly can’t get enough of it. I wish more media depicted relationships like yj - where they’re not just created for passion and conflict but to actually develop and strengthen the characters — it’s way more compelling. Ok I’ll stop ranting about romance now.
I love how respectful the tone of Violet and Madias conversations are as they explore Islam together. The pacing is soft and light, there’s no sense of an overload of information is being thrown at you - it takes the time it needs. They are really calming moments. I also like that Madia is constantly reenforcing the fact that one must follow their heart when it comes to faith - she doesn’t expect anything of Violet because it’s their decision. I really hope she shows the same respectful positivity around Violets gender identity when they finally choose to open up about it.
Ronal definitely has some unspoken feelings for Lori - he goes to help her up after the attack - I want to know more!
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Return of the forehead touch!!! 🧡💙
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KALDUR YOU ARE NOT FINE AND YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE!!
VIOLET HARPER IS OFFICIALLY THEY/THEM NON-BINARY AND WE LOVE THEM
I kinda figured the promised LGBTQ+ rep would probably turn up in the second half - that is what happened last season (though it was still very light in S3 and I think the Bart thing caused a lot of problems). I think all of it was written well - nothing felt out of place or there to tick a box - everything felt grounded in the canon and not just written to make someone happy (I don’t know if that makes sense). Nothing stands out in a harsh or cringey way (like the beach scene we don’t talk about). This is honestly shaping up to be my favourite arc so far - the pacing is great, we’re exploring and discussing the things I’ve been wanting to see and personally, I like that we’re continuing the other plots as well as - I never feel like they are taking time away from Kaldur and Atlantis.
Over all this was a phenomenal episode back and the other two are just as good. Stay tuned for my notes on episodes 15 & 16, and also some others I’ve got in mind. If you read all this then thank you - I’d love to hear what everyone else thought of this episode, the arc or anything yj.
LB
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seattlesea · 3 years
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bad representation in the riordanverse
Racism:
-Gave Hazel and Piper gold and ‘kaleidoscope’/brown-blue-green changing eyes and pretty much went ‘Let’s add some characters of color but they cANT HAVE BROWN EYES THAT’S NOT PRETTY ENOUGH’ as if whitewashing isn’t more than just the skin.
-East Asian characters: Riordan pretty much went 'Here are my East Asian characters- one of them looks like a fat baby on steroids and is super undeveloped, his mother is strict and cold, and all the others are just described as 'Asian' because different countries in Asia don't exist and there's obviously no difference between Japanese, Chinese, and Korean'. His portrayal of East Asian characters went like this: Frank: Chinese, chubby, hates himself, underdeveloped, described to look like a 'Chinese Canadian baby man' and a 'panda' as if that's not stereotyping, and only learned to love himself when he looked hotter.  Drew: Asian, villainized, rude, shallow, vain, and selfish. Ethan: Asian, rude, evil, a traitor, and deceased. Grandma Zhang- rude, strict, cold, traditional, and deceased.
-Hazel: Has gold eyes. Has 'cinnamon brown' hair even though dark brown or black hair would be way more inclusive and realistic. Had a mother portrayed as a rude and selfish witch who sacrificed, used, and trafficked her own child. Was the only character called or described as a witch while African-Americans were usually accused of witchcraft just for their skin color. Was the only character who was cursed. Had a mother who literally practiced voodoo. The only African-American character in the series before ToA who isn't dead (but she also died). Was paired with a sixteen year old guy even though African women are constantly forced with older men and that's blatantly racist stereotyping. 
-Piper: Had 'chocolate brown' and then 'mahogany' hair? Has kaleidoscope eyes. Put a feather in her hair (which is stereotyping)- and it was an eagle feather, which is also wrong because eagles are extremely sacred to First Nation tribes and only spiritual leaders or warriors can wear it or it has to be gifted by an Elder of the tribe, and Riordan basically went 'Feathers are very important and it's racist to make a character wear one at inappropriate times but I'm going to make my character wear one as a cute accessory to make her look cool, pretty, and headstrong and to add to her 'Aesthetic'’ even though Cherokees didn’t wear feathers (which proves he did the bare minimum of research). Constantly oversexualized (56% of First Nation women are sexually harassed and Riordan had the audacity to put Piper in an 'embarrassingly low v-neck' and to have her constantly drooled over by a WHITE MALE and have her sexualized by her 1000+ mother without her knowledge or consent).  It's said that her father was from a reservation in Oklahoma...but there are no reservations in Oklahoma, only cultural centers (which also proves that he did the bare minimum of research).  She's the only First Nations character and she's the only character (besides Nancy Bobofit) depicted as a kleptomaniac (First Nations people are constantly called thieves by racist assholes). “The week before, he’d turned down several million dollars to play Tonto in a remake of The Lone Ranger. Piper was still trying to figure out why. He’d played all kinds of roles—a Latino teacher in a tough L.A. school, a dashing Israeli spy in an action-adventure blockbuster, even a Syrian terrorist in a James Bond movie. And, of course, he would always be known as the King of Sparta. But if the part was Native American—it didn’t matter what kind of role it was—Dad turned it down.” (The Lost Hero, page 165). So her father is fine with playing an extremely racist and stereotypical Middle Eastern role but not a First Nations role. Uses a cornucopia as a weapon (how she got it- cutting it off a half-bull- is disrespectful to her culture as hurting an animal is banned and she used a cornucopia- a symbol of Thanksgiving- as a weapon). Cut her hair, which is basically taboo in First Nations culture.
-Samirah: Had an arranged marriage (at age twelve, and she believed that she was groomed to be married to a rich and respectable family and nothing else). Ripped off her hijab in front of tons of male characters. The only Muslim character. The only Muslim character and she's the only character who married her cousin (you're supposed to break stereotypes, not enforce them).
Thomas Jefferson Jr: Said that he was thankful to the British for not siding with the South during the American Civil War even though they needed the South's cotton (but they didn't side with the North either). AKA a black man and son of a freed slave was thankful to Britain for not openly oppressing him? And at the same time he was named after a racist slave-owner.
Reyna: She's brown and her entire story revolves around her being independent, strong, alone, and self-sufficient but also desperately needing love and support but then Riordan says that she can't get her heart healed AKA she went through an abusive home, killed her father, left her sister, felt alone her whole life, worked a two-person job alone for months, and had to put on a brave face for others throughout all this then was literally told 'Shut up no one wants to hear about your struggles, just suck it up and deal with it’ and have you seen all the shit brown girls have to go through and keep silent about it? 
Extra: -Latino, Puerto Rican, African-American, Chinese-Canadian, East Asian, First Nations, etc. characters and the two most powerful, best, and most skilled characters and who the stories mostly revolve around are two white guys AKA white supremacy.
-"Harriet Tubman, daughter of Hermes, used many mortals on her Underground Railroad for just this reason" and that World War II was caused by a child of Zeus and a child of Hades fighting very blatantly erases the shit those people went through and Riordan just went 'Let's use these racist movements as little easter eggs in my story'.
-Thanatos, who was chained and enslaved, is described with dark skin.
-Riordan writing the characters went a little something like this: Drew: You get common Eastern Asian features like dark hair and eyes because you're arrogant, selfish, conceited, and rude, and because you're an antagonist and you're going to be used to make one of my protagonists- who has unique traits- look good so you're going to have the basic, 'boring' physical traits so the readers know who's the more superior of the two of you. Leo: You get common Latino features like curly dark hair, dark eyes, and light brown skin cause you're the weird, hyperactive unattractive one who's very flirty but constantly gets rejected and you're the only main character without a love interest and the only way you can get a girlfriend is when she's forced to fall in love with you through a curse. Frank: You get common Chinese features like dark hair and eyes cause you're the fat unattractive loser who catches the eye of the African character who already has unique and 'special' traits so you don't have to be super attractive. Reyna: You get common Puerto Rican traits like dark skin, hair, and eyes cause you're the stoic, lonely, intimidating, and cold one who wants all the guys (two white guys for that matter) but none of them want you and they both have girlfriends with traits like blonde hair and gray and kaleidoscope eyes so the readers know who are the more interesting couples.  Piper and Hazel: You two get eurocentric features because you're the main characters I have to set apart from everyone else- including other females whom I'm going to make one of you rivals with- so the readers know who's more superior so I'm giving you unique eye colors that literally cannot be found in humans so I'm going to try to validate it by saying that it's from something mildly associated with your godly parent even though neither of them have those traits. Riordan basically said that the common features are bad and boring and that unique and special features- aka features not found in those ethnicities- are good and cool. Also- if gods don’t have DNA how can their traits be passed down to their demigod children checkmate Riordan.
-Cecil Markowitz is the only Jewish character in PJO and the first thing used to describe him is "That kid, always thinking about the potential payout".
-Lavinia said that she was going to bring her date to her bat mitzvah even though you don't bring dates to bat mitzvahs or bar mitzvahs and she said that it was 'awkward' to tell her rabbi that someone was going to be her date even though you don't explain your guestlist to your rabbi, and they're most likely not even going to be at the party.
-Only three Latino and Puerto Rican characters (Leo, Reyna, and Hylla) and all three came from abusive households.
-Leo said 'Mamacita' as if that's not stereotyping.
-Made Nico ‘pale’ even though he had olive skin and gave him black hair and dark eyes despite Italians usually having light hair and eyes just to add to his ‘Goth Boy Aesthetic’.
-Hazel described Pluto to look like Adolf Hitler.
-Carter Kane said that Elvis took African-American music and made it sound like rock 'n roll and described it as cool- like no it’s cultural appropriation. 
-Leo was abused and Riordan thought that it'd be funny to make all the other characters line up to punch him and then try to make it look funny. 
-Gave almost every single POC character a white name and sometimes gave them white first names and POC surnames, and Reyna and Bianca are the only POC characters with names from their culture/native language and one of them is dead and reborn as someone else and the other’s full name wasn’t revealed until the fourth book in her series and she hates using it.
-Made two POC characters with names from their culture- Samirah and Olujime- go by white nicknames (Sam and Jamie) to make it ‘easier to read’ despite having white characters with the same amount of syllables in their names (like Annabeth) that didn’t go by nicknames.
-Never actually described the characters of color with physical traits from their ethnicities (Reyna, Hylla, and Leo with big eyes, thick eyebrows, brown hair, wide noses, full lips, etc., Piper with almost-oriental eyes, shovel teeth, high cheekbones, black hair, etc., Nico with light or brown hair and eyes, olive skin, a narrow nose, etc., Hazel with a wide nose and lips, dark brown eyes, black or dark brown hair, big eyes, thick eyebrows, etc.).
Anti-LGBTQ+:
-Nico was forcibly outed by Cupid and Riordan and the fandom didn't care and the only thing they thought was 'Aww, he has a crush on Percy! So cute!' AKA romanticizing a forced outing. 
-Riordan said that he didn't want to make Reyna lesbian or bisexual because he thought it'd be stereotypical making her LGBTQ+ because she didn't want men anymore even though she could've been bisexual all along but Riordan casually dismissed the idea of that saying "Having a girl end up with a woman after dating men is a bad stereotype" and basically said that real bi girls don’t exist.
-The Hunters of Artemis were made so Artemis/Diana could protect those girls from men and their behavior towards women but Riordan dismissed lesbian relationships- even though nothing about that was said in real Greek mythology- meaning that he thinks that women need protection from other women just as much as they need protection from men.
-Alex Fierro is the only gender-fluid or transgender character and she/he’s seen as rude, snarky, and sharp and Magnus could magically tell when Alex changed gender.
-Riordan said that he wouldn’t make Reyna a lesbian because of stereotypes despite the reader asking if Reyna was going to get a girlfriend, not come out as lesbian AKA Riordan thinks ‘Girls liking girls’ is automatically ‘lesbian’ and completely dismissed bi, pan, poly, omni, etc. girls.
-Used a self-insert to make fun of wlw readers who saw themself in Reyna and thought she could be a cool character to relate to.
-Enforced LGBTQ+ stereotypes like the cold-hearted Asexual, the flamboyant bi/pan, the snarky gender-fluid, the emo gay, the laid-back and rebellious lesbian who dyed her hair pink and chews a lot of bubblegum, etc.
-Has one-hundred fifty-five characters total minus gods/goddesses, Titans, giants, nymphs, dryads, satyrs, monsters, etc. and only has fifteen confirmed LGBTQ+ characters (do the math, that’s exactly one out of ten regarding OCs).
-Only one character that isn’t cishet.
-Saves most the LGBTQ+ for the side characters or only confirms characters LGBTQ+ once they’ve become a minor character despite being a main character before.
-Only stated that Reyna was Asexual outside of his books and on Twitter as if that’s not exactly what J.K Rowling is doing.
-Used the LGBTQ+ community to make Piper seem like the ‘special snowflake’ and to set her apart from her siblings to make it seem like she’s better than all of them and used Hera/Juno and Aphrodite/Venus as excuses for his homophobic mindset that believes that straight is the default cause “Suddenly, much of what she and I had talked about started to make sense. Not being defined by Aphrodite’s expectations. Or Hera’s ideas of what a perfect couple looked like. Piper finding her own way, not the one people expected of her” in synonymous words is 'The expectations for love and the idea of a perfect couple are a heterosexual relationship, and anyone who 'finds their own way instead of the ones people expect' are different'. ‘Different’ and ‘default’ are antonyms AKA if he thinks that LGBTQ+ people are ‘different’, he thinks that straight is the ‘default’. Remember- an author writes their own personal beliefs.
-Josephine is the only black LGBTQ+ character.
-Reyna is said to be Asexual despite feeling sexual attraction towards Percy cause no one likes someone five minutes after knowing them and it’s anything but sexual attraction.
-Magnus and Alex are the only LGBTQ+ relationship whose growth and development is actually shown in the story (while there was also Apollo and Commodus, Piper and Shel, Will and Nico, Apollo and Hyacinthus, Emmie and Jo, Lavinia and Poison Oak, etc.).
-Riordan never canonically said the name of any sexuality and is clearly uncomfortable with the LGBTQ+ community shown by his little to no writing regarding physical affection and deep emotions in his LGBTQ+ relationships.
-Only added in LGBTQ+ relationships for publicity- Percy Jackson and the Olympians release dates: 2005-2009. 2005-2009: LGBTQ+ support was nearly at an all-time low. No LGBTQ+ characters, relationships, or references in the books. The Lost Hero-The Mark of Athena release dates: 2010-2012. 2010-2012: LGBTQ+ support was still very low. Still no LGBTQ+ characters, relationships, or references in the books. The House of Hades release date: late 2013. Mid-2013: the giant spike for LGBTQ+ support and allies. One confirmed LGBTQ+ character. The Sword of Summer release date: late 2015. 2015: LGBTQ+ support was good and gay marriage was legalized. A few LGBTQ+ references but no confirmed characters. The Hammer of Thor and The Ship of the Dead release dates: 2016-2017. 2016-2017: LGBTQ+ support was quite high. Two confirmed LGBTQ+ characters and the first canon LGBTQ+ relationship and kiss. The Trials of Apollo release dates: 2016-2020. 2016-2020: LGBTQ+ support was very high. More LGBTQ+ characters confirmed in one book than all the other series combined. Kind of obvious he was just following the public opinion.
-Legit said ‘Reyna can’t like girls cause she has had crushes on guys before’.
Ableism:
-It was heavily implied in The Battle of the Labyrinth that Rachel Dare had schizophrenia/psychosis but it's never brought up again.
-Grover's fake feet made it look like he was disabled from the Mist and it was said that he was bullied because of it but it was never brought up again.
-It was said that Tyson looked like he had down syndrome from the Mist covering his one eye but it was never brought up again. 
-It was stated that every character but Frank has ADHD and dyslexia but never actually showed any symptoms after Percy Jackson and the Olympians and characters like Piper and Leo were even able to read English writing throughout The Lost Hero and the only symptom of ADHD Riordan showed through his characters was ‘a lot of fidgeting’ as if that’s not a blatant stereotype. 
Pedophilia:
-Luke, a twenty-two/twenty-three year old had a crush on Annabeth, a sixteen year old. That's a six-seven year age gap. 
-The only two girls put into relationships with much older men are black (Hazel and Sadie).
-Hazel, a thirteen year old, got together with a sixteen year old guy. Hazel's crush on Frank is normal- a girl having a crush on an older guy, but Frank's crush on Hazel is disgusting- an older guy looking down at a child and thinking about making out with her.
Misogyny:
-Aphrodite's kids are seen as useless, weak, snobby, shallow, vain, and selfish just because they’re feminine. 
-Riordan portrayed Aphrodite’s kids as feminine despite Aphrodite being the goddess of love and beauty, not femininity, as if romance and beauty are reserved for women only. 
-Piper is the only 'tomboy' child of Aphrodite and she's portrayed as tougher, stronger, and better than her feminine siblings (and it's portrayed that way multiple times throughout the story like other characters telling Piper she’s "-tough for a child of Aphrodite").
-Piper immediately stereotyped and disliked every single feminine character like Drew and the rest of the Aphrodite cabin just because they liked makeup and skirts as if that’s not shallow criticism. 
-Feminine characters like Drew, Isabel, Khione, and Medea are used or even created solely as antagonists to make Piper- the tomboy- look better.
-Calypso is the only feminine character and she sucks at everything. 
-Riordan’s take on female characters: Drew: a vain, rude, selfish, snobby, and bitchy mean girl. Silena: a shallow traitor. Reyna: a cold-hearted robot. Piper: internalized misogyny that was never brought up again. Calypso: an island whore. Athena: a rude, aggressive bitch with no emotions. Aphrodite: shallow, vain, conceited, and self-centered. Hera: completely evil with no backstory added into it. Marie: an evil witch who selfishly used and sacrificed her daughter.
-The Hunters of Artemis were blessed by Artemis to protect them from men but Riordan made it only about the men in their lives (again) and portrayed the whole 'losing men' thing like it was a burden and that they're 'giving men up' even though they join the Hunters to leave men. He distorted the original meaning of the Hunters- protecting women- by making it about the Hunters hating and being forced to leave men even though they're asking to have no men in their lives, cause that's the point of it. 
-The Amazons and Hunters of Artemis despise men and literally attack them if they so much as speak as if sexism is reserved for women only.
-Portrayed femininity as weakness (and masculinity as strength, it’s even in the word- tomBOY).
-Constantly pit women against women for the sake of romance and love triangles instead of normalizing women getting along despite liking the same people and let the female’s relationships get controlled and influenced by the men in their lives.
-The men always outpower the women in powers and skills. Riordan’s portrayal of powers and characters- Percy: You’re going to have epic water powers and can even create your own personal hurricanes and even though you’ve only been canonically training for eight months total you’re going to be the best swordfighter despite multiple characters having years more training than you. Jason: You’re going to be able to fly, control lightning, create storms, and electric shock people into another dimension. Leo: You’re going to be able to create and control fire and blow shit up with just a screwdriver. Frank: You’re going to be able to shape-shift into any animal you want, even a whole dragon. Nico: You’re going to be able to control darkness and shadows, literally teleport, and raise a whole army of undead soldiers. Reyna: Powers? Nah, your only ability is to lend strength to others as if that benefits you at all. Annabeth: Powers? Nah. Piper: You’re going to be able to manipulate and seduce people and are literally going to use your body and attractiveness as a weapon and your power is literally called charmspeak. Hazel: You have more powers than all the other characters combined that can literally destroy anyone in less than a second but you’re never going to use them or even remember that you have them cause screw the female character being more powerful than the males. 
-The men always accomplish the most incredible feats and if the females ever do accomplish something great (Reyna healing the riff and defeating Orion while the Hunters and Amazons couldn’t combined, Annabeth going through Tartarus, Hazel learning to control the Mist, etc.) they are never praised or rewarded or all the credit goes to the men. 
-Ares/Mars in real Greek/Roman mythology was the feminist patron of the Amazons who loved his daughter very much and killed a rapist but was portrayed as the dumb, cruel asshole who loved nothing but bloodshed and tried to kill a twelve year-old kid who was trying to help him while Poseidon/Neptune in real Greek/Roman mythology was a greedy, short-tempered, and arrogant asshole who raped almost as much women than Zeus/Jupiter but was portrayed as the kind, caring, and gentle father figure. 
Fatophobia:
-Frank is the only chubby character and he hates himself because of it, was constantly fat-shamed, and only learned to love himself after he got rippling abs, muscles, and looked hotter (because fat = ugly in Riordan’s mind, even though it's not). 
-Clovis was depicted with a pot-belly and Drew described him as 'repulsive'.
-Dionysus/Bacchus is also depicted with a pot-belly and he's portrayed as a useless, rude, lazy, and drunken asshole. 
Lookism:
Basically how Riordan wrote his characters- Percy, Annabeth, Jason, Reyna, Hazel, Piper, and most minor protagonists: You’re all going to be super attractive, have at least one character or more pining for you, have your looks constantly commented on, and some of you will even use your looks as a weapon cause that’s not obvious sexualization cause you’re all the main characters and protagonists that readers need to know are the protagonists. Nico, Leo, and Frank: You three are originally portrayed as unattractive but at some points are described as cute and two of you are insecure about your looks cause you’re scrawny and chubby and one of you hates yourself cause of your body and only learn to love yourself once you magically gain abs cause more muscle obviously equals more attractiveness.  Luke, Silena, Chris, and Ethan: You four are going to be super attractive because you’re traitors but all of you make up for your actions and decide to help the demigods and become protagonists again. Octavian, Bryce, Michael, Titans, giants, etc.: You all are the antagonists so you have to be super ugly with multiple physical imperfections cause you’re not allowed to be attractive since you are against the protagonists and I have to set you guys apart and show the readers who’s the better and more superior character. 
-Frank hated himself cause he was chubby and only loved himself once he got skinnier and gained muscle through magic but even then was called ‘cute like a panda’.
-Leo was described as scrawny and unattractive and was insecure about being short but even then was called ‘cute in a scrawny way’.
-Piper had facial imperfections and even a pimple on her nose but once she got claimed all of those disappeared and they stayed gone even after the blessing washed off despite all the magic being gone and only then was Piper’s looks commented on multiple times. 
-Lester/Apollo hated his appearance cause he had a little flab and acne and his physical imperfections were used as comedy by making fun of it as if insecure readers don’t exist.
-Percy and Annabeth had one canon physical imperfection- a gray streak in their hair- and that magically washed away.
-None of the other characters were described with any physical imperfections like pimples/zits/acne, body hair (despite none of the characters having the care or time to wax or shave), bushy/frizzy or messy hair or eyebrows, big or small hands or noses, blackheads, super thick or thin eyebrows, blemishes, birthmarks, scars, stretch marks, braces, lazy eyes, yellow or chipped teeth, eye bags, glasses, moles, dimples, love handles, flab/fat, visible veins, freckles, etc. unless it added to their ‘aesthetic’ despite none of those being bad and saves it only for the antagonists as if ‘physical imperfections’ = ‘evil’. 
Bias:
-Riordan portrayed the Romans as cold, cruel, ruthless, strict, and overall horrible despite them being the more inclusive camp regarding family and godly parents, have multiple families and rules that ensure their camper’s safety, and hold the nicest characters in the series while the Greeks are portrayed as fun, wild, reckless, silly, and cool despite holding the most prejudiced and rude characters, outcasting and ostracizing characters of certain godly parents just for their parentage, stereotype almost every single cabin, and make some campers without siblings live, sleep, and eat alone. 
-Every Greek traitor (Luke, Silena, Ethan, and Chris) were portrayed as powerful, kind, attractive, and awesome and each made up for their actions but each Roman ‘traitor’ (Octavian, Bryce, and Michael, and only one of them are actually a traitor) were portrayed as unattractive, cruel, ambitious, ruthless, and extremely weak and never actually did anything useful.
-The Greeks were part of the Union and the Romans were part of the Confederacy (adding on to Riordan adding racist movements as fun little easter eggs in his stories).
-Four out of seven of the main Seven are Greek.
-There are at least 70+ Greek characters and less than thirty named Romans.
-The Battle of San Francisco Bay was used for the sole purpose to weaken the Romans and make the Greeks seem stronger than them and while the Greeks went through two whole wars, their camp laid almost completely untouched but the moment the Romans are introduced, half their population is wiped?
Romanticization:
-Romanticized Annabeth judo-flipping Percy AKA romanticized physical abuse/harassment (emotions, angriness, feelings of love and affection, ‘they went through a lot together’, etc. do not excuse hitting someone) despite Annabeth knowing where Percy’s Achilles Heel was and not knowing he lost it and flipping him on his back anyways (if Percy didn’t lose the Achilles Heel, Annabeth would’ve killed him).
-Romanticized Leo killing himself to see Calypso again and to take her off her island AKA a romanticized suicide.
-Romanticized Calypso yelling at and insulting Leo and Annabeth insulting and canonically lowering Percy’s self-esteem AKA romanticized verbal abuse/bullying.
-Romanticized Will trying to help Nico through his loneliness and depression as if that can’t be portrayed as someone just wanting to help another person AKA  romanticized mental illness.
-Romanticized every character kissing another character without asking first and without their consent AKA romanticized sexual harassment.
-Romanticized Piper taking advantage over Jason’s amnesia and mental state and jumping onto him despite knowing there might be a girl he couldn’t remember AKA romanticized manipulation.
-Romanticized Piper and Annabeth’s possessive, overly-jealous, and controlling behavior over Jason and Percy (even before they were canonically dating).
-Romanticized Nico being forced to confess his crush on Percy AKA romanticized a forced outing.
Rick Riordan:
-Refused to apologize for his actions even after being called out by people from the groups he was writing inaccurately and stereotyping (Muslim, Jewish, African, First Nation, lesbian, gay, Puerto Rican, etc.) and tried to make himself look like the victim.
-Claimed he was being ‘bullied’ by readers half his age who were just pointing out his books’ racist flaws.
-Showed time and time again that he is not willing to listen to the voices of minorities.
-Clearly didn’t do his research on ethnicities, sexualities, religions, etc. shown by how he got the simplest things wrong.
-Tried to say that he- a straight white man- was right when people of the actual groups he was writing about (gay, First Nation tribes, etc.) were wrong.
-Used excuses like having a ‘headstrong’ and ‘stubborn’ character who wants to ‘show their culture in their own way’ for his stereotypes. No, Riordan, you want to show the culture that way, not Piper. She’s a fictional character, you’re real. Dumbass.
-Literally said ‘Sorry I put feathers in Piper’s hair, I can’t change what I wrote in the past and I didn’t know that sensitive readers existed’ then continued to write feathers in Piper’s hair in the future books. 
The Fandom:
Note: Not to all of the fandom, obviously
-Draws Piper with light skin, light hair, and kaleidoscope eyes with feathers, hippie bands, and beads (yes, it's canon, but you're allowed to change it if it's blatantly racist, and the bead and hippie band thing was created by the fandom and that's also stereotyping).
-Almost always draw Reyna, Hylla, and Leo with light skin and Caucasian traits (props to the few artists who drew them with the right skin tones).
-Draws Hazel with gold eyes, ‘cinnamon’/light brown hair, and an adult body.
-Sexualizes female characters by drawing them in sexy and revealing clothes and giving them all the same exact sexy, slim, and perfect hour-glass shaped bodies.
-Almost never include physical imperfections, muscle, scars, stretch marks, etc. in drawings.
-Fancasts white actors for characters of color and puts actors/faceclaims of white people or people of different ethnicities in the moodboards or aesthetics for characters of color.
-Participates in cultural appropriation by wearing feathers when cosplaying Piper and wearing a hijab when cosplaying Samirah.
-Supports Riordan, tries to defend him, and condones his clearly racist and bigoted actions just cause they ‘like the books’ (if you are straight, white, and/or cishet, I definitely don’t want to see you trying to defend a fifty-five year-old multi-millionaire who is clearly racist, sexist, homophobic, and transphobic).
-Romanticize physical abuse, verbal abuse, mental illnesses and panic/anxiety attacks, etc.
-Ship pedophilic, manipulative, abusive, and wrong relationships.
-Barely allow others to have their own opinions (looking at you Perachel haters) without yelling at, insulting, cursing out, and/or even threatening them for liking or disliking different things than them including ships, characters, books, plots/faults, and Riordan himself.
-Straightwashes characters like shipping Nico with female characters or setting him up with a female character in fanfics.
-Whitewashes characters like drawing Hazel and Piper with eurocentric features, Reyna, Hylla, and Leo with white skin and Caucasian traits, Nico with white/pale skin, etc.
-Try to excuse and explain abusive, manipulative, possessive, and overall very wrong and toxic behavior.
-Fail to recognize and/or admit the toxic, racist, homophobic, sexist, transphobic, wrong, abusive, etc. faults in the books, ships, and characters just cause they like them.
The Percy Jackson franchise does not add good representation. You can still like the series as long as you don’t condone Riordan’s racist and toxic writing and actions and don’t try to ignore the horrible and stereotypical faults just cause you don’t want to admit that your favorite or childhood story is horrible. 
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imo-chan-imagines · 4 years
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『 As your boyfriend | FKBU Headcanons 』
Characters: female!reader, Kambe Daisuke, Kato Haru
Tags/warnings: Fugou Keiji Balance: Unlimited (anime), 18+, strong sexual references, fluff, angst, Haru's PTSD, headcanons, daddy kink and cockwarming (kind of?) for Daisuke, breeding kink for Haru *coughing intensifies*
⚠️ 18+ CONTENT! MINORS: PLEASE DO NOT INTERACT ⚠️
A/N: Felt like writing some more for these boys because ~holy shit~ do I love them, and I maybe went a teensy bit overboard. Oopsie! 🤭 But anyway, have y'all seen episode 6?! Let's freaking gooo! (No spoilers, don't worry) Thanks for reading! Enjoy! Imo~
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Kambe Daisuke
First up: daddy kink. I know it, you know it, we all know it. So let's not beat about the bush
Quite dominant and firm with you (see: daddy kink)
But he absolutely loves spoiling you
Expensive gifts, like one-of-a-kind necklaces, seductive perfumes, satin dresses, lace underwear, etc.
He loves dressing you up and showing you off
But he also loves spoiling you in bed more like ruining, I am deceased
A lot of butt grabbing in public hnng
He likes it when you don't wear any underwear because it makes for easier quickies like bent over the sink in the bathroom at his favourite club
He likes you sitting on his lap in front of people, too aye papi
American gangster vibes, honestly
He's not really one for soppy, romantic PDA, but he loves you letting people know that it's him you want and nobody else
He loves the look on people's faces when you call him 'daddy' that grin will be the death of me
Especially the look on Haru's face, lmao. He blushed like a tomato and couldn't speak a coherent sentence for a whole hour
Hickeys. Lots and lots of hickeys. And don't even think about covering them up
Daisuke loves sleeping naked and has a habit of walking around the house in just a towel when he gets out the shower fight me
He's also completely oblivious to what it does to you
A MASSIVE bed with super soft, satiny sheets. They feel like clouds uwu
He gets HEUSC to remind him of important dates, like birthdays, anniversaries, etc.
Date Ideas: Unlimited sorry, not sorry
From fancy restaurants, to exclusive movie premieres, to late night helicopter rides to the other side of the country, Daisuke can and will pay for anything if it makes you happy
He also lets you introduce him to lots of new things, like trying different kinds of street food on dates, going rowing on the pond in the park, having a go at karaoke, renting bikes and cycling round the city, going hiking at the nearest nature reserve or wilderness, etc. adorable
He's like a curious kitten when he's trying new things, putting a lot of trust in you to guide him through it
He always looks perfect in the photos you snap, even the ones he wasn't aware you were taking, and it's a lowkey frustrating that he nearly always looks prettier than you
But it's not his fault, so you'll only pout for a little while
His face is pretty hard to read most of the time, but you eventually get used to it and pick up on all his little mood indicators
His ears move when he's happy, and you can't convince me otherwise
He'll hold your heels for you when your feet hurt on a night out
He smells of leather and sandalwood, and his kisses taste of expensive whisky and cigars
He loves it when you bite his lower lip while making out
He's kind of possessive, but in a protective way
He never thought of himself as a particularly jealous person, until one night he came back to the bar and saw some other guy hitting on you the attention was definitely unwanted on your side
It made his blood boil – clenched fists, piercing glare if looks could kill
But he managed to stay calm and maturely tell the guy to get lost, with his arm snaking round your waist
Daisuke made it very clear that it wasn't you he didn't trust. It was that he didn't trust that guy – or any guy, for that matter
His favourite ~position~ is on a table or other surface with your legs over his shoulders
He's a god at eating you out
He's a god at everything in the bedroom, tbh
Saint Laurent condoms, because he's that fucking extra I'm screaming
His hair always falls out of place when you're fucking it's so hot and cute, wtf
It's a lot of glitz and glamour on the surface, but when it's just the two of you, you know just how much you mean to him
The King of Aftercare™
He used to suck at aftercare until he properly tried it. Then he realised that he needed it as much as you did le cry
Back rubs, forehead kisses, playing with your hair, soft whispers in your ear
He holds you so tightly that it gets hard to breathe, and you can feel his heart beating hard against your back
Sometimes he likes to just stay inside you after finishing
He enjoys the feeling of you around him, and honestly, you like just feeling him being inside you cockwarming, kind of?
Soft little nuzzles with his nose in his sleep even better when he's fallen asleep while still inside you
He's not perfect, but being with you makes him try to be better
Help, my heart's so full 🤧
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Kato Haru
This man is a sweetie pie, honestly
Not just boyfriend material, but husband material put a ring on it, hun
Lots of home cooking, and it all tastes so good you honestly believe he could just quit being a cop and open up a restaurant
He loves cooking with you, too. It's fun bonding time
Sometimes he stands behind you and guides your hands etc. it sometimes goes a little further, if ya know what I'm saying 👀
Knows how to do all the chores and housework, and actually does his share look at my practical hubby
Random pillow fights that turn into cuddle sessions
He talks in his sleep waaahh, so cute
Sometimes it's utter nonsense, like 'Don't let the donuts escape'
Other times, it's things like, 'I love Y/N so much,' or 'Let's have babies,' while he's holding onto you, and you just melt
Spooning. So much spooning
Lots of budget date ideas, like building pillow forts, watching sunsets and stargazing from the balcony, going for hikes and runs together, going for picnics, feeding ducks at the pond, etc.
One time, a duck chased him around the pond because he had the bread, and he had to run for 20 minutes before it gave up thank God for all that cardio
The Master of Flat Pack Furniture™ – because he takes his time and actually reads the instructions
Daisuke had a ™ so Haru needed one too
Takes good care of you on your period and actually knows about different sanitary products
He smells really fresh and clean, like Imperial Leather soap and air-dried laundry as long as he hasn't been on a stakeout, lmao
He loves taking showers with you, but like, actual showers
The first and only time you had shower sex was hot and steamy until:
1. You realised that water does not a good lube make and 2. He slipped and accidentally shoved his dick in your ass instead
You fully passed out, and he was so frantic that he bundled you into the car and drove you straight to the ER you were in just a towel, might I add
You both look back on it now and laugh, but he was genuinely scared
Shower sex = never again
But he loves it when you straddle his lap and start grinding on him bonus points if you kiss his neck and run your hands through his hair
He's a pretty vanilla boy when it comes to sex, preferring positions like missionary and cowgirl, and liking a fairly even balance of power
He got super embarrassed and flustered when he finally mustered up the courage to suggest having car sex
And then even more embarrassed and flustered when you actually ended up doing it
He was blushing so hard the entire time and came really quickly, which only added to his embarrassment but you thought it was cute
He has really sensitive nipples which you use to your advantage
He absolutely loves hates it when you send him nudes or try and sext him while he's at work, because he gets a massive boner and will either have to live with it and probably get laughed at by those goobs in the office, or deal with it in the bathroom, which feels wrong to him on so many levels
Doesn't really stop you sending them though, because whenever you do, he comes home and fucks you really well
One thing that's not vanilla about him is how much he likes cumming inside you breeding kink, welcome to the party. Please take a seat
He didn't tell you about it for the longest time because he was embarrassed about it and was afraid you'd think it was gross or something please cum in me, sir
He was so relieved when you were understanding about it and open to the idea of indulging him
But he genuinely really wants kids some day he'd be a great dad
His PTSD doesn't stop him being a good boyfriend, but he's convinced that it does
Most days he seems okay, like he's over it, even
But sometimes you'll wake up in the middle of the night and find him curled up in the bath, shaking and crying into his knees my poor baby, I can't
Excuse me while I go and cry into my pillow for a while
You're his safety net
When he feels like he's drowning, you keep his head above the water until the waves eventually calm and recede, and he can breathe again
He hates putting so much on your shoulders
But you swear to him that you wouldn't want to be doing anything else, and that you're not going anywhere
This got so angsty, my heart can't take this 😭
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© imo-chan-imagines 2020
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639 notes · View notes
grailfinders · 3 years
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Fate and Phantasms #146: Medusa (Lancer)
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Today on Fate and Phantasms, we’re making the mini-dusa, Medusa Lancer. In this build, Medusa is an Eldritch Knight Fighter, and only that. Sadly Flesh to Stone is a little to high-level to get, but we’ll make it work.
Check out her build breakdown below the cut, or her character sheet over here!
Next up: The closest thing we’re getting to a Tiamat build.
Race and Background
Having been kicked out of godhood by Athena, Medusa is the ultimate Hermit, giving her Religion proficiency. We’ll also switch things up and give her Acrobatics proficiency for sick anime flips while fighting.
Like her sisters, she’s also a Yuan-Ti, giving her +1 Intelligence and +2 Strength, thanks to Tasha’s. She also gets Darkvision,  Innate Spellcasting for the Poison Spray cantrip and unlimited uses of Animal Friendship on snakes. At third level you can also cast Suggestion once per long rest. All these spells use charisma to cast. You have Magic Resistance and Poison Immunity as well, the former giving you advantage on saves against magic, and the latter making you completely immune to poison damage and the poisoned condition.
It’s a shame you aren’t Small, but no race is perfect.
Ability Scores
Even if you’re wearing armor it doesn’t cover much, so make sure your Dexterity is pretty high. After that is Strength, which actually becomes your highest stat after racial bonuses if you’re using the standard array, because you’re swinging around a giant scythe and you aren’t a monk. Third is Intelligence, you know more than you let on and that’s the stat your eyes are attached to. Your Constitution isn’t amazing, but it’ll be plenty. Your Wisdom is kind of low, but we’re dumping Charisma. You just are not a people person, and you’re easily bribed with sweets.
Levels
1. First level fighters get a Fighting Style, and Thrown Weapon Fighting makes your scythe and chains a little more deadly, adding 2 to its damage rolls. Drawing the weapon can also be done in the same action you attack with it. You also get a Second Wind, letting you heal yourself as a bonus action. Your goddess core might protect you, but it’s important to pace yourself too.
You also get proficiency in Strength and Constitution saves, as well as two fighter skills. You’ve been on your own for a bit, so Survival is a good pick, and your character arc starts with you not being a fan of humanity, so I bet your Intimidation rolls will get a workout.
2. Second level fighters get an Action Surge, letting you slap an extra action onto your turn once per short rest. Copying an anime is always hard to do in D&D, but this’ll make it a bit easier at least.
3. As an Eldritch Knight, you get a Weapon Bond, letting you summon a weapon to your hand as a bonus action. You also can’t be disarmed while you’re conscious, but you’ll be throwing that thing around so much it probably won’t do much.
The big draw of the E. Knight, however, is the Spells you can cast with your Intelligence. Most of the spells you get will be abjuration or evocation, but that doesn’t stop you from getting Booming Blade and Mold Earth as cantrips. The former makes your scythe a bit scarier, and the latter is one of the few things proving your legitimacy as an earth goddess. You also get Mage Armor, because let’s be honest that outfit doesn’t count, Snare for some quick and dirty immobilization, and Longstrider to make yourself a little more mobile.
4. Speaking of mobility, use your first Ability Score Improvement to grab the Mobile feat, making you 10′ faster per round and making it so you can ignore attacks of opportunity from creatures you’ve tried to hit this turn.
You also learn the spell Protection from Evil and Good, making it harder for the gods to continue to ruin your life. Gods: not even once.
5. Your Extra Attack lets you attack twice per action, or four times with your action surge. Chains aren’t that deadly a weapon, it’s more about the quantity over quality.
6. Use this ASI to bump up your Intelligence for stronger spells. Trust me, you’ll want them.
7. Seventh level eldritch knights learn War Magic. If you use your action to cast a cantrip, you can then use your bonus action to hit somebody. How nice of them. You also learn the first of the two “none of the spells from 2nd level really work for you so we’re taking things that could reasonably be construed as Not Magic” spells, Enhance Ability, which lets you try a bit harder to gain advantage on one kind of ability score check. If you pick one of the physical scores, you also get a little bonus for your troubles.
8. Use this ASI to bump up your Strength for stronger scything. You also learn the one good 2nd level spell, Hold Person, forcing a wisdom saving throw (DC 8+proficiency + int modifier) on a humanoid, or they become paralyzed for the duration of the spell, up to a minute. They get to remake the save each round, but we’ll get a way to deal with that in a bit.
9. Before that though, you’re going to be Indomitable, letting you re-roll a failed save once per long rest! Your wisdom save’s looking a little weak, but we’ll patch it up in a bit.
10. Tenth level eldritch knights get an Eldritch Strike, giving creatures you hit disadvantage on saves against your spells for the next round. That means hitting people makes your hold person work better, and hold person makes your hitting people work better. It’s symbiosis.
Your war magic is so powerful it almost makes True Strike not useless, and you also get the second NOTSF2LRWFYSWTTTCRBCANM spell, Arcane Lock. It’s a lock, just pretend you’re carrying a lock around for some reason.
11. I hope the Extra Attacks aren’t getting too repetitive yet, because you’re getting another one this level! Now you can attack three times an action, or six times a turn with action surge.
You also learn the spell Thought Shield, because I was so tired of second level’s nonsense I turned to the UA to pad this out. For eight hours, one creature you touch can’t have their mind read, and it has advantage on saves that would determine if it’s lying. If people could figure you out, you wouldn’t be a god.
12. Twelfth level fighters get another ASI, and this one is making us Resilient, giving you +1 Wisdom and proficiency with wisdom saves. Actually getting magic cast on you is for plebians.
13. Your second use of Indomitable per long rest isn’t that flashy, but what is flashy is getting to use third level spells, like Intellect Fortress! For up to an hour, the creature you target has resistance to psychic damage, and gets advantage on Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saves. You already have advantage on most of those saves thanks to magic resistance, but now you can pass that onto a chosen champion as well. You could also use that third level slot for hold person, to hold two people at once.
14. Let’s make your magic even stronger with another ASI going right into Intelligence. That should make your eyes almost inescapable! You also learn the spell Haste, doubling your movement speed, adding 2 to your AC, and giving you most of an extra action each turn for the duration of the spell. You have to take a bit of a nap the turn after it ends, but the fight should be over by then.
15. Fifteenth level eldritch knights get an Arcane Charge when you use your Action Surge, letting you anime teleport behind someone immediately before or after your second action, to make sure the enemy knows it’s “nothing personnel, kid”. 
16. Use this ASI to round up your Dexterity and Wisdom for better saves and a higher AC. You also learn Counterspell, because your scythe is literally sharp enough to cut magic. I’m sure Medea isn’t jealous at all.
17. Seventeenth level fighters get an extra use of Action Surge and Indomitable. Not much else to say about this level. You’re just you, but better.
18. Your last eldritch knight goody continues the trend of “you, but better” with Improved War Magic, letting you attack as a bonus action after casting any sort of spell. Hit some people, action surge, cast hold person on them while they’re weak, then hit them again for more fun.
19. Use your last ASI for more Constitution for better concentration and more HP. You also learn the spell Stoneskin for even more defense, giving you resistance to physical damage types.
20. Your last level gives you yet another Extra Attack, giving you four attacks per action or eight with action surge. You also get your last spell, Protection from Energy, which can give you resistance to one type of damage: acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder, for up to an hour.
Pros:
Normally hold person’s “save every turn” weakness would be an issue, but thanks to eldritch strike you can use it effectively for crowd control. Hit people, freeze them in place, then hit them some more!
You’re also pretty mobile, with 40-50 feet of movement and teleportation making it hard to pin you down for retaliation.
On top of all of that, you’re strongly resistant against magic, with ways to cheat spell saves and reduce damage even further with Protection from Energy.
Cons:
Using daggers, scythes, and whips to represent your chained weapons is fine and all, but it does mean all your attacks only do 1d4 damage. Even paralyzing your enemies for guaranteed crits isn’t going to make you scary.
Eldritch Knight spell slots only go up to level 4, so you won’t be able to cast Flesh to Stone. Maybe the big you can do it...
Your mobility spells, Hold Person, and protection spells all use concentration, so you’ll only be able to do one of those at a time.
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tigerkirby215 · 3 years
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5e Rell, the Iron Maiden build (League of Legends)
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(Artwork made for Riot Games.)
I SHOULD BE MAKING AKALI RIGHT NOW :))))))
I did a coinflip with Rell: it was either her or Akali and she ended up winning. I’m honestly super hyped for Rell which is odd because I don’t really play tank supports. I find Leona and Nautilus boring as sin, though I do enjoy Galio and Maokai on occasion. I guess I’ve just been playing in top lane a lot more and I want a big bulky tank who I can dive into teamfights with as a support.
Also the memes for this champ are freaking golden.
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But Rell presents a very unique kit that has a lot of potential in D&D. Basically I get to make a character other than Nunu & Willump who rides a mount and I get to stick everything I can remotely justify as being Ferromancy onto this character.
GOALS
Run ‘em all down - Rell is the third champ to have a mount. Aren’t horses just the best?
We fight together - Your outside may be cold but connecting to people is how you move on from trauma... or use that trauma for a massive stun in a teamfight.
I’ll bust you down to scrap! - Rell’s quirk is Ferromancy, the magic of manipulating metal, most specifically through magnetism. Fucking magnets; how do they work?
RACE
Rell is a human... but we can’t always go for Variant Human, so let’s spice it up a bit! She may not have divine blood but I’m sure someone at the academy had healing magic. So since she’s a support with eyes aglow with energy why not go for an Aasimar? More specifically a Scourge Aasimar. Your Charisma increases by 2 and your Constitution increases by 1.
Your glyphs give you a big mix of magic from your friends back at the academy: Darkvision for darkvision, Celestial Resistance for resistance to necrotic and radiant damage, Light Bearer for the Light cantrip, and Healing Hands for a bit of healing magic. Your Scourge subrace also gives you Radiant Consumption at level 3, which I’ll cover when you get there.
If you’re set on playing a human: A Variant Human (+1 CON, +1 STR) with either the Mounted Combatant feat or Heavy Armor Master feat would make sense. There are other feats to consider but these would be the most in-character for Rell.
ABILITITY SCORES
15; STRENGTH - Iron stands eternal, and iron is heavy.
14; CHARISMA - You may be a grouchy teenager, and you may also be incredibly awkward when hitting on people, but Charisma is considered as “inner strength” in 5e. You’ve certainly got plenty of that!
13; CONSTITUTION - You are a tank after all, and with the +1 from our race that equals a 14 for a nice boost to HP.
12; DEXTERITY - As heavy as iron is you were trained for peak physical condition. DEX is tied to many things, notably Initiative which is very important for a frontliner.
10; INTELLIGENCE - You went to an academy, but it was a Noxian war academy. Still it’s possible that you got some history lessons.
8; WISDOM - You’re a hothead in both the metaphorical and literal sense. You think asking questions is on the mind of a teenager who’s angry with the world?
BACKGROUND
There’s a lot of backgrounds that would fit Rell, though unfortunately nothing edgy enough like “Test Subject Turned Human Superweapon.” But considering your lifestyle of roaming the Noxian countryside Outlander is probably pretty accurate. You get proficiency in Athletics and Survival and while you’d normally get a Musical Instrument I’d actually suggest you grab Smith’s Tools instead because... yeah duh. You can also learn a Language of your choice so pick whatever you think would constitute Noxian.
Your Wanderer background feature will make sure you survive and thrive on the Noxian countryside. You always remember the general layout of the land, and you can find food and fresh water for yourself and up to five other people each day. And you can even rip some iron out of the earth to make them bowls and cups to eat and drink with!
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(Concept art by Riot Games)
THE BUILD
LEVEL 1 - PALADIN 1
Starting off as a Paladin because even if proficiency in Wisdom saves is weird we need the Heavy Armor proficiency because... yeah duh. Speaking of proficiencies take Intimidation because you’re a murder-hungry metalmancer, and I dunno Medicine would make sense since you’re a support and all.
You also get Divine Sense, as the magic in your veins helps you detect celestials, fiends, or undead. And because you’re a support you can use Shattering Strike to heal thanks to Lay on Hands. I could explain both these abilities in detail, but I’m also an angry teenager who’s sick of explaining abilities with insanely long descriptions that you can read for yourself.
LEVEL 2 - PALADIN 2
Second level Paladins get their Fighting Style, and of course for a tank support Defense would be best for more AC. You also get some Ferromancy Spellcasting. (Well technically Divine spellcasting but don’t tell anyone that.) You can prepare a number of Paladin spells equal to your Charisma modifier plus half your Paladin level:
To sharpen your lace (or more realistically pike) a little more Divine Favor will make every blow hurt just a little bit more.
Heroism will help in times of strife to let your anger take over any fear.
To manipulate armor to block some more blows Shield of Faith will increase the target’s AC for a time.
To stun with Attract and Repel Thunderous Smite will do damage and knock enemies prone, making them easier to hit and forcing them to spend time getting up.
But of course you can just as easily ignore all of that in favor of Divine Smite, channeling all your magic and hatred into a burst of Radiant damage on your weapon attacks. Particularly effective against undead!
On Rell’s weapon: I’d suggest a Pike over a Lance because a d12 isn’t worth Disadvantage in melee range, even if you will eventually be performing mounted combat. Feel free to have a lance as backup for when you do start riding a horse.
LEVEL 3 - PALADIN 3
At third level you can choose your Sacred Oath, and I know how much you hate Noxus but Oath of the Crown actually has some pretty good abilities for our purposes. Yup of all the champions to break out the Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide for it’s Rell.
You get two Channel Divinity options: Champion Challenge makes enemies unable to move more than 30 feet away from you for a Magnetic Overload, and Turn the Tide will heal everyone of your choice for a d6 plus your Charisma (if they’re below half health) for some Redemption saves.
But both of these Channel Divinities are admittedly situational, so if your DM allows Tasha’s rulings then Harness Divine Power will also let you recover a first level spell slot. Speaking of spells as a Crown Paladin you get Command to twist your enemy’s armor to your whim, and Compelled Duel for a single-target Concentration version of Champion Challenge.
And as a Scourge Aasimar you get now get Radiant Consumption. As an action you can unleash the magic within you, glowing violently and doing Radiant damage equal to half your level to everyone around you. Additionally, once on each of your turns you can deal extra radiant damage when you damage an enemy with an attack or a spell. The extra radiant damage equals your level. You can only go all out just once per long rest, so if your ever wonder why anime protagonists keep their ultimate attack until the end of the fight: it burns you so much you can only use it once.
LEVEL 4 - PALADIN 4
4th level means another Ability Score Improvement but instead we’re going to be taking a Feat. You’re probably thinking we’re going for Mounted Combatant, right?
WRONG! We’re taking Heavy Armor Master, because you can literally control your armor to make it stronger! Your Strength increases by 1 and any damage you take from non-magic weapons is reduced by 3!
You can also prepare another spell, but we’ll wait for...
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(Concept art by Riot Games)
LEVEL 5 - PALADIN 5
5th level time for Extra Attack. Two attacks in a turn to pretend you’re the ADC!
Also time for HONSE! Find Steed lets you summon a Warhorse, and others but a Warhorse is probably the most accurate representation of your mount. The steed is considered a celestial, fey, or fiend (your choice), and its intelligence is set to 6. It can also understand one language you can speak, which is good because you can speak to it telepathically.
You can make any spell that only targets you also target your steed, and when it drops to 0 hit points, it disappears, leaving behind no physical form. You can dismiss your steed at any time as an action, causing it to disappear. In either case, casting this spell again summons the same steed, restored to its hit point maximum.
And thanks to your subclass you also learn Warding Bond to bond with an ally, and Zone of Truth to get the Black Rose to admit to what they did. Technically speaking you can’t put a ring on your horse, but as a DM I’d probably allow you to make a 50 gp platinum horse shoe to give the honse a Warding Bond.
LEVEL 6 - PALADIN 6
6th level Paladins get Aura of Protection. You and everyone within 10 feet of you gets a bonus to saving throws equal to your Charisma modifier, because iron stands eternal and so does teenage angst.
You can also prepare another spell like Aid to steel your party’s resolve for any danger. Metal pun unintended.
LEVEL 7 - PALADIN 7
Here’s why we aren’t taking Mounted Combatant. 7th level Crown Paladins get Divine Allegiance, allowing you to use your reaction to take damage for a creature within 5 feet of you. They take no damage, but the damage you take can’t be reduced or prevented in any way.
Sure a 5 foot aura is just objectively worse than the Redemption Paladin’s 10 foot Aura of the Guardian that does literally the exact same thing (pro tip: ask your DM to just increase the range of the aura), but you know what’s always within 5 feet of you? Your horse. So feel free to take hits for your trusty mount. And if an ally is nearby you should probably tank for them too.
LEVEL 8 - PALADIN 8
8th level means an Ability Score Improvement. We’re still riding around in big bulky armor so more Strength to carry that armor would be nice.
You can also prepare another spell like Lesser Restoration for some Tenacity.
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(Concept art by Riot Games)
LEVEL 9 - BARD 1
How’s this for a surprise? Multiclassing into Bard gives you proficiency in one skill, and one musical instrument. Take Animal Handling because you literally summon a horse for yourself, and a Noxian War Drum.
Bards get Bardic Inspiration: d6s equal to your Charisma modifier to help support your allies. They can add the d6 to an ability check, attack roll, or saving throw they make. Buff up their armor, or weaken the enemy’s armor!
But of course as a Bard you get more Spellcasting! Check page whatever-it-is for how multiclassing works. You get two cantrips from the Bard list: Mage Hand will let you magnetize an object closer to you, and Vicious Mockery will let you yell angrily at the enemy not to hurt your friends.
You can also learn 4 spells from the Bard list: you are a support so you can take Cure Wounds for some Summoner: Heal. Disguise Self will help you if Noxian police are looking for you. And both Earth Tremor and Thunderwave will help you manipulate the metal beneath your enemies’ feet and sunder the ground beneath them.
LEVEL 10 - BARD 2
You have a little bit of everything in your glyphs which means Jack of All Trades will always be able to help you. You can also recuperate after a long night on the Noxian countryside thanks to Song of Rest.
You can also learn another spell but we will wait for...
LEVEL 11 - BARD 3
Third level Bards can choose their Bardic College and you did go to the academy to become a weapon after all. College of Valor Bards are instruments of war with Combat Inspiration, letting allies use their Bardic Inspiration to hurt more with their swords or defend themselves better with their armor. “Fight like you mean it. Die for something that matters!” You do also get some skill proficiencies but... you already had them.
You do get Expertise in two skills however! Intimidation comes naturally to a living weapon, and even though it’s technically not a living animal in LoL you still need Animal Handling for your mount from Find Steed.
And finally you can learn spells. If you want the honest truth the only reason we took Bard levels is for Heat Metal, the obligatory Ferromancy spell. But you can also grab Hold Person to lock a foe’s armor in place.
LEVEL 12 - BARD 4
4th level means an Ability Score Improvement, and since we’re now investing in the spellcasting side of things I’d recommend some Charisma to make that better. Remember that more Charisma does mean more Paladin spells, so be sure to hop back there to prepare more.
Because I’m not going to tell you what to prepare, as we need to concentrate on your new cantrip! You are the ferromancer, so Mending is kinda obligatory. You can also learn another spell but again we shall wait for...
LEVEL 13 - BARD 5
5th level Bards get Font of Inspiration, letting their Bardic Inspiration come back on a Short Rest. Which is good, because your Bardic Inspiration increases to a d8!
You can also learn third level spells now which means we can finally take Mass Healing Word to further our support role, and Hypnotic Pattern for a massive team-wide stun.
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(Artwork by @Cookie3v3 on Twitter)
LEVEL 14 - SORCERER 1
You were born with magic after all, so I’d have to go into Sorcerer at some point. It’s just that the other levels were more important, and this kinda ends up being more for flavor than anything. Regardless you get your subclass at level 1 as a Sorcerer and hey I actually get to use the Clockwork Soul for a Ferromancer. You can Restore Balance at level 1, denying Advantage or Disadvantage and turn it into a straight roll.
Oh and hey: more Spellcasting! But this time with a side of Clockwork Magic for Abjuration or Transmutation spells. Since both the spells you’d normally get a little iffy I’d suggest replacing them with both Absorb Elements and Shield for some Magic Resistance and Armor.
You also get four cantrips and two leveled spells. Fire Bolt lets you fling a piece of molten metal at the enemy, because you may as well have a ranged weapon. For some basic metal sundering from the ground Mold Earth will let you manipulate small pockets of iron in the soil. Message will let you coordinate with your teammates without yelling everything in /all. And because you’ve got a ridiculous amount of cantrips you may as well grab Prestidigitation for basic magic manipulation.
For your leveled spells Magic Missile will let you fling metal with the utmost precision, and Burning Hands for burning metal addressed to “whom it may concern.”
LEVEL 15 - SORCERER 2
Second level Sorcerers get a Font of Magic. You get 2 Sorcery Points that can be converted into spell slots... for now. So basically you get another first level spell slot!
LEVEL 16 - SORCERER 3
3rd level Sorcerers get their Metamagic. These are features that use your Sorcery points to augment your spells: to make sure that no one lives to hide the tale of the academy Heightened Spell will give an enemy disadvantage on their first saving throw against one of your spells. Alternatively if you want to both stab and smash Quickened Spell will let you cast a spell as a Bonus Action, to really maximize your APM.
You also get more Clockwork Magic, but since you already have both Aid and Lesser Restoration I’d instead suggest taking Levitate for some reverse-magnetism, and a little spell from Elemental Evil called Maximilian’s Earthen Grasp.
If your opponent doesn’t know how magnets work then Blur can really mess with their ability to hit you. And you know I haven’t taken Flash yet so... Misty Step!
LEVEL 17 - SORCERER 4
Fourth level Sorcerers get an Ability Score Improvement and well we did invest in 3 different spellcasters, so increasing that spellcasting with more Charisma would probably be smart. Remember that more Charisma means more Paladin spells! As well as a stronger Paladin aura and more Bardic Inspiration.
You also get another spell known and honestly there are a lot of great ones at second level of Sorcerer but Shatter is the best for ripping through metal. You also get another cantrip because I guess Sorcerers don’t have enough cantrips: if you get surrounded you can sunder the ground as if swords were bursting around you... in a Sword Burst... yeah...
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(Artwork made for Riot Games)
LEVEL 18 - SORCERER 5
5th level Sorcerers get third level spells and I’d hate to admit it but both Dispel Magic and Protection from Energy from Clockwork Magic do make sense for Rell.
But you know what we don’t have enough of? Ground-based attacks. So take Erupting Earth, because your magic is Ferromancy. Not Fireballs or Haste, both of which would probably honestly be stronger. Honestly feel free to drop some of your early Sorcerer spells, because you’ve got more than enough spell slots for the big stuff.
LEVEL 19 - SORCERER 6
6th level Clockwork Soul Sorcerers get the feature we kinda went into this subclass for: Bastion of Law. As an action, you can spend 1 to 5 sorcery points to create a magical ward around yourself or another creature within 30 feet.
The warded creature gets a number of d8s equal to the number of sorcery points spent to create it. When the warded creature takes damage, it can expend any number of those dice to roll them and reduce the damage taken by the total rolled on those dice. This is going to be one of your main supportive features... atop of all your other “main supportive features.”
Oh and you’d get more spells but I kinda want...
LEVEL 20 - SORCERER 7
7th level Sorcerers can learn 4th spells like Sickening Radiance for some good old-fashioned war crimes, and Fire Shield which was added to the Sorcerer spell list thanks to Tasha’s! Clockwork Magic also lets you weaponize your horse with Summon Construct, but I’d suggest grabbing Banishment as your other spell to lock the weak away like they did to the Null.
FINAL BUILD
PROS
Fighting together? Guess it's not too bad - You’ve got plenty of good assists. Bardic Inspiration and Bastion of Law shields, and a big pile of spells to help the team.
Nothing gets in; no one gets out - Turns out that manipulating metal means very little can get at you. Strong AC, very good range with Reach to play keep-away in melee and a horse to run around, and of course Aura of Protection to turn your weakest save into a +5! And decent HP to boot!
This is who I am now - It wasn’t my intention when making the character but... turns out Jack of All Trades does in fact make you a jack of all trades. Decent skill checks all around and a crazy good Intimidation check means that while you maybe won’t be the first choice you’ll always be up for the task.
CONS
“Excellence is measured in sacrifice”... or whatever - Three way multiclassing gives you a lot, but not a whole lot of it. Your spell slots go all the way up to 8th level but your best spells max out at 4th level. Smites exist and you can always melt down your spell slots, but perhaps it would’ve been smarter to lessen the number of classes and get more value out of what you have.
That's... that's cool... I'm cool... - Ever heard of the concept known as “choice paralysis?” With so many spells to choose on top of subclass features that take your actions it can be hard to pick what’s right in every scenario. Woes of playing support, where you need to think of everything at once. Can’t just run in and stab.
The helpless fight; the hardened live - Jack of All Trades is good for skill checks... not for combat. You can fight, heal, and sling spells decently but don’t really stand out in any particular area. You’ve got a hundred different tools to deal with the rabble but when your friends go All Out you’ll likely be stuck getting assists.
But you’ve got all a girl could ever ask for: a cute pony and enough armor to survive a ballistic missile. You were built to be a weapon and a damn good weapon you are: as sharp as you are sturdy, and as versatile as you are resourceful. Who cares if you’re a little rough around the edges? You’re sixteen! You’ve got your whole life ahead of you! Minus the lingering trauma of being tortured by your own mother... Eh. Who doesn’t have a tragic backstory nowadays?
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(Artwork by @dreadstardraws on Twitter.)
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painfulbass · 3 years
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☾ ˚⊹  ❛❛  GENERAL QUICK CROSSOVER GUIDE
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So crossovers are usually difficult for a lot of people. So, because I tend to think about these things, I thought I would make this comprehensive list/guide to writing crossovers with me. This isn’t anything in concrete, but to get the ball rolling or to help make it easier for both sides to contribute to plotting. It can be hard when you don’t know the fandom.
FNF, or Friday Night Funkin’ is a rhythm based game around rap battles. The Protagonist (known as BF) is trying to prove himself and win over his Girlfriend’s (GF) Dad, and it spirals from there. Gameplay style, it is very similar to Dance Dance Revolution, and the music is a fast pasted dubstyle/chiptune soundtrack.
What a lot of people know FNF for, however is the Mods. Due to it being on Newgrounds, and the creators having it be open asset, many creators are able to make their own “weeks” for players to challenge their skills in. Ruv, and those within Mid Fight Masses, are one of those mods. You can find most of their lore scattered in the scenes of their week, or by going on their official FNF Wiki.
Now, what does this mean for crossovers? I put it under a read more, simply because this is going to be a lot. I’m going to explain crossover verses I have. How I make them, and how YOU could have your character be in the FNF verse quite easily. So go under the read more to continue reading.
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☾ ˚⊹  ❛❛  RUV IN OTHER UNIVERSES
Here are some just ideas that I came up with. While not EVERY interaction will work with these, they are ideas. They’re meant to kick start ideas and inspirations. I do not consider these full verses until I’ve talked with the other mun to make sure that they are okay with it. These can easily be changed, and swapped out for different things. My main goal here is to try and keep Ruv down to his core elements while fitting into a new setting.
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POKEMON- Ruv, along with Sarv run the church- which she has turned into a sanctuary and a Nursery. Much like in Canon, Sarv is supernatural, and Ruv as a run away criminal vowed his life for all eternity to protect her. With church’s going out however, the next next step would be a PokeNursery.           Ruv acts as protector of the Nursery from trainers and groups alike. He usually is seen sitting on the roof, throwing pebbles at kids or passerby’s who irk him in some way. You can always find his Onix, his Low-Key Toxtricity, and his Absol around him or the nursery at all times. He does still have his strength, speed, and other abilities. The “face” he has is also a mask- an attempt to hide his identity as the wanted criminal.
OWL HOUSE- Ruv was a wanted criminal for the longest time. His magic, due to where he was born was a lot less like those around him. He could fit into the covens, but anything he did reflected back on him. Living alone, and learning to just modify himself he became a wanted criminal with a bone breaking shout.            However all of those times soon came to a stop as he met the winged mistress he stays with now. Protecting her (though she is much more than capable of protecting himself) she runs one of the many sects in the area. It isn’t the best building, but it’s out of the way and he usually isn’t spotted. However, unfortunately his past comes back to haunt him. He has no choice, and begrudgingly assists the Guards to repay for his crimes.           Tied to Sarv through magical bonds, he has made it clear to those in charge and to her- should something come between his duty as a guard or her, he would chose her a million times over.
DUCKTALES- Ruv is the petrified remains of the guardian of St. Sarvente. Awoken as the earth was shifted off of it’s orbit and forced into something it’s not, the callous guard is in search of the one he calls Sarvente, whom he claims is the Ruler of Souls and the one he Vowed to Protect. He is, 100% made of stone.
TOONTOWN- Stickfigures aren’t uncommon drawings. One’s as complicated as he and Sarv though usually get a few eyes. Not only that, but video game characters are always treated differently in Toontown. Maybe it’s because of a developers history, or lack there of. The story of Ruvyzvat being a heartless killer however spreads like wild flower, and while he and Sarv will primarily stay at the church... sometimes curiosity becomes too much.
KINGDOM HEARTS- FNF is it’s own world. Keyblade turned into a microphone, Ruv & Sarv are some of the first that would be met. Despite their challenge, they are rather distanced from the troubles of the Darkness and Light and would be semi-good companions. 
THE BLACKOUT CLUB- Ruv is a 16. Any day will be the day that a voice will end up taking over, merging with his mind. That’s fine. Much like how Seed-The-Grudge would want, he’ll just get revenge.
HAZBIN HOTEL / HELLUVA BOSS- Ruv ironically enough is one of the few in Hell who does not make him dead. In fact, in some cases that can make him extremely rare. This crossover he IS able to accompany Sarvente into the Underworld, and follow her on her treks through it. While most assume he is a dead sinner, he usually just doesn’t answer. However something about being here and meeting those who reside within the land sets him off. He’s a tad more feral, and a tad more willing to go to the violent answer.
PORTAL- Violence core. What else is there to say? Alternatively, him being a test subject would be fascinating, especially if he was grabbed post-vow. The man is immortal, and therefore would have messed with the tests just by the fact that there is only way for him to die. Death isn’t the worst thing to happen to a man however, and he does still feel pain.
RWBY- Ruv has the ability to manipulate sound waves, specifically his own). Trained with great strength and and even greater speed, his form of combat is continuously dodging as he looks for a weak spot. Weapons of choice are shot gun snow boots, and his sickle that doubles as a short sword.
DOCTOR WHO- Sarv has the ability to create portals. While they are MEANT to be used to intergalactive travel, but instead parallel world travel that in of itself is monumental for a lot of DW plots. Ruv and Sarv can easily go from one universe to the next, however chose to stay in the church. Not to mention Ruv’s skills in target elimination and his abilities would make for some individuals to repurpose him into a weapon. While they have been approached by UNIT on several occasions, they always refuse. However, enough time has passed that they’re starting to notice that the couple in the church aren’t aging...
FNAF- RUVYZVAT and SARVENTE were creations of Fazbear Entertainments as karaoke machines... if we want to go the robot route. If we want to go the normal person route, Ruv was hired by Fazbear’s because it’s one of the few places that doesn’t do a background check, and when he said he wanted to wear a mask as part of the work outfit they were all for it. He runs the karaoke machine though. Stays away from quite literally everyone. While he isn’t the infamous killer of children here, he does have a reputation of his own that he is running from, and that does tend to make him silent.
BATIM- Criminal on the run stumbles into the wastelands formerly known as Bendy’s. Actually enjoys it at first because the cartoon was popular when he was a child. ALT. Stickman drawing of one of the artists come to life. Usually pretends to be Lost One, but when he’s alone with another (Sarvente) they turn into their stickman version selves. Has the ability to jump between 2 and 3 dimensions, but none of the strength or voice.
PSYCHONAUTS- Agent Ruvyzvat, Russian sector. Ruv is working for the Psychonauts in some weird, turning event. Mainly because the sole woman that he trusts and saved his life, Agent Sarvente brought him in. The two are inseparable, and despite Sasha and Nein being infamous for their clinginess, these two take it to a whole knew level. Ruve’s “loud voice” is actually a psychic ability he can use outside of the mind to jumble and confuse thoughts and has no damage on anything physically in the present.
GRAVITY FALLS- Sarvente is a Demon, much like Bill. Where sa Bill desires nothing but chaos and madness, Sarvente is trying her best to keep the world like it is and preserve it’s beauty. Seeing such beauty in a runaway criminal, she and he run to the forests of Oregon. Throughout Weirdmageddon, neither managed to be captured or turned to stone, however Ruv seemingly gained his incredible voice abilities. Now, they live in a semi-collapsed church out in the forest. Sarvente always asking those who come her way to join their church, Ruv is suspicious why such events would happen in such a small town, and is distrusting of most everyone he sees.
DETECTIVE CONAN / KAITOU KID / ANY ANIME OR SERIES LIKE THAT- VERY infamous criminal. Take his “Wanted Dead or Alive” that exists in all other verses, and ramp that up quite a bit. Usually wears a mask whenever he is committing a crime. He does seem to be in it for the fun, though it’s hard to tell with the stoic and expressionless looks. That being said, he does seem to have a very clear goal of what he wants. There are no patterns to where he hits, or what he takes. From wallets of people off the streets, to priceless artifacts. He’ll find where Sarvente went, and how they were able to change her mind in such a way.... how they could corrupt her.
MODERN / NON-EXTREMELY FANTASTICAL- Ruv is honestly a rather down to Earth individual, in some terms. He is untrusting of EVERYTHING, but also due to his own strengths finds little that fear or challenges him. Keep him mind he did make a deal with Lucifer (or his Lucifer) for Immortality for protecting her. While he will always be doing things on his own, a lot of his end goals and motives will come back to her. Without her involvement, he is a walking, talking, machine of destruction with no sway on which side he decides to tear apart.
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☾ ˚⊹  ❛❛  GENERAL STOPPING POINTS FOR WANTING TO PLOT
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DON’T KNOW THE WORLD YOU’RE FROM / YOU DON’T KNOW MY LORE. - That’s fine. I can get my hands dirty. I can research. In fact I usually would love nothing more to. I love learning about new fandoms, or new media to get into. You shouldn’t be afraid of that. As for mine- It should take someone less than an hour to get through all of the links I have posted in the RESOURCES tab in my bio. I’ve timed it. So if you have an hour to spare, or 15, or just enough time to read his wiki that’s fine. He’s not from a long running show, or anything like that. You can catch up extremely quick.
WELL WHAT ABOUT A BOOK/COMIC? HOW WOULD HE FIT IN?- If we are talking about Super Hero comics, then it depends. 90% of the time I will just play up his wanted status a lot more, and make it more of a reason for an interaction. You just ran into a man who has killed hundreds. If your muse is a super hero, or a vigilante? Would you let him go? What a villain? That might make a good partner.
TV SHOW? LIVE ACTION?- Again, it depends on the type of show. Superhero follows the same above. If it’s investigative, have him be a witness. Or a falsely accused man who can prove he isn’t the guilty party. Is it more supernatural- well he did make a deal with Lucifer and is an immortal now from it. There are a million ways to spin it. Don’t look at making him a big character. Quite honestly, side characters that you pass in the street have just as much backstory, and as long as there is a plausible chance of interactions then we can work it out from there.
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☾ ˚⊹  ❛❛  GENERAL IDEAS TO BE AWARE OF THAT MIGHT HELP
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HE IS A WANTED CRIMINAL.- Meaning his name Ruvyzvat is known. Despite his crimes going on for decades, he is on the run and never stopped. Several city, state, countries, and possibly nations are looking for him, and looking to take him in.
HE IS ALSO AN IMMORTAL.- While he hasn’t been around forever, and nearly not as long as Sarvente has been, he HAS been around for at least 100 years, give or take some. He can be injured, but even fatal injuries heal in an almost Deadpool like way.
HE ALSO HAS SUPERNATURAL POWERS.- His speed and reflexes alone is not something to be taken lightly. He does train and fight with Lucifer on what used to be a semi-regular basis. He has moved and adapted to be able to make sure no one but the singular person he trusts is able to lay a hand on him. That isn’t to say you can’t catch him off guard. You also have his inhuman strength to worry about, but most of all his voice. His voice which could completely demolish a building, and that isn’t the full strength. He has an amazing control over it, but that certainly isn’t a trait of his to ignore.
HE IS NOT ALWAYS IN THE CHURCH. I MADE SURE OF THAT WHEN I MADE MY BLOG.- He goes on walks, and he goes on errands. He also goes to the Gym on occasion, though not as often. He enjoys walks on the beach far earlier than anyone should be awake at. What I’m saying is running into him OUTSIDE of the church is possible. That being said, meeting him IN the church is your best bet for him warming up quicker. He feels safer in the church, and therefore usually wishes to stay there.
DOESN’T FIT THE STYLE OF CHARACTERS/WORLD? - If he doesn’t fit, then I can work to adapt him into something that WOULD fit. What characteristics about him doesn’t work. This is when I would need plotting help. If, lets say it was an all animal world, we can talk about what he is, his traits, and other such things. I am always happy to not use my icons- I just like to because I think they’re neat and I worked hard on them.
WHAT WOULD HE BE DOING?- Any number of things. He likes throwing pebbles at people. He mainly guards and protects Sarvente and her things, but I know we’re talking besides this. He cannot cook, but he does actually sew, and he does read quite a bit. Working on his fist to fist fighting would be a big one. He likes secluded areas, which especially work for explorer’s and people who walk off the beaten path.
IS THERE ANYWHERE HE COULDN’T BE?- He wouldn’t be at a bar. Ruv doesn’t drink, at all. I also don’t see him at any parties unless Sarv dragged him to them. Writing starters or plotting around those are perfectly fine, but do not expect his muse to be comfortable while he’s there.
HE SEEMS OVERPOWERED.- At times, he certainly can be, but only when he feels it’s necessary. He doesn’t flaunt his abilities, and most he has are out of self preservation. If you as a mun are worried about him and what he can do, the best thing you can do is read my information, look into his wiki, and then come and talk to me. Ruv isn’t someone who will 100% abuse what abilities he has, especially since now he is trying his best to be better for her since it makes her happy.
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☾ ˚⊹  ❛❛  GENERAL IDEAS TO HAVE YOUR CHARACTERS IN HIS UNIVERSE
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LOCATIONS?- The Church, the back alleys, the karaoke bar (that primarily does rap battles), the Alternate dimension that Sarv made so that he can be loud and not retrain his voice.
MOTIVATIONS?- If your muse is in the FNF world, then be ready for some sick beats to be dropped. Your muse could be rescuing someone from the BBEG and going through the slew of minions to sing against. There’s always the alternative side of this of “what the hell is going on?”
MY CHARACTER ISN’T FROM THERE, SO THEY WOULDN’T FIT IN.- Well I do have a “main” verse which replaces raps with fists. Looking for someone important to them, in the search of a deep and hidden artifact within the search, the rumors of a man born 100 years ago- theres a lot to be found in the library if you looked.
WHAT DOES THE FNF WORLD CONSIST OF?- It consists of Demon Daddies, Singing Skeletons and Pumpkins, Tankmen, a Demonic Lemon Demon, Sentient Video Game Characters, and if you take the mods in you also have Demon, Angels, Ghosts, Deadly Ex’s, Bomb Headed Men-- I promise your character will fit in at the end of the day.
ISN’T HE EXTREMELY AGGRESSIVE AND HARD TO TALK TO?- He can be. He talks in very short sentences, however I do my best to give my reply enough that you can reply to. Actions, and I chose to be very descriptive with his expressions in this case. Ruv spend many years alone, and sometimes with him, actions speak louder than words. When you or your muse figure that out is up to you.
WELL WE CAN’T DO AN ENTIRE THREAD IN A CHURCH.- I never said we had to. He is more than happy to leave the church should he want, and should there be a reason. Usually, (despite what it seems) he does like helping people, so you can lure him out that way ;)
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darkpoisonouslove · 3 years
Text
Ranking the Winx Club Finales
I recently finished my rewatch (and first watch of a season and a half) of Winx Club and wrote out my thoughts on all of it. However, to send off a year that was in experience a lot like watching this series - meaning, generally frustrating and downright disappointing whenever I got excited over a thing with a few highlights that actually stuck the landing - and to get out any remaining feelings over the series, I have decided to rank the finales from least to most favorite. I just have a lot of rage to spare over season 8′s finale and needed an excuse to do so. Plus, I am being thematic here goddammit! Here we go:
8. Season 8
Yeah, I really spoiled that already. To sum it up:
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But let me elaborate. Like I already said, this finale enraged the living fuck out of me. I just cannot comprehend whatever possessed them to write a finale so, so... excruciatingly devastating... to a season that started out with a lot of promise and had some extremely solid decisions (except for the art style, which is just NOT IT). This finale is an absolute disaster in every way. First, there is a new plot point introduced mere minutes before the finale and it is never tied into the overall narrative of the season which doesn’t do it any favors, especially after the two halves of the season already have trouble connecting together into one overarching story. The reason they brought in the creatures from the Dark Dimension was to distract Valtor while Winx make their attempt at stealing the stars which could have very well been a role filled by Arken confronting Valtor in an opportunity to clear up all the muddy details around their partnership and bring together the two halves of the season. The Winx’ plan had potential that was completely wasted by their own interruption instead of seeing each girl (provided Layla was playing Icy, Stella - Darcy and Musa/Tecna - Stormy) doing her best to pretend to be the Trix she’s posing as to give the Trix the due role they should have had in this finale. Instead, we get an Icy that is a complete opposite of the character we’ve known her to be for seven seasons all for the sake of a wish she doesn’t even get fulfilled despite her decision to help. Her motivation is a direct contradiction to the original plan of the Trix and disrespects her character from all previous instances of her being on the show for absolutely no reason as she is left with nothing in the end and the whole backstory they invented for her out of nowhere and couldn’t fit in any way with anything previously known about her was in vain because it was never resolved. Winx essentially manage to defeat Valtor once they wish for their own power-up and are gifted powers they haven’t really earned only to be pronounced great heroes who even get their own constellation in the sky. Come again? There was no narrative tension in this episode, no big climax to resolve what is supposedly the biggest threat in the universe at the moment, and no actual emotional conclusion to the season. It can’t even be called a messy wrap when so many threads were left hanging in there. A true disaster on every front.
7. Season 6
Even if you count both 6x25 and 6x26 as the finale of season 6, the structure is still lacking big time. Acheron who is the main drive of the entire season is defeated before the end of 6x25 and the Trix who are the other main villains were also more or less neutralized at that point to leave absolutely no stakes for the last episode so they had to pull some bullshit to fill it. The Winx are useless for the entire episode, including Bloom whose battle with the Trix is an absolute joke. Like, they can’t even think of syncing their attacks so that she can’t protect herself from all three of them with her ridiculously small shield and Bloom couldn’t even bother to actually buy herself enough time to leave the Legendarium. The only saving grace of that fight is the little emotional moment it causes for Bloom but that was also not really set up at any point of the season so it was just out of the blue. Selina changing her affiliations permanently even after the imminent threat for her life was neutralized made about as much sense as her turning evil in the first place and the fact that they needed her to lock the Legendarium made everything 1000% shittier because of how convenient it was that she just decided to turn good again without any justification for her course of actions. That coupled with the lack of consequences for any of her actions (she nearly killed Flora for heaven’s sake and no one even brought that up?) plus the dreadful info dump monologue they gave her just brought the whole thing down. The wrap-up of the season was also underwhelming after they had an entire episode that was mainly free of villains in order to close the other storylines... but, of course, there were no other storylines. Pretty disastrous.
6. Season 7
Just like in season 6, Winx were pretty useless here as they really didn’t do all that much for the plot. Luckily, the fact that the Trix were brought in allowed for the villains to have a battle that was more intriguing and provided some action as for a finale. The other key elements of the season (fairy animals, Trix, wild magic, Kalshara and Brafilius and the time travel) were actually woven together pretty well to make for a pretty satisfying finish to a season that really lacked any solid plot. The mini worlds and the Tynix transformation did not have use in the last episode but that wasn’t too catastrophic. There was actually a pretty emotional moment between the fairy animals and Winx that would have been even better if their relationships had been better developed throughout the season... You’d really think that since fairy animals were the main point of the season and there was no solid plot to account for, they would have taken the time to pay attention to Winx bonding with their fairy animals but nah. I am still impressed with how touching their goodbye was given the fact that they didn’t really have all that much time to actually become close so bonus points for that. The very last scene is a little generic but what else to expect from a season that has sung all its songs already (thank god that there were no musical numbers in this because I have a feeling it would have been even worse)?
5. Season 5
Season 5 could at least pat itself on the back for dealing with the main villain of the season even if there were a couple iffy things about the whole deal. I’m taking away consistency points for a) the fact that the Throne was supposed to be activated with the seals from the Pillars of the Infinite Ocean, yet suddenly stealing a random Sirenix would do, b) Tritannus being defeated by simply having his trident taken away even though he literally grew in body mass implying that the power of the Emperor’s Throne had seeped inside of him (also confirmed by Mystery of the Abyss) and c) the mutants inexplicably turning back into people once Tritannus lost his powers even though they never turned back during his times of relapsing back into a human thanks to running out of pollution. His defeat was just ridiculously easy and Bloom got to do it even though Layla was the one with the personal connection to Tritannus and the one most directly impacted by his actions as her family fell prey to him. Instead of getting to shine in a season that focused heavily not just on her home world but on the environment from which her powers come, she got benched in favor of Bloom getting to do everything again with only mild assist from Layla’s cousin. They should have kept it in the family and left Layla and Nereus deal with Tritannus. The Trix were blasted out of the narrative extremely conveniently and the rest of Winx were saved twice by the mutants just turning their back on them instead of destroying them right then and there and then being turned back into their original form as well. There wasn’t the usual teamwork of the whole Winx unit which I am still salty about despite being sick of all the time they reached for convergence in that season. Theredor fighting alongside Winx (different from his own daughter) was a nice touch but the king and queen of Andros coming off as so helpless (and apparently the only people in the castle unless you admit that everyone else drowned) was frustrating. Where was the Andros army? We only got Tressa, Roy, four of Winx and a handful of mermaids. Is that the whole population of the Heart of All Oceans? Additionally, the finale left no time for any emotional resolution of the season’s events, especially considering the big deal that Daphne’s revival was. Instead they opted for a musical number at the end. Not the best form.
4. Season 3
Season 3 had a finale and then another finale. Granted, better than season 6 that had a finale and then filler but there was not a lot of glory to the ending of a story with such a strong opening and emotional moments that send you bursting into tears. The spell of the four elements was pretty decent in its first appearance in 3x25 but the way Valtor lost it all was a real let down after the climatic confrontations between him and the Winx girls throughout the rest of the season. His return was more or less a desperate last attempt at personal revenge against Winx as his goal was mostly out of reach at this point. The spell of the elements was brought down in both its use to create clones of Winx’ boyfriends and in its power as it was much easier to undo in its reappearance. The saving graces of this season’s finale are the couple emotional moments sprinkled through both 3x25 and 3x26. Bloom’s willingness to sacrifice herself for her friends and the world was the thread that the finale hangs on as she is mostly the one resolving the whole conflict which was a bit dissatisfying after the emotional damage Valtor inflicted on all of them directly or indirectly. There is a few moments left to recover from the emotional intensity of their battles against Valtor but nothing that really addresses the seriousness of the trauma they had to survive because of him. The Trix didn’t even get to have a last stand of their own in either of the last two episodes despite the position in which they started the season but that was more or less unnecessary anyway since we’d already seen they can’t hold their ground against Enchantix Winx even with a boost from Valtor. Overall, the finale is pretty weak, especially as a follow-up of the dynamic and strong experiences that the season put them all through. It was the first finale that was confined to a single episode (or rather two separate battles spanning over an episode to end the season) and there wasn’t enough tension building in the confined storyline an episode told.
3. Season 4
The season 4 finale is overall a solid conclusion that delivers both a final battle with the Wizards and enough time left to address all the other storylines left unfinished. The final battle was pretty short but there was enough intensity in the previous couple episodes to have covered the action demand that the season had already set up and it also provided the opportunity to have Winx come back together as a team after Layla split up. Not only that, but Nebula and Roxy also get to play their part while the Wizards make their last desperate attempt to regain the upper hand. It’s pretty climatic for something that length that also left about 15 minutes of the episode still to fill. Everything that had to do with the closure of the Earth fairies storyline was emotional beyond belief and gave more depth to all of them and Layla’s decision to join them. Winx had to face all of the separate responsibilities they have on their shoulders and find a way to balance them all so that they can pursue their dreams. There was a plethora of emotional moments and a deserved spotlight shined on Layla’s situation and how she’s dealing with it, plus the others’ feelings. It was a really touching finale and also an inspiring one to see Winx stand behind their dreams while still balancing their responsibilities. It seemed to achieve the initial goal of the season to have them adapting to the adult life they were shifting into.
2. Season 2
I’m gonna be honest, I had a very hard time deciding whether this would be number one or two because the season 2 finale had a lot more character moments that were very moving. It really corresponds to the season since it was more character driven than the first one and the finale suited that. However, ultimately I decided that it would take silver because of a couple minor things that bring it down. To get that out of the way, the second portal to Realix that led Winx there was imo a copout that destroyed pretty much all of the tension that the entire season spent building around the search for the Codex. It just felt so wrong for there to be another way to enter that dimension and to me it was a big disappointment. Especially since the key to activating the copy of the Codex was the color riddle that was a ridiculous panicked attempt on the writers’ part to show that Stella isn’t useless and has what to give the team but it only made her look worse in my eyes. Also, minor gripe for the fact that there wasn’t that much of a final battle since everything ended with a single convergence. Of course, there were several battles across the episode between different sides that made for good action and tension and there was magic involved in more ways than simply the convergence in order to defeat Darkar but it was still a bit of a letdown to never truly see him put his everything in battle. And the fact that Griffin and Faragonda held him off for as long as they did on their own actually hurt his credibility as a threat as well. But hey, on the plus side, remember when the teachers actually helped and did not leave the fate of the whole universe in the hands of 16-year-olds? Good times! The MegaTrix and her? their? battle with Darkar was epic. 20/10 on that concept alone, plus it really brought a great feeling of vindication after the number Darkar did on them and felt so satisfying even if they were also part of the villain team of the season. They were portrayed as three-dimensional and weren’t cast out of the narrative without care just because they were villains and that was actually probably the most solid moment that the Trix have ever had on the show (just minor gripe for the fact that they were supposed to be trapped in Realix when the dimension was sealed forever but they were later somehow brought out of there which was never explained). Sky’s speech to Bloom was actually a pretty emotional moment and the payoff from it felt earned and allowed for Bloom’s victory against the darkness to feel natural and in place. It was probably one of their best moments as a couple. Plus, the cute little interactions that we got during the celebration party to send off the season on its merry way made for a great finale. (And a shoutout to the Musa x Riven scenes both in 2x25 and 2x26 because that was some good shit and some cute shit and it was exactly what we deserved).
1. Season 1
Season 1 reigns supreme with its finale. There is just no other finale that can rise to the level of the first one that was built for about one third of the season so that the last episode could dive right into the action without wasting time on setup. This is also the only place where we truly and fully get to see each of the Winx and the Trix (well, minus Layla who hasn’t been introduced yet) showcase their powers but especially Bloom and Icy. It is the longest battle we have seen and it builds a lot of tension on top of what was already there to leave you on the edge of your seat. The exploration of magic in this episode makes it so iconic and such a great watch even on the 300th time. There isn’t really much more to say than simply “It is epic”. What makes it even better though is the fact that there is enough time left in the episode to wrap up everything else and not in a rushed way. The battleground is extended to the locations that have already suffered the previous battles to show the full extension of the action and to setup the wrap-up that comes at the end. They even find the time to let some of the minor characters have distinct and touching moments as well and thus expand the universe of Winx further than just the main characters. Speaking off, they all get their moments, too, and the Specialists aren’t left out of that (you will never catch me not fangirling over Sky and Riven fighting back to back). The finale also doesn’t forget about the overarching story about Bloom’s origin which is commendable considering the constant lack of consistency the show suffers. This is really the only finale that isn’t lacking in any of the departments and manages to provide a truly fascinating story that keeps you entertained and in suspense while at the same time does not discard the emotional payoff or the logical continuation of events. It just excels in every way.
Well, this is my analysis on the finales of Winx Club. What started out as a bitch fest actually left on on a positive and uplifting note to make for a great ending to a harsh year. Let’s see what beginnings 2021 will bring! ;)
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obeymeoof · 4 years
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C-can I get hcs for the boys declaring to MC? And reactions to acceptance and rejection? Thank you
These took me a while to write and were also somewhat difficult so please excuse it if you think some of these are out of character.
Lucifer
Seeing as he’s the Avatar of Pride, he wouldn't confess to you unless he was completely confident that you would accept.
Rejection
So when you reject his love confession he has to take a moment for his brain to process your answer. 
He thought for sure you reciprocated. He was 99% sure.
Wouldn’t say much more than “Excuse me then” and awkwardly clear his throat.That'd be about the last of a friendly convo you’d have with him.
Any other matters with you would be strictly professional. Things like school work. Updates on your tasks a what not
He would distance himself from you. He’d stuff those feelings down with the other ones he’s hid all these years. 
Guess that 1% mattered more than he thought
Acceptance(slight chapter 20 spoilers)
When you accept his advances he gives you a knowing, but loving smile.
Pulls you in and kisses you.
“I’ve always known that you wanted to do this” (Literally straight from 20-14)
Will want to spend time alone with you after you accept so that you two can enjoy your first few minutes/hours being a couple. 
Refuses to let anyone else have you for at least the rest of the day. As much as he would like to have you to himself forever, he knows his brothers would start a riot
Levi
It takes so much to build up his confidence enough to even think about confessing to you.He is a stuttering mess when he tries to tell you. Honestly, it's a miracle if he can even get it out. 
Rejection
When you reject him, you can almost feel his heart break
“Of course a normie like you wouldn’t want to be with a disgusting otaku like me”
Assumes you like one of his other brothers and mumbles about how “Its NOT fair…”
Shuts himself in his room nearly the entire remainder of your stay and avoids looking at you when being around you is mandatory.
He gets so incredibly jealous everytime he sees you being friendly and happy with other people but not him.
Puts all of his focus on anime and throws his money into merch as some retail therapy.
Won’t come to see you off on your final day because even though you rejected him and he hid, he can’t hide that he’s going to miss looking at you when you don’t notice or hearing your voice pass by his room. He was jealous but knowing you were close gave him a weird sense of comfort.
Acceptance
he understands that you have to think about it(maybe) but if there's too much hesitation this boy may run for it. 
“yeah I figured you wouldn't want to-“ wait...you said yes?...YOU SAID YES?!
Will make that “woooooah” sound that he makes when he gets excited. He is so blushy.
“You’re...you’re way better than Ruri-chan!”
Realizes that he’s clueless as to what to actually do in a relationship. 
Suggests he tries things that hes learned from his animes but...please help this boy. 
Belphie
Belphie isn’t too shy of a guy. If there’s something on his mind he has no problem telling someone what he thinks. This is apparently from how he openly expressed his opinions on destroying the human race.Once he realizes he loves you, he may be a little nervous to tell you but he won't stall too much. When he finds a moment alone with you, he will confess to you. 
Rejection 
The rejection hits him like a ton of brick but he just sighs and nods. 
“I see...I understand. I guess you’d be crazy to accept me anyways seeing as I tried to kill you…”
He feels a lot of guilt for his actions and thinks he was insane to think you’d love him back after everything he’s done. 
After this, Belphie seems to sleep longer than usual. 
Acceptance
His voice is steady and calm when he confesses to you but you can see the bright red on his ears. 
When you accept his confession, his eyes widen a bit and his cheeks fully flush. 
he smiles at you softly and chuckles a little. 
“wow...ill be honest I didn't expect you to say yes. I didn’t plan this far ahead so i'm not quite sure of what to do next”
He may be a tad bit awkward in the relationship at first until he gets comfortable with you. 
Expect all the snuggling and naps you could want!
Satan
Similarly to Lucifer, he doesn't ask unless he thinks you feel the same. He’s confident in himself when he confesses to you. He has a little smirk on his face as he waits for your answer.
Rejection 
As he expected! You don’t feel the s-.....You...don't feel the same?
His first instinct is to react with anger. 
Says many hurtful things that he doesn't mean in order to make you feel some of the pain he is feeling.
After he’s done he’ll storm off even angrier at himself for acting like he did and saying what he said
However, he won’t apologize. The ill feelings make it slightly easier to be away from you
Or that's what he tells himself
Acceptance
When you accept his confession he isn't too surprised but he is of course happy.
Puts his hands on bath sides of your face and kisses your forehead 
Being with him is very casual and laid back. 
He’ll like to take you places like the library or just to his room to read and talk about books. 
You can bet your ass he’s going to take you on every mystery adventure he can stick his nose into. You two will be like Holmes and Watson
Asmo
Asmo is telling you he loves you from the first time you arrive so it's hard to tell when he’s being super serious.When he honestly starts to put you before himself he's confused. 
Rejection 
and he’s also worried because...you already don’t seem to reciprocate any of his feelings no matter how much he flirts. 
When he comes to you to admit these feelings, he still kind of expects you to accept because he's so used to everyone else easily accepting him
And when you reject he still can’t quite accept it. He’s never had to deal with rejection so it throws him completely off. 
He’s persistent and will continually try to make you fall for him. 
You're the first person he’s ever truly loved and you didn’t feel the same. 
When he realizes that it just isn’t working, he falls on bad habits. 
He parties more than he does already, has even more flings(if possible), and slowly forgets to take care of himself. 
Acceptance 
Again, this is the first time Asmo has ever felt like putting anyone else above himself and also the first time he’s ever felt like devoting himself to one person. 
He admits this to you with a dramatic sigh.
Youll pretty much have to spell it out for him. ITS LOVE ASMO!
After you explain and tell him you feel the same...just be prepared.
He’s going to be so excited and all over, telling about all the things he wants to do with you...or to you. He speaks so freely about it that its enough to make anyone blush.
He best shows his feelings through physical touch so be prepared for a long night with the avatar of lust.
Beel
When Beel is around you, he doesn't feel hungry all the time. Being around you is so fulfilling to him.He’s happy around you. You’re the only one that makes him feel whole.
Rejection 
So when you reject him, his stomach drops. 
He understands and doesn't hold any hard feelings against you. In fact, he will act as he did before and still make sure you're always ok.
However, he eats a lot less than before.He doesn't feel hungry but this time it's for a different reason.
He feels full but he’s full of longing. Longing for someone he can never have. It weighs him down and makes even his favorite food taste bland. It’s like cotton in his mouth
He still loves you, but he has to love you from afar and it's so hard on him. But he will still act like the same ol’ Beel around you.
Acceptance 
Beel is all to happy when you accept.
In fact, one of the first things he wants to do is tell Belphie since he had been encouraging him to tell you the whole time.
Expect to be included in the “Twin Snuggle Pile”
He wants to try all sorts of new foods with you.
He’ll teach you how to cook if you don’t know how to already and it'll become a daily thing. It's one of the main things you two do to bond even more.
Honestly, being with Beel probably feels like being in one of those tv shows with the ideal husband.
Mammon 
Let's be honest, Mammon has also had a thing for “his human '' since they came to the Devildom. He didn't understand that what he was feeling was love at first. He thought it was the same feeling that you have when taking care of a pet. Even after coming to the realization that it was much more than that he tried to deny it. How could he have feelings  like these for a HUMAN???...Eventually he comes to terms with it and “begrudgingly” decides it’s time for “The Great Mammon” to sweep his human off their feet 
Rejection 
In a way, he is shocked. He’s embarrassed and sad.
In All honesty, he hadn’t really thought of the outcome of asking you . He just did it.
His face is blank for a second before he gives you his usual Mammon grin and laughs.
“Wow human that was harsh! Good thing it was all just a joke!” It wasn’t. 
He plays it off as a joke to save himself from the awkwardness of it but probably just makes it worse.
After this, he continues to try to be himself but there's a noticeable change. 
He’s not nearly as rambunctious and his prank level drops exponentially. 
I know I said Levi goes and does some retail therapy but this guy goes beyond that.
He will eventually go back to being his true old self but it takes him a while
Even the others are worried.
Acceptance 
“Ahahaha! Of course you’d accept The Great Mammon!” he stands there with a big, goofy, blushy smile on his face.
Like honestly, you would've thought he won the lottery! Which in his mind, he did.
He’s honestly so nervous of messing up. He doesn't want to do anything that'll run you off.
100% bragging to his brothers about, which fyi, be ready for the judgmental looks.
Please teach this boy about how to save money.
2/16/2020
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demonicintegrity · 4 years
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Some Kipo character-based thoughts
Scarlamange is most definitely going to have an arc or two in the future. I say two because I feel like just one in one season isn’t gonna be enough for him to be redeemed and more emotional stable. In my mind Kipo could go on for two more seasons before I see material getting stale.
Speaking of emotional stability I honestly believe Hugo and Wolf are the most emotionally damaged characters of the show.
Hugo was treated as a labrat, was respected/care for by only two people who he then thought couldve been dead only to realize they left without him, took it as a sign of rejection, has majoR abandonment issues and Im sure an identity crisis somewhere in there, and just lost his only other dream/passion which was monarchy. Dudes been through some shit and has been shown to be borderline manic in some ways. Yet he STILL seems to wish for some sort of companionship, especially with Kipo.
Ill never get over how he called Kipo “little sister”
God i want more bonding moments between Kipo and Hugo, even if he cant find himself completely loving Lio again, I want him to have a good relationship with Kipo ;;;v;;;
Wolf is our other emotionally scarred child. Seriously, the trauma of having a family raise you only to turn and try to kill you is rough. Like really rough. **and no one else knows** She’s literally living and dealing with the damage on her own. I feel like we’re gonna see her have a mental breakdown if she ever opens up to anyone about the trauma shes been through. The wiki says shes 10, which is soooo young omg I wanna hug her.
Speaking of Wolf, I have a personal headcannon that she never gave herself a name after she left her wolf pack. Whatever name they gave her is likely the only one shes ever known herself to be. Shes never given a name and seem fine being called Wolf and whatever else the co comes up with.
I also have no idea who Wolf skinned for her pelt but the idea of a girl less than 10 being able to kill, cook, eat, and make a goddamn pelt out of an animal is horrifying in its own right. I also feel like she wears the wolf pelt because she doesn’t have a whole lot of identity out of it. She was literally raised by wolves. It’s likely the only solid form of identity she was given. Makes me wonder if she’ll revamp herself at some point. She is very young. She’s likely going to change a lot over the course of her life
God i hope as a teen and adult Wolf is able to get therapy and be a much more relaxed and happy person.
If season 2 was any indicator Jamack might just show up for one episode and then just disappear again. In way it’s kind of fitting since he seems to just be floating along with life now that he’s not apart of the Mod Frogs.
Speaking of which. idk if he was there for the coronation but I feel like Jamack’s reaction to his former boss and colleagues being fucking dead HAS to be dead at some point. Like,,,, theres some more emotional baggage for him to deal with
Holy shit them being turned into statues like that was fucking brutal my dude. and the implications that Scarlemange was down to do it again potentially is sooo fucked. I havent gotten *that* kind of brutalness in a children’s show since when White Diamond pulled out Steven’s gem in CYM.
Seriously, its rated TV-Y7 on netflix.
Back on track, Jamack is totally Kipo’s uncle figure who just floats by every now again from whatever new thing he’s doing. Dude’s really interesting and I adore his attachment to Kipo and I really hope it’s explored more. Good lord Lio’s reaction to him could be comedy gold if played right.
TD:LR I want more Jamack content and more Kipo/Hugo bonding content. Also give Wolf therapy 2k20
Why didn’t Kipo just break down the wall in the final episode. Wouldn’t that be so much easier than tipping over the tree. Literally just,,, break a wall and let everyone out. I get it’s a drop down but it’s not like they were gonna be able to use the entrance they got in with anyways with the gold in the way. Just,,,, break the fucking wall next time.
Also, if Scarlemange’s plan did work out and he really was Emperor, it wouldn’t last for long. Ignoring his own personal baggage that could/would interfere, I simply doubt he understands what goes into running a functional society. Doubt they were giving him textbooks on civics and government to read while in the burrow. It wouldn’t have been long before some of the other gangs got pissed at him for something or being overthrown started being planned. I suppose it was better for him that it ended before it could start, because I’d hate to see the spiral he’d go on with that.
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glitterblazercalum · 4 years
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got a river for a soul, and baby, you’re a boat
or:  Oh, fuck. We showed up wearing matching couples’ costumes to this party by accident and now everyone thinks we’re together.” + cashton
hello and happy halloween everyone!! giant thank u to ainslee @ashesonthefloor for putting this event together!! and for forcing me to actually get this fic done, looking it over, and generally being a major source of serotonin in my life. another huge thank u to bella @clumsyclifford for being one of my favorite people and loving frat boys enough that it made me want to write a fic about them to annoy her <3 love you both <3 
here is the link to the event masterpost bc I highly recommend checking out all of the other amazing fics: 
https://ashesonthefloor.tumblr.com/post/633534107120549888/hello-welcome-to-my-halloween-fic-event
warnings: mentions of alcohol
word count: 2,872
without further ado, please enjoy the fic I wrote mostly all last night while looping drag me down for thirteen hours straight :))
Calum doesn’t know what fuckhead came up with the idea of having a joint Halloween party for Sigma Nu and Sigma Pi this year, but he really wants to fight them. He thinks he’d probably have a lot of people on his side, considering how much Sig Nu and and Sig Pi hate each other, so he tucks the idea of interfraternity war away in his head as a contingency plan in case the party goes to shit, as joint parties with any other frat always seem to. And it’s not like it’s a one night thing, because all three days of the “Halloweekend,” as Michael refuses to stop calling it, are supposedly going to be spent with Sig Nu, one party at their own house, and two at the shithole that he assumes is the Sig Nu house, in some deranged attempt at bonding. He’ll be lucky to make it out alive, probably. 
Before college, he really never did anything of his own for Halloween, mainly used to being used as a prop or side character for his sister Mali-Koa’s elaborate costumes, or, after she’d moved out, sticking a pair of fake fangs in his mouth to hand out candy to the few kids who rang the doorbell despite his efforts to keep all the lights in the house off. Last year, as a freshman, he’d gotten roped into a group costume with some of the other Sig Pi pledges, and while his memories are...hazy at best, he vaguely remembers falling asleep in a Teletubbies onesie at the end of the night. 
This year, though, no one has tried to tell him what to dress up as, so it’s now a few hours before the first of the three parties, and Calum still has no ideas for what he should dress up as. A quick Google search for “cheap easy costumes” hadn’t really been all that helpful, so he decides to ignore the problem and take a nap until he actually has to leave. 
A few hours later, Michael barges into the room to drag him out of bed, and looks around for a few seconds before asking, “You don’t have a costume, do you?”
Calum groans, pulling himself out of bed and wracking his brain for an idea that he can plausibly bullshit in the next few seconds, because he can’t let Michael be right and have something to tease him about, so he blurts, “I’m going to be a salt shaker.” 
Michael gapes at him a bit for a few seconds before asking, “What the fuck? What kind of costume is that? What are you even going to wear for that?” 
Calum mentally kicks himself in the shin, as hard as possible, because he really hasn’t thought this through. Why couldn’t he have just said cat or cowboy or something even slightly in the realm of normal Halloween costumes? 
“Uhhh.. y’know that baseball tee I have? The one with the black sleeves and white middle?” 
“I’m pretty sure that’s in my closet, but continue.” 
“What the fuck, dude? Give it back!” 
“You haven’t noticed that it’s missing for like three weeks, I just assumed it was mine now. Tell me what the rest of the costume is,” Michael demands. 
“I’ll just tape a piece of paper with a big ‘S’ on it to the front of my shirt, and then put one of those pots with the holes on my head. Bam! Salt shaker!” Calum says, moderately impressed with his ability to pull stuff out of his ass this quickly. 
“What makes you think we even have a colander?” Michael asks, crossing his arms. 
Calum gives him a blank stare. “A what?” 
“That’s what the pots with the holes are called, you idiot.” 
“You think Harry would live anywhere that didn’t have a fully-stocked kitchen? There’s bound to be one in one of the cabinets or something.” 
“Fine. I’ll go get the shirt while you look for the colander.” Before Calum can object, suggest that he look through Michael’s closet himself and steal back any of his other clothes that have somehow wound up there, Michael’s already halfway down the hallway. 
Sighing, he trudges down the stairs towards the kitchen, where one of the seniors, Niall, is sitting with his head in his hands, dressed as a pirate. 
“Hey, dude, nice costume,” Calum offers as a greeting. “You wouldn’t happen to know where I can find a colander, would you? I know Harry—” 
“Do not talk to me about Harry right now,” Niall says, and Calum stops his search for a moment to send him a concerned look.
“What happ—” 
“That needy-ass motherfucker thinks that just because I didn’t want to do a couples’ costume with him, it means I don’t love him anymore! Never mind the fact that he literally mentioned this idea to me yesterday, well past the point where everyone finalizes their costumes.” 
Calum offers him a sympathetic look and offers, “Couples’ costumes are boring and cheesy anyways. Neither of you are missing out on anything, at least in my opinion.”
Niall lifts his head up from where he’d been repeatedly hitting it on the table to smirk at Calum and ask, “Have a lot of experience with couples’ costumes, do you?” 
Luckily, Calum has finally found the colander, so he opts to ignore the question and just leave the kitchen entirely. 
When he gets back upstairs, Michael’s in his room, unabashedly checking himself out in the mirror that’s on the back of the closet door. “Yeah, yeah, your anime character of the year looks great, now get out and let me get ready.” 
Michael scoffs, “Get ready, as if you’re even doing anything,” but moves towards the door anyway. 
Michael’s right, the costume is ridiculously easy to throw together, and two minutes later, they’re both out the door, walking across Fraternity Row to get to the Sig Nu house, where the music is already blaring and strobe lights throw red, then green, then blue shadows across everyone’s faces. On his way to the kitchen to grab a drink, he sees Niall and Harry walk into the house, holding hands and laughing together, so he assumes that their fight has blown over as quickly as all of their other fights always seem to.
He sees a few different trays of shots and decides he might as well take one to get the night started off right. After, he realizes that he probably shouldn’t grab a beer now, Mali’s rule about sticking to one color of booze for the night ringing in his head, so he settles for filling up a Solo cup with whatever glow in the dark gin concoction is in all the punch bowls. He wouldn’t put it past the Sig Nus to poison the drink on purpose, but it tastes relatively normal, so he grabs another cup for Michael and attempts to leave the kitchen, steering around the couple sloppily making out in the doorway. 
It’s harder to spot Michael than it usually is, considering that at least half the people at the party are wearing some type of wig, but Calum eventually makes his way back over to him. He’s talking to Niall and Harry, and they both offer him a smile before continuing on with the conversation. Once that reaches a lull, Niall leans closer to Calum and says, “Mate, you didn’t need to lie to me about couples’ costumes.” 
Calum has no idea what Niall is talking about, so he shakes his head and asks, “What are you talking about?” 
Niall cackles, and Harry turns to look at him adoringly before going back to talking to Michael, and Calum is more confused than ever. Niall grabs his shoulder and spins him around and points in the direction of a clump of people. “You’re salt and he’s pepper, right? That’s such an obvious couples’ costume, although you two do seem to have a bit of a disconnect on how much effort you put in. That guy really went all out. And dude, why haven’t you told us that you have a boyfriend? You know we’d want to know about that, give him the Sig Pi seal of approval and all that. Wait. Unless he’s a Sig Nu, in which case, I don’t want to know because I’d probably have to kick you out. That’s a joke, by the way.” 
Calum barely has the presence of mind to mumble, “He’s not my boyfriend,” before crossing the room to get to the guy in the hyper-realistic pepper grinder costume. 
The guy smiles as Calum approaches, and despite the costume covering most of his body, Calum can tell that he’s cute. “Why so salty?” Pepper Guy greets, the sunshiney smile still on his face. 
Calum smirks and replies, “Maybe I just need some more spice in my life.” Pepper Guy laughs, and just like everything else about him, it’s cute, and Calum wants to hear it again. “I’m Calum, by the way.”
“Ashton. Nice to meet you, man.” 
Calum leans a little closer so that it’s easier to hold a conversation over the loud music and asks, “What’s the deal with the super realistic pepper grinder costume?” 
Ashton makes a strange noise, somewhere between a laugh and a groan, and says, “I got it off some random sketchy website, but it was supposed to be a chess piece. Something clearly went wrong somewhere in production, and my friend Luke said that I might as well sharpie a “P” onto it and just go with it.” 
Calum makes a noise of agreement, mind stuck on a dumb idea. Before he can reconsider, he sends Michael a quick text that says if u’ve already taken over as dj, can u play that come grind w me song? and a few seconds later, he hears the opening notes and grins. 
“Hey, Ashton?” 
“Yeah?” Ashton replies, as realization slips across his face.
Right in time with the singer’s voice, Calum says, “Come grind with me,” and he laughingly pulls Ashton towards the makeshift dance floor. Neither of them can really dance, so it’s a mess of laughter and limbs flopping around, but Calum feels an unmistakable electricity between them too, and once the song is over, they stay for the next few, enraptured by each other. When they finally exhaust themselves with all the laughing and mock-twerking, Ashton asks Calum if he wants a refill, and when Calum nods, he grabs his hand and starts pulling him towards the kitchen. 
Once they’re there, Calum goes for another serving of the glow in the dark punch, which is steadily dimming as the glow sticks run out of light. Since that’s really the only light source in the kitchen, Calum doesn’t see Ashton until he’s turning around and Ashton is right in front of him, reaching around him for a cup. Calum’s kind of trapped with his back against the counter, Ashton’s pepper grinder costume tall enough to really block out the view of the rest of the party, and the world narrows, all of it contained in where their eyes connect, and then, after Calum has safely set his drink back on the counter, that narrow point expands just a bit to where their mouths land on each other’s. The colander gets knocked off Calum’s head as he lifts himself up to sit on the counter, wrapping his legs around Ashton’s waist to pull him closer, as close as he can possibly get him. 
Ashton’s sucking a mark into Calum’s neck when Calum has his first coherent thought of the past few minutes and pulls back, breathlessly asking “Wait, wait, you’re not a Sig Nu, are you?” fully expecting the answer to be no.
Ashton steps back a little too, and it takes him a second to register the question before he groans, “Of course you’re a fucking Sig Pi, that’s the only explanation that makes sense for me never seeing you anywhere before. You’re too hot for me to not notice otherwise.” 
Calum flushes and mentally curses out whatever idiots had started the rivalry between Sig Nu and Sig Pi before he grabs his stupid colander off the ground and gives Ashton an awkward wave goodbye.  
Once he’s out of the kitchen, he quickly glances around in search of Michael, and when he can’t immediately find him, he just gives up and leaves entirely. Fuck Sig Nu. 
He spends most of the next day bitching about his hangover, and then, a few hours later, bitching about his hangover while helping to set up the house for that night’s party. 
He doesn’t really have much more of a costume for tonight, throwing on a gray shirt and sharpie-ing some whiskers on his face. Michael takes pity on him and makes him a headband with an approximation of what they both think mouse ears are, and Calum is mildly entertained by going up to everyone and saying, “I’m a mouse, duh.” 
His heart’s really not in the right place to party tonight, which is probably breaking the cardinal rule of being in a frat, so he sticks close to Michael, who has taken over the role of DJ, once again. Zayn from Alpha Sig strolls over after about half an hour, devil horns askew, and quietly says to Calum, “Cat and mouse, huh? Didn’t think you had it in you, Hood, that’s proper cute. Not as cute as me and Lou, mind you, but still, I respect the effort.” 
Calum is reluctant to look up and see who he’s accidentally matching with today, because, with his luck, it’s probably another guy from Sig Nu. When he does eventually look up, he immediately makes eye contact with Ashton, who happens to be walking by, dressed in all black and with whiskers sharpie’d onto his face too. Calum wants to bang his head into a wall because the universe clearly hates him if it’s having him match with Ashton again. Even beyond that, Ashton looks so good out of the stupid pepper grinder and in all black that Calum wants to make out with him again. 
Ashton is clearly having similar thoughts when he gestures Calum over and leads them towards a little pocket of quiet space in one of the lesser used hallways. 
Calum really wants to hook his thumb into one of Ashton’s belt loops, so he does, as Ashton looks him up and down a few times. “Is the mouse costume your way of telling me you want me to chase you?” 
Calum murmurs, “Shut up,” before leaning in to kiss him, frat rivalry be damned. It’s just as good as it was the night before, maybe even more so, now that the pepper costume isn’t in their way. At this point, there’s no denying the chemistry. It can’t be blamed on being drunk since Calum’s been nursing the same beer all night, and the part of his brain that’s protesting against being this close to a Sig Nu is getting smaller and smaller as he and Ashton continue to kiss. 
They stay in that hallway for the rest of the night, eventually sliding down to sit on the ground, legs pressed together, sharing stupid stories about their respective frats. Calum’s surprised when the music shuts off because it feels like it’s only been an hour at most, that’s how easy it is to talk to Ashton. Ashton heaves himself up and reaches both hands down to help Calum up, too. 
“I don’t think there’s any way you can match your costume to mine tomorrow, but I’ll come find you anyways,” Ashton says, as he leaves Calum with a kiss on the cheek. 
Calum’s too wired to sleep much, so he opts to help clean up the house instead, and that takes up enough of his day that when nighttime rolls around, he’s stood staring at his closet without a costume idea for the third time in as many days. After ten minutes of consideration, he digs through one of his drawers to pull out the fake vampire fangs that he had somehow remembered to bring with him, and he goes down the hall to ask Jack to put some fake blood on his mouth and neck. Jack always goes all out for Halloween. 
Once he’s at the party, he doesn’t have to wait long to find Ashton, who looks incredibly good in his werewolf costume. There’s fake blood on him too, which is really the only way their costumes could be understood to be matching, or so Calum thinks. Tonight, Jack and Alex are the ones to tease him, “You know what, I agree. Jacob and Edward should have ended up together, Bella was boring as shit.” 
Calum’s really not bothered by the comments at all, so much so that he’s already thinking of couples’ costumes ideas for next year when he finds his way over to Ashton and whispers, “Let’s get out of here.” 
“Are you trying to make a move on me? I’m a respectable Sigma Nu, I don’t know if I can allow that.” 
 Calum laughs and tugs him out the door, “Told you I wanted some more spice in my life.” 
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abigailnussbaum · 4 years
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Harley Quinn, She-Ra, and the redemptive power of friendship
I watched the first episode of DC Universe’s Harley Quinn cartoon last year, and concluded that it was well done but not for me. The show seemed a little too in love with in-your-face violence, a little too deliberately outrageous. The positive reactions convinced me to give it a second look, and as it turns out Harley Quinn really is as good as everyone has been saying. You do need to accept a cheerfully cavalier attitude towards a lot of gruesome violence as the show’s buy-in, but I was actually impressed by how deftly Harley Quinn walks the line between humor and violence, while still stressing that some things are out of bounds for (some of) its characters. Add to that a well-crafted portrait of Gotham complete with a lot of familiar faces, some great storytelling and character work, and impressively gonzo set-pieces, and it’s easily one of my favorite superhero stories ever, not just in animation.
I was struck, while watching the first season, by the similarities between Harley Quinn and She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. Obviously, the two shows are very distinct despite both being female-led animated shows. She-Ra is an all-audiences series with an earnest tone and a strong emphasis on heroism. Harley Quinn is entirely unsuitable for children, and nearly all of its characters are villains. But both are also series about the redemptive power of friendship, and female friendship in particular (also, from what I’ve heard about Harley Quinn’s second season, a friendship that eventually turns romantic). In Harley Quinn’s opening episode, she escapes Arkham Asylum with the help of Poison Ivy, after waiting a year for the Joker to rescue her. Ivy helps Harley realize that the Joker never really cared about her, and that she can be a better and more successful supervillain without him. The rest of the season concerns Harley’s attempts to prove just that.
I found myself thinking that Harley Quinn addressed a lot of the problems I had with how She-Ra depicted this theme, while at the same benefiting from its distinct tone and subject matter. I’d like to talk about some of the things it does better.
For starters, Harley Quinn treats friendhip as an ongoing process. Harley and Ivy are already friends at the beginning of the series, and it’s their friendship that gives Harley the strength to break with Joker, and to believe in her own ability to become an independent supervillain. But Harley also backslides over the course of the first season. She takes the Joker back and regrets it. She ignores Ivy’s advice, especially about the types of people she should be associating with and the organizations she strives to join. And when she achieves professional success, she ignores the needs of not just Ivy, but of the crew she’s recruited over the course of the season. Harley’s journey throughout the season is one of realizing that she’s been a bad friend to the very people who have helped her to grow beyond the Joker, and of figuring out how to be better to them - in other words, the very things that She-Ra lets characters like Catra or Entrapta off the hook for.
At the same time, Harley Quinn also condemns toxic relationships and argues for their dissolution. This is most obvious in the case of the Joker, who repeatedly makes overtures towards Harley only to betray her. But if the Joker is too obviously untrustworthy, engaging in classic abusive behavior such as gaslighting Harley, belittling her abilities, and working to isolate her from her friends, there are also other characters throughout the season whose relationships with Harley initially seem more nurturing, only to reveal themselves as predatory. Harley bonds with the supervillain Queen of Fables over the difficulties of being a female supervillain, but eventually realizes that the other woman will happily stomp over her to achieve her own goals. And she tries to reconnect with her family, forgiving her gambling-addict father’s past exploitation of her, only for him to turn around and try to make money off of her again. Again and again, the show concludes that there are some people whom it is right and proper to shut out of your life - even to extent of acknowledging that when Harley apologizes to Ivy for letting her down, it is entirely possible that Ivy might still decide to end their relationship. To me that’s an essential corollary to She-Ra’s emphasis on friendship and second chances, the recognition that some people aren’t worth the effort.
Harley Quinn doesn’t pretend that becoming a better friend makes you a good person. This is, of course, my core problem with She-Ra, the way that it conflates personal friendship with a more global morality, and allows characters who have done a great deal of evil on the latter front to skate off with hardly any condemnation or consequences, because they’ve become someone’s friend. Harley Quinn is better at realizing that the two don’t really have that much to do with one another. To be clear, this is much easier to do when you’re telling a comedic story about unrepentant supervillains, than in a straight-faced story about heroes saving the world. But another way of putting that is that She-Ra fatally splits its focus whereas Harley Quinn wisely narrows it in a way that more successfully brings its message across. All of the show’s supervillain characters are capable of emotional growth and of choosing to be there for the people they care about (though a lot of them, like the Joker, choose not to do that). But this has nothing to do with their willingness to kill, maim, and cause general mayhem, because how you treat the people closest to you often doesn’t say much about how you view humanity as a whole.
Finally, and despite the above, Harley Quinn doesn’t ignore the difference between good and evil. One very easy approach to take in a story that prioritizes personal relationships above all else and sets itself among villains is to make the “good guys” look just as bad - corrupt, or inept, or priggish. That’s the approach She-Ra creator Novelle Stevenson took in her graphic novel Nimona, in which the league of superheroes are basically keeping themselves in a steady supply of villains by engaging in autocratic, abusive behavior. Harley Quinn could have easily taken this path, but it doesn’t. Though superheroes appear only rarely in the show, they are uniformly depicted as positive characters, good at their job and usually on the right side of things. When they say that Harley and her crew should be sent back to Arkham, you can’t help but conclude that they’re right, and the only reason we don’t want that to happen is that we like Harley. More than that, we like watching her relationships with Ivy and the rest of her crew develop and deepen. Again, this is the show walking an incredibly narrow line, getting us to root for a villain on emotional grounds, without ignoring the actual evil they’re doing. Harley Quinn is almost certainly never going to pivot its title character to full-on good guy status (even when Harley does heroic things, she usually only saves her friends, not the rest of Gotham), and that’s fine. We can enjoy the show as a story about one woman’s growth towards better emotional health (not to mention, a funny and violent cartoon) without pretending that she’s something she isn’t.
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keelywolfe · 4 years
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FIC: Some Sense of Normalcy ch.3 (baon)
Summary: It’s Edge’s first day back to work at the Embassy, but his job isn’t the only thing on his mind.
Tags:  Spicyhoney, Kustard, Established Relationships, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Mentions of Past Injury
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 |
~~*~~
Part of the ‘by any other name’ series.
Read Chapter 3 on AO3
or
Read it here!
~~*~~
Stretch was only two steps out of the elevator and already he could taste his own sweat heavy on the back of his tongue. It was fine, no big deal, it was only a bunch of equipment, right? The harsh gleam of the overhead fluorescent lights on stainless steel shouldn’t be that damn upsetting, it shouldn’t.
Shoulda woulda coulda, and fuck it all, because it damn well was, and the bitch of it was that Stretch wasn’t even sure why.
He started to turn around. Not to get back into the elevator, no, he wasn’t peacing out. Only to breathe for a minute, use those hard-learned tactics for controlling an incipient panic attack that Doc Lee spent the past year trying to pound into his hard skull. She hadn’t said it in so many words, but Stretch got the idea that they’d all been thoroughly tested already on Sans.
Close his sockets, focus on breathing deeply through his mouth. In for four, hold it, out for four. He was supposed to be so damned good at math, he could manage that much.
What felt like a hard, rubbery fist clenched in his chest was starting to ease when he heard someone calling his name.
“Stretch!” He turned to see Alphys almost scurrying up and her smile was warm enough despite the trifle of worry in her eyes.
Yeah, okay, better to keep her worries on the right path. Stretch hung on a 100-watt smile and beamed it right her way, “hey, lizard lady, how’s it going? i didn’t even have a chance to ring the bell.”
She held up her phone. “I g-get an alert when certain k-keycards are used in the elevator. C-come on, come to my office.”
Going to her office sounded like a super plan.
Stretch followed after her as she led a path through the maze of metal tables and equipment, the other scientists in their long white coats. He knew the way to her office, but it was easier to focus on the long yellow tail poking out of the back of her lab coat, concentrate on keeping that breathing nice and even.
Alphys wasn’t always the most observant person out there when it came to social cues, but she sure as hell understood anxiety. She knew he wasn’t keen on the labs. Not from anything Stretch said, not fucking likely, but he was pretty sure Ass-gore had a top-secret file on him somewhere with a nice long list of his skills sets and another one of his phobias. He kinda thought the skill list was longer, not enough to bet on it. He hoped whatever pictures they stuck in it caught his good side, namely his ass.
The second Stretch was through the office door, Alphys closed it, shutting out all the bustling sounds and reflections, and the relief of it being out of sight, out of mind, made Stretch let out an explosive sigh.
Alphys gave him a nervous smile as she gathered a stack of folders out of the guest chair. “So-sorry about the mess.”
On her desk, bookshelves, and even the chairs were cluttered piles of papers and diagrams, surrounded her computer monitors like flimsy skyscrapers, the bright corners of manga books poking out from random levels, and empty coffee mugs standing around like statues.
There were toys, too, statues and plushies both, one that looked distinctly like smiling piece of poo, another of dragon, curled around one of the coffee mugs. On her desk was a figure from ‘Mew Mew Kissy Cutie’ and that gave Stretch a little pang to see.
Back home, (no not home, not for a long time now) it was ‘Bow Wow Smootchie Beauty’, the main character an anime girl with adorably floppy ears. For the first time in longer than Stretch could remember, a longing twinge for Undyne rose up in him. Not this world’s Undyne, his Undyne, and he hated phrasing it that way, but he couldn’t think of something better.
He and Undyne hadn’t been besties, but they’d still been friends. Close enough that he’d gone to her place a few times to hang out, watch anime, and chatter on about the episodes and what was the best kind of cup noodles. So many words tossed back and forth about nothing at all. So long as they stayed in her rooms and out of the lab proper, it didn’t bother him, and Undyne never brought up her work, even when it was kinda obvious she wanted to.
That wistful look started showing up more and more, and Stretch stopped going even before everything went to shit in Underswap. There was something for his regret bucket. That he hadn’t taken the time to keep up his end of the bargain, hadn’t invited her over to his place for some movie viewing and yeah, she hated Snowdin, but he hated Hotland, so it was a fair trade. What wasn’t fair was knowing that if he’d been in Underswap, he would’ve gone to Undyne about this problem, without ever letting her talk about her work. Watched her nervously rub her hands together, half her face obscured by her long hair, hiding behind that curtain.
Stretch blinked hard, tearing his gaze away from the little figure and focused back to Alphys’s concerned face. Underswap was a long time ago and he needed to keep the count his of personal issues to one hand, thanks.
“hey, so thanks for meeting with me,” Stretch said. He plunked down into the chair while Alphys sat at the one at her desk, specially designed to allow for her tail. He didn’t bother resisting the urge to reach for his lighter, letting the rhythm of weaving it through his fingers soothe him.
“No problem,” Alphys said, “we got off c-course with t-tracking your HP. Is it t-troubling you again?”
“let me get straight to the meat of it,” Stretch said, “i want you to run another scan on my hp, then you can tell me.”
She nodded. “Have you been h-having any symptoms?”
“i’ve been really tired lately, run down,” Stretch admitted, “i take a nap and i wake up still tired. i can fall asleep anywhere.”
Alphys hummed thoughtfully, “S-sounds like Undyne r-right now.” She gave him an unexpectedly teasing look, "Are you s-sure you aren't p-p-pregnant, too?"
"har, har, al." Stretch about sprained an eye light rolling them as hard as he could. “unless i grew some unexpected equipment, there won’t be any knocked up at my door.”
"Well, in theory, s-soul mating c-could result in the c-creation of a souling, there were experiments—"
"in theory, sure,” Stretch interrupted, unreasonably annoyed; he didn’t want to talk about experiments, thanks. “but that requires rubbing two souls together long enough to make a fire. since edge and i stick with rubbing pelvises, i'm going with not." Stretch shuddered; just the thought of it was nightmare fuel. "sorry, preggies is okay for people who want it, but i'd rather donate a femur to the cause.”
"I th-think I wouldn't have m-minded," Alphys said, shyly. "But Undyne has better HP than me, so we d-decided she should be the one to c-carry the baby.”
Even talking about this was making him a little uncomfortable, but Al had the look of someone who wanted to talk, maybe needed to. She was doing him the favor, here, the least he could do was listen. Probably Al didn’t get to talk about it much, since she wasn’t the one with the bump.
The memory of his Undyne made him push aside his discomfort. Stretch forced a chuckle and said, "heh, if that's the deciding vote, then if we were gonna baby it up, Edge would be the pregnant one."
"He would have very f-fashionable maternity clothes. He and Undyne c-could bond over prenatal yoga." Alphys looked at him curiously, rocking back in her office chair, “P-pardon me for asking, but are you t-two looking for a surrogate, then?”
“fuck, no!” Stretch blurted. Yeah, that might have been a little excessive, Alphys winced, cringing into herself. Stretch tied on his smile again, “sorry, sorry, that was rude.”
Alphys shook her head, and her words were gentle and nonjudgmental, “N-not at all, it’s a p-p-private decision, I shouldn’t have p-pressed.”
Probably not. He and Al weren't specifically close, as friends or anything else, so Stretch wasn't sure why his stupid mouth chose to add, "i really don’t want kids and edge…i mean. he says he’s fine with it.”
If Alphys was surprised to hear him toss out that conversational gambit, it didn’t show. She only leaned in, her eyes kind behind her glasses, “You d-don’t believe him?”
Wasn’t that the ten-dollar question? Stretch really wished he was sure about the answer. He wanted to believe Edge, maybe Edge even believed himself, tried to, anyway. Stretch looked down, away from Alphys’s gaze, and said in a small voice. “i don’t know.”
“Hm.” Alphys stood and waddled over to stand next to him. Even sitting, he had to look down at her as she settled a clawed hand on his shoulder, “I really want this baby,” she said, clearly, “But I th-think if Undyne d-didn’t want to have kids, I’d be okay w-with that.”
There was enough quiet sincerity in that to make him swallow hard against a knot settling in the back of his throat. “yeah?”
“Yeah,” Alphys smiled, a loving, brilliant smile meant for someone else, someone tall and brash, with a lot of red hair. Not his Undyne, but hers. “I f-fell in love with her, n-not her DNA,” Alphys said, firmly. “Although she does have very n-nice DNA. So maybe you should b-believe him.”
Stretch offered her a smile of his own, one that felt a little wobbly, but hey, it was there. Look at him, communicating back and forth like a grown up and all. Doc Lee would be so proud. “thanks al. congrats by the way. how are undyne and the bump?"
"Impatient," Alphys sighed deeply, and wasn't there chapters of meaning in that one word.
“know much about the sprog yet?” Stretch teased and it felt okay. “gonna be twins? tadpoles?”
She giggled and shook her head. “N-no, the ultrasound is showing one baby. She’s d-due anytime now, it can be d-difficult to gauge with mixed Monster species.”
The scientist in him was a little curious about that; he’d gone for physics over biology. He wondered who they’d gone with for the dad juice, but he wasn’t the kind of asshole who would ask.
“i do like kids,” Stretch admitted, “i just don’t want part ownership with one. bet edge would like to babysit.”
She hummed thoughtfully, “B-be careful with that offer, I’m s-sure we’ll take you up on it. Now, we’ve g-gotten off-topic.”
Stretch winced. “yeah, sorry, sorry, i know you’re busy.”
“Not so busy that I can’t h-help,” Alphys countered. She turned around to scrabble through the clutter on her desk, came back with a notepad and a pencil. The tip of the pencil hovered over the paper, ready to write, “Now, you’ve been t-tired. What are you getting when you run a Ch-check?”
Of course she’d ask that, it made sense, it was the very first thing to be done to see a Monster’s stats. Quick, painless, and loaded with info, and Stretch didn’t really have a good reason for not doing one already, past ‘don’t wanna’.
Time to face the tunes. “i haven’t run one,” Stretch admitted quietly, “i know, i know, i’m wasting your time--”
“Hm? No, I don’t think so,” Alphys scribbled something down on the notepad. “Anything else out of the o-ordinary?”
“i thought about it and the only thing i can think of is i’ve been doing a lot healing lately, more than usual.” He didn’t say why and Alphys didn’t ask. “a lot of shit’s been going down. honestly, i don’t even know if something is wrong, but if there is, i wanted to get a leg over on it, get checked over before anything worse crops up.”
“You’re t-tall enough to get a leg right up over my h-head,” Alphys said, and the gentle tease soothed. Right up until Alphys set aside the notepad and picked up a tablet with a pair of electrodes dangling from it. “Right then, l-let’s run some t-tests. Can you summon your soul?”
Fuck, he hated this part. Or maybe hated was too strong a word. It wasn’t that bad, really, Stretch was used to a certain clinical touch on his soul from time to time, he got sick too often not to be. Used to the feel of gloved hands holding it steady to slip in an IV needle, or to attach leads, or to take a minuscule sample to study under a microscope, checking for what kind of germ hooked its wagon to his personal shining star this time. He was pretty numb to the whole ordeal at this point.
If he were honest with himself, and hey, sometimes he was, it hadn’t felt quite so invasive until he’d let Edge go hands-on with it. No one else had ever cradled his soul in a gentle hand, gazed at the silvery light that poured out of it with adoration. Sure as hell no one else had ever seen it during sex, rubbed a careful, bare thumb across its smooth surface and dragged such toe-curling pleasure out of him he’d damn near fainted from it.
Yeah, it was hard to sit back down in the waiting room once you got a glimpse of paradise.
He summoned up his soul, and didn’t watch as Alphys went to work. She was professional and gentle, hooking up the leads with barely even a pinch. She tapped the tablet and almost instantly, her expression changed into something... complicated. Um. That didn’t seem good. “what?”
“Oh, it’s n-nothing, let me--”
“it’s not nothing, you look like someone gave you a pinch on the ass. what is it?”
“It’s n-nothing bad,” Alphys corrected. “L-let me finish first, hasty c-conclusions lead to bad r-results.”
True enough but that was easier to deal with when it came to his experiments on growing better yielding plants through hydroponics, not so much when it was his soul on the line.
He waited impatiently while she poked at the tablet and managed to give her all of three minutes before bursting out, “okay, so what’s going on?”
“See for y-yourself.”
She held out the table and on it was a screen was a visual display of all his stats, from his soul pulse (running too fast) to his defense (sitting at its normal too-low), to his HP, displayed down to the tiniest decimal.
His HP, which had been slowly ticking upward for the past few weeks, was still doing it. Only now it was above five, closer to 5.3453367883. The last three crawled upward as he stared, turning to a unaccusing four.
“it’s going up,” Stretch said blankly. Way to state the obvious, there. His mind wasn’t calculating anything past that, nothing beyond his initial shock. He’d been expecting bad news, braced to hear the worst, and this was the exact opposite. It was like a trash bag breaking open to reveal piñata candy inside.
“Y-yes!” Alphys said happily. She tapped a clawed finger on the tablet screen. “It’s s-still going at the same r-rate as before, only it’s traveled p-past your base HP!”
“but…why?” Pointless question, what did it matter so long as it was going up, but Stretch didn’t like mysteries, not on television and not in life. He liked answers.
“That’s harder to d-determine,” Alphys admitted. “You d-did say you’ve been getting more rest lately, but th-that usually causes a one-time boost, n-not a cumulative effect. You said you’ve been using your m-magic a lot m-more, yes?”
“yeah, more than i usually do around the house.”
“M-maybe you should keep that up.” She snatched up the notepad and started scribbling furiously, leaving Stretch to gingerly remove the leads himself and allow his soul fade back into his chest. “T-take more shortcuts, practice a few a-attacks. We aren’t meant to hoard our m-magic in our souls, we need to l-let it out, k-keep it from going stagnant.”
“i guess i could.” Shortcuts, anyway, Stretch wasn’t really keen on making any sort of attack, not even for the magic drain, thanks.
“I think you should t-t-try it,” Alphys said decisively, “For th-this week, work on using your m-magic more than usual, then come back and we’ll r-run another test. It’s worth investigating.” She paused. “Of course, there is a-another possibility.”
“what?”
Her smile was a little tremulous, “M-monster souls response well to h-happiness.”
Before Stretch could say anything to that, his phone rang, showing an incoming call from the main source of his current happiness.
Fuck, he’d told Edge to call on his lunch.
He held up a shushing finger to his mouth and Alphys nodded, even as he swiped to answer it, “babe! i was just thinking about you—”
“I hope they were kind thoughts and not nefarious plans.” Just the sound of his voice was soothing, the soft underlying humor wrapped around his concern, “How are you feeling?”
Too much enthusiasm was going to set off alarm bells, so Stretch settled for, “better, i think. more myself, anyway.”
“That’s wonderful to hear, love,” Edge said warmly. “Then if you’re feeling better, perhaps you’d like to come upstairs to my office and have lunch with me?
Welp, so much for secrets. He should have known better to even try at the Embassy. If the spy gear didn’t get you, the gossips sure did. “who tattled.”
“I’m afraid I can’t reveal my source.”
Yeah, about the only person that took out of the running was Andy, and only because he’d promised not to tell. “yeah, i’ll be up in a mo’.”
“Wait,” Came unexpectedly from Alphys. “C-could you ask Edge to c-come down here? For a few m-moments?”
“um, sure, al,” Stretch said slowly and all his relief about his HP started to curdle until she hastily spoke up again.
“It’s n-not about you. O-or it is, but n-not in that way, it’s n-nothing bad, only an experiment I’m doing. I c-could use both your help.”
That didn’t sound at all ominous or anything, did it. But he owed a favor and Stretch did like to pay off his tabs. Eventually.
“babe, can you come down to the labs, to alphys’s office?” Stretch said into the phone. “she says it’s nothing bad.”
“Of course,” Edge replied, surprised, “I’ll be down in ten minutes.” The call disconnected and left him alone again with Alphys for ten long minutes, ten minutes that he didn’t really want to discuss experiments in until Edge was here. He could give Alphys that much, more than he’d ever given his Undyne.
But only when Edge was here, that was the thing and it was okay; Edge might be the one with all the strategy, but Stretch had a trick or two up his sleeve, too.
“did you see the last mew mew kissy cutie holiday special?”
Alphys brightened visibly and took the bait, babbling her way excitedly into his trap. Stretch settled back into his chair to listen, for at least ten minutes, but his wandering thoughts were more on his HP and that slow upward tick.
~~*~~
tbc
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grailfinders · 3 years
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Fate and Phantasms #155
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Today on Fate and Phantasms we're going back to the Servant Universe to preserve the Saber Empire, thanks to Mysterious Heroine X Alter! This mysterious heroine is a Psi Warrior Fighter for her legally-not-a-lightsaber skills and some legally-not-the-force, and a Bladesinger Wizard for more saber skills and legally-not-the-force lightning.
Check out her build breakdown below the cut, or her character sheet over here!
Next up: Once again, we came so close to making a build at an appropriate time. Oh well, he’s not one for the spotlight anyway.
Race and Background
You might come from another dimension, but you're still Human (er, servant), giving you +1 Dexterity, +1 Constitution, Acrobatics proficiency to help with the impractical swordfighting style you specialize in, and the Mage Slayer feat to ruin the original MHX's day. If a creature within 5 feet of you casts a spell, you can use your reaction to attack them. Your damage also causes concentration checks at a disadvantage, and you get advantage on saves against spells cast within 5 feet of you. MHX is pretty far from a mage, but this will interrupt her saber-tracking efforts.
That being said, you're still about as Far a Traveler as you can get, giving you proficiency with Insight and Perception.
Ability Scores
You are renowned for your ability to knock back sweets, and it's really hard to poison someone who literally has a reactor for a stomach, so we're gonna make your Constitution number one here. After that is going to be Intelligence, you did come from a science fiction world after all, I'm sure you know more than the average bear. Following that up is Dexterity, your armor is at most light, and no matter what form your sword takes it's still a light saber. Your Charisma isn't too bad, you've gotta be able to talk people into buying you mochi after all. Staying under that kotatsu all the time means your Strength isn't great, but we're dumping Wisdom. You want more saber faces in the world, if anything an 8's too much.
Class Levels
1. Fighter 1: First level fighters get proficiency in every weapon, and considering your sword can turn into a chainsaw I'd say that'll come in handy. You also get proficiency with Strength and Constitution saves, as well as two fighter skills. Intimidation matches your dark knight schtick, and Survival will help you cook up some sweets when you're left on your own.
You also get a Fighting Style. Your light saber comes in a variety of packages, but most of them are one handed. That means Dueling will be the most useful for you, giving you +2 on damage rolls while using only one one-handed weapon.
You also get the bonus action Second Wind, letting you stuff yourself with sweets to heal a bit once per short rest.
2. Fighter 2: Second level fighters get an Action Surge, letting you add an action to your turn once per short rest. You spent so much time lazing around, you were just... saving up for when it counted. Yeah.
3. Fighter 3: If you want to be a sith knockoff, you can't go wrong with being a Psi Warrior. When you take the subclass you gain Psionic Powers, powered by psionic dice. They're d6s (that grow when you level up) equal to twice your proficiency bonus that recharge on short rests. Currently, you can use them in three ways.
Your Protective Field lets you spend a reaction and a die to reduce the incoming damage a creature near you is taking by the die roll plus your intelligence modifier.
A Psionic Strike adds the roll + int mod in force damage to a weapon attack to light up your saber once per turn.
You can also use Telekinetic Movement to move a large or smaller object/willing creature up to 30 feet. You can do this once per short rest for free, or by using up a psionic die.
4. Fighter 4: Use this ASI to bring up your Dexterity so your sword skills aren't as bad. You're a saber after all, you've gotta be on your A game! You are a saber, right?
5. Fighter 5: Fifth level fighters get an Extra Attack. It isn't exactly rocket science, but it is very useful.
6. Wizard 1: Moving over to wizard now nets you an Arcane Recovery, helping you recover a couple spell slots on a short rest once per long rest.
Speaking of, you also learn Spells. So many spells. They use your Intelligence for casting and preparation. You get stuff like Shocking Grasp for a cheap force lightning, Mage Hand for some telekinesis that doesn't use resources, your standard gish setup, Mage Armor to make your hoodie worth something, and Absorb Elements to put that magic reactor in your chest to good use.
And that's only some of the spells you could use! Check the character sheet for more.
7. Wizard 2: If you want to blur the line between nerd and sith lord like we do, Bladesinger is a pretty good choice. You get Training in War and Song, which gives you a bunch of proficiencies you already have from fighter as well as Performance. Foreshadowing!
You can also perform a Bladesong proficiency times per long rest if you aren't using heavy armor or two-handed weapons. The song lasts a minute and uses a bonus action to start. While active, you add your Intelligence modifier to your AC and concentration saves, your walking speed goes up by 10, you have advantage on acrobatics checks.
You can also Cause Fear as part of your membership with the Dark R.O.U.N.D.S., and you also get some sci-fi gadgets to Detect Magic.
8. Wizard 3: Third level wizards get second level spells, with Magic Weapon making your light saber a bit fancier and Dragon's Breath for a more dramatic (and consistent!) use of your lightning powers.
9. Fighter 6: Bouncing back to fighter for a bit nets you another ASI to bump up your Intelligence for stronger spells and telekinesis. Again, not flashy but very useful.
10. Fighter 7: Seventh level psi knights gain two new ways to use their psionic dice thanks to being Telekinetic Adepts.
You can use a Psi-Powered Leap once per short rest or by using a psionic die to gain a flying speed equal to 2x your walking speed for the turn for big anime jumps. Dramatically launching yourself at your foes for air combat framed by the moonlight has never been easier.
Alternatively, your Telekinetic Thrust empowers your Psionic Strike, forcing a strength save (dc 8+proficiency+intelligence mod). If they fail the save, you can either knock the target prone or push them 10 feet in any horizontal direction.
11. Wizard 4: Back in wizard for a bit. This level gives you another ASI, so grab the Telekinetic feat, which increases your Intelligence by 1, lets you cast Mage Hand without making it obvious and with an increased range, and you can make telekinetic shoves as a bonus action, pushing a creature 5 feet away or towards you if they fail a strength save.
You also learn the cantrip Green-Flame Blade which makes your saber give off a bit more light and the spells Enhance Ability to activate your true power that's been sealed away for millennia. You also also get Levitate to force choke some people. They don't take damage from the spell, but it opens them up for you walloping them, so same difference.
12. Wizard 5: Fifth level wizards get third level spells, Haste lets you run anime fast for up to a minute- you also get advantage on dex saves and +2 to your AC, but after the spell ends you have to take a nap. You also get the big guns- Lightning Bolt. 100 feet of range, dealing 8d6 lightning damage to creatures that fail a dexterity save. An elegant lightning spell from a more civilized age.
13. Wizard 6: Sixth level bladesingers get something very special: an Extra Attack! It still doesn't stack with your fighter one, but now you can use a cantrip in place of one of your attacks! Roast them with lightning then hit 'em with a sword!
You can also use Fear to be an intimidating presence to multiple people at once, and Catnap to pull out the kotatsu.
14. Fighter 8: Use this ASI to bump up your Dexterity once more for even better weapon attacks and AC.
15. Fighter 9: Ninth level fighters get Indomitable, letting you re-roll a failed save once per long rest. Don't even bother with the wisdom saves, it's not going to happen.
16. Fighter 10: Tenth level Psi Knights have a Guarded Mind, letting you resist psychic damage and burn psi dice to end effects that are charming or frightening you at the start of a turn. See? Told you you didn't have to worry about wisdom saves!
17. Fighter 11: Congratulations on yet another Extra Attack! To be honest, I'm not entirely sure how that stacks with your bladesinger attacks, but that's a headache for your DM to figure out!
18. Fighter 12: Another ASI, bump up your Int again for more AC, Spells, and telekinesis.
19. Fighter 13: Thirteenth level fighters get a second use of Indomitable per long rest, and it's totally not because WotC was running out of ideas, no sir!
20. Fighter 14: Your capstone level is another ASI, which we'll use to get your bond CE thanks to Servo Crafting! You use Find Familiar as a ritual to create a little robot buddy who acts mostly like a normal familiar. Aside from that, you can see and speak through the servo as long as it's on the same plane, and you can ignore one of your own attacks to let the little buddy attack instead. Honestly this probably would have been more useful way earlier, but it's a bond CE, what did you expect?
Pros:
Your various forms of telekinesis give you a great deal of battlefield control, helping you manipulate the positions of enemies and allies to your advantage.
You also have great saves with two of the big three: dexterity and Constitution. Add on the fact that you can shut down the biggest problems caused by failed wisdom saves practically at will, and you're a big threat for magic users.
While your physically aren't great at burst damage like assassins or paladins, you make up for that with gobs of consistency and longevity in melee combat. You've got almost 200 HP, and an AC of 13 + your dexterity mod (4) and your intelligence mod (4). 21 AC in a hoodie is not bad at all!
Cons:
While you can shut off the worst of it, your Wisdom saves are atrocious, and will still cause you problems against illusions.
While it doesn't come into effect until very late into the build, the weirdness surrounding how your extra attacks mesh will have to be addressed eventually
Servo Crafting really doesn't do anything for your build. Not only is it not useful, if you were willing to get rid of it you could invest more into wizard levels and get Bigby's Hand for a real force choke.
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possessionisamyth · 4 years
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i know the ending had to be rushed because instead of the usual 13 episode seasons AS decided to drop genndy to 10, BUT i started thinking about the daughters of aku and boy do i have some things to say writing wise, and no this isnt about “realism” but just how to make their presence as a unit more impactful or how to make ashi’s character development better as a temp antagonist to jack, spoilers below if you havent finished watching samurai jack
Option 1: Have the daughters of Aku be raised by Aku.
Some people have already suggested this as a cute AU, but to be honest that would strengthen the daughters bond with Aku more than just having hearsay through their mother. And since Aku does have emotions, isn’t afraid to spread propaganda onto children (the fairytale episode), and is building a kingdom that encompasses the universe, that would’ve been a great alternate to Jack’s stance, where instead of fighting just some assassin troupe he’s technically fighting an assassin troupe of princesses when he was once a prince whose own kingdom was destroyed by their father.
The bonds between the sisters would be tighter in that they respected their father both out of fear and the time they spent with him because he would’ve told them all the lies they needed to hear for them to trust him, he would’ve taken moderately good care of them(basic provisions), and he would definitely let them wreak havoc where ever they wanted without suffering consequences as long as they didn’t fuck up his own shit. “Mindless drone sisters except for one” doesn’t stick for long when it comes to guilt about murdering them, but “rebel girl gang who trusts their father and has many reasons to think you’re genuinely the bad guy” definitely would.
To not just have Ashi yelling at Jack, but all of the sisters shit talking him out of vitriol. Throwing his guilt back into his face. “If you’re so great, why couldn’t you save them? If you’re so good, why did you kill them?” Have Jack have to deal with his guilt inside and outside from a group of women who were indoctrinated to believe everything their father said just like Jack was and then really make him question what’s the difference between him and them? His father could’ve done all the same things telling him what’s evil and what isn’t. Yes, he still knows Aku is evil, but this train of thought would be humanizing them even further to the brink where Jack isn’t sure he can kill any of them. Cause it was “easier” when he could believe they didn’t have any emotions except for one (Ashi) but much more impossible when he has to accept that they all do. “They’re just robots.” No, they’re not. They’re just like you, Jack.
Option 2: Some sisters don’t die.
Make the killing blows accidents. Going with their canon way of being raised, have Jack still understand that they’re people, and make the killing blows reactionary instead of functionary. He doesn’t want to kill them, but he’s so used to fighting, he’s so used to defending himself that the weapons he grabs and the attacks he does manage to hit the vitals of a few of the sisters while the rest he leaves mortally wounded or physically incapable of fighting. If they’re really raised as machines to kill him, this would leave them useless to complete the task.
Then have Jack, as he’s leaving the scene of carnage have to witness the sisters who can move crawling towards their fallen sisters, trying to hold back bleeding wounds, scraping through the reddening snow in an attempt to show compassion for the one’s whose lives are fading away.
And then have Jack make a choice. He could leave them there. Some of them might make it, but probably not. Even if they all did, they wouldn’t be able to chase him any more. The wounds he inflicted on them would prevent them from fighting as they used to unless they got a fuck ton of physical therapy and/or robotic prosthesis. Or, he could do the same as he did with Ashi in canon and take the survivors. Teach them about the world. About Aku’s lies. About what he’s really fighting for, and let them make the choice on their own. Because they never had a choice before, but now they do, and let it be overwhelming and confusing. Let them make mistakes, but let them learn from it. They don’t all have to make the right choice at the end, but they shouldn’t have to die for it. Show the conflict and correction from sisters who did make the right choice and let them be.
Option 3: None of the sisters die by Jack’s hand.
Same as option two, but Jack doesn’t kill any of them. He saves the ones who need immediate medical attention, teaches them, and lets those sisters go back to the ones he only inhibited. The saved sisters try to pass the rhetoric they learned only to be deemed weak and now they all have to fight each other. It can be to the death. The evil sisters who refused to change or learn would die, Ashi wouldn’t be by herself. They’d all have to come to terms with what they’ve done as some either go to fight Aku with Jack and Ashi, while the others leave so they can stew in their guilt of killing their sisters.
Option 4: Get his ass!!!!!
Have Ashi actively resent Jack for killing all her sisters. No, I don’t care what half-assed explanation Ashi gave to her mother, you don’t get raised with 6 other people and some of them NOT form of bond between each other when you’re all working towards the same goal.  Especially when they had to function as a unit! Her mother wasn’t Aku, she didn’t see everything they did as soon as it was bedtime for 20 something years.
I want this to be a chip on her shoulder, I don’t want her shifting the blame of everything onto her mother. Yes, Jack was going to kill everyone and only Ashi survived, but why didn’t he do the killing blow for her? Why didn’t he try harder to save any of the other sisters? Why did he go for the kill shot every time instead of just mortally wounding them to prevent them from fighting if he knew they were humans and not robots? Isn’t he supposed to protect people? Isn’t he supposed to save people? Like yes, still have her learn the world is a wonderful place and Aku is making it worse, and still have her go to fight Aku for the sisters she’d lost, but don’t have her fall in love with the man who killed the only family she’d ever known before being thrusted into an unknown world and then have a sexual awakening on top of that??????? WHAT???????
Would've been better having Ashi see things and think of memories of her sisters that connected her with them through said images or objects, and then going through the process of mourning for each one before the confrontation with her mother.
Option 5: Have Ashi fall in love with Jack first. (Best One for Romance)
Can we say scouting missions? The daughters of aku were displayed as being curious through scenes when they observe unusual behaviors to the new environments they’re scouring through. Have them hunt Jack without the efficiency of the imakandi, and learn about the world on their own. Ashi is the leader so she’s responsible for finding Jack first, but that leaves the other six to sharpen weapons, get supplies,etc. They do need to eat and sleep as they’re still human. Then they have to interact with people, and animals, and nature and learn on their own. Have them hear stories about how great Aku is, and how awful Aku is from a variety of the people they have to meet from these supply runs or leads towards Jack that turn out to be false.
Make them argue with each other about what’s true and what isn’t from what they’ve heard of Aku. Show a struggle of acceptance when the strangers they talk to present proof of how “Great” or “Awful” Aku has been. Let them make the decision on what being human actually means WHILE Ashi is scouting and watching Jack do all these good things for innocent people, and then have her come back to settle any confusion ready to say their mother is wrong only to be interrupted by their mother telling them Jack’s location before Ashi can get the words out.
Even sweeter if you have Jack notice when he’s alone versus when he’s “alone” (ashi is watching), and he talks to her. It starts with things like “if your intent is to kill me, I ask you to reconsider” then changes to “if you’re hungry, i’m leaving the excess here, help yourself” until its “your killing intent has long since vanished, do you wish to speak to me finally?” because Jack is already used to randos turning into traveling companions (blue totoro, da samurai, scotsman, ikra) he can accept the stalking to an extent as long as it doesn't escalate negatively.
After their mother’s message, the sisters find Jack, but they struggle to fight him not out of lack of skill, but because they know so much about the world now, and they’re not sure what to believe anymore. Let Jack see their hesitation and capitalize on it with his words, until Ashi puts her foot down by taking Jack’s side. Since she’s the leader, and with all they know now, they choose to follow Ashi’s word. They then proceed to travel together and tease tf out of Ashi about her feelings for the samurai.
Final thoughts:
Any of these options excluding 4 since it’s more canon streamlined, could be much more easily done by having the first half of the series being about the sisters development flanking Jack’s turmoil plot, and the second half being about the daughters making mistakes and learning from them as they build towards the final fight which becomes much more badass in that Jack’s friends are fighting anywhere from 2-7 daughters of aku in that cool evil form with all the evil robots.
The relationship of the daughters of aku was more of a pacing issue than a writing issue, but I think if they focused more on the fact of we’re going to watch a family die over a lie instead of “they’re all mindless and only ashi has emotions” their deaths would’ve hurt A Lot more. Ashi’s development would’ve been more meaningful, and Jack’s guilt would’ve been much heavier. However someone wanted their hashed in romance so I guess this would’ve stuck a sword in their well-made plans.
Not to mention the idea that the daughters were the only people Jack killed over the span of 50 years makes it ring more out as shock value killing. As if there wouldn’t be non-robotic aliens or non-robotic humans or non-robotic human-alien hybrids who wouldn’t 100% follow Aku of their own violation? Nah, we’ve seen them, and we can see what privilege does to people. Plus if they had privileges that would be taken away by Aku’s downfall...well...I don’t think Aku was the only one asking for Jack’s head on a platter.
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