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slayerchick303 · 11 months

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*SECRET INVASION FINALE SPOILERS*

I just finished Home, and I have some thoughts:

Rhodey was in a hospital gown when he got out of the pod! I swear to all that is holy, if they have him been replaced by a skrull after his injury in Civil War, I will march on Disney headquarters! That would cheapen Tony's death, funeral, and Rhodey's amazing conversation with Sam in Falcon and the Winter Soldier. I said I'd freak out if they made the swap previous to FATWS, and I meant it!

Gravik's human face was a man he killed, so I'm assuming the same is true for G'iah. If she is indeed going to be Abigail Brand as leaks have suggested (meaning Abigail Brand is dead), I'm going to be mad! Like legitimately disappointed. Brand is one of my favorite parts of the Astonishing X-Men comics run. I ship her and Beast so hard.

When was Everett Ross swapped? It has to have been after Black Panther because he would've reverted to his skrull form after being shot and/or Shuri would've noticed while healing him. Has a skrull infiltrated Wakandan leadership?! How many? For how long? Because that's BAD. Imagine the havoc skrulls could wreak with Wakanda's resources.

The CGI in this was pretty good. Especially compared to other recent Disney+ titles. That being said, I hate a lot of how they used it. Giving G'iah a huge Drax arm?! Bad choices in multiple ways: A.) the big Drax arm looked so weird as did other things. B.) do they think Marvel fans are too stupid to get what they were doing if they didn't make her arm huge? They should've kept Emilia's arm the same size, only given her Drax's tattoos and skin color at most. We would've understood. C.) the clothing changed too! How does that make sense?

Is Gravik really dead, though? Is Raava? We don't know if Raava has super skrull powers, but Gravik had like EVERYTHING. That seems like it should make him pretty invincible.

How did people not clock how off Rhodey was? There was like an enormous change in his personality. Raava was a jerk!

So, Fury and Sonya only tranqed those secret service members at the hospital. That wouldn't automatically make them revert, right, or every skrull would be outed when they fell asleep. If all those guards were humans, they were legitimately the worst security detail ever. That one guy literally listened to SkrullRhodey pretty much out herself and did nothing. He didn't even warn the president Rhodey was acting uncharacteristically. Every member of White House personale will have to be tested somehow. Maybe check for purple blood?

I really thought Ritson would die at the end. I guess he's just awful (which is unsurprising). I'm glad he won't be president much longer, as Harrison Ford is taking over the role of President Thaddeus Ross in Captain America: Brave New World. That being said, part of me worries that President Ross might be even worse than Ritson.

I kind of loved Varra and Fury's ending. It redeemed the awful, "I guess we'll never know moment."

****EDIT:**** I didn't think about this at the time, but I saw someone else bring it up. G'iah has Captain Marvel powers now! Doesn't that mean she should be caught up in the entanglement mess Captain Marvel, Photon, and Miss Marvel are dealing with in The Marvels?! That's an ENORMOUS plot hole. Not to mention, G'iah is ridiculously overpowered now. People complain about how powerful Superman is, and G'iah is so much worse.

I enjoyed Secret Invasion, even if it wasn't the best Disney+ show. The comics are still WAY better. Regardless, I'm looking forward to The Marvels even more now.

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tobiasdrake · 7 months

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This is fine. Everything is fine. All we have to do is put our hands over our heads and submit to the Emergency Pacification Balls as they fly gently towards our faces.

We're armed with knowledge, but that knowledge makes things better, not worse. What are we supposed to do, convince Yomi that Yomi has been conspiring against Yomi all this time?

I guess that's the plan! You got this, man. I believe in you!

Good try! Follow-through needs work.

Fortunately, he's not shot. Yomi whipped him in the face. I'll be sure to ask Halara to take that out of Yomi's hide. They charge interest.

An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind, which is why winners take the nose too.

I'm so glad we left Halara behind to administer CPR to a man we then proceeded to kill behind their back. This was a brilliant use of our Chief Asskicker's time. 10/10 Solid delegation of duties all around.

Says a voice from behind Yomi. If that's Halara Fucking Nightmare then it's a killer one-li--

Apparently it's Makoto's turn to ride in with the cavalry. But. I'm not sure what that could possibly be that's important enough to shut Yomi down in this conversation but not important enough to get Makoto shot.

That's cool and all but we're in an enclosed space and Yomi has two huge guns in his hands. There is no way we solve this by simply rubbing his nose in his crimes, right?

Well. See. The thing about "The military is the greatest threat to the government" is that. Like. That's a thing because of the loyalty soldiers have for their chain of command, especially their leaders. A good military works hard to instill in its men a bond of trust.

The reason the military is a threat to the government is that a soldier's first loyalty is often to the guy next to him in the dugout. When you're at war, you're fighting for your bros. That kind of bond is powerful, and soldiers may come to see the highest military officer as their leader. Not the king.

If your general and your king come to blows, and your soldiers side with your general? What's the king even supposed to do then?

But. Like. Yomi beats up his own guys for funsies. He had his second-in-command crushed into a cube. This is not a man who instills a great deal of loyalty into his soldiers. They respect the position, not the man.

So now when he shrieks, "LAUNCH THE COUP!!!"

Like. Sure. You go launch your coup. Good luck with that.

Wait, why did you give them back their guns? Weird choice, dude.

I don't know if I disagree with Yomi. I mean, I disagree with the clear xenophobia he's displaying but I don't know about Makoto specifically. There's a lot to be paranoid about regarding Makoto.

However, as I've often said about Makoto, the morality of a person is not defined by what they're against. It's defined by what they're for. We know exactly what Yomi's for: Fascism, brutality, aggressive capitalism, and self-aggrandizement.

So maybe he's right. Maybe Makoto sucks too. I'm still suspicious of him. But Makoto isn't the one being interrogated right now. We'll fuck up Yomi today and if Makoto sucks too then we'll fuck him up tomorrow.

Oh hey, Martina! She's back from being cubed! Guess those soldiers he had take her away got five feet past earshot and then went, "Did he seriously ask us to do that? What the fuck, man?"

Look at that. It's almost like mistreating the people on your side only drives them into the arms of the enemy or something. The most valuable problem-solving resource in the world is another human being, and Yomi's out here giving them away.

Get fucked, Yomi.

But. Also. When cops arrest each other for corruption, it only kicks the can down the road. Jackass is going away for a long time but this is still a company town ruled by the best private army that capitalism can buy. Even if the new Director is nicer, the system that created Yomi remains in effect.

Yomi's screaming blood fury at the top of his lungs but all I can hear is

Makoto: CEO go blep.

HA!

They made so much fuss about how much more "Good Police" Martina is than Yomi. Caring about the rights of suspects and all that. Yomi legit had his men saying things like, "You DO NOT have a right to remain silent, you DO NOT have a right to an attorney" to drive home how crooked and evil he is - Which is then contrasted when Martina demonstrates a new philosophy of policing with her--

Martina: I quit. Me and my better philosophy will leave this organization immediately.

Oh, nuts to that, then! Guess all of Yomi's men will have to wing it.

It's funny but I can't really criticize. The most moral thing a "good person" can do as a cop is to stop being a cop. You don't change the system. The system changes you, or it ousts you.

Corporate security strikes again. Like Huesca, Yomi thought he was invulnerable. So he had no need to hide things. Left his diary of financial misdeeds lying around on his desk in his unlocked office.

That was super easy! For Makoto. Not for us. We've had a hell of a ride.

Sorry, man. I know you were angling to get shot but Yomi likes to go for the pain. Better luck next time.

#master detective archives: rain code #drake plays rain code

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balkanradfem · 8 months

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[Running Grave Commentary, at page 740]

What happened to Robin in there made me so scared and horrified I'll actually need recovery time to find peace again, that is absolutely terrifying. I know she takes her job too seriously but under the influence of the cult she was willing to undergo several rape attempts, physical assaults, and in the end she got so desperate to get the job done she didn't run away even when it was obvious she was going to get tortured, though she didn't know how or for what reasons. I couldn't put the book down out of terror for her, I hoped it wouldn't have come to worst until she finally ran away, and it was so much worse than I had imagined. I wanted to her to run as soon as Lin caught her in the forest. I hope from now on Robin puts her well being before any job because this will traumatize her for a long time.

Strike is out of my good graces but the gay joke about Taiou did make me laugh. I was glad he made Robin laugh and knew what to do once she got out, I don't think most people would be able to know what's the best and not re-traumatize the person.

I knew about the experiment where they instructed people to give others electric shocks to death for answering questions wrong, but I had no idea all of the murdering participants were male! That explains a lot. I wonder what the female results would be. I appreciate that tidbit of information.

The entire Charlotte thing had me shocked, but honestly she was annoying to me so I'm glad we won't have to deal with that again. Strike's imaginary conversation was relatable because I also have imaginary conversations where I debate people who have said things to me. It isn't usually that productive though, Strike had 1 conversation and then he was done, I'll do this for months with zero resolution. I refuse to believe he has anything more figured out than I do, so I'm calling this fictional.

At this point in the book I fully believe Daiyu is alive, and that the reason two people appeared to have drowned on the same spot is that current, that can verifiably kill people, and has proven to kill people before, I just don't think anyone has informed Carrie of that and she believed it would be fake. I think someone was waiting under the water to pull Daiyu in, to make it look realistic. And Carrie wasn't completely sure if it was real or not at first, that's why her reaction is sort-of, mild, confusion, then later horror and regret. I'm still amused her name is basically 'die, you' and then she didn't even die. I also tried pronouncing the name 'Wace' to see if it's symbolic; it sounds a lot like 'waste' which is satisfying to me.

I think I've figured out the process of this specific cult indoctrination; the first step is to convince a person that the outside world is evil, irredeemable, psychotic, shallow, poisoned, harmful and unlivable. It's not that hard to do if you constantly show them images of the worst things humans have done, like genocide, wars, destruction of nature, child abuse, starvation, it looks extremely evil. Once you really agree with that and turn against the world completely, and are ready to shout obscenities and believe every person in that world is harmful and evil, they can start teaching you anything in order for you to NOT be like that people. They can punish you if you resist because at that point, what are you gonna do, join the evil poison people, be the person you just said you loathe and despise more than anything? Who do genocide? It's the fact that people find it hard to go against their own beliefs, so if you can push them towards a certain belief, they'll have trouble acting against it, once they declared their side. I found it specifically obnoxious to use the images of tragedies to brainwash people who are concerned, who want to make action, fix it, make it better. That honest desire for a better world being exploited makes me mad. I don't know how much of that is happening in actual cults, but I could easily see it happen. People are very vulnerable to the painful realities of this world.

Reading that part, I constantly had to remind myself, that me sitting here fretting, and drowning in anxiety, is not going to help or fix anything. That I'm one of the people deeply affected by all of these issues, and that I'm already doing everything practical I can, to not contribute, and to attempt to resolve them. Creating a place of kindness, pleasantness, peace, comfort and then spreading that around me, is far better because it lessens the amount of suffering in the world, because I'm no longer suffering. And if I can do that for myself, I can strengthen that place and pull other people in; we can make kindness and comfort for each other, and then together, we can tackle all of those issues, grounded in security that we'll be able to return to a place of comfort and joy no matter what horrors we're tackling. And disasters are not tackled by sudden whims and changes, but by diligent, practical, joined effort through long periods of time. That's something to focus on, and we don't need a cult, or someone else telling us what to do, in order to achieve it.

Part of me was so resistant to the idea that I'd get indoctrinated into that cult, but the other part is 100% sure I would, I barely need brainwashing since I'm already hyper-aware of all the evil in the world and so ready to do extensive work to fix it. However I will not be told what to do, which means I'll be on the garden/animal duty forever, which, the nerve? Gardening and animal care are punishments? I would request to do that. Everyone would hate me.

I was mad impressed by Robin's ability to keep focus on her tasks and to remind herself that she's being bombarded with bullshit. She's my hero. When she lied during that Revelation?? I was gasping. She is the smartest woman. I love her.

Oh also I was amused by 'lesbian bodyguard to lover' fanfic trope in the background, you get it Midge, I hope they had a good time together and we hear more about that. And Pat defending lesbians; a true hero. Strike doesn't know what she's about, Pat understands all about us from talking to one of us once, it's very clear she gets it.

#the running grave #spoilers #robert galbraith #jkr #trg commentary #analysis #radfem

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shirayuki7 · 1 year

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To preface, I don't play the assassins creed games. Too many buttons and too small words even at the largest setting. BUT! My husband asked me to play Odyssey because I wrote my bachelor's thesis about the Peloponnesian war times.

TL:DR: as someone who can speak confidently about ancient Greek history, particularly the Peloponnesian war, I appreciate Odyssey a lot!!

Long answer: okay so. I've only just left the beginning island, and I appreciate this game so much. The music. The landscape. The background noise and people talking. The goats. But you know what I appreciate most?

The women.

Particularly the depiction of these ancient women. It varies, obviously, but I have yet to see a woman in here who isn't actively about her business. Now to brag a little. I read Thucydaddy's The History of the Peloponnesian War cover to cover during my thesis. I didn't need to read the whole thing but I'm glad I did. It got me to really see and understand the ancient greeks zeitgeist/mentality. Thucydaddy didn't write about women tho. Who did? Playwrights and Plato and Xenophon. Particularly Xenophon. Now, what he had to say wasn't nice or really even pleasant from a modern perspective. If we took his words at face value, we would see a world in which women weren't valued, never left their homes, and were simply stupid baby making machines. Because that's how Xenophon thought they should be. SHOULD BE. not WAS. My thesis was based on two assumptions about ancient greece: one, that these ancient writers didn't write what they saw but what they wanted to see (And two, that women attended the Athenian theater). Xenophon's expectations for the women around him were completely illogical! How could she stay home all day and still get things done? Not all women were wealthy enough to have slaves. Here's where I appreciate Odyessy. The women are out and about. They are the spokesperson of groups. They have things to do and people to see. I was so pleased to see an old woman as the priestess of the temple of Zeus. The actual ancient greek society was slightly more egalitarian than the ancient writers want us to believe. Society, religion, and economy would stop if the Greek woman did exactly as Xenophon (or worse, Aristotle) said they should do.

The creators of Odyessy were smart enough to see that, or they did their research (Particularly of the leading researcher herself, Sarah Pomeroy. I highly recommend reading her if you're interested in ancient greek women history). And I just really appreciate it, as a researcher and historian. I know nothing about the assassins creed fandom or how this game was received when it came out. I just want to say to the casual history dudebros who didn't like it based on its societal "inaccuracies": get fucked. This isn't "feminist woke shit", these developers did their research and they did it well. Deal with it.

I look forward to playing the game more and seeing how they depict Peracles (Thucydaddy's golden boy) and the other Athenian generals/statemen. Maybe I'll be able to go to Athens and meet my number one guy, Euripides? We'll see!!

#assassins creed #assassins creed odyssey #history #ancient greece #seriously tho #go read sarah pomeroy #her 1975 'goddesses wives whores and slaves' is very easy to read and just blew my mind #i love it #i want to meet her someday #and tell her how she totally 180ed my perspective on the entire ancient world

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go-to-the-mirror · 1 year

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howdy howdy howdy, some good words, mostly rambling, one (1) reaction image bc I'm Sad About Jon Constantly All The Time. Content warnings for like, most things in the episode because I'm pulling quotes, and also existential fear (the state of the world rn) because I went on a little extinction ramble.

@a-mag-a-day

Case 9550307 – Wallis Turner. Incident occurred at the North Point prisoner of-war camp, then later the sunken ship Nemesis in late 1942. Statement taken 3rd July 1955 at the Pu Songling Research Centre, Beijing. Committed to tape 9th October 2014. Gertrude Robinson recording.

Jon, I love you, but Gertrude's way of introducing statements is way better. Although she did intentionally leave the archives in disarray so...

Like, I mean, in an ideal world, you'd be able to search for statements by people who appear in them and places and notable things that happen, and then... idk I just, alright like, I want to just, learn how to code so I can make myself a little website and organize the statements and then my little rat brain who just wants to sort things out will finally be appeased

Even if it’s just sleep, just a quiet nothing forever, it’s not like you know enough to be bored, is it?

Fun fact about yours truly, that's one of the parts of death that scares me the most! I cannot handle being bored, it's just... no, I can't do it. And boredom forever? No end in sight? I hope there is an afterlife so that I don't have to deal with that.

Worse than that is just... nothing, just an end, and I don't really like to think about that.

Sergeant once told me it’s no different from killing a chicken back home, but people aren’t chickens, and the idea that war strips us all down to just a body that moves and kills, or falls and dies, makes me feel sick to my stomach.

Fear soup! This is pretty Flesh.

I could feel my pulse quicken, like it wanted to match the tempo, though I’ve no idea why. I should have been confused, scared maybe, and I guess I was, but I could also feel my fingers tap-tap-tapping away to the beat.

Right, alright, The Slaughter and music thing makes sense to me now. It's about the... I called it group project violence? That but serious. I know The Hunt was the mob mentality episode, but like... idk, I'm not sure. Something about the music in these episodes, Jane's song of the Hive, luring you in, entrancing you. The song of the Web, making you dance to its tune. The song of the Slaughter, getting caught up in the rhythm of it all.

There's something there, I can't exactly articulate it.

[...] just before the trumpet began to drift over the waters just a few yards beyond the walls.

woodwinds against trumpets 2023

And when they were lying still and the music stopped and night was quiet again, that’s when I heard the sound that really chilled my blood. All my comrades, my fellow prisoners, cheered. And it wasn’t the cheer of those glad for freedom, it was the sound of bloodlust and cruelty.

the slaughter feels like the least... spooky of all the fears to me. like, of course, there's a lot of war ghosts, and uncontrollable urges to do violence among other things, but the thing about the slaughter really feels like human and stuff. like, all of them are, not necessarily human, but influenced by the fear of mortals -- and probably those weird jellyfish, too -- but the slaughter feels different.

also, may I just say a thing? a few of the entities aren't really made manifest by that thing happening. like, sure, the eye is the fear of being watched -- among many other things -- but you know what really breeds paranoia? not being sure if you're being watched or not. the end is the fear of death, and yet victims of the end are commonly just told when the end will come for them. the slaughter is the fear of violence in a slaughter-y way and not a hunt or desolation-y way, and a lot of the slaughter's fear comes from witnessing the violence, or dreading it.

thus the extinction manifesting wouldn't end the world, because it would be a world without fear -- like maybe it would replace humans with spooky inheritors -- but honestly I think it would be enough just to give us the knowledge, the constant dread that there are people more powerful than us who can end the world with a decision, or trash the environment knowing full well what the consequences are. I think it would be enough to look at the doomsday clock and see that we're 90 seconds to midnight. but make it spooky.

woo! existential fear! hopelessness and helplessness! i know, i know, don't give up, people can cause change, but also I am one (1) tiny little guy.

Leonard was the first to dance. Well, I think of it as a dance, though I don’t know why. He reached over and grabbed another one of the former prisoners, a scrawny guy, I think his name was Milton. He gave a cry of anger that I could never have imagined coming from his gentle, smiling lips even in the head of battle. There was nothing Milton could do. Even malnourished as he was, it was easy for Leonard to snap his arm like a twig, twist his neck until his leg spasmed and his skull started to crack. Even when his victim was clearly dead, he kept beating it, tossing the corpse across the deck with as much ferocity as if it were the most hated man alive. The bloody crew of the Nemesis watched, their eyes riveted and their feet tapping to the music.

First of all, I love the way Jonny writes violence, it feels so visceral, I don't know, just the way he describes it. It's good. 10/10.

Secondly, I've danced in like a group but like a community sort of group not a lot of times, but I have acted, and it feels similar. Like, I don't know. Something about being on stage, the lights almost blinding you, it feels invigorating, it feels like you're being swept up in something. Idk, like that scene in Mama Mia where Sophie meets all three of her dads in one dance, and then passes out.

Yeah idk.

Few wars in my lifetime have reached anywhere the near the heights of fear I suspect this ritual would need, though I did spend some time a while back looking over some details from the Cuban Missile Crisis to no avail.

Nah, mate, the cold war's a feast for the extinction! (however, soup)

Anyway, point is, you can probably discount The Slaughter. It had its chance.

I forgot these tapes were supposed to be for her successor.

oh... hmnr. and they didn't help... this one told them outright how to stop The Unknowing, there was probably one going into more detail about it. The tape she intended the Archivist to hear as soon as they got the job... well, we all know what happened to that.

That's just... sad to me.

I feel like I’m on a deadline, like I’m running out time, somehow. And I don’t even know where to go, what to look for, or—

THIS! THIS IS WHAT SEASON 4 FEELS LIKE! Weirdly stressful, despite not clearly having a... point, something to... do, it feels like that feeling you get when you're so... bored or understimulated that you're just pacing around trying to find something to do, and you can't find anything to do! And it's like, aaaaa.

That's season 4.

(oh, also, for the last time the watcher's crown was in the past, the mass ritual doesn't have a canon name and when asked, Jonny tentatively said "The Magnus Archives" however of course that's word of god and the author is dead so take it as you will, however please do know that it's not the watcher's crown)

Daisy’s got me listening to The Archers. I hate it. But it feels nice to hate something that can’t hurt me. I don’t know. That’s it, I, I guess. End recording.

[ID: A drawing of someone sitting at a computer crying.]

I'M JUST SAD. "It feels nice to hate something that can't hurt me." HHHHH HES REALLY BEEN THROUGH THE WRINGER HASN'T HE D:

right, uh,

this is over ig.

#tma #the magnus archives #mag 137 #the slaughter #the extinction #a mag a day #landscaping-your-mind-chapter-one

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obsidianchild · 1 year

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Man, I'm seeing FMA again (Brotherhood, of course) and it really surprised me. When I see the story of Ed and Al for the first time I was like 14 and, yeah, it was really good, iconic moments, etc. I thought that watching it again would be disappointing in some ways, like "still is a good anime, but I didn't notice all those problems back in the day".

It's crazy how good this series got older. The 14 years old version of me knew nothing, I think I'm really aprecieting it just now.

The story is as crazy as I remember. First of all, there's no character (aside from the villains) that is isn't prone to share information. Is not easy in a story charged with that much information to make the watches (or readers in the manga's case) have a clear understanding of who knows what in every moment. In others fantasy stories like this, specially Shonen manga, the authors tend to create artificial tension by making they characters not sharing what they know, deliver that information in the form riddles or, even worse, don't let the reader know who knows what until the characters require to know the information. This last one is specially frustrating to me, becouse it's teaches me to not care about the impact that relevant information of the plot could have on the characters and how they know what they know. Without care, the necessary pieces of the puzzle that the story have starts to feel vague, like anyone could know or not know anything at any moment.

Now, I understand that it's not always necessarily focus on this storytelling resource, but FMA really succeeded in show how to done it well. The mistery behind this country is revealed slowly but nonstoping and I'm here being surprised whit the characters at every step.

This really supports the tone of the story. Arakawa want to reflect about what means to be human. The story puts in the table question like "how does one achieve redemption?" or "is there a place for kindness in a world full or horrors?" and there's no place for easy answers. Every character (and there's a LOT of those) have their own baggage and trying to deal whit it sometimes mean to damage someone else.

The comedy is use to accentuate the tense moments, as expected, but it also do this cool thing in which even the worst villains will have this silly moments. Even when we know we're dealing whit really atrocious people, we have this moments to make us remember that they ARE ALSO PEOPLE. The opposite is true for the good guys: even when we have the most fun and sweet moments whit them, we are not allowed to forget the true: most of this people are war criminals. Again, there's no easy answers. We are all just people trying to do our best.

The first chapters could fell really 2000' edgyness, but the rest of the journey really pays. There's a lot of things more I would like to say about FMA, like the awesome music in which Arika Senju shows how well he understood the manga, or the iconic character designs, but it's really difficult for me to write in English and I'm just practicing here.

I'm really not saying something that nobody already know: FMA is a good story. I'm just really glad that this anime that meant so much to me in the past is equally or even more enjoyable today as a grownup.

#FMA #The fights are also cool #Dale boca campeón

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celestemagnoliathewriter · 1 year

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Just wanted to say that I love the artwork of Teddy and Hope. Also, how did you come up with Teddy’s sister?

I haven’t read your story yet but once I get some free time I’ll definitely check it out. I know that I’ll love it, I’m glad to have discovered your writing 😍😍

Also, if I may add my name is Hope and it got me excited to see that name as a character that you are writing about. 🥹🥹

Well, thank you, Hope and I hope that if/when you read Cariad, which features Hope more prominently, you'll enjoy it! I'm also glad you liked the art :)

I'd love to tell you about Miss Hope Lupin (the second). Per Remus's bio page on wizarding world, his mother was called Hope Howell (get it? HOWL? As if Werewolf McWerewolf wasn't enough for Remus, lol). As a lot of the characters in the HP universe seem to name their kids after dead people, Hope's name was easy, but I do like that name for the Lupins' daughter, because like Bill and Fleur's Victoire, it shows something brighter for the future.

This is an AU story, and below I've got some mild spoilers, but nothing that should give away the whole story:

In Collide and Cariad, I gave the Lupins four children. I like giving Remus a whole brood of kiddos whenever I can. Dad!Remus is one of the best things. To tell you about Hope, I will also tell you about Teddy.

In Cariad, I wanted the Lupins to have a daughter after Teddy. She comes 3 years later, and when she does arrive, she's inherited some of her dad's lycanthropic tendencies. In chapter 25, Daughter, I explain how this works. She's not a werewolf, but she's like Bill, where she's got some symptoms and it's chronic. I liken it to a mild form of anemia and chronic fatigue. As a result, Hope is born smaller than expected and will always be small for her age. Physically she's not as big or strong, but she's bright and determined.

I have her look a lot like Tonks, without the morphing. I intentionally made Hope an 'average' witch, in that she's not a Metamorphmagus. This creates an interesting dynamic for her in the family, as she doesn't have anything especially unique about her; Tonks and Teddy are Metamorphmagi and Remus is a werewolf. Not that Hope wants to be a werewolf, but she's the second child in a family where there are many expectations. Tonks is a celebrated, talented Auror. Remus is a decorated war hero. Teddy gets the brunt of this because he's the firstborn, the oldest, and he deals with prejudices very early in his childhood, which later impact his view of the world. He understands, from an early age, that he's got a lot to live up to, and even worse, with his dad as a werewolf, he's very aware he's got to be on his best behavior to avoid any scandal.

Hope doesn't quite get that message. She instead sees a near-perfect older brother, two incredibly talented parents, and then she's just...her. She's a little sickly, a bit small, but clever and stubborn. She gets the feeling early in life that she's going to be just as talented as the rest of her family, even if it's hard.

She later becomes an older sister to twins. That makes her a middle child, and in doing so, she begins shouldering some of the same 'older sibling' responsibilities that Teddy has, but she's now a middle child who longs to stand out. Her younger brother, Alex, will suffer a similar feeling, as the other twin, Minnie, is also a Metamorphmagus and will easily stand out for that trait.

Hope is motivated by love of her family, desire to prove herself worthy and strong, and dismay that the world isn't as cheerful as she once believed. Teddy learned early on that the world wasn't fair and he was a good brother, hiding Hope from it as much as he could. But Hope does learn, accidentally and purposefully, that werewolves aren't always welcomed, her parents are flawed, and she's just one small witch in a bigger world.

She's stubborn, determined, and while she takes after her mother in looks, she's an extraverted version of Remus. Meanwhile, Teddy is an more reserved, introverted version of Tonks. Hope gets the extraversion from her mother, Teddy gets the introversion from his father. As a result, Hope will be a Gryffindor, because while Teddy is brave, he is above all loyal to his family, extremely hardworking, and perfectionistic. Hope is all these things, but with the distinction that she is more daring and willing to take risks that Teddy wouldn't.

In Collide, I gave her the pairing of Frank Longbottom, the son of Neville, but I've been thinking of changing that in Cariad. I haven't decided yet. Either way, I do plan on having her become an Auror, because like her mother, she wants to make the world a better place. Teddy will be a Healer.

#cariad #remadora #remus lupin #nymphadora tonks #hope lupin #hope lupin the second #teddy lupin #the lupin family #my ocs #my writing #ask me about my ocs #ask me about my fics #ask me about my wips #thank you for the ask

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nottoxicfr · 1 year

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They should FFXIV A Realm Reborn RWBY. They should blow up Remnant. I know this sounds like I'm a hater, but I'm not. I just love when things FFXIV A Realm Reborn (Blow Up).

Just picture this. They get back to Remnant. Everything's terrible. What's new? Glad you asked.

There's a big ass red star in the sky and it's going to blow up Remnant (spectacular). It's the Star of Belmagio (as you know, of course)!!! What's the issue? It's got a massive Grimm in it from the days when Remnant was whole, which is bad because there's significantly less people who have magic to handle this bad situation. Even worse because only two people are vaguely aware that this could happen.

This giant Grimm is a dragon (obviously named a derivative of Smaug) and it's been influencing Humanity and Grimm to give in to their negative emotions. It's been imprisoned in the star for so long that it's decided the only way for it to break free is to ram it head-first into the planet.

Now, obviously, we can't spend a whole Volume talking about that so instead, Team OERN (Oscar, Emerald, Ren, and Nora) have been running around trying to deal with this and not dealing with their massive trauma since Team RWBYJ fell into a whole.

Anyway, Team RWBYJ gets out of the hole and finds the world in the middle of a war, because the Grimm made humanity want to kill itself.

The Grimm slams directly into the ocean, causing massive amounts of damage and briefly flooding all the conteinents. Team RWBYJ arrives in the middle of a battle between whoever and whatever, meets up with OERN.

Following several events, Oscar sends the gang to safety several years into the future, and he is left alone to seal the big Dragon inside the moon using the Relic of Destruction.

The grand result is the absolute funniest way to do a time skip, the moon is whole, and also it's like a soft reset.

#toxic talks about #RWBY #ff14 arr #this is a joke but I'd also like to write this

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shinra-makonoid · 5 months

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How do you deal with all this negativity? I know it's basically ever year you get an ask like this (maybe all the time from me) but it feels it gets worse and worse.

Netherlands election, Russias LGBT extremist declaration and most recent raids (and of course the Ukraine war which gets ignored because of another war and people and the media can only focus on one thing at a time), current UK trans guidelines, whatever the US is planning with this Project 2025 nonsense, which will probably be exported someday to us in Europe. Maybe that's a little too much, but it is not crazy to worry as a non-US-citizen what the world police is up to. Everything they do has an influence on the world... Poland has some good news but the rest seems to be shifting more right. I'm glad Germany has some time till the next election but I know the AFD (right wing) will get even more people on their side while at the same time the CDU (Christian central-right) acts more and more like the AFD to get the extreme voters which doesn't work. The only thing the CDU politicians are recycling are Desantis talking points on trans people.

And at the same time bashing the Green party and Social democrats party for the current situation of all with the wars and - ah yeah COVID? But at least that's over :)

Again like every time, sorry for the rant. I do not want to get you in a negative mindset and if these asks do that I will stop. Do these kind of asks bother you?

I don't know what other things to do because distraction and not watching news is impossible. The news come to you in the end.

First of all, those asks don't bother me at all! I think it's great you express yourself and it doesn't bum me out either. I'm not sure if my answers help though.

Yeah COVID is absolutely not over at all and I cringe every time someone is like "oh yeah but it's not an issue anymore uwu" my government is in denial about it and people complain they have to wear a mask in the hospital.

I guess I just... Don't really deal with it. What probably helps is that I also focus a lot on the upcoming year and it leaves not much to think about ~other things~ outside of my life. I protect myself, make sure I can do whatever I can to make my future the best possible, and that's it. It's a bit egocentric but I guess that protects me from being bummed out by things too much outside of my control. I have a plan and I'll do anything so it can go well, and that's all that matters. All my worries are mostly about being ill or dying before I ever leave Paris lmao there is no reason I'd fall terribly ill or die but that's pretty much what's inside my mind the most. So... Yeah pretty egocentric.

Dunnow if that could help, but if the news depress you and you can do without it, just shut off the news for a week or two. Personally I get to be a no-life for a week, eating chocolates and playing a game all day and that has been great. ™️ Who knows what happens outside of my room.

#anon #ask

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faeryarchives · 2 years

Note

Haii! How are you today? Since I see that your requests are open, can I ask for diasomnia with a ganyu-like s/o headcannons?

hi anon~ i'm doing fine thank you for asking <33 i hope you are having a nice day and enjoy reading ><

diasomnia with a ganyu-like fem!s/o!

the hardworking and soft spoken secretary of the yuehai pavilion with the blood of the qilin flowing in her veins.

: ̗̀➛ malleus draconia

the first time you met in front of the ramshackle dorm, malleus was surprised - because one of his favorite place was now occupied by you! his eyes showed interest when you also have horns but with black-red horns and brighter red markings on the side.

his mood became happier once he realized that you weren't afraid of him at all, the two of you started to share some stories about your experiences.

your parents are of different species? you and sebek might get along! you worked non-stop as a secretary in your previous world? that's amazing! you served and aided the god of your nation in war? that's so cool! can you spar with him next time using your vision and weapon?

the dragon fae always worry when he see you sleeping in the most random places. one time, when he saw you sleeping in a wagon in the garden - malleus tried waking you up but you didn't even budge!

"beastie, why are you sleeping out here? are you not getting enough sleep?"

"zzzzz..."

"well i guess you are really tired then. sleep tight beastie."

malleus would always talked to lilia, silver and sebek about you! the first time you ever visited diasomnia to meet your dragon bestie - you were shocked to know that they trio already know much about you.

he was so glad when you always try inviting him whenever there is a meeting with the other dorm leaders who always forgot to invite him. needless to say - malleus found his new horned bestie

whenever he sees you, malleus goes 'beastie (＾▽＾) !!' making the students nearby stunned.

when the two of you got together - it wasn'treally a shock to everyone.

you would find yourself together with malleus during his night walks while holding hands! you could feel his thumb caress the back of your palm making you feel butterflies inside.

the first time the two of you shared your first kiss - it was when he didn't get invited again during the meeting and worse, everybody just shrug it off like its not a big deal.

"beastie, am i really that scary?"

"no you are not! you are the most beautiful fae i've ever seen! i love you so much mal."

you could expect lilia cooing on the side while commenting when will uncle lilia meet his grandchildren

: ̗̀➛ lilia vanrouge

lilia always see you around the adeuce duo and grim, trying to keep the three in check to prevent them causing another accident. well accidents with those three are inevitable but the diasomnia vice dorm leader could see how you are really trying your best.

the two of you first interacted when you were talking about the other dorms with the heartslabyul squad (minus riddle), lilia suddenly appeared before you when diasomnia was mentioned.

the more the two of you somehow cross paths with each other - the more he learn something new about you!

after learning that you were a part of qilin, lilia sometimes dropped by your room asking you questions while giving grim a can of tuna because the cat keep grumbling about uninvited visitors.

"do qilins exist here in twisted wonderland lilia-san?"

"they exists but only a few are left in this world. and it is very rare to meet them that is why we only know a few things about your kind."

"hey! if you are going to come here every night to chat with my henchman atleast bring some tuna as compensation!"

"grim go to sleep!"

"here you go little monster."

a trait that both of you shared was you love for sweets - well to be specific, you love eating sweet flowers while lilia like candies and baked sweets. there was a time that he almost dropped his candy after seeing you eat a flower in the garden.

lilia would try to make you rest after seeing you doze off during lunch time. he wouldn't want you to get sick because of stress.

if you did fell ill, the vice dorm leader would try to make you some soup to make you feel better but fortunately, silver and sebek immediately stop him.

"i know! how about i cook-"

"old man i remember there was a meeting for the vice dorm leaders today."

"lilia-san its okay i can still manage."

overall, lilia feel like he adopted another child under his wing. not that he mind at all! he would do anything to make you feel at home during your stay in nrc ^^

but that all changed when he realized that he sometimes get jealous when his children aka malleus, silver and sebek get too close to you.

one day he just swoop in and held you in his arms making you shriek in surprise.

"lilia?! that gave me a surprise!"

"fufufu sorry my little bat, they wer just getting too close to you and i got a little jealous."

when the two of you finally got together, lilia would always surprise you with a kiss while floating upside down making you blush super red for the whole day!

and hugs is a must for this fae because he just love showering you affection especially to your horns!

overall being in a relationship with lilia is a very wholesome experience.

: ̗̀➛ silver

silver met you for the first time when he saw you sleeping under the tree. classes for the first years are still ongoing so he tried waking you up - only to feel drowsy and falling asleep next to you.

by the time you woke up, you were shocked finding several animals surrounding you and a sleeping silver. leaving him alone in the school grounds especially at night might be dangerous so you waited until he woke up, playing with the animals. surely grim is still hanging out with the adeauce duo so it will be fine.

it turns out the two of you became friends easily! sometimes when your friends are attending their remedial classes from crewel, silver keep you in company along with his animal friends who took a liking at you because you help them cool down using your cryo vision.

silver could relate to you prone to fall asleep anytime and anywhere, which cause an agreement to form between the two of you - to look after each other if they somehow fell asleep in some place.

"what was the longest time you fell asleep?"

"around three days? i didn't realize i fell asleep on someone's caravan and the next thing i knew i was heading towards the neighboring nation."

"... (name) i think you should let me know where you are whenever you feel sleepy."

"huh? i don't know if i could but i will try?"

knowing how hectic your workload is, silver tries his best to help you by doing small things like giving you snacks while you hangout or even offering to look after grim for a while.

after knowing about your worries, he would sometimes give you encouraging words and compliments to make you cheer up during the hard times. and he also made it his mission to not let his father cook for you whenever you fell ill.

how silver fell for you was like a gust of wind- very unexpectedly. was it because he really like your company? or how you take care of him?

but regardless, he really loves you! wanting his confession to be simple and sweet, he tried asking you out with the help of his animal friends.

"oh how lovely! your animal friends are sure active today silver."

"it'sbecause they wanted to witness something special." taking your hands into his, the male look at you in the eyes and smiled.

"i like you (name), i really do. it's ok if you don't like me back, but i just want to tell you th-" before he could even finish his sentence, you let out a happy sob and tackled him into a hug!

"i like you too silver!"

as the two of you became a couple, silver would try not to cuddle you in the public as much as possible because he doesn't want anyone to see your face being all cute 🤬🤬

cooking snacks are also normal with him but be alert if he somehow fell asleep mid way.

when the news got out that you are together, lilia was sobbing on malleus shoulder.

"my son is all grown up and is together with my other child!"

"old man, (name) is not your child."

: ̗̀➛ sebek zigbolt

oh here comes our boy.

"human! why are you eating those flowers!"

when sebek spotted you eating flowers, you swore you never heard a human let out voice that loud in your whole life, not even when her friend almost fell off their workplace! you lowered your head in embarrassment as you could feel the eyes of the students fall onto the two of you.

grim not wanting to put his henchman in a tight spot, he dragged you and sebek towards the ramshackle dorm. the two of you tried to explain to the diasomnia first year that those flowers earlier gives of familiar aroma reminding her of her favorite flowers in her world.

"but why eat it?"

"because she couldn't resist their sweet scent."

"oh..."

after that incident, sebek finally notice your horns making him let out a gasp. so you were the friend that his waka-sama is talking about! without any hesitation he started to apologize.

the aspiring knight is really grateful that you always help him out whenever lilia play some pranks on him making you view him as your little brother.

once he learned that you are having a hard time fitting in with humans because of the fact that you are a part of a mythical beast he haven't heard before. he would to his best to help you if you are having any problem with socializing even if he is having that kind of problem himself but hey he is trying his best!

sometimes he would watch you show off your skills and to say he was amused was an understatement. this man basically looks up to you now!

you practically begged him not to call him honorifics and saying your name would just be fine which he fortunately agreed.

you slowly got used to his way of talking and sometimes invite him with your friends during lunch, telling them that diasomnia is not really that scary.

"come on they are not that scary, maybe a little intimidating?"

"yeah! the other one even gave me tuna last night!"

"even you grim?"

"oh look there is sebek."

"hello (name)-sama!"

... ok he is still taking baby steps but at least he is now friends with your friends too! the more the merrier ><

the closer you got, the harder you fell for this dork.

the cute thing is that everyone could see how much the two of you like each other but were too shy to confess.

not until ace had enough and locked you two inside of the classroom.

"ok i had enough of you two being dense with each other. you are not getting out of there until you confess!"

"what confess?! let me out this instance!"

"you like me sebek?"

oh god i think he just fainted. his soul flying out of his body.

being in a relationship with sebek is heart warming. due to this as his first relationship, expect some awkwardness from here and there but he is really trying his best!

"aw sebek, thank you for getting me these flowers!"

"ah hehe um it was because i remember how you really like this flower. you can eat it if you want."

"..."

take it easy on him 😭

#twisted wonderland x reader #twisted wonderland scenarios #twisted wonderland imagines #twisted wonderland #twst scenarios #malleus draconia #lilia vanrouge #silver twisted wonderland #sebek zigvolt #faeryarchives

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labyrinth-runner · 2 years

Note

Obi Wan whispering words of affection as he holds his s/o close during a late night cuddle session? 🥺

So I wrote like half of this while dealing with Covid this week. I'm so sorry it's taken forever to write. And I apologize if its a little lack luster.

Pairing: Obi-Wan x Reader

Word count; 1000 ish

Warnings: None

Your bed was always too big when he was away. It was funny, really, how you'd gone from having to adjust to sleeping with him to craving his presence when he was gone. His space heater body was a sauna, but now your bed was cold without it.

Some nights were harder than most, particularly the nights after you got news from the front. You had to sit there and wonder where he was. Was he okay? Was he even sleeping? Or was he pacing his quarters stroking his beard as he tried to puzzle himself out of such an illogical thing as war?

You knew he barely slept without you. Really slept. He could slip into trances to restore his energy, but he was always on high alert. He slept deepest when he was with you, when he could trust that he could turn everything off for a few hours and it wouldn't be the end of the world.

The lights from the speeders streaked across your window like shooting stars. Foolishly, you wondered if you could make a wish. Closing your eyes, you decided to try. I wish for him to come home soon. Maybe he'd hear you. Maybe the force would let him know. Maybe the galaxy would bring you back together. Your eyes felt heavy with sleep as you turned away from the window, burrowing further into your blankets.

It must've been three in the morning. You could hear the clock chiming in the distance. Three distinct chimes.

Nothing good ever happened at three in the morning.

You could hear shuffling in the other room. The hair on your arms stood up as you reached for the blaster you kept in the nightstand. You crept to the door, blaster aimed, when it suddenly opened on its own.

He looked worse for wear.

His clothes were singed, and he smelled of ash. Mud caked his boots. His hair fell over his eyes. You reached out to tuck it back into his hairline.

"Obi-Wan," was all you managed to get out before he crushed you in his arms, burying his face in the crook of your neck.

You were tired, but you pushed it aside, dragging him towards the refresher to clean up. You appraised him, noticing some newer scars, still angry and red, marring the landscape you used to know. He leaned into your contact as you cleaned him off.

"You look like hell," you muttered with a slight laugh.

"I feel like it," he admitted with a sheepish smile, wrapping a towel around his waist.

You leaned against the doorway, arms folded across your chest as he dressed in a clean pair of pajama bottoms. "I'm glad you're home."

He looked over his shoulder at you. "Oh, did you miss me?"

Your nose crinkled. "Not a bit. Did you miss me?"

"Every day." His voice was sincere, all previous hints of teasing gone. He was speeding towards you, his lips pressing against yours as soon as he was close enough to reach. Your fingers buried in his hair, you thumbs stroking his cheek as you kissed him back.

"How long are you back for?" you asked between kisses.

"Long enough to get reacquainted with an old friend."

Your smile fell. So did his.

"It's never long enough," he admitted, stroking your cheek.

"When will it end?" you asked, pulling away to sit on the bed.

"Soon."

"How soon is soon when a war has been waged for years?" You sighed.

"I know it isn't ideal."

"It's not." You crawled back under the covers, your back towards him.

He sighed, tucking you under his arm and pulling you against his chest. "You know I don't like leaving."

You sighed. "I know."

"Do you know why I don't like leaving?"

You hated that he sounded like he was guiding a youngling through a problem. "Because you hate fighting."

"No." He ran the pad of his finger along the outline of your face. "Because I hate leaving you." He kissed your temple.

"I just feel useless, waiting here until you get back. Hoping that you're okay while knowing that I couldn't do anything about it even if you weren't. I-" you broke off, never having said the word before and not quite sure if this was the time for it.

"I know." He sounded sorry for the fact. "How do you think I feel when I see things happening here and knowing that I can't protect you?"

"Useless?" you had a slight smile on your face, knowing that it must be hard for him to admit that fact. You turned back to him, resting your head on his chest, listening to the gentle rise and fall of his breathing and the steady beating of his heart. He took your hand in his, smoothing his thumb along the back of your hand.

"I love you."

You knew those words were hard for him to say, knowing that they could cost him everything should someone else have heard them. But, you also knew that you needed to hear him say them, because you needed to know that this meant as much to him as it did to you.

"I know," you whispered, holding him close.

"You're the strongest, bravest, smartest person I know," he replied. "You are never useless. Knowing that you're out there somewhere doing your best to hold everything together gives me the strength to hold everything together. Never forget that."

"I won't."

He kissed your forehead, his breathing slowing, and you knew that sleep had taken him. But, you also knew it would be the best sleep he'd have for months, and you would feel the same way, too.

#obi wan kenobi #obi wan x reader #obi wan kenobi x reader #Kenobi

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qqueenofhades · 2 years

Note

Oooh, 53 and/or 55 for either Emma/Killian/Sam Bellamy or Alina/Aleksandr/Nikolai, if you're so inclined? Dealer's choice 😘

53. "There are worse ways to die."

55. "Oh, I love how dramatic this is."

The tall doors at the end of the bedchamber stand open into the sultry summer evening -- it's the White Nights, so it won't get properly dark, but the twilight is pleasantly atmospheric -- and Nikolai and Aleksander are standing on the balcony and arguing. Since they're usually doing that no matter where they're located, Alina pays them no mind, seated at her desk and flipping through the latest round of court petitions. For one thing, it's their chief love language, and two, it's good for the tsar of Ravka and his chief commander to have a healthy debate on how to deal with the latest flare-up of tension with the Shu Han. As usual, Aleksander favors prompt and categorical smiting, while Nikolai is angling for a more civilized approach to negotiations. They'll probably end up in the middle. Eventually. Sometime. Maybe.

Biting a smile, Alina turns back to her work, sorting the petitions in order of highest priority for discussion with Genya tomorrow. It's getting more familiar all the time, this unorthodox arrangement, and she's glad for that. When she agreed, she had no idea if it would work at all, or the strength of personality (and of stubbornness) on not just two sides but three would sink it straightaway. But they're managing. More than that, actually. And there are definite benefits.

Alina coughs, finishes her work, and sets the stack aside. "Are you two done?" she calls, raising her voice. "Or are you determined for all of Os Alta to watch you bicker like a pair of clowns at the circus?"

"It's his fault." Nikolai thrusts a finger accusingly at Aleksander, who looks unmoved. "How are we supposed to convince the world that this is actually a kinder and gentler Darkling, if he just wants to go back to his usual trick of blowing up everybody who -- "

"As opposed to the dress-up pirate here, who thinks that if we just walk in and ask nicely, the Empress will agree to -- "

"Both of you." Alina snaps her fingers, and the Tsar of All the Ravkas and the feared Black General look like guilty schoolboys. "I said, stop it. Besides, there are better things for us to be doing."

Nikolai and Aleksander exchange one final mulish look, cross their arms, and huff. Then, as Alina continues to regard them expectantly, they sigh and step off the balcony, entering the royal bedchamber with expressions that promise this debate is anything but settled. "I can't believe this is how I'm going to die," Nikolai sighs theatrically. "Smothered in my sleep by a warmongering old man with a -- "

"There are worse ways to die, Your Majesty." Aleksander raises a scathing dark eyebrow. "I'm happy to introduce you to plenty of them."

"Oh, shut up." Alina grabs both of her husbands by the collar and drags them closer; they come forthwith, looking very startled. This is how it's been ever since the war ended: Nikolai wears the crown, Aleksander commands the army, and Alina -- well, she does almost everything else. It's still strange, and she isn't always sure that she made the right choice, but at least she can help far more people, in far more ways, than she ever could have as a powerless nobody living on a farm in obscurity. And this, the way it is with the three of them -- she likes it. She likes it a great deal. Even if she's still not entirely sure if Nikolai and Aleksander won't stab each other one night and be done with it, at least they would never risk upsetting her. Besides, she's seen them at other times, together and not arguing. She knows that their fights tend to end in angry making out in conveniently nearby closets. Both of them will still stiffly deny it if they are ever asked. (Does Ivan know? Judging from the way he glares bloody murder at them whenever their backs are turned, probably.)

"I do love how dramatic this is," Nikolai murmurs, as he settles heavily onto the bed on one side of Alina, and Aleksander takes the other, both men competing to kiss her first. Alina turns her head between them, pulling them close with either arm. They are idiots, it is most undeniable. But they are her idiots, and that makes all the difference.

[fic prompts]

#sab ff #alina x aleksander x nikolai #which would be called uh....#darklinalai #?#i have no idea #also bless you for asking for emma/killian/sam #fic prompts #mykingdomcomeundone #ask

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whumphours · 3 years

Text

You Will Not Die Here

I am here and I have written!

Sawyer is in a bad mood, and oh boy, is it going to get worse. (ft. feel like I should explain the setting. It's slightly post-apocalyptic. Basically, have you ever heard of Fallout? It's kinda like that.)

Tagging @crowned-avery <3

Warnings: Creepy/intimate whumper, guns and getting shot, murder, lots of blood, referenced/threatened noncon, mentions of gangs and gang violence, briefly referenced minor whump (whumpee was 17 when he was originally kidnapped), some manhandling

There was a body.

There was a body on the floor, and Sawyer was calmly reloading his pistol and humming some fucking country song from the old days.

How did he even know it? Someone had to have passed it down. Maybe it was something his granddad sang, and his dad picked it up, and he picked it up from there. It wouldn't be the only thing he picked up from his dad.

Like the trigger happy attitude that led to the fucking body on the floor.

Fingers clicked in front of Ash's face and he snapped into reality, to see Sawyer staring at him with a grin.

"Back with us, sweetheart?" he asked, and all Ash could manage was a nod. He was still waving that fucking gun around - a Queen Anne style flintlock, Ash remembered, lovingly maintained - and Ash was terrified that, at any moment, he'd fire it again.

It wasn't the first time Ash had seen a body, but it was the first time he'd actually seen Sawyer kill someone.

A person's life. Gone. Just like that. Just because Sawyer was in an especially bad mood and didn't want to be inconvenienced. You wouldn't know it by how cheerfully he was humming, but the tension was still hanging in the air.

Blood was seeping dangerously close to Ash's feet, and he felt like he was going to vomit.

Ash screamed a little as Sawyer wrapped his arms around Ash's chest and pulled him back.

"Hey, hey," he chuckled. "It's just me. Don't wanna get your shoes covered in blood."

Sawyer was holding him just a bit too tight.

"Right…" Sawyer breathed out slowly. "Someone clean this up. I'm gonna calm down."

Sawyer dragged Ash with him as he stormed out of the room, leaving the rest of the gang to argue among themselves about who would deal with Sawyer's latest mess.

Back into the makeshift bedroom set up in the back of the warehouse, and shoved up against the wall, Sawyer pressed up against him.

"I don't know if I want to hurt you or fuck you," Sawyer grinned. "Mm… maybe both. We'll see."

Sawyer punched him hard enough to send him to the floor, and it finally sunk in that he was going to die here.

One day, he was going to hit the wrong nerve, or push it too far, or do nothing except exist on a bad day, and Sawyer was going to snap and kill him.

The only reason he was still alive was because he'd begged, and Sawyer thought he looked cute doing it.

"Please," he whispered, curled up on the floor, and it felt like the first time, it felt like being seventeen and watching his dad die for the crime of saying no and Sawyer calmly reloading that fucking flintlock pistol, ready to fire it again.

Please don't kill me.

All his father ever wanted was the peace to rebuild his own little part of the world, without the violence of wasteland gangs and devastation of the war, and he died for it. He died and Ash was here, getting used and abused and waiting to be thrown out when Sawyer got bored.

Ash couldn't focus on anything except the pain tearing through his body, struggling to keep his eyes open as Sawyer pulled him to his knees by the collar. How long had it been? A few seconds? A few minutes? He wasn't sure. He was just glad it had stopped.

"Didn't mean to hit ya so hard, sweetheart," Sawyer smiled, gently stroking his hair. "Guess I had a lot I needed to get out."

Ash said nothing. He knelt there, eyes on the ground, fresh bruises on his skin, seething.

But when Sawyer tilted his chin up, he showed the wide eyed fear he knew the man was looking for.

"God, I hate fucking up that face…" Sawyer ran his thumb over Ash's bottom lip, smearing blood across it. "...but you look so damn pretty covered in blood."

When Ash got out of here, he was going to cut his hair, and scar his face, and never, ever let anyone touch him again.

Ash could only manage a whine as Sawyer let him crash to the floor.

"Right!" Sawyer said, a genuine cheery mood back in place. "I feel a lot better already. I'll let you be, sweetheart. I think you need it."

When Sawyer was out of sight, Ash slowly, shakily, got himself into a sitting position, and leaned back against the wall.

With nothing else to do, a few hours was plenty of time to come up with a plan.

***

They were asleep. There was one lookout, standing next to the slightly ajar doors, but the rest of them wouldn't wake up, as long as he was quiet.

Ash had gotten good at being quiet.

He got to his feet, ignoring that his body felt like it was burning, ignoring that he was terrified of getting caught. He had to do this.

Sawyer will kill you when he gets bored. He's just going to keep hurting you until he fucking kills you. You can do this. You've let pain stop you before. You can't let it stop you this time.

You will not die here.

He stepped over the weapons strewn on the floor, then paused. He needed to protect himself out there, and if Sawyer woke up and found his precious flintlock missing…

It was the least the bastard deserved.

Ash knelt down beside where Sawyer lay asleep, and picked up the gun. He'd seen Sawyer handle it enough times to know how it worked. He wrapped his hand firmly around the handle, and almost expected Sawyer to wake up at that moment, somehow knowing that his gun had been touched.

But Sawyer didn't even twitch in his sleep.

Slowly, Ash made his way towards the door, watching the lookout carefully. He needed to sneak past, but the man wasn't moving from his post at all. They usually got bored and wandered around after a while, or took a break to drink or smoke a cigarette.

You have a gun.

Ash nearly dismissed that thought on principle. He wouldn't shoot someone. He couldn't.

But if the man wasn't going to move, what other choice did he have?

Ash was slow, and careful, and quiet, but not enough. The lookout whipped around to face him, going for his gun, and Ash felt his blood run cold. But the man hesitated.

The last person to lay a hand on Ash without Sawyer's permission got a broken nose for it.

For once, Ash was almost grateful for the protection that being Sawyer's plaything gave him. The man didn't dare touch him, and that was his mistake.

You can do this.

You have to do this.

Shoot him.

The gunshot was much louder than he had expected.

The lookout fell back, hand over his chest, blood running through his fingers, and Ash realised that the rest of the gang were startled awake and jumping to their feet. But he couldn't take his eyes off it, the feeling of taking a life overwhelming him with something like power, or relief, or maybe it was just adrenaline and shock. He wasn't shooting to kill. He wasn't.

That was the first time Ash Kennedy killed a man. It wouldn't be the last.

He breathed out sharply, suddenly aware of the world around him, shoved the gun in his pocket, turned, and ran for his life.

He could feel them all, staring at him as his heart felt like it was pounding in his throat, and he looked back. They were already about to go after him, but Sawyer waved them away.

"Don't," Sawyer muttered, only half-awake, and grabbed the nearest revolver. "Fucking brat."

He fired.

He didn't miss.

Ash didn't have the breath to scream. He desperately clutched his arm, feeling the blood begin to soak his hand, his ears ringing from the sound, and refused to stop.

"We'll find his body tomorrow morning." Sawyer threw the revolver back down, rubbed his eyes, and groaned. "It's too fucking early to deal with this shit. I'm going back to sleep."

#whump #whump writing #ash kennedy #sawyer jackson #creepy/intimate whumper #guns tw #murder tw #referenced noncon tw #the song Sawyer is humming is Cowboy Casanova btw mostly because it was a very funny mental image

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kitkatopinions · 3 years

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Miles says in the director commentary that v9 will likely be an isolated volume. I'm not surprised. It'll probably be island exclusive so they won't have to focus on the fallout of the refugee crisis in Vacuo or the characters gathered there. Convenient huh? My guess is that there's a timeskip where alot of stuff is dealt with offscreen without us seeing it.

Oh goodness gracious. I called it, but I still am just disappointed. V9 being isolated could be... Very boring and hard for me to get through. It's possible that they're going to actually have Ruby, Yang, Weiss, and Blake undergo change and grow and take responsibility for their actions and work on their flaws finally. But with the way the writing has been lately, I fully expect this to either be further backstory that doesn't acknowledge Team RWBY + Jaune's faults, or Ruby feeling responsible and sad only to be reassured and congratulated and patted on the back all volume long until she decides that of course she doesn't need to change... And also in both cases, I'm expecting some 'twist' that involves making Team RWBY very special that somehow manages to keep them insignificant to Salem.

And if there's a time skip when they get back to Remnant... A part of me will be interested and there could be some good or fun concepts there, but mostly I'll be annoyed. Because A. You're right that it would make the problems with bringing all the civilians in Mantle and Atlas to Vacuo old and irrelevant, and it'd also allow the CRWBY writers to wave away the after effects of Ruby's broadcast. Those are both things I'm expecting to see pay off for that can actually be treated as bad things that Ruby and her team had a hand in causing. Skipping seeing the direct, early consequences of that is a quick way to lighten and minimize the effects in a realistic manner so that it can be treated as old hat and not a big deal when Team RWBY gets back. B. That's a quick way to hand wave a lot of problems. Say Ruby and co are of fin their side adventure and when they get back, five years have passed. Ren and Nora are together, solved their relationship problems, don't worry, it's fine. Ozpin and Oscar have already merged. How it happened and seeing Oscar make peace with it isn't relevant, don't worry about it, it's fine. Emerald has fully become a trusted member of the team and is completely done with Cinder, don't worry about it, it's fine. Whitley, Winter, and Willow all have great relationships and worked through any remaining problems off screen, it doesn't matter how or why, don't worry about it, it's fine. Mercury might've been redeemed off screen, or might've turned into a bloodthirsty irredeemable villain off screen, or might've been turned into a hound off screen, but don't worry about how or why, it's fine. Sun is dating someone new and might have totally forgotten all about Blake except to be glad she's back, thus removing any effort that could go into naturally and permanently laying BlackSun to rest. Salem has a new inner circle instead of her having to contend with the fact that she's only got three people on her side anymore (one of them a traitorous lying backstabber totally down with killing her other people if they annoy her too much,) but don't worry about it, it's fine.

I'm not saying all or even any of that is bound to happen, tbh, but I'm just saying that they can use the time skip as a means to resolve literally tons of issues off screen without doing any of the actual work involved and therefore bypassing these hugely interesting conflicts.

But also, C. The other reason why I really don't want a time skip is that I hate that Team RWBY or Jaune are already being held up on this pedestal of heroes and adult huntsman that are going to save the world when I don't feel like they've done the work to earn the support and power they already have. If there's a timeskip, I figure we're not only going to spend a lot of time on having big tearful reunions and Ren, Nora, and others acting like they're going to be a turning point in the war, or like they can't win the war without them, but we're probably also going to get Team RWBY and Jaune having been hailed as heroes and martyrs who sacrificed their lives to save Mantle and Atlas instead of anyone being rightfully angry at them or blaming them. And probably some level of deification, since, you know, they haven't aged.

Again, it's possible that the CRWBY writers won't do this, but tbh, I have no faith in their decision making abilities. I think there's going to be big problems with a stand alone RWBY + J arc centered around their journey through the void space. But I think if the CRWBY writers go with a time skip, it'll be much, much worse. But at least we might get white-gray haired Oscar model with Ozpin and him merged, wielding a cane and maybe interacting with his inner circle (minus James, rip to one of the best RWBY characters) again.

#rwde #anti rwby #rwby criticism #rwby hate #rwby bashing #anti mkek #anti rooster teeth #anti team rwby

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padme-amitabha · 4 years

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I just watched a video countering a couple of Prequel bashers and, my god, the things the haters said should happen to Jake Lloyd! It's an abhorrent injustice that these disgusting people were catered to by the 2008 CW series. You know, however terrible they are, I'm almost glad for the sequels, because if there's one good thing that came from them, it was watching the Prequel hate coming back to bite these people hard.

Tell me about it. The people who bullied Jake Llyod are despicable. I think the actors in the sequel trilogy sometimes overacted and it came out as too forceful at times and I wasn’t a fan of Daisey Ridley’s wooden acting but that’s no excuse to bully the actors! Jake tried his best and did exactly what George instructed him to do i.e. play a simple good-natured kid. The sequels have been criticized but I think the acting is rarely brought up while prequel actors like Ahmed Best, Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman had to deal with this nonsense because people didn’t agree with their characters’ actions, how they were written and/or couldn’t handle character flaws.

Still Jake Lloyd showed more emotional range than the adult sequel trilogy actors (I mean is Rey even capable of other expressions than being wide eyed or smiling in inappropriate situations or looking like she’s trying too hard?). I understand getting teased at school because let’s face it kids are immature and they were probably just jealous he got the role in such a highly anticipated movie but what angers me is when grown men picked on him and bullied him like the man-babies they were AND had the nerve to blame it on George (who still defends the prequels and it’s characters). I know it’s hard for them to swallow this but Star Wars is George’s creation and doesn’t exist solely to fulfill their male power fantasies. I have seen their version of “fix-it” videos where they are like Anakin should have been born with the suit and basically making him a psychopathic soulless monster and also a demon child. The atrocious Darth Vader Marvel comics are still trying to please said man-babies but TCW started that trend. These days actors can gain sympathy and support from fans on social media but back then people rarely stood up for little Jake and Ahmed Best. What’s worse is some reporters continued to harass and insult Jake in interviews to the point it permanently damaged his mental health. They even harassed his mom and continued to make those awful podracing jokes after the car-chase incident. He didn’t deserve any of this. And people still continue to ridicule him. I have seen people joke about him being unattractive compared to Hayden Christensen which is just so shallow and mean. Anakin is a fictional character - he can be played by any actor as long as it is convincing.

You’re right about TCW, that’s one of the reasons why I can never accept it (no matter how much I overlook the other terrible retcons). They were made to “fix” the prequels and even George was forced to change his characters a little because of the intense backlash. TCW caters to those horrible bullies and introducing that Ahsoka character wasn’t the best decision. You know, I once saw a video where fans voted for their favorite Jedi and she came in no. 2 and one of the common reasons they provided was because they found her attractive. Now female characters in a male dominated fandom have always been sexualized but the number of times TCW sexualized a minor is disturbing. And of course, Filoni’s blatant bias for his OC is extremely annoying. TCW caters to the fanboys’ ideals of toxic masculinity and are indirectly supporting these bullies. It started this trend of changing the prequel characters to make them more “acceptable” and “stereotypical” because fans can’t grasp the concept of complex and emotional characters and changing the “cheesy” romance to an abusive/unhealthy one to make it more “realistic”. Star Wars is more like a fairytale, even George said it’s a space opera. It’s meant to be dramatic and have mythical themes. But fanboys absolutely love these changes because now the prequels have been “improved” like this show was made specifically to please them and apologize for the prequels. They complain about how prequels ruined characters like Darth Vader because sometimes you should be able to use your imagination to fill in the gaps but TCW was that gap. The originals left so many valid unanswered questions like who was the Emperor (and how could he use force lightning), what was the clone wars, how exactly did Anakin fall from grace and who was Luke and Leia’s mother? The prequels answered them all and did a fantastic job at world-building. TCW is the unnecessary extension, we didn’t need to see their everyday lives and still if anyone was curious the 2003 CW was there to bridge the gap perfectly while staying true to the characters and keeping the tone consistent.

I agree with you on the sequels. I have never been invested in them in the first place to be outraged. I was bored watching TFA and its unoriginal plot, mildly amused at how ridiculous the TLJ was and just confused at how pointless and messy TROS was. So yeah the trilogy served those people right who thought a shallow unoriginal remake of ANH “revived” Star Wars after its creator “ruined” it and thought a director (whose other films are not very original either) could do better than one of the most creative and intelligent men in Hollywood.

Star Wars is so much more than these pointless action movies with stereotypical action heroes. George had combined elements from mythology, history, literature, science fiction, fantasy to create a beautiful story with symbolism, depth and a great message. The prequel trilogy and the original trilogy are two halves of that story and both are needed to complete the saga. Hollywood and these fans don’t deserve George Lucas. They disrespected him and his work.

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