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akimeowk · 2 months

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Siren Goddess Reader Hcs

Y'all voted for this, sorry if it's bad

I don't write fanfiction often lol

Fem reader because i specified goddess and i don't think i'd be good at gender neutral

Warnings: some stalking, mentions of kidnapping, mentions of selling people, mentions of drowning

Enjoy!

Before i get into reader and freminet, i feel like some info about my ideas on sirens should be shared

Sirens come in the following three forms:

Shallow water:

These are the smallest sirens. They tend to stick near the surface and around islands, often have tanner skin. They feast on small fish and land animals. They closely resemble mermaids, except with sharp teeth to eat meat.

Open water:

These ones are longer than shallow water sirens. They swim in to deeper waters and don't go near land often. A little more blue in skin tone than shallow sirens. They swim way more than shallow sirens, so they have more fins to help them swim quickly. The fastest of the sirens, they hunt larger fish.

Deep water:

These sirens are HUGE. Because they live in the depths of the ocean, they can grow to extreme lengths. They don't often go to the surface, because of this their skin is unnatural shades of blue. They often have claws. They don't chase their prey, they evolved to swim at consistent speeds for longer distances. Their color allows them to blend in, stalking their prey silently.

Y/n is most like a Deep water siren, however she's not actually a specific kind of siren. She's technically a mix of all three.

Also some backstory

Y/n was friends with Egeria (hydro archon) before the archon war. The sirens used to all live in the dark sea, but frequent hunting caused them to seek shelter in Fontaine.

When the archon war began, Y/n knew she wasn't strong enough to become an archon. But she couldn't allow her daughters to die. So she asked for help from Egeria.

Egeria agreed to help, and sealed off a large underwater cavern so that only Y/n could allow people to enter and exit. The sirens all hid, and haven't been seen since.

But even queens surrounded by their children get lonely, so Y/n finally decided to take a trip into Fontaine.

Freminet just wanted to go for a beachside walk. He didn't expect to come back with a clingy fish lady.

How Y/n and Freminet met:

Y/n had been seen by some people in her half siren form, and they were trying to capture her to sell her. She was perfectly capable of defending herself, and was about to, but Freminet stepped in, thinking she was in danger.

Freminet had recognized her from an old fairytale.

One about hideous monsters disguised as beautiful sea women that lure sailors to their deaths. She fit the description of them, except the tail. He thought that maybe the fairytale had some truth, and that she was an endangered species, hence why he decided to help her.

In awe of how a human could care enough about a creature like her to fight his own kind, she decided "he's adorable. He's mine now."

She fully planned on keeping him in her domain, but when she picked him up and started walking away, he freaked out (he thought he was gonna be eaten), and convinced her to let him go home.

They ran into each other by "coincidence" (Y/n stalked him until the perfect time to reveal herself) later and had an actual chat. Freminet learned that no, she didn't plan on eating him. Y/n learned that it's actually morally wrong to stalk people and very creepy, along with what kidnapping is.

Human customs are so strange.

Y/n is already infatuated with him right away, but Freminet doesn't quite like her like that yet. At most its a simple "she's really interesting, i wanna get to know her better" kind of thing.

Though that starts to change as Y/n makes an effort to court him with sea related gifts and cute dates.

Also, she can carry him.

I think he'd just swoon over a lady who can literally sweep him off of his feet.

He's always trying to be strong for other people, he needs someone to be strong for him so he can lower his guard for once.

And who better than a giant sea goddess who's head over heels for him?

He'd have a wonderful time in her domain.

So many sirens... if only the looks they were giving him weren't ones of hunger and bloodlust...

At least the caverns are gorgeous.

He wouldn't be able to explore her domain on his own for a while. Too many sirens that have been deprived of their favorite food for too long.

Once they start to understand how attached their queen is to this human, they back off.

Back to Y/n being in Fontaine

Freminet (obviously) can't stay in the caverns forever. So he has to leave for long periods of time.

But without her favorite human to occupy her, Y/n quickly finds that the caverns are too boring.

The sirens are all big girls. They can handle themselves! At least until Y/n gets back.

Of course, she has to go about it differently than last time (Freminet banned her from exiting the caverns without him unless she disguised herself.) She forgot that sirens are nothing but a myth to humans now, so showing up in her semi-siren form will only attract unwanted attention.

The solution? Human form!!!

I think it'd be funny if her human form was a little bit shorter than Freminet. Amongst other sirens she's HUGE. But if she was scaled down like other sirens, nope. Below average length. Which is why her human form is on the shorter side.

The sirens find it hilarious. Y/n, not so much.

Of course we can't forget about our favorite twins (wonderful transition i know), Lyney and Lynette!

As funny as the whole iCarly smoothie scene is, i don't think they'd meet Y/n in her semi-siren form or her full siren form right away.

The house of hearth is in the middle of fontaine, Y/n is NOT sneaking past that many people.

Freminet also wanted to wait a bit before letting his siblings meet her. Y/n isn't exactly... caught up on human culture.

After a month of dating though, the twins get suspicious of all the "walks" late at night that he's been taking.

They immediately figure out he's been going on dates with someone, just haven't figured out who.

At this point, Freminet deems Y/n educated enough on modern Fontaine to only be slightly strange.

So the twins finally meet her in her human form.

But they know something is off.

It's uncanny valley for them. She looks human, acts human, talks human, but you just get that feeling that something isn't right.

Freminet doesn't seem to notice their discomfort. Or maybe he does, and he's just praying that the months worth of lessons he gave Y/n didn't go in one ear and out there other.

Lyney puts up a front. He doesn't trust Y/n one bit. But he doesn't have any reason to start a commotion. So he acts friendly and observes for now.

Lynette i think would be a bit conflicted.

She's like Lyney in the sense that she doesn't trust Y/n. However, Freminet is smiling and chatting happily with somone who isnt from the house of hearth or the traveler. He's opening up to someone without the help of his siblings.

She decides that as long as Y/n doesn't hurt Freminet, then there's no issue with her being human or not.

It's still gonna take some work for them to fully trust her.

They'd find out shortly afterwards that Y/n is a siren.

Lyney, wanting to learn more about this strange girl who just showed up one day, suggests that they follow her home.

Lynette finds it ridiculous at first, but she can't help but be curious as well.

So they follow Y/n and Freminet from a far.

I honestly don't think they'd be that surprised when they see Y/n shift into her half-siren form.

"You mean the random girl who's never been seen around fontaine before, has no records of existing EVER and has a strange fascination with trying to drown fishermen, is a siren? How shocking. :|"

Like, they're not surprised that she's not human. But the siren thing? A little shocking. Actually, Freminet spends 80% of his days in the water diving. So maybe they shouldn't be that surprised.

Y/n knew Lyney and Lynette were following them. She doesn't care. She may not be able to win in the Archon war, but she damn sure can keep two human magicians silent.

Unfortunately, now things are awkward. Lyney and Lynette know that their brother is dating a sea monster. Y/n is too smug for her own good.

Freminet is struggling. How did he get into this mess?

Whenever Freminet leaves to hang out with Y/n, Lyney tells him to "not let her eat him alive"

Most people think it's a joke. Freminet knows it's genuine advice.

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I think i'm running out of ideas.

Lyney and Lynette finding out that Y/n is a goddess would have to wait for another day

Feel free to request some things if you have any ideas! I think i'll only write for Freminet for now though

Thank you for reading and have a lovely day!!

#freminet x reader #anon who cried #hellion’s anon who cried #akimeowk #siren goddess reader

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sepublic · 3 years

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SEASON 2 OF THE OWL HOUSE!!!

RUHGISN/LIFNALARNGLIENARE

Onto business first and foremost! We get twenty-one episodes, an extra one to make up for the rather odd, nineteen-count from the first season! That’s forty episodes in total! Then Season 3…

OH, Season 3… I love it but it hurts! The Lord giveth and taketh away, it’s confirmed, but it’s only THREE 44-minute specials! By my calculations, that’s about the length of SIX normal episodes… THE OWL HOUSE IS SO DANG POPULAR AND THIS IS WHAT YOU DO DISNEY?!?!! First Amphibia’s finale gets screwed over, THEN this?! But at least Amphibia gets its full third season… At least I assumeit does, oh for the love of Titan if it doesn’t…

It is extremely imperative that we petition Disney to let TOH’s third season be full-length! Because Dana herself admitted that the main reason she left Twitter was to cope with THAT news, and… OH MY GOD POOR DANA you fought SO hard against all odds to give us this show, this previous love-child of your mind and heart and spite, for this!? But it might not be too late- If we assault Disney with our demand, they MIGHT just change their mind! SO GET ON WITH IT! Let the cartoon community rally AGAIN!

But, right-

The first half of episodes for Season 2 is going to be TEN episodes, the second half will be eleven! Already better than the first season, but as a reminder, that’s what we’re getting so far before our mid-season hiatus! And on THAT note…

We have confirmation for the first FIVE episodes, which will begin airing just a mere FOUR WEEKS from now! We have Separate Tides, Escaping Expulsion, Echoes of the Past, Keeping Up A-fear-ances, and Through the Looking Glass Ruins!

These episode titles spell out “SEEK T”, presumably “Seek t(he)”, so we can already guess the next two episodes after TtLGR! That leaves fourteen more letters for the Season 2 message; The last one was “A witch loses a true way,” so perhaps this season is advising Luz to seek something that will help her get back home? Something that will help her confront and defeat Belos? A little bit of both?

Separate Tides is the season premiere! Luz is feeling guilty about the loss of Eda’s powers, poor girl, so she’s going to set sail for a lucrative bounty? Interesting… Perhaps a real Bloom of Eternal Youth? Something magical and bile-related? More lore on the nature of magic and its origins???

Escaping Expulsion… hoo boy, THAT’s what we’ve all been looking forward to! Odalia and Alador get Luz, Willow, and Gus expelled?! No rights for them, even if that was already obvious but WOW. But more importantly, Luz strikes a deal with the two?!? What do Odalia and Alador want from Luz, to get her back into Hexside?!?!

Dana mentioned how Season 1 had more focus on Hexside at Disney’s request. Given how Season 2 is more her style and freedom, we might see Luz and the others remain expelled from Hexside, if only to detach them from the coven system for the time being as their rebellion grows… And give focus to OTHER things as well! Which is going to suck a LOT and I’m going to hate Odie and Al even more for this, taking away not just Luz’s opportunity but also Willow and Gus’… Especially Willow since they DID follow through on that threat, holy shit, Amity and Willow must be hurt and traumatized from this!

But what do Odalia and Alador want from Luz? Do they want to use her as leverage against Belos? To use her FOR Belos? I’m suddenly reminded of that idea I had about Odalia and Alador being interested in Luz as like, an actual suitor for Amity… GOD my Lumity heart would actually love it if that were the case! Obviously in the long run it’s bad and for THEIR purposes, but the idea of Luz learning to be more proper for them, for AMITY really… Oh man, this is reminding me of my speculation of Luz and Alador parallels! We might just see what makes Alador so interesting to Dana in this episode, and just the SECOND one of Season 2, no less- Right into the story meat!

ECHOES OF THE PAST! King lore! KING LORE!!! Even better Luz, Lilith, and… HOOTY… go to a new island?! An island related to King’s past? Is Eda sticking with King to make sure he doesn’t do anything, or god, did King’s antics get her into trouble again? And Hooty… HOOTY is coming with Luz and Lilith???! I’m grateful for Luz and Lilith interaction, we might get to see them talk things over, but how is Hooty…? Is the house coming along?

Dana mentioned two spoilers and a lie, one of them was Hooty leaving the house! I guess this is one of them… The others were Camila beating someone up and Gus getting a growth spurt, which we’ll get onto later; So I think Camila beating someone up is the lie! Dang it… But a dangerous new island, could this be related to the various pieces of Titan bones mentioned in The Unauthorized History of the Boiling Isles, scattered throughout the boiling seas, all alluding to another incomplete Titan?!

Are they KING’S REMAINS??! And his bones are incomplete because he still has his SKULL!!!!

Keeping Up A-fear-ances is pretty obviously Gwendolyn. Screw you, Gwen, and the confirmation that her presence is causing strain for everyone… YIKES. Hopefully we’ll get Young Eda and Lilith backstory, and see how they transitioned from the YBOS flashback to present-day! Perhaps Gwendolyn DID help Eda when she first transformed… Either way, I do not like her. But she’ll be fascinating to see!

Through the Looking Glass Ruins! As I said before, Gus gets a growth spurt, and he’s trying to impress kids from Glandus… Which YES GLANDUS, more schools lore! But uhh… If they’re at Glandus, is it because they didn’t get back into Hexside after all, and they’re moving to a different school? Luz and Amity are exploring a dangerous library there, which, Lost in Language flashbacks! But why is AMITY there… Oh Titan, does SHE choose to leave Hexside at the end of Escaping Expulsion, as a means of defying her parents’ will, to go with the friends she loves! If so… YEAH AMITY! That, or she’s out on a visit. Will Amity run from home and live with the others, or maybe Willow and her dads? Gus and Perry? Or will she still be at the Blight Manor… Dana wasn’t kidding about Emira and Edric being distracted from Grom!

Maybe Amity works something out that gets her expelled from Hexside, and Glandus is the new school for her, who knows? Perhaps it’s because of Belos, and so Odalia and Alador are furious, but they want their kid at a school regardless, so Glandus it is! The Hexside Banshees lost their best captain… Not that she was even playing so it doesn’t matter, but still! THIS would be quite a shock and change for Amity! And Luz, Willow, and Gus… Dang, they’re just losing a lot huh?

If they ARE going to Glandus and enrolling there, then maybe the episode will end in a failure, or maybe they’re pretending to in order to access the library, maybe a library incident will get their enrollment cancelled! I’m interested in seeing Glandus’ location, we know it’s on an island elsewhere… I kind of want to see the principal of Glandus, will they be cool like Bump? Have a rivalry with him??? Hexside lore??? FORBIDDEN SHIP BETWEEN BUMP AND GLANDUS PRINCIPAL??!?!

But yeah, those are the episode synopses, and they promise a LOT! It seems each episode so far is just pure character or plot stuff… Not to dunk on ‘filler’, which I think is misused for a lot of episodes honestly, but I like it! I guess Dana and crew have to make the most of their time thanks to Disney’s weird thing with Season 3, screw you Mickey… But yeah! I’m definitely gonna say more stuff and talk about the intro, but for now, I AM HYPED!!!

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border-spam · 3 years

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Does troy really have a split jaw or is that fanon?

It's total fanon!

The design of the split lines across his cheekbones and chin coupled with the cheek clips and v shaped hinge outline next to his ears lead to a lot of people coming to that same outcome, that there is something up with his mouth from a prosthetic/mod standpoint.

So much of his design is never mentioned once or referenced in any way (hightech spinal rig with tattoos under it, neuro connector, mech arm that's much older and doesn't seem related to the spine and neuroport, implants on bicep, face mod etc) that like Tyreen's scars and possible lower body Siren markings, fandom took over when it came to coming up with logical explanations for 'em.

This actually touches ground with some Ao3 comments I wanted to share as they are all Leech Lord compliant, so I'll list them here alongside links to the fics they were related to (note warnings!)

You leave no avenue for characterization unexplored. Troy's facial prostheses finally receiving backstory is amazing

- Maw (Gore/Bodyhorror)

I LOVE the idea of it being not just decorative shit on his face, but my MO for any content I make is always based around asking why, over and over, and trying to make sense of what material I'm using in the first place. The modded mouth is a popular piece of fanon but you know... why? Why would he do that shit to himself. WHY would he want to be grotesque, why would he be chasing the reaction people would have to it when canonically he seems to really not be interested in fan attention the same way Tyreen is, what's the difference to him between being adored as his persona or being lusted after as a monster, etc. I just love deep-diving into the logic behind character and world building? It's what adds meat to the bone for me.

Big 'ol character and worldbuilding / lore responses list under the cut -

He could afford better robots but these ones UNDERSTAND Ty, don't you get it?

- Good night in (tooth rotting fluff)

Hey just because it's mangled and broken, and can't perform its intended function to a degree expected of it by everyone around it... and it's got rusty sharp bits it accidentally hurts you with sometimes... and it's cranky but it doesn't mean it... and sometimes it errors out in a way that's mildly disturbing in a way you can't place.. uh.. doesn't mean you should just GIVE UP ON IT you know? He can fix them :) They will be fine :) No one should just throw away something that's trying so hard just because it's damaged... haha... :')

It's so hard seeing how much they tear each other down when they're the only thing they have left. And what a poor self-image Tyreen has beyond all that glitter and bluster...

- Wolf in sheep's clothing

The twins function well enough as a unit till tensions rise, and I was trying to seed in The Leech's influence on them in earlier work like this too - towards anyone else Ty would become MORE aggressively confident, more assured in her complete and utter dominance of the situation, her flawlessness, but against Troy who see's her for what she is, it turns inwards and eats at her instead of lashing outwards. He switches from relatively submissive around her to almost surgical levels of dissection, he knows exactly how to go for the jugular with words, and doesn't hold back. She's The Leech's mouth but he's its eyes and it's only when they lose control emotionally enough for it to claw to the surface of their psyches that you get an idea of how much it really affects them individually. GB had an absolute goldmine on their hands here of cosmic/body horror and the concept of toxic family when all you have is each other, there's so much to work with, and I figure it's a factor in why some people still really enjoy messing around with Calypso content.

I like how you allow Troy to be a disabled character, how his congenital defects and prosthetics colour his outlook and appear in ways big and small in all these vignettes. It's easy, I think, to see him as largely untroubled by his health apart from when he needs a charge from Tyreen in the game, but you allow him to struggle with his weakness.

- Chronic (Drug use)

I'm really glad to hear that's coming through in the writing because it's something I noticed a lot too. Very often when Troy, or other characters canonically disabled / chronically unwell are written it's "told" and not "shown". Chronic pain, illness, it's not something that is just a little tickbox in a life or some descriptive terms added to a character synopsis, it's something you live and deal with. There are bad days. There are times it is a negative that has to be worked around or faced in ways that aren't pleasant. It doesn't make you lesser or weak to have times where illness does leave you unable to function to a level you want to, it's not a failure for you to be unable to perform tasks when a disability or flair up means it's not viable. I feel personally that by showing scenes like this where his health and body issues do have a very visceral and impossible to ignore the effect on his ability to function, and going through his mental processes of dealing with and managing them, it brings the character across as stronger than if he never seemed to be shown dealing with symptoms or weaknesses. People are more than their disabilities and conditions, those aren't just kinda taglines to add onto a character's description and then never address. I feel like doing that in a way undermines what people deal with who manage chronic illness, pain, and who have disabilities that affect their daily lives negatively. Appreciating the effort it takes to manage them is important.

What I really like about these is that you can really understand as a reader how their dynamic must have evolved. How even before Leda's death Tyreen would have felt demonized while Troy got the attention because of his condition, because he was less willful.

- Starlight, Moonbright

Ah man, absolutely - and that shit stayed with them. It wasn't his fault and he never wanted it, but of course their parents would have had their extremely ill child at the forefront of their thoughts, especially during weeks when he was.. bad. Tyreen by nature even without The Leech's influence is a little attention seeker, she'd be the life of any party and she BLOSSOMS if she's got the spotlight, but as a little kid who's got literally no one but her parents and her brother, and who all three of which can't give her nearly as much time as she deserved? That's rough. That's really unfair. That coupled with The Leech's warping effect on their egos as they grew up and the bitterness and resentment they harbored in different ways created a reverse dynamic. She'd never be out of the Galaxy's attention again, and he'd have no choice but to take his rightful place in her shadow.

I love how you illustrate both how much more, and yet how much less Troy is now. How the blameless child, full of potential, is inextricably linked to the brutal, larger-than-life avatar he fashions.

- DeLeon ( Graphic Violence / Gore / Hallucinations)

He's molded the monster he is now out of the bones of the man he should have been - there's no going back really. There's nothing left to go back to. He broke Troy DeLeon apart to build the persona that acts like an iron lung now, suffocating him breath by breath while forcing him to still take them. That life is over, he killed it before it had a chance, but the idea of it is still there in his subconscious. Somewhere in the absolute trainwreck of Troy's brain is the tiny, flickering belief that maaaaaybe one day this will all be over and he can shuck off the bracer and spines, peel off all the shit he's covered his skin with, and just go back to not being Calypso. DeLeon here isn't some aspect of his mental state or his sins haunting him - it's The Leech, spitting venom at a host it loathes in something that's not sound or comprehensible language. His subconscious has just translated it into something it can understand - his greatest regret.

On if Borderlands Humans originated on Earth -

There's a really tenuous link between BL verse and rEarth, but it's there and can't be ignored. The cultures, accents, terminologies, so many are Earth specific despite these people being spread across galaxies, so hell yes - Earth as an emergence point makes total sense. The next question then, is why is it never mentioned - and you can cover for that with a lot of things like say, tt was so long ago that it's not relevant to anything that would ever be discussed, or it could be a mass evacuation from a catastrophe there is little record of now. I like to go with something along those lines, that the first human Siren host emergence on earth just absolutely decimated the planet. Like, we were doing fine till this random woman somewhere in the ass-end of nowhere develops weird markings overnight, then goes apocalyptic. The first Leech maybe, not understanding her powers and having them rip across continents in a spread of crackling electric death that only left husked shells of plants and animals in its wake, or the first Firehawk who went nuclear and burned the sky, or the first Voidgrasp who lost control and began to collapse the planet's core - some extreme shit that had humans fleeing en masse with barely any preparation and HUGE swathes of history and knowledge left behind. That would cover so many social things surviving into the BL verse, cultures, accents, cooking, that shit comes with us regardless of what we were able to throw into escape ships. Like so much data would be stored on any tech and data arrays within the vessels people would use to leave a dying planet even in an insane rush, but that shit waters down over time - if you're farming barely edible plants on some planet that smells like farts, are you really gonna be that stressed about teaching your kids history from a lost planet when your current concerns are not being eaten by something with 19 legs and 4 buttholes? Don't think so.

On if the other Siren entities are as influential to their hosts as The Leech -

I touch on it a wee bit throughout LL, but the others are FAR more passive and meld more to their host's whims. The Firehawk Siren wouldn't.. like.. care? If the host was burning down a planet or fighting off an evil corporation? They are removed from any nonsense happening on this side, they might not even really be able to tell, it's like asking an amoeba or a collection of sentient atomic particles what its opinion is on Brexit. That's not really its priority. The Leech is so aggressive in its control of the twins and desperation to drive them towards an outcome it desires only cause it's split, broken, removed from the song, and completely lost. We're talking a caged, half-mad animal removed from its natural environment and left totally isolated from its own kind for millennia. It's in pain, it's confused, it wants to find its way back to the song and the others and where it belongs, but it's stopped by a barrier it can't comprehend ( the twins and being ripped between them), so in its impotent rage it feeds back that hatred onto them. It's not really sentient in the way we would describe functional intelligence, but it wants, and craves, and FEELS. And it feels very, very angry.

Big thanks to @undergoingcalibrations for talking through so much of this with me!

Asks are Open!

#borderlands #borderlands 2 #borderlands 3 #bl3 #troy calypso #tyreen calypso #calypso twins #sirens #leech lord #my hcs #my writing

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incorrect-hs-quotes · 4 years

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Please tell us abt yr dnd characters holy shit

OK BET SO I HAVE SEVEN OF THEM AND FOUR OF THEM ARE KINDA FLESHED OUT THE OTHER THREE ARE IN THE CONCEPT ZONE

im in the process of making aesthetic blogs for them too so like ...... check out my main if you want em @turntechgodhcad 👀

-mod dave

ok so my first one is my chaos elf. glenn meldarion is my stupid idiot bitch boy and i love him and he lives in the woods. hes a rogue and hes chaotic neutral, hes 20, hes aroace, and naturally hes an amazing shot with a bow and arrow. also his full name is glennodad gonk meldarion and each of the names has a meaning

i looked up some elvish translator a while ago and “glennodad” translates to “jared”. jared 19

“meldarion” translates to “dave”. so his name is Elf Jared Dave

“gonk” is the name of my worm on a string so his middle name is gonk

theres nothing particularly angsty about glenn, he doesnt have a sad backstory or anything but he sure has a dumb one. so this fuck head ass starts out on a vegetable / fruit farm and hes minding his own business, he hunts for meat and stuff, and what he doesnt eat he sells. so hes got his own little market goin on but hes not exactly the most Popular of the vegetable sellers because yknow everyone and their mom on the edge of town is a vegetable seller so while glenns not selling fruit hes pickpocketing. and ONE DAY he pickpockets a Haughty Noble and gets caught. so this dude is like “ok” and places a little bounty on his head and hes run out of the town by this nobles goons and shit cause He Wants Payback, so up until he finds a home he just bounces around the woods from kingdom to kingdom camping out and shit. and he still pickpockets

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my SECOND boy is named cas, full name casteris emsworth, and hes human, hes my beautiful baby son and i love him and hes a druid (circle of the shepherd) !! hes a neutral good, hes 19, hes got himself a little Knife and hes bi !! and hes . very 👀 at this one tiefling of banes (if yall dont know bane thats my partner ^^).............his names lucas and oh boy cas has the Big Gay...............

cas’ main focus in his druidism is just plants. like people have specific focuses for some of their characters, cas just fucking likes plants. he absolutely excels in potions, and he fucks around with alchemy too. he keeps this big ass tome of plant sketches that hes seen on his travels, and he bakes bread when hes stressed and hes really good at writing! and hes fucking terrified of Really Big Fish .

his backstorys kinda sad but not really fleshed out; he was raised druidic in a kingdom that outlawed magic, his family got Found Out, they were ordered to be executed and cas escaped. usually this is where people would get vengeful and angry and wage a personal war against the kingdom, but cas doesnt have an angry bone in his body and instead went fucking asap to another place to keep practicing in his parents’ names !! he stayed with a cousin until he got a little hut of his own and now hes just Vibing. his main goal right now is to recreate this potion that he did. he was just fucking Mixing Shit and he grew a baby ent. and now hes like. Hellbent on trying to figure out how the FUCK he did that

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then i have a fire genasi whos kind of just in physical character development right now, his name is mathias ganteoran and hes a fighter !! hes 21, chaotic neutral but a Different Flavor than glenn, more Harsh, he fights with a bo staff, his hair is Literally Fire and hes trans demi and gay

mathias is the Grumpy Friend who Doesnt Have Time For This Bullshit but he gets roped into a bunch of stupid stuff anyway and its really great. also he has a rebellious streak and hes just Big Punk. or at least as punk as 1394 can get. also i know for a fact that the way he did his top surgery was that he just went up to some magic friend of his and went “de-tit me” and they did and long story short Magic Top Surgery .

also i didnt have a name for him for six months and i called him “motherfucker unlimited” until i named him

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aaryn mendalyn is my next character i love her so much shes my triton, and i really want to use her in a campaign soon. shes a monk (way of the open hand), chaotic good, 19, pan as hell, and this bitch has GAUNTLETS !!!!!

and let me tell yall aaryn is here to do three things and three things only. punch the fuck out of things, party like a rock star, and EAT DIRT

she has a bit of a backstory that involves dirt actually, so shes kinda got a little mermaid complex going on but not cause she finds a guy or smth. so tritons as a species act really superior cause theyre underwater and shit (think amporas) but aaryn always thought “but hm. the land is pretty cool. it has dirt, we have dirt but wet, its the same shit??” so she decides “ok im gonna go be on land now” and she just fucking loves the dry dirt. shes not worried about what her family will think cause shes really fucking impulsive and hey if she doesnt go back then she doesnt go back. she is having the time of her life

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for the characters that are still in progress, and all of their info is “X until further notice” cause i still have a lot of research to do on these species and classes

i have a 21 y/o lawful neutral nb lesbian aasimar cleric named kirijah whose entire aesthetic is half-victorian, half-classical, all sun / clouds. theyre trying their best to be poised all the time but god theyre confused as to why they hang out with these people

then theres my 19 y/o chaotic neutral-turned-good human witch named myra !! shes my only character with a homebrew class so im gonna have to figure out how to work with that. shes an aro bi demigirl, and she doesnt have a Full backstory but i Do know that she was definitely forced to commit a Major Crime, it left her fucked up, and now shes trying to move in a new way better direction. so now shes the cheerleader of her friend group !!

and FINALLY my latest and least developed, my DWARF CLARISSA !!!!!!! shes a barbarian, probably neutral, DEFINITELY chaotic, im probably gonna end up making her trans (if i write her character well enough that is. i want to flesh her out to where it makes sense cause i really want to avoid the “barbarian trans woman” stereotype, obviously thats really fucking harmful) and out of the seven she is the ONLY one with a brain cell

#anyway i fucking love them all and i will shit if anyone talks about them #im about to use glenn in a campaign and im so excited cause i havent actually played a real round of dnd in over a year #all of my friends have been busy and no one was brave enough to dm >:(#but THEN i dropped a lot of toxic people and adopted a whole new group of bitches and LO AND BEHOLD #ONE OF THEM IS A DM !!!!!!!!!!#I DID IT BOYS I FOUND A DUNGEON MASTER #anyway holy shit.#long #not a quote #mod dave #dnd #dungeons and dragons #my ocs

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cartoonfangirl1218 · 4 years

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EoA ships fluff headcanons part 6

Most unexpected compliments

Eleteo: Mateo praising Elena for her governing smarts. I mean Elena knows she’s smart but she tends to view smarts as in the stem-kind Isabel is or lots of book knowledge like Esteban. She’s more of impulsive type. But when Mateo praised her for natural talent in diplomacy and just the sheer amount of names she had to know plus their habits and quirks, that was a smarts all on her own. As for Mateo, the compliment she gave him would be almost anything about his muscles as minx like she is. Mainly because Mateo is such a skinny thing as a child, he can’t believe someone would call him an Adonis. Gababel: Gabe praises Isabel for her inquisitiveness and how interesting she is even though many people wouldn’t find science as fascinating, whenever she tells her about it, he thinks it’s the most interesting thing in the world. Isabel praised Gabe whenever he showed his emotional vulnerability. All his life he had been put down by Roberto to act like a man so Isabel giving him sort of “permission” to cry and be sweet and gentlemanly, it is another thing that he loves about her. Estenaomi: The time that Esteban complimented Naomi for being prettier than any noble lady was a secret thrill for her. Though she shrugs it off and pretends she doesn’t compare herself to those snobby royal ladies, she can’t help but worry that Esteban will go back to his own class. That praise lifted her spirits to the clouds. As for Esteban, he was over the moon when Naomi told him that he was always number one to her. After being El Segundo, just those words, as corny as he teased her for, he loved it. Estoma: The compliment Esteban loved was when Doña told him that she could see no else being a better Chancellor than him. After all, the circumstances of how he became Chancellor is somewhat undeserved so he never felt like he was truly good at it. Especially with the added guilt of hurting his family and having to fulfill Shuriki’s horrid orders. So for someone to say that he was a perfect Chancellor. That meant a lot. Anyway, once Esteban called Doña adorable. She had thought he was being sarcastic after all she had been called “Gorgeous” “Sophisticated” “Hostile bitch”- “Adorable”? Never. But he meant it. She joked that love was making him hallucinate traits that weren’t there but she secretly appreciated it.

What spirit guide would their SO choose?

Eleteo: I'm just gonna stick with what they have because I agree with the choices and I really liked how well they fit. Elena is like a fox, crafty, sometimes impulsive and loves to be free in the world. Mateo is like a sloth being calm and patient in his doings and can be quiet good at insight to his surroundings. Gababel: Isabel would choose a wolf for Gabe because of it's fierceness, it's loyalty to it's pack/family and it can be quiet caring and nurturing. Gabe would choose a hummingbird for Isabel because of it's inquisitive nature, and the fact they both have a fondness for sweet substances. Estenaomi: Esteban would choose a sassy dolphin for Naomi and Naomi would say Esteban is a total preening peacock! No question about it. Proud of his great hair and clothes and can squawk quite a bit when he doesn't get his way which Esteban protests wholeheartedly. Estoma: I couldn't think of them saying nice ones so here it is. Esteban chooses Doña as a magpie. A shrill, annoying, chattering bird with a penchant for shiny things. Doña would say Esteban is a lapdog, enjoying luxuries people give him but is all bark and no bite when it comes to confrontation so he has to stew with what others decide for him. Whose more protective?

Eleteo: Since Elena inherited Luisa's mother hen tendencies, she's a lot more outwardly protective like when she gave Gabe those warning glares for dissing Mateo in Spellbound or getting a bit more distressed when Mateo is in danger even at the cost of an important jewel like in Jewel of Maru. But that's not to say Mateo is equally protective of Elena when danger comes calling. Spellbound and Song of the Sirenas is a big example of that. The sweet cinnaomon roll gets spicy when someone threatens his beloved shining light, and Ninjateo comes out with vengeance. Gababel: Gabe, obviously. It's part of his knight in shining armor charm. Isabel does want Gabe's protection but sometimes he can go overboard like when they are exploring an island and Isabel just needs to get these last few rock samples but Gabe thinks its too dangerous for her to trek through jungles even though she has done it thousands of times before. Estenaomi: Naomi is. Naomi is generally much more suspicious and streetwise than young!Esteban who wants to go adventuring everywhere and is willing to talk to anyone to get information even if those sources are less than reliable. Plus young!Esteban has a tendency to overestimate his own mortality so she has to pull him away from swinging over lava and crocodile invested lakes among other things even though he assures her he can totally climb that thousand feet mountain without proper safety gear.

Estoma: Esteban is. Blame it on everything he lost, but he is a bit protective about making sure no one hurts his family again. Nor the ones he loves.

Whose more protective of their food?

Eleteo: Neither is particularly. But Elena can be possessive of her pan dulces when she has them. So when Mateo teasingly takes a few from her plate, then the food fight is on. Of course, that just leads to some licking off each other's cheeks and fingers. A bit like that Gababel drabble you did on the private group chat. But Elena would also totally put a strawberry in her mouth and taunt Mateo into kissing her. Or even do an orange smile and think it's incredibly hilarious. Gababel: Isabel is. We all know Gabe will do anything for Isabel, including sharing food. Isa would do the same. Except when it comes to the pan dulces. Isabel loves those pan dulces and will basically hoard them in her cheeks if she is able to manage it. Gabe finds the image adorable and always teases her for the chipmunk cheeks. Estenaomi: Esteban. Let's just face it. Pan dulces and Flores family are like inseparable. So, Naomi often teases Esteban by hiding the food or stealing it for herself. Esteban's "tortured" reaction to her "betrayal" is often amusing to watch but Naomi has learned to be careful because Esteban often retaliates with creative pranks that she never sees coming. Also it bugs him when Naomi sometimes obliviously double dips. Estoma: Doña. Especially if she is already in a bad mood. "IF YOU DARE TAKE MY DANISH, I WILL REACH DOWN YOUR THROAT, PULL IT OUT, AND BEAT YOU TO DEATH WITH IT." (Not my quote. But it's such a overwrought reaction to food being taken that I had to use it). Whose more picky?

Eleteo: Neither really. Elena is very enthusiastic about experiencing new cultures which includes eating their foods and Mateo has never been picky, he just doesn't eat a lot due to his studying as you hc. But Mateo is the more hesitant of the two when it comes to trying things like a kelp taco. BUT he also can't resist Elena's puppy dog look and enthusiastic face when she urges him to try a little bit. And that's when he learned that Marisa and Elena have the right idea when it comes to the deliciousness of kelp tacos. (I still can't get over that food choice) Gababel: Isabel is. Not because she is scared of the food but let's just say biology has made a big impact on how she views salmonella and E. coli. But that's more with regular foods. She will say yes to about any sort of dessert. Especially if her handsome baker boy makes it just for her. Estenaomi: Esteban is. Naomi is more adventurous due to having to adjust to eating new foods. Sometimes she likes to taunt him about that like by shoving the fried squid tentacles in his face. But she has also tried to help him get over his pickiness by sometimes putting the food in her mouth for a kiss or dousing it with sugar or using some sort of new meat in a tamale. Estoma: Esteban still is. Though Dona once tried to guilt him into eating new foods with this (not my) quote- "I had a pet goat growing up, Jenny. When I was eight, my parents ran out of food so they made me go outside and kill her. I had to skin Jenny, cook Jenny and eat Jenny. After that, I guess I just tried not to think too much about what I was eating anymore. And, well... I made damn well sure I wouldn't be in a position where I'd have to eat my favorite pet again." The plan backfired and instead of feeling grateful for food, Esteban lost his appetite completely.

Insecurity/flaw they help the other with

Eleteo: Elena tries to help Mateo with his insecurity and self doubt that eats him up inside. After years of hiding in the shadows of his basement (and okay partially inspired by Becky’s Mateo backstory from Magic Within) Mateo really doubts his worth, his ability and his value within the kingdom as a wizard and as a person. He berated himself for not being enough. Elena has a similar problem that though Mateo can see her greatness, sometimes Elena is too consumed with her failures as a queen. But moreover, he tries to help her ease the burden of when she tries to take on everything herself. That somehow all responsibility falls to her all the time. Gababel: Gabe tries to help Isabel when it comes to her perfectionism and need to have everything right. Though he adores how Isabel’s mind works, he gets concerned about when she overanalyzes and overthinks to the point of paralysis. Meanwhile Isabel helps Gabe with his need to repress his weak emotions and how no matter how much glory he achieves as Captain, the doubt in his head in the sound of his father’s voice that says he’s not doing enough and that he’s letting people down. Estoma: Isn’t it obvious what Esteban deals with. Survivors guilt. Big time. Also a overwhelming bouts of anxiety, depression and hopelessness along with a bit of a superiority inferiority complex coming from being “El Segundo.” She tries to help ease past the sins that make him an “evil man” and see that sometimes it’s okay to allow yourself to be loved. Which is almost like pot calling kettle since Doña has major emotional repression issues. Or asEsteban says emotional constipation since it annoys her. He tries to encourage her to you know, talk about her feelings at the moment instead of bottling it up for months, cracking and being an useless emotional wreck for a week. First impressions and how they’ve changed

Eleteo: Mateo’s first impression of Elena was first like freaked out amazement that they lost Princess was alive. Then just awe because of how brave, talented, etc etc she was. Though that sort of hero pedastle stayed, Mateo slowly got over his amazement of Elena as his queen and princess and began seeing her as a friend. He appreciated her kindness and that song during Spellbound made him realize how much Elena truly trusted in his magical expertise and cared for him. I also hc that was when Mateo first started feeling signs of a crush. Elena’s first impression of Mateo was one of relief since he got her out of the amulet. And she mainly saw him as adorkable. He was blushing, geeky wizard and of course she saw him in a very kind way but that also began to change as they developed their friendship. She saw his bravery, his dedication and enthusiasm and his moral need to do what was right and she began to see him as a true confident and ally and friend and eventual lover. Gababel: Obviously Gabe’s first impression of Isabel was that she was Elena’s kid sister. Nothing particularly big. But he did find her enthusiasm for science and inventions to be amusing even when they had been younger and the gap mattered more. The change came after Isabel grew up, went to college and returned home. He began to see her enthusiasm and sweetness in a new light. He came to know her dedication to science that was so similar to his focus on become a guard. He learned how fierce she was when it came to those she loved and her sweetness was not because of any passiveness but because she cared. Isabel saw Gabe as Elena’s cool, brave Guard Captain friend when they were younger but she did also note his kindness to her even when he didn’t really need to. So when they grew up Isabel began to see that kindness even more. How Gabe’s sense of duty wasn’t a need for glory and control but because he cared too about the well beings of those he loved. She became to understand how his anger connected to how he was raised by his father, and that confident exterior shielded a more complex and strategic mind underneath that she admired. Estenaomi: Naomi saw Esteban to be a snooty, impulsive guy-guy that thought too much of his ill-planned out plans. Esteban saw Naomi as someone who was much too sassy and hellbent on annoying him in every which way. But as the two began to hang out more together they gained a deeper understanding. They both bonded over how they wished to become something special, to do something more and make a lasting contribution. They also bonded over some of their similar insecurities in just staying in the background, Naomi as a commoner and Esteban as a pity case. Besides that Esteban began to appreciate how Naomi tried to keep things grounded and her practicality while Naomi enjoyed Esteban’s overdramatics and sense for adventure despite the consequences as thrilling and fun. Estoma: Esteban saw Doña as universal retribution sent to make his life even more difficult with her judgmental comments and two default modes- disdain or superiority when pointing out his mistakes. Doña saw him as a know it all, unfairly entitled, incompetent royal (to be fair Esteban was working for Shuriki who probably kept a long list of demands and orders that Esteban had to do while dealing with all the issues of the kingdom that she was neglected so he was more than a little harried and couldn’t give it all his 100%). However, at sometime during all their talks about finances, Esteban decided it would be a challenge to break her ice queen act and started pointing out all her mistakes in order to get her to snap. It took at least two months but it worked and then their great rivalry went off. And though it seemed like they never stopped bickering long enough to properly talk to each other, their first impressions did change a little bit. Doña saw that Esteban wasn’t incompetent, just overworked but that didn’t change just how much effort Esteban did put in when he was put in charge of something. He was methodical, dedicated, still too proud about his knowledge but he also had a soft heart. Esteban began to see that under the haughty arrogance was someone who valued hard work even above the amount of riches earned, still far too opinionated but also concerned with tradition and stability which he could appreciate after what he had lost. How do they handle disagreement between each other and making up afterwards?Eleteo: It would be tense I think with clipped words and some high emotions. But generally, they try to keep calm and they have a rule that they cannot walk away from the other in anger. The two talk out their disagreements and then have a cooling off period. By the time they return to the other, they both apologize and hug. Making up consists of extra time spent together so to assure each other that there are no hurt feelings and to calmly discuss that previous argument which means so little in the long run. Elena heaps up a lot of cuddles too. Estenaomi: The two usually separate after they have a major fight so they can cool off and think about things in a more rational manner. Then Esteban might come by her house with a treat or Naomi would stop by his room. Then they would try to talk it over like adults. Afterwards, they would spend some time on her ship, eating food and go back to their usual bantering since that is their version of normalcy and everything is okay again. Gababel: It would actually have a lot of yelling. Isabel is as stubborn as Gabe sometimes so they both refuse to budge on the issue. There would be a point that neither has anything else to argue so they stop, take a breath and return to the beginning. Most of the anger/passion is gone so they could approach things more rationally. Making up consists of lots of apologizing from both ends, hugging, and reassurances. If Gabe made Isabel cry, you can bet there would be some groveling too even if it goes a bit overboard. Estoma: In business disagreements, their general professionalism allows them to look past it to get a solution. In more personal disagreements, they are just very passive aggressive until one of them snaps and they start yelling at each other. Their make ups comprise of reluctant apologies and cautious small talk with a calming dinner afterwards. If one really feels bad, there might be a present the next morning. Gababel: It would actually have a lot of yelling. Isabel is as stubborn as Gabe sometimes so they both refuse to budge on the issue. There would be a point that neither has anything else to argue so they stop, take a breath and return to the beginning. Most of the anger/passion is gone so they could approach things more rationally. Making up consists of lots of apologizing from both ends, hugging, and reassurances. If Gabe made Isabel cry, you can bet there would be some groveling too even if it goes a bit overboard.

Nickname they give each other

Eleteo: As taken from a fandom consensus, Elena calls Mateo, ““Wizard King” along with other endearments like mi amor and mi querida. Mateo does the same, but also calls her “Shining light” (Never while they’re in Paraíso of course).

Gababel: Isabel calls Gabe all the usual affectionate terms and he does too, but her significant one for him was “My Knight” both for the literal description of him and for how she admires his strength and chivalry. Gabe calls her his brain, and more often, his soul because she is able to help him come down from the stoic battle guard captain mask he had to take on when in a fight and remind him of the lighter sweeter things he is protecting Avalor for.

Estenaomi: I put this under embarrassing nicknames but over time, Esteban comes to sincerely mean ““Miss Fiestypants” as an endearment since that feistiness is one of the things he loved about her. Naomi calls Esteban the Duke of Sin which she meant as a joke but he took as the highest of compliments and he insists on living up to it. Not that she’s complaining. Estoma: Doña calls Esteban, “El Primero.” Well the full nickname is “El primero en mí corazón.” But El Primero is shorter and a nice reverse of his loathed El Segundo nickname. Esteban calls Doña the usual mí amor or mí querida. He’ll occasionally call her “Pretty Bird” or “Labia Plata” which means silver tongue.

#estoma #estenaomi #eleteo #elena of avalor #gababel #my headcanons #my hcs #headcanons #elena castillo flores #isabel castillo flores #mateo de alva #naomi turner #doña paloma #gabe nuñez

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mewmewnyaart · 4 years

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I'm not very good at drawing horror and blood but I recently have been getting into OFF lately so I figured I'd try to draw batter to pratice lighting and shadows

I also made my own au where batter and hugo switch places but I doubt anyone would like it or even read it heck I couldn't even get a single like on any of my posts

But here I go anyway :

So common belief that the world of OFF isnt real and that its all happening inside Hugo's head because hugo is in a comma and that the batter resembles the father and the queen resembles the mother

And that the guardians are the boy's immune system and organs that are intolerant to the drug liquid plastic that is being experimented on hugo

The mother was always a working woman and never gave hugo attention while the dad was a straight forward and loving man (I also have a personal theory that he's religious)

The mother wants hugo to live but the father wants to let the boy die because he's tired of seeing his own child in pain everyday

Ok now that I have that out of the way here's my au:

In this au its the father that ends up in a comma and hugo is the one who tries to save him from dying

Backstory to how the dad ended up in a comma:

Hugo in this au is healthy and lives a normal life the father was once a baseball player (as a hobby) so hugo got inspired by his dad and started to take baseball classes at his school

One day the dad was dropping hugo off for baseball practice and while waving goodbye while slowly moving out of the parking lot a reckless older student who wasn't looking quickly backs up his truck hitting the father and sending him into a comma

Ok now for the characters:

We enter the game as hugo and we are greeted by the judge and we start our journey of "purifying" the world just like batter

The enemies represent different family members who dislike or or even hate the father and the father's phobias or fears as well as microbes or poisons in the father's system

Then we have other characters like pets,neighbors,friends who are good guys or people who side with hugo in the this au

Also the puzzles would changed in this au

Hugo is a child and the father would probably play alot with hugo and his games since the mother was always busy ,so instead of floating boxes we'd get more complicated versions of kids puzzles like connect the dots or fill in the shapes etc.

Now for who each character represents and then I'll move on to what the goal of the game is or what Hugo's mission is:

Hugo= he represents the son in real life but he also resembles a new antibiotic that's being experimented on the father

The judge = in real he's the family house cat named milk ingame he's a guide but I have my own head canon

so alot of people tend to draw batter with his eyes closed some draw 4 eyes some draw no eyes at all

I like to think that the father irl has bad eye sight or sensitive eyes so he wears special glasses but will not wear any glasses when at home because he doesn't like to so he will walk around with his eyes closed

So milk will guide him throughout the house by purring or meowing at him

As for the smile the judge has on his face hugo likes the movie Alice in wonderland over and over so the image of the Cheshire cat would be embedded in the dad's memory which is why the judge appears that way

He views the judge as someone who is helpful

The queen = the queen is his wife however they start to have alot of problems and arguments before the father fell in a comma

And the relatives try to convince her to turn off the life support and move on with life

Dedan= irl he's the father's brother in law with a snappy attitude and he hates the father alot and even objected in thier wedding day he will do anything to hurt the father or cause trouble

The father sees his brother in law nothing more than a all bark no bite a big mouth

Japhet= in real life is the lady that lives next door (yes I KNOW japhet is male but he's based off if her in the father's head)

She's is very controlling person who enjoys gossip and can't mind her own business always sticking her nose where she can as well as pushing everyone around she does everything she can to get attention and impress people and she's flirted with the father mutiple times but she's ignored her every time

She has very loud and noisy birds and has killed thier other family cat Venice saying that she did it as self defense (Venice is Valerie basically)

The father views her as a parasite

Enoch= he resembles another dad that takes his kid to baseball practice but is in bad terms with the mother and will constantly pick on hugo for fun

He assumes if the father approaches him its because his wife told him to do so

and will constantly say that his child and wife are happy ,living a life with no problems thinking that he's got life figured out

Even though its clear that his son isn't enjoying baseball at all, is quite over wieght as well as his wife ignores him all the time not to mention he's constantly eating meaning that he has some sort of food addiction it seems he sees no irony in his life at all

The father sees him as an irresponsible over wieght person who's always lying to himself and to blind to see the truth thinking that his life is ok when it's clearly not

Zacharie = irl he's the father's best friend since middle school and they've known each other for years he was the best man at the wedding he's bisexual and in a relationship with a girl named sweetie (please don't hate me batterie shippers QWQ!) He used to crush on the father and even confessed to him on the wedding day he was heartbroken but accepted that the relationship was never gonna happen and was even mad at his best friend but realized it was wrong of him to feel that way

He eventually moves on

He likes to bring and buy alot stuff and show them to his best pal later somegimes illegal stuff (he even brought weed over one time oh boy) he's like an uncle to hugo and is always happy to help and defend his best friend no matter what

He views him as a brother and family member aswell as a very optimistic chill dude and will jokingly refer to him as "the merchant"

Sugar: irl she's zacharie's gf (before her he had 2 toxic exes and she helped him out of those toxic relationships) she and the father don't really talk all that much so he knows little to absolutely nothing about her aside from the fact that she likes to talk funny sometimes and is really into dolls and aliens and a slight addiction to eating pixie straws (straws filled with powered candy or sugar)

He views her as a silent person nothing much

The elsens= they are the people that the father meets/sees/interacts with everyday/every once in a while but don't have much of a connection with (you know like a co worker you have small talk with or barely ever see)

Now for the plot :

After the father enters a comma the son starts to go from school to the hospital (they're very close to each other and you can say hugo is 5-7 years old and ) and visits his dad everyday and calls out to him hoping it'd wake him up

The mother scolds him for running off without super vision and that his dad won't wake up if he keeps calling him that whatever he does is useless that his father will remain to be a lifeless bag of meat on a bed

Hugo doesn't give up ignoring his mother's words

She realizes that hugo has an obsession with his unconscious father that is affecting his studies along with his social life

Zacharie doesn't make this any better because he offers to pick up hugo after school to prevent him from getting abducted or lost along with his jokes all the time

She slowly starts to Contemplate turning off the life support machine wondering if it would fix everything

Hugo hasn't been paying attention in class and thier marriage has been having a issues lately her family never liked or accepted him she sees zacharie and others as annoying and problems bringers and maybe they'd have less expenses if hugo didn't have to go to baseball pratice every day not to mention he'd less likely get hurt if he stopped playing

Everyone else started to convince her to turn off life support they discuss this next to the unconscious father

She prevents zacharie from seeing hugo and locks out any other connections the fatehr has

finally she becomes convinced however there's 1 barrier preventing her from doing that.....Hugo

The only person who truly gives hugo attention and love is his father without his father he'd feel lost and scared his mother is always working and doesn't give him much attention

Everyone tells him to give up on his dad and move on but hugo stands his ground

Alot of the arguments and conversations happen in the hospital room next to the father so he hears everything in his comma which leads to the creation of the world of OFF in his head

Therefore we play as hugo through out the game (dressed in a baseball outfit) solving puzzles and fighting enemies "purifying" the world

Not much changes the boss battles the add ons etc. Will remain the same in this au

Maybe there will be more rubber duck /duck/ bird themed stuff in this au aside from the pedalos (ex:move the boxes to make them look like a duck idk lol)

However the final boss will change

Canonly batter is stopped by the judge but in this au the judge sides with hugo because its the queen (the mother) who is trying to turn the switch off and hugo is trying to prevent that

So instead of the judge stopping hugo

Hugo will meet the queen, she will tell him to halt and not bother going any further that her intentions will not change hugo will begin to tell her off everything she's done wrong she will respond saying that she's doing it for thier sake (Hugo's and her's) but hugo calls her out and tells her its not true and she loses her patience with him leading to a boss fight if hugo wins then she will refer to him as "my little sweetheart" and fade into dust

"The room" will also change instead of hugo it'll be his dad (the batter)chained to a wall (basically a prisoner in his own mind) hugo will take 1 step forward activating a trap causing him to plummet down a tube and fall unconscious for a few minutes

When he wakes up he sees the queen and all the guardians standing before him the queen states that he can give up or die trying then she speaks to the puppeteer (the player) the you are given 2 options

1.aide with the queen

2.side with hugo

If you side with the queen you will have the guardians ok your side then Hugo's appearance will change as well he will appear to have a large head with a huge gaping mouth a baby rattle and apron and speech bubbles that say "wah wah" "whine whine" (stating that his mother sees him as a cry baby)

If you defeat hugo then the switch is immediately turned off and it gives 1 out of the 2 bad endings this ending is called "check mate" as a reference to a queen from chess

If you side with hugo then you will be defeated but you won't get a game over yet instead the queen will give you 1 last chance

Then you are given 3 options

1."surrender" 2."gasp for help" 3."cry"

If you choose surrender then you will get the 2nd bad ending in which in life support is turned off the father dies hugo becomes lonely with his mother busy all the time (and not allowing him out side the house and not trusting people) which leads to hugo growing up cold,plain and unloving

At some point there's a scene where adult hugo stares at his old mother laying on the kitchen floor in pain for a few minutes instead of helping her immediately indicating that he doesn't care

If you choose "gasp for help" then you will get the good ending "aye batta batta,strike!" In which hugo will call for help (while in deep pain from the fight) after a few calls judge,zacharie,sugar and a few elsens will come to the rescue and revive you fighting by your side allowing you to defeat the queen and guardians

Everything slowly starts to go back and the father wakes up from his comma everyone in the room stares in shock but hugo had the biggest smile on his face while standing next to his dad's bed "did...I miss something?"

"...daddy *breaks into tears*"

The 3rd ending called "better late than never" is triggered when you choose "cry"

Hugo will cry very loudly

The mother changes her mind and doesn't turn off life support but hugo stops visiting his dad and similar to the 2nd bad ending hugo grows up to be cold and unloving 13-16 years later hugo visits his father again and he finally wakes up from his comma and is discharged from the hospital after 1 year of rehabilitation therapy

By now the mother had remarried and the father missed his son's childhood so now he has to relive his life

However hugo meets a girl who is a complete opposite to him at work and church (rainbow hair,optimistic,enjoys music of various kinds,loves cute things,baking,jokes,and artist etc.) And is forced to work with her as well as she tries to get Hugo's attention so he asks his father for advice on how to get rid of this woman which leads to alot stuff going on and hugo allowing how to love and live life leading him to falling in love with the girl and becoming a new man

(This is personally my favorite ending lol and I MIGHT write fanfic of it on wattpad or here idk tbh )

Anyway this my OFF au I GUESS the name can change to the ON au or OFF/ON au lmao idk

Reblogs and feed back is appreciated

PLEASE DONT STEAL MY AU i worked hard on this thing spent 5 hours to write it all

Heh I sat this as of anyone is even gonna read whatever I dount it'll get noticed at all

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cruddyborderlandstheories · 5 years

Text

Moze Trailer! im so late oh god

tl;dr: again, like the Zane trailer, not much we haven’t seen before. some very beautiful looks at Promethea/Eden-6 and some shots of Pandora, but nothing significant lore-wise. im about to start Amara’s in a hot second so i'm at least not behind when Fl4k’s is dropped tomorrow later today and im screaming over their voice. oh also, there’s a hint at Moze having some sort of relationship with 2 dudes as she’s keeping a polaroid of them in her cockpit. dunno if dads/brothers/squadmates but they’re definitely there. they look to be playfully pushing her helmet over her face. i could be wrong, it’s kinda small.

i really like Promethea’s ‘night’ sky. the asteroid belt is really gorgeous

“Darziran (sp?) Bay” is by the Meridian Seaport im assuming? unless this is an inaccurate video..? sorta using a familiar area to keep us engaged?

im having flashbacks to So Happy Together. probably not the greatest time to get that song stuck in my head considering 66.67% of these pilots are gonna die. it’s not repeating because a part of moze’s soul died that day.

i do find it interesting vladof is fighting Maliwan. Add Maliwan onto Tediore and Dahl and damn Vladof no wonder you need the Iron Bear mechs you’re basically fighting on every front

idk why im just digging this turret’s design

anyone know what’s up with these doubled lights shots? we saw a lot of them in So Happy Together. y’all think they’re supposed to mean something? We’re just seeing from the view of the turret here so... i can’t imagine it does. also, let’s add Atlas to the possible list of corporations Vladof is fighting.

some pictures on the inside of Moze’s mech

the one on the right is IB, the one on the left I think is Moze when she is younger getting her helmet squished on her head. Which means those 2 dudes are possibly her dads? brothers? im not sure.

okay yeah Vladof and Atlas are against each other as well

god DAMN Vladof is just on a warpath

so idk if it was Moze specifically who shot that turret, but the camera did seem mighty focused on that mech while she was narrating

and considering the reason the turret collapses the building is because it malfunctions after being shot...

... do you think Moze blames herself for her squad’s death at all? i know she says it was a death trap, but... they were easily wiping the floor with those Maliwan soldiers. the only reason they appeared to have any trouble at all was because they went to the Promethea school of running away from things (eyyy).

also anyone else notice Moze’s trailer (not including end credits) is significantly longer than the other VHs so far? Her’s is 2 min 8 seconds, Zane’s is 1 min 6 seconds and Amara’s is 1 min 29 seconds. i wonder if Fl4k’s will be longer... I know Moze is gearbox’s baby, so I’m not surprised, but damn i didn’t realize just how much more content she received. Her trailer is also the only one with new info relating to backstory tied to it.

sorry i know this is an emotional moment and all, but where did this pilot go? moze said the rest of her squad was wiped out, so logically we should see a body

man it’d be fucked up if they got out and tried to crawl away before it exploded only to succumb to their wounds.

moze climbs out of iron bear from the back. i guess its big round front probably isn’t great for getting a foothold. tho i have to wonder how she climbed around the big cover in her way

~bubbly gum~ i hope she has an emote to blow bubbles or smth. altho do we know if there will be character specific emotes? also her dog tags are clipping through her chest

the embodiment of the =/ emoji

“all my friends are dead”

i like this shot. like that one art piece beverii did of my neighbor totoro except it was ‘my action skill, iron bear’. here’s a link to the tweet because you need to see it if you haven’t already

a ratch? on my good pandora??

also a new area to add to my collection of pandora shots of satellite dishes

i wish i was kidding

soon.

don’t worry, though, i also have a sub folder for every area on pandora with giant skeletons

they can share.

anyway

iron bear *probably* doesn’t have an AI but it definitely is acting remotely. it’s interesting, i know it’s able to function as a turret for a few seconds after the duration runs out then run into enemies and detonate, but it’s still cool to see it knows to specifically apply fire to the fire pit and not, like, moze, who is 2 feet away.

if anything it’s a dumb ai 🤔

i expect that Moze’s reaction to the burgers on promethea being made out of ratch meat won’t be such a big deal, then? because Zane and Amara were both pretty skeeved by it.

her eyes are glowing in this shot lol

Moze is Siren confirmed

this is interesting to me

looks like one of the indoor CoV areas

here maybe??

i find it interesting Maliwan is on Pandora here as well, like, this isn’t the CoV attacking Moze for hanging out in this base, and this shows Maliwan isn’t just on pandora in the drug-trippin trailer (because that can be excused)

seriously, Maliwan joining the cult or displacing them as the big bad is becoming more likely every day. personally, i’d love to hear Katagawa beg for us to save him.

moze fuckin gets around. im surprised she went to pandora, left, and then, apparently, came back for bl3. i hope her fast travel data saved.

also also

what are yOUUUUU are you another broken-down ship?? i wanna explore this so bad- it’s glowing and i LOVE when things glow

moze is mirrored in this scene. someone on reddit pointed out it was probably because they didn’t want her shoulder pad clipping through the ground. probably didn’t have time to make her take it off lol

i fuckin love these dudes

saurians? fucking AMAZING i love them 100%

this just in, moze sleeps like the dead. she looks so fuckin tired lol

immediately rolls back over onto casings

outstanding move

also we’ve had errors in every character trailer so far. are we supposed to be taking note or are they unintentional? hmmmmm

this is so fucking cool looking. i love that the gas giant has its own little moon up there.

elpis still not looking exploding-y. good for her.

has moze even fought 1 single bandit in this entire trailer? hmmmmmmm...

they’re even taking over the bandit technicals! this is a... hostile... takeover... god damn it

a better look at that picture! idk this looks like a fairly younger moze to me, but it could just be the pic quality and it’s some other person. maybe they were part of her squad.

ok this is gonna sound really weird, but the teeth don’t look like they’re in the borderlands style and it’s freakin me out. is that intentional? to make it not look like she has huge gaps in her teeth? hmmmmm

this fucking transition lol

she smile

alright im gonna yeet this into the void and then go do Amara’s so I’m not behind when Fl4k’s drops tomorrow

#borderlands #bl3 #borderlands 3 #moze

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spartanguard · 5 years

Text

savage garden, 2/?

Summary: Killian Jones was, by far, the worst, weakest, most ineffectual Dark One ever. (According to the Darkness, at least.) And he was fine with that. He was just a slave, a deckhand—what use did he have of dark magic? And even less want. But the Darkness has vowed to firmly get him under its grasp, one of these days. He finds respite in a beautiful secluded garden—and the amazing woman he eventually meets there. The question remains, though: is it—is she—enough to keep him out of the dark completely? One can only hope…

3.9k | rated T | AO3 | part 1

A/N: Here’s the next chapter! Thanks to everyone who read/commented on the first! This thing keeps running away from me but I can’t wait to share the rest with y’all. Thanks again to the organizers of @csmarchmadness for getting me going on it again and to @optomisticgirl for looking it over/letting me ramble about it.

The title comes from "The Lover After Me" by Savage Garden (obvs). We’ve got some backstory in this chapter! And a new/familiar face arrives at the end...

chapter 2: am I alone in the universe?

“Well, well, seems like you finally found the family you could never have with me,” the creature jibed.

Killian couldn’t call him a man, though he clearly had been one at some point. But he wore the effects of dark magic on him like a second skin—scaly in texture and a mottled green-gold color that made him think of a crocodile or some other reptile. Whatever he was, all he knew was that Rumpelstiltskin was not anyone to take lightly; the captain’s corpse bleeding out on the quarterdeck was evidence of that.

Milah was standing in front of Killian, not quite shielding him but close enough that she could if needed. She did that often.

From what he’d gathered in the blur of events, this monster was after a magic bean, which their captain always seemed to have on hand—and was also the husband Milah had fled from a handful of years ago, when she joined their crew. He could see why.

From a pouch on her belt, Milah pulled out said bean and held it up for inspection, then tossed it to Smee, the bo’sun, before her former spouse could make a grab for it.

“You asked to see it, and now you have. Do we have a deal? Can we go our separate ways?” Her tone was commanding, but he supposed that was appropriate—not only did she possess the fiercest spirit Killian had ever encountered, but she was technically in charge: she’d worked her way up to first mate after she’d been discovered as a stowaway. With the captain gone, the title was hers.

“Do you mean, do I forgive you? Can I move on?” Goodness, he had a flair for the dramatic. “Perhaps, perhaps. I can see you are truly happy.”

“Thank you,” she answered tersely, then turned away from the monster and found Killian’s eyes. She was trying to tell him something, but he couldn’t read if her expression was relieved or concerned.

“Just one question,” the Dark One continued.

Milah faced him again. “What do you want to know?”

The air began to crackle as the wind snapped the sails; dark clouds came from nowhere and Killian could feel the static pricking at his skin.

“How could you leave Bae?” the Dark One snarled, taking a calculated step toward Milah. Even Killian got goosebumps at that; Milah had told him all about her boy, and how much she had hated to leave him. “Do you know what it was like walking home that night…”

Gasps came from all around as lines began to break and fly. One snapped next to Killian, making him jump; he would have yelped, too, were he not trying to hold his breath.

The villain continued his monologue as he approached Milah, who was edging closer to Killian, a protective arm held out in his direction. Killian wanted to step away—to run, dive, anything—but he was frozen in place, watching the scene unfold.

He hadn’t known much love in this life, and what little he had was but a faded memory. Except Milah—he had her now, little as he probably deserved her. She showed him a level of care and camaraderie he hadn’t had in years, if ever—a lone beacon of light in the seemingly endless drudgery of servitude. And his greatest fear right now was that this monster was going to take it all away.

“I was wrong to lie to you. I was the coward. I knew that.” He’d never heard Milah beg like this; not even when she was first discovered on the ship, seeking asylum.

“You left him! You abandoned him!” Rumpelstiltskin spat; he was mere inches from Milah, close enough for Killian to see the eerie yellow color tinting his eyes.

“And there's not a day that goes by that I don't feel sorry for that.” He’d held her while the tears came over that subject more than once; for that reason, he’d never quite told her about his own history with parental abandonment, though he was certain her reasons were better than his father’s.

The storm continued to build as tension mounted between the two figures arguing at middeck. An attempt was being made my crew members to right the rigging and prepare for the magical tempest, but most had their eyes fixed on the quarrel.

Everything seemed to go quiet when Milah let spew her final curse. “Because I never loved you.”

The entire world froze for a moment as that statement washed over the Dark One. The man must have had some semblance of a heart left, because his face fell for a moment.

But it was gone as soon as it appeared—a blink of humanity in the soul of someone who’d given themselves over to darkness long ago. Malice took hold, rage twisting his features, and he thrust a claw towards Milah’s chest.

“No!” Killian screamed, finally coming unglued from his spot on the deck and rushing to her. As she started to fall, he slipped under her in time to catch her.

He’d heard a rumor that the Dark One possessed the ability to take hearts but had prayed it wasn’t true. Those prayers fell on deaf ears, apparently, because there hers was, red and glowing in Rumpelstiltskin’s scaly palm. Up close, he was able to take in the way everything about this man oozed danger, from the rough texture of his clothes to the various weapons hanging off his belt.

“Oh, isn’t this precious,” he sneered. “Looks like someone has a little…crush.” Dramatically, he began to do that to her heart, squeezing it in his hand.

Milah convulsed in his arms. Killian tried to hold her close and keep her still, but it was to no avail. “I love you,” he murmured as her eyes closed for the last time and she fell limp in his embrace.

The only sound to be heard was his own stifled sobs as he set her body down on the deck. She looked peaceful, like she did in sleep, but gone was the light pink of her cheeks, or the gentle rise and fall of her chest with breath.

“You may be powerful, demon,” Killian cried out in a rare moment of boldness, “but you're no less a coward than I am.”

If he heard the outburst, he made no indication, instead turning his sights on Smee. “I'll have what I came for now.”

Killian stood and put himself between the men. “You'll have to kill me first.” For the first time ever, he held his hook aloft as a weapon, and not just the tool it had been for years now. In any other situation, it surely would have earned snickers from the crew; no one said a word now.

“That can be easily arranged, dearie,” the Dark One said. “You don’t look like much of a fight.”

Before the other man could make a move, Killian ran at him, plunging his hook into the creature’s chest. Milah was all he’d had left; he wouldn’t take her death lightly.

Rumpelstiltskin took a step back from the impact, but didn’t seem all that affected by the hunk of metal stuck in him. In fact, he started laughing. “Killing me is gonna take a lot more than that, sonny boy. My advice? Forget the whore and find a new one.”

White hot rage like he’d never known bubbled up inside. He couldn’t think of anything other than destroying this monster. Without looking, Killian reached for one of the daggers hanging on the Dark One’s person, pulled it from its holster, and plunged it into the man’s other breast, where his heart should be (if he still had one).

The shudder that came from his body shook Killian, connected as they still were by the two weapons. Rumplestiltskin coughed, sputtered, and fell on the deck, dragging Killian with him.

Then he cackled—a maniacal, shrill thing, almost comical in its intensity. “Oh, dearie—you have no idea what you’ve done, have you?”

“I’ve killed you and that’s all that matters,” Killian threw back. He was straddled over the dying man, watching as his breaths became more erratic with each passing moment.

“I just wish,” he wheezed, “I wish I could see what comes next.”

“What?” Why would the Dark One care about Killian’s fate? If he was lucky, he’d be free of the ship; if not, he supposed he’d spend the rest of his life on it.

“Humor a dying man.” He coughed violently, blood coming to his lips. “Pull out the dagger.”

Killian did, slowly, doing anything he could to drag on the man’s suffering.

“Tell me: what’s it say?”

An ornate design was embossed in the blade on the side facing Killian, so he flipped it over—and gasped.

Engraved in the steel, in an ornate block print, was Killian Jones. And to his horror, a glimmering blue sheen had taken over the skin of his hand, while dark tendrils of black ooze were trailing from the dagger and winding around his arm.

“No, no—I don’t want this!” Killian screamed. “Take it back!”

“No can do, dearie,” the apparently former Dark One breathed back. “Enjoy immortality.” And then he took his last breath, and drifted into dust.

The black magic continued to flow around Killian, wrapping itself about his limbs and constricting around his chest and body. He could feel it seeping into his veins and clenched his eyes shut to block out the images it was pulling from his mind—all the traumas, all the tragedies were playing out in front of him.

Fresh meat, an unfamiliar voice purred.

Too bad—I really liked the last one.

Hey, I’m still here!

Oh, he’s so pretty.

Yea, but he’s weak. What do we do with him?

Same as all the others—we corrupt him. He just might be the strongest Dark One yet.

“No!”

Killian startled himself from his stupor by shouting. Evidently, he’d drifted off. Not in the way most people did, considering he hadn’t truly slept in nearly a century now—but every so often, he’d find himself so deeply lost in a trance-like state that memories would start to play on their own, as if they were a dream.

It was never the pleasant ones, of course; only the traumatic ones. Yet another way for the Darkness to play mind games. By now, though, he was used to all of them.

Still—that memory always unsettled him: that he was capable of that kind of malice. As deep as his love had been for Milah, and still was, he hated the idea that he’d been able to murder in cold blood, even if there’d been a few more added to his body count in the interim (all accidental—or at least, he thought they were).

He sighed, rubbed his face, and stood and stretched from the chair he’d been reclined in on his back porch. The evening had drawn cold, and while he didn’t necessarily feel it, it seemed like a good night to read next to the hearth.

Where’s the fun in that, though? We could go recreate that day, eh? Murder some slavers?

“No,” Killian said sternly, like a tired father scolding a rambunctious child.

Oh, oh! Or we could go start a bar fight and watch the chaos unfold!

“Let’s not.” He set the kettle over the fireplace to brew tea, then stoked the flames.

We could just light this whole place up and start again somewhere else. Find the looters who’ve probably gotten lost in the castle—just a bit of light torture!

“No, thank you; I’m quite fine here.” He stood once the fire was going strong again, and was going to go find a novel to read when the reflection in the mirror above the mantle caught his gaze—and horrified him.

“We’ll break you yet, dearie,” Rumpelstiltskin hissed at him from the other side of the looking glass.

“You won’t. I’ve made it this far; and I can keep going.”

“Sure, sure...but for how long?” The image in the mirror flashed and changed, and he was staring at himself once more—but his skin was covered in reptilian scales and his eyes glowed a freakish blue. The perverse smirk and hungry gaze were not expressions he’d ever worn, but—and he hated to admit this—they didn’t look entirely unnatural. In fact, he looked far too comfortable like that.

He squeezed his eyes shut and contracted in on himself, like he had all those years ago before waking up in the Dark One’s vault. “Enough!” he yelled, and the whole house vibrated.

Things got eerily quiet then. He opened his eyes, and his reflection was back to normal. But his entire body was quivering. He held his hand up for inspection, and the dark magic swirling in his veins was boldly visible through his palm. He had to get out.

Even in the middle of the night, there was only one place he’d find any solace. He grabbed his thickest cloak and left, running out in the forest and taking the meandering path he’d memorized to the garden.

He moved as smooth as a shadow and likely cast an imposing figure, with his cape billowing out behind him. But he’d discovered over the decades that the more intimidating he looked, the more likely it was that people would stay away. He was no longer scared of what they might tempt him to do; no—he’d rather not tempt the Darkness.

You never let us have any fun anymore! it would pout. He’d gotten good at ignoring it, though, save for the outbursts like tonight.

The garden came into view, shining like a beacon of hope in the dark night. He’d taken care to keep the outside as clean as possible; he could do that without damaging the inside.

Although—was it gleaming just a bit brighter tonight? True, it was the full moon, but it seemed exceptionally effulgent at the moment.

The door was ajar when he reached it. That wasn’t uncommon—his carpentry wasn’t that stellar—but there was a different presence in the garden, beyond its usual ethereal aura. He pushed the door open—and his breath was stolen. (Good thing he didn’t need it.)

Someone had definitely been here, because the garden was completely renewed. Lanterns placed at varying spots around the space gave off a warm, gentle glow that could only be magical in nature. Everything was clean and crisp, and the fountain gurgled happily. And all the flowers were in bloom, despite the approaching autumn—roses, violets, lavender, orchids, all manner of lilies, and more filled the garden with their soft colors and light fragrance.

Just like his first visit, he absorbed it in awe. He refused to touch anything because whoever or whatever had done this clearly put love into it; he daren’t be the one to bring further harm.

After he’d made the full circle, he took a seat on one of the restored benches; it was firm and warm beneath him, and the surrounding rose bushes enveloped him with their delicate scent. More than ever, the garden was the haven it had been all those years ago when he first discovered it, and more so than in any time since.

He lost track of how long he spent just sitting there, at peace. Either the Darkness had nothing to say, or the light magic of the place was keeping it away. The sky overhead was lightening and he was contemplating just staying in there forever; it wasn’t like anyone would miss him, and perhaps he could meet whoever had brought beauty back in.

What will they find, though? A hermit with few to no social skills, one hand, and a demonic possession he barely tolerates?

“No one asked for your opinion,” Killian muttered back, but he’d had the same sort of intrusive thoughts. He hardly understood what Milah had seen in him—what was even left at this point for anyone else?

That’s right—nothing.

“Bugger off.” He shook his head; he’d fallen for it again—the Darkness trying to convince him that he was worthless, and to give into it. To be fair, he didn’t have much hope, but if protecting the world from the Darkness was his one purpose in life, he’d do it.

That said, he was shaken enough that he didn’t want to press his luck by staying around any longer. Half-heartedly, he rose to his feet and proceeded out.

Near the door, a rose bush hung over the cobbled path, heavy with blossoms. He did his best to skirt it, but still his hand grazed a bloom. It wasn’t a surprise when the petals shriveled up and died, and then the whole plant after it. He hung his head in shame—but did note that at least he hadn’t wrecked the whole garden this time.

Still, that was sign enough that it was time to leave, and he began the trek home, letting the morning dew cling to his boots and cloak as he traveled. He hid from a caravan on the road when it approached, waiting for the people—and the Darkness’s calls for blood—to pass before finally retreating to his cottage.

The garden wouldn’t be forgotten, though—not that it ever truly was, but something in that magic had taken root in his mind, just like whatever it had done to the flora. He found himself humming more often; adding some windows to his home to let the light in more; and getting lost in more romance novels than he ever had before. He’d even ventured to the book shop in town for some new ones; the proprietress gave him several sideways glances but his gold was good, so she made no comment.

He didn’t wish to tempt fate by traveling there every night, but his visits did increase in frequency. On his first trip back, he noticed that the rose bush he’d killed was thriving once more, perhaps even bigger than it had been before. The Darkness still jibed and taunted, as it was wont to do, but he was able to tune it out better there.

Each time, he considered staying. But each time, he took the coward’s way out and left before dawn. Whoever it was working their magic here was certainly far too good for the likes of him. (And that wasn’t the Darkness talking.)

He seriously considered stopping his visits after the third one in a row where something caught on him, just a brush against his skin, and promptly withered. But he wasn’t that strong, and on the following visit, it was always reborn. He simply took to wearing a glove over his hand and keeping the hood of his cloak up to minimize the chance for contact.

Armor in place, he got a bit bolder, staying later and later into the early morning. The rising sun was his companion on the journey home, which seemed to get shorter each time he made it. A path was starting to wear from his frequent visits, though it was still only visible to the trained eye.

One particularly nice morning, when the breeze blew warm, he was especially loathe to leave the garden. He watched the line of sunlight as it crept down the far wall, and the flowers in the vines that covered it opened to the rays. How he wished that was all it took to shake off his own burdens and the things keeping him closed off—just a bit of brightness to burn away the dark.

The sun shined on half of the wall by the time he rose to leave; it was the latest he’d stayed yet. But given that he didn’t have any pressing appointments (ever, really), he wasn’t too worried about taking his time.

With his gloved hand, he paused to cradle a gorgeous blossom on a hedge. It was a rich fuschia and sweet in scent, and he liked to imagine he could feel the velvet of the petal through the leather. But that was enough for today; he stepped back, carefully letting the flower go, and pulled his hood back up before taking long strides to the exit.

He’d hardly taken a few steps, though, before he was colliding with something—no, someone.

“Uf!” he groaned at the same time a feminine voice gasped “Oh!”

Instinctively, he kept his hook away from her, but grabbed her shoulder to stabilize her. Once she was steady, he took a step back, and anything he might have said died before it could reach his lips.

She was an angel. Or a siren. Or some other creature of ethereal beauty. Blonde hair fell in waves over her shoulders, framing a soft face set with eyes a shade of green so bright, it made the garden seem dreary. Her lips perfectly matched the flower he’d just held. And the furrowed set of her eyebrows made him realize she wasn’t as taken with him as he was with her.

Immediately, he took a step back. “My apologies, ma’am,” he stammered, ducking his head to avoid her suddenly intense gaze.

“Who are you and how did you find this place?” she demanded.

He could tell by the sharpness in her voice she was not to be trifled with. “I’ve been coming to this garden for years; discovered it ages ago. But I usually only come at night.”

She took a step towards him, and he hazarded a glance up. She was still studying him, eyes aflame as they assessed him. The closer she got, the harder his heart beat, and he could almost feel the static tension in the air.

Standing in front of him, she looked him up and down, and that’s when he realized his hood had fallen back in the collision, allowing her to truly see him; he gulped, knowing that the sun was surely glinting off his shimmering skin, letting her know that he likely wasn’t as innocent as he appeared.

Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open in some level of shock. She pointed an accusatory finger at him and exclaimed, “You’re the one who keeps killing my plants, aren’t you?”

“Aye,” he nodded, hanging his head. It came as no surprise that someone as radiant as her was the source of the garden’s transformation, and even if he’d just met her, he felt ashamed at already letting her down. “I’m so sorry.”

“Sorry’s not enough. Is that why you’re here?”

“No!” he protested. “I don’t do it on purpose—I swear—”

“Uh-huh, sure,” she cut him off. “Don’t try to lie to me, buddy. I know your type, and I know dark magic when I see it.”

“No, it wasn’t—it’s not—”

“Yes it is; don’t deny it! Why can’t you people just leave the few beautiful things in this world alone?”

“I promise you, that’s all I w—”

“Don’t.” She silenced him with a word. “Nothing good can come from you and your darkness being here. Just...just go.”

Despite the fact that she wasn’t touching him, he felt like she’d punched him in the gut and knocked his wind out. Because she was probably right—he’d been fooling himself to think he belonged there.

Without saying another word, he nodded his head, carefully stepped around her, and walked out. But as soon as he was outside, he practically sprinted home.

The Darkness cackled in his ear the entire way.

thanks for reading! tagging some friends: @kat2609 @thesschesthair @fergus80 @xpumpkindumplingx @shipsxahoy @selfie-wench @mryddinwilt @cocohook38 @annytecture @wingedlioness @word-bug @pirateherokillian @bleebug @its-imperator-furiosa @queen-mabs-revenge @killianmesmalls @sherlockianwhovian @effulgentcolors @laschatzi @ive-always-been-a-pirate @jscoutfinch @nfbagelperson @the-captains-ayebrows @stubble-sandwich @killian-whump @lenfaz @phiralovesloki @athenascarlet @kmomof4 @ilovemesomekillianjones @whimsicallyenchantedrose @snowbellewells @idristardis @wyntereyez @lfh1962 @bmbbcs4evr @therooksshiningknight

#cs ff #killian jones ff #cs march madness #dark killian #deckhand hook #fic: savage garden #my ff

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recentanimenews · 5 years

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THE GREAT CRUNCHYROLL NARUTO REWATCH Begins with Episodes 1-7!

*guitar*

*shadows*

COME ON!

Welcome to The Great Crunchyroll Naruto Rewatch! I'm Nate, and I'll be your host this week as we make our way through all 220 episodes of the original Naruto. Last week, I told you how all this worked, but everybody who's new I'll go over things one more time.

Each week, we'll be watching SEVEN EPISODES of the original Naruto, and sharing our thoughts on them interview-style every Friday at 5pm PST.

This week, we're starting things off with episodes 1-7, featuring an introduction to everyone's favorite super-loud orange ninja, the rest of our main cast, and this world of ninja that they inhabit. Things move pretty quickly--it's not long before Naruto's assigned to Team 7, they have their first real test against their teacher and commander Kakashi, and they face their first life-or-death fights against the Demon Brothers and Zabuza!

But, before we discuss these episodes, let's take a look at the comments and questions that you had from our last installment!

The number one question we got last week was a simple one: ARE WE GOING TO SKIP THE FILLER?

No. We are not skipping the filler.

You may skip the filler, but be sure to tune in to see our reactions to it... there's gonna be a lot down the road.

Now, let's see what the Crunchyroll Features team thought of this week's episodes!

Alright, this is where it all starts--I know a bunch of you are new to Naruto. How did actually watching it compare to your expectations?

Paul: Judging from my previous experiences with the fans, I was expecting Naruto (both the show and the titular character) to be a little more meat-headed and hyper-masculine. Instead, the show sets a laser focus on evoking sympathy with a protagonist who wants to be the best in the world simply so people will recognize him. I didn't anticipate such feelings of internalized inadequacy from the shouty, fighty shonen hero.

Peter: I’m rewatching and also decided to read the manga alongside. So far I’m really impressed by how strong Kishimoto’s aesthetic was from the outset. The environments and character designs are all unmistakeable and his action is like this perfect combination of piece-by-piece panels and splashes. I like the anime’s additions, especially some extra Naruto/Konohamaru scenes which drive home the difference in how they’re treated and an early Ino intro that sets up her rivalry with Sakura.

Kevin: I was one of the people watching the original Cartoon Network run of the show’s dub back somewhere around 2003 or 2004. Going back and rewatching, I forgot how much the early parts of the show focus on Naruto’s emotional struggle, first of not being accepted by anyone and just trying to get attention, then how he feels about his various failings as a ninja. As a result, the stakes aren’t as high, but it feels like a much more personal story.

Jared: I completely missed out on Naruto after dropping off anime around 2003, but going in I was more expecting it to follow a similar structure to other shonen shows I’ve seen. From the start, the opening episode completely shattered any expectations I had with how tight the entire episode was woven together with regards to its narrative, characterizations, and how much info it packed into 24 minutes. Outside of that, I think I’d missed out on knowing that Naruto can act like a brat early on in the series.

Joseph: I’m in an interesting position, because I watched maybe 40 episodes of this a decade ago and I’ve read around 50 volumes of the manga. I will say I was surprised at how nostalgic it felt to watch this compared to, say, Shippuden, which has a much different vibe. It’s also impressive how much groundwork is laid for the entire series via Kishimoto’s designs and world and the way the anime adapted it.

Carolyn: I was very surprised at how quickly they dove into Naruto’s backstory. I have seen the show many years ago and didn’t seem to remember that such a “big reveal” occurred so quickly. I… honestly find the story quite boring and hard to keep my attention focused on, I guess I’m just not super invested in the characters. However, I can absolutely see seeds of how this show has affected and inspired many that came after it. I hadn’t really noticed that when watching other anime, but going back and rewatching Naruto makes that pretty clear. Also, I am cracking up at the totally rad ‘80s Breakfast Club-esque opening sequence. I didn’t remember that music at all.

Noelle: Naruto was one of my first encounters with manga when I first really started getting into it, but it’s been a long time since I touched it. I read the whole thing, but I never reread it, so a lot of instances I completely forgot about. For example, I forgot how kind of gruesome it was at the start, focusing on serious injuries instead of just fantasy violence. At the same time, I’m impressed how strong the characters are established, along with themes such as kindness and proving yourself that will resonate throughout the entire series.

Kara: I was five years out of college when Naruto started, and I remember in the circles I ran in it was Not The Done Thing to be into it. I can’t remember if it was because it was considered a “casual’s anime” or if it was based on run-ins with cosplayers at conventions. Likely a little of both. Watching it has been a lot more chill than I expected, and while I see a lot of the tropes I figured I’d see, it looks like it’s leading somewhere interesting.

David: I basically grew up with Naruto, but I fell off of it in high school so it’s been more than a decade since the last time I actually watched an episode or read a chapter. Comparing it to my expectations, it’s much more focused than I recall--the first episode could stand alone as a very emotionally effective short story, for example. Kakashi is still the only side character who seems to have a lot of thought put into their long-term character arc, though.

Daniel: I like it, though Naruto has always kind of been a blind spot for me. I’ve seen a decent chunk of it, but it’s always kind of been background noise, something to have on so that when people ask me “Do you only watch One Piece?”, I can say “NUH UH. I ALSO WATCH THIS ONE ABOUT ANOTHER LOUD BOY.” That said, actually paying attention to it, it’s pretty fun. I dig Kishimoto’s world building, and the environment that he’s set up. I’m really interested in finally figuring out why so many people adopted this show as their gospel.

Danni W: I actually did watch the first dozen or so episodes of Naruto around six or seven years ago, so this was more of a refresher than anything. It never quite clicked with me the first time, so I was surprised to find I enjoyed it more this time around. I think it helped that the show gets real pretty immediately. We’re only seven episodes in and Naruto has already had to face real combat three separate times. The characters aren’t enough to hook me yet, so the early doses of action have made for a good on ramp for me.

I've always enjoyed how Naruto hangs on to its emotional core, and we see that very strongly in the first few episodes. What did you all think of this part of the story?

Paul: I'm not fully invested yet in the emotional stakes of the series, mostly because I don't really know the scope and scale of the world that Naruto inhabits. Why are these children being trained to be spies and assassins from such a young age? What dangers does the outside world present such that it prompts entire villages to weaponize their kids?

Peter: I feel like I never gave Iruka enough credit in retrospect, maybe because his act was the first in what later emerged as the series core. Without him, Naruto probably would have been another Gaara. I also never realized that Naruto is wearing Iruka’s headband the entire damn story. After Naruto’s hand stab I’m trying to remember if grand masculine gestures are regularly mocked as an inverse toward the important compassionate gestures, so I’m planning to track that moving forward.

Kevin: While I like seeing the cool techniques and fights from later in the show, going back to the beginning and seeing much more of a focus on each character’s internal conflicts is an interesting change, giving each of their actions a bit more personal weight. It’s not inherently better or worse, just a different focus on the same story.

Jared: It really seemed like a great way to start the series and let people know from the onset that this is a story that deals heavily with empathy. I figured eventually the series would go that route, but to do it immediately sets a tone that allows for these characters like Naruto to instantly have layers that otherwise might take a long time to see. With the show really bouncing between emotional moments and comedy pretty frequently, I’m curious whether it’ll continue that or try and lean more in one direction or the other.

Joseph: Naruto is the most three-dimensional character in these first episodes, mostly because we haven’t had much time to delve into the stories that drive Sakura and Sasuke. I think they do a great job of making Naruto sympathetic, which makes up for his brattiness. One other thing I appreciate is that they make it clear from the outset that being a ninja isn’t just cartoonishly huge shuriken fun and games. People die on the regular here, and Naruto and the rest of his upstart era would do well do remember that before taking the next steps.

Carolyn: Just let Naruto live! Everyone is so mean to the poor kid. Again, I was surprised at how quickly they jump into this and I have a feeling it is what kept me watching the first time around. They do a good job of making you feel empathy for Naruto even when he is being totally obnoxious.

Noelle: While I remember pretty vividly the general plot, I don’t remember a lot of the small moments that make up a scene. Naruto is set up really well, and I to this day really enjoy that he’s not just cast as a quirky problem child with no future, but someone who genuinely wants to be acknowledged, and acting out is the easiest way to get attention. Knowing how things end up, seeing everyone at the start and how they are introduced is a good refresher and sets up a lot later on. At its heart, this really is a story about teamwork, empathy, and growing up.

Kara: It’s been all right—some cute and funny bits, and I like what action scenes we’ve had. From a writing standpoint, it feels like (except for Naruto himself) everyone’s categorized largely by wanting to be the Hokage, wanting to kill someone, or having a crush on someone. But I can also see that we’re quickly moving forward from that. Being on the News team means educating myself fast about unfamiliar shows, and the wildest thing to me has been seeing Hinata in the background crushing on Naruto when I just recently posted an article about her wedding figure.

David: Iruka and Naruto’s relationship has to be my favorite single part from this section. Iruka is given every reason to not like or just give up on this kid, yet he sticks up for him the whole time (while also never letting him slack--no free pass on the exams for Naruto!). Kakashi is setting up to be a good role model, too, but I’ll definitely miss how intimate Iruka’s care for Naruto is.

Daniel: You can really sympathize with Naruto because he’s the “chosen one” character without being a prodigy. He isn’t impressive right out of the gate, but he has the potential to be impressive. I think you can relate to him easier than, say, Goku, who is ready to dropkick most of the world the first time you meet him. That feeling of being meant for bigger things, but still struggling to even get on the path to those bigger things is pretty powerful.

Danni: I think it’s showing some promise. I really appreciate the lengths it goes to explain why Naruto is a troublemaker in the first place. He can be pretty annoying, but the reasons for that are mostly justified. In the end, he’s a victim. I like that Sasuke can already see that and identify with him in that respect. They both have a lot of trauma to work though in the next *checks notes* few hundred episodes.

I know we're really early in, but have there been any standout moments or characters so far?

Paul: I know everybody else is probably going to go with Kakashi as the standout character, but also cool as Kakashi may be, my heart goes out to Akimichi Choji, the chubby ninja who is stuffing his face with potato chips in Episode 3. I also like the design of the oversized shurikens and other exaggerated weapons, and I dig the visual aesthetic of the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

Peter: This question is kind of hard to answer since I’m retracing old ground but I definitely did not recall Sakura being such a little shithead. Completely forgot her putting her foot in her mouth with Sasuke saying Naruto’s a troublemaker because he’s an orphan. Funnily enough, I think her hating Naruto for who he is rather than what he represents is a really important connection between the two.

Kevin: Naruto freezing up in his first real fight and then stabbing himself, swearing that he’ll never be a burden again was a scene that I feel is an exemplar of how the early story focuses more on Naruto’s emotional journey, rather than just trying to fight increasingly strong bad guys, but still has the kind of payoffs that the audience can rally behind.

Jared: Iruka is a good dude who really wants what’s best for Naruto, even if it means taking an oversized shuriken to the back. Naruto stabbing himself in episode 6 was an immediate “YO” moment from me. The entire atmosphere of the fight in the back half of episode 7 was incredibly good. I really hope that Konohamaru continues to show up with either worse and worse stealth or continuously better ways to try and fight Naruto.

Carolyn: Glad to see Shikamaru show up so early. Love him. As I mentioned before, I’m not sure I’m fully invested in these characters. I am quite disappointed in Sakura. I remember loving her when I was younger and she is not the strong female character I remembered. She’s kind of desperately boy-crazy. Which is fine! But it feels like it comes on strong and the first several episodes don’t give her many traits beyond that. She must grow throughout the series, or my memories were warped? Kakashi Sensei feels sooooo much like a Shoto Aizawa (My Hero Academia’s Eraserhead) prototype. The mystery, the aloof manner, but secretly a big softie that just wants his student to do well. Similarly, Naruto has a lot of traits that seem to overlap with Bakugo and Soul Eater’s Black Star. More evidence of the show’s reach. Sexy Jutsu has not aged well. Also, the ending theme song is beautiful.

Noelle: Kakashi’s great, and knowing that he’s pretty close to my age puts a lot of things into context now that I’m an adult. Kakashi’s got a lot on his plate with these three problem children under his wing, but he’s still a pretty laid back guy personality-wise. Someone who stood out to me more in my rewatch was Iruka. Iruka’s presence means so much to Naruto, being the father figure he never really had. If Iruka wasn’t kind to Naruto, and he really was the only person to treat Naruto like a kid and not just a monster container, this would’ve been a very different series. Naruto truly did need someone to be there for him, and seeing their relationship really does make my heart warm. Iruka’s a good guy!

Kara: I actually cannot believe how much I associate with Naruto, and 12-years-ago me would faint at hearing that. The absolute need to prove himself, the feeling that he’s sliding backwards the harder he works, all that is something I (and others, I’m sure) can relate to. Obviously he goes a little harder than most people would in his situation—seriously, if you’re wearing Safety Orange constantly, you’ve gotta think really highly of yourself as a ninja—but it’s really something to see how much of his attitude is couched in fear of failure.

Joseph: Kakashi’s kancho, obviously.

David: Konohamaru only gets his one episode here, but I actually thought his bit was the most emotionally effective. He largely has the same issues as Naruto but in reverse. Konohamaru isn’t necessarily "royalty" but treated as such, infantilizing him from his perspective. Even his name is a point of contention for him, putting a burden on his very existence that others can’t relate to. To these ends, he looks up to Naruto for being a free spirit, but as the viewers we understand that they are more similar than they know. Naruto is the main character--we see his troubles garnering respect and even love from his peers and mentors in these episodes--but Konohamaru grounds that conflict by mirroring it.

Daniel: In my high school band class in Freshman year, a kid asked the teacher to be referred to as “Sasuke.” He also had a ninja headband that he’d wear around some time, and while I thought it was goofy then, I think it’s ABSOLUTELY DOPE now. So, while I still figure out the characters, I’m gonna nominate broody ol’ Sasuke in honor of that kid.

Danni: Kakashi covers like 75% of his face with ninja gear and to show how badass he is fought one-handed while reading a book called Makeout Paradise. I want to be that cool someday.

The action escalated pretty quickly--we started with Team 7 having to take the bells from Kakashi for the first full-on action scene (even if it wasn't "for keeps"), and then we have to worry about Hidden Mist assassins and our first real villain, Zabuza. Any thoughts on the action?

Paul: I like all of the action that I've seen so far, but the resolution to Kakashi's test wasn't dramatically satisfying for me. The payoff didn't match the build-up. I wanted to see Team 7 put up more of a show of resistance than simply refusing to obey Kakashi's instructions not to feed Naruto. The scene plays more like everyone being recalcitrant teenagers and less like anyone taking a principled stand.

Peter: I can’t believe the action is so sick even this early on. I always thought of Sasuke’s style as the most orthodox and the intricacy of some of his combos and the shots are so damn satisfying to look. Kishimoto made it super easy for the animators to make some stylish shots and they ran with it. The series is already building its vocabulary with a Sasuke attack that obviously builds into the Lion Combo and some underground shenanigans.

Kevin: I feel like this is the show’s action at its weakest. None of the Genin know how to fight yet, so once the actually dangerous fighting begins, they’re relegated to standing around watching Kakashi and Zabuza fight, and even that hasn’t gotten to the more impressive techniques. It’s not bad since at least there is still a fight between two experienced combatants to watch, it’s just weaker than what the show delivers on later when the protagonist and major characters are experienced enough to contribute.

Jared: I was surprised how subdued the action had felt before Team 7 took on Kakashi with there being pretty minimal fight scenes until that point. Kakashi messing around with Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura gave a good baseline of the complete difference in skill between all of them, but it wasn’t until Zabuza and his ridiculous cow print sleeves showed up that we truly get a sense of how much of a gap there is between Kakashi and Team 7. The beginnings of that fight truly gave the feeling of their being stakes involved which had been missing elsewhere.

Carolyn: Again, surprised at how quickly the show turns on a dime. They can go from goofy to serious in a heartbeat and it is very reminiscent of how things often progress on My Hero Academia. But I still find it hard to really get into the peril. I’m not sure why, exactly, I’m not very invested in the characters, but it’s early. I’m sure that will change.

Noelle: Since this series came out where it did, Jump was still very much comfortable with keeping pacing slow. As a result, the fights are a lot slower than what I’m used to, even if that was the norm back then. At the same time, the action itself isn’t bad--it’s pretty clever, and introduces the rules of the world in a way that anyone can pick up with ease.

Kara: I have a feeling a lot of my appreciation for the fighting will come as I start learning the different abilities in play. There have definitely been some cool moves, but I think we’re still in that exposition phase where we’re learning the types of things ninjas can do (and what our main cast’s strong and weak points are). A couple weeks from now when I’ve seen more of how this universe operates, I’ll probably be all in.

David: Sure, the action isn’t flashy, but the Kakashi training fight was much better than I remember it being for two reasons. One, it’s just funny. Kakashi doesn’t do anything truly harsh to the kids (well, aside from starve them, but that’s part of the plan), and what little physical combat he does with them is either light or just plain comedic. Two, it serves as a small show-don’t-tell of the show’s combat mechanics. For example, he calls out at the beginning that he’s going to use taijutsu, leading to his infamous kancho when he could have done a million other things; Sakura even believes he is using a more fancy technique before it happens. From there more involved strategies are used and by the end we have a basic primer of Naruto combat simultaneously serving as a team-building exercise for our heroes. Very efficient storytelling.

Joseph: The action is really clear and well-handled in these early episodes. I’m not sure how it gets later on, but I know in the manga I found some of Kishimoto’s action layouts much harder to follow than they should be. His designs and the intention behind his action translate nicely to animation, thankfully. Naruto is also really good at suddenly showing just how powerful a character really is within action, which is a total must-have shonen staple.

Danni: It’s not very flashy so far, but it is pretty tense. The high-level combat so far seems to entirely be a contest of clones and substitutions. The substitution jutsu seems way too broken. That being said, it’s a pretty cool technique. I hope we get to start seeing some good hand-to-hand soon.

For this batch of episodes, what were the highest and lowest points, respectively?

Paul: High point: Naruto getting caught in Kakashi's rope trap, grumbling about not getting tricked again while he frees himself, and then immediately getting caught in another rope trap. I love those kind of gags. Low point: ninja diarrhea.

Peter: In both cases probably the information reveals. Purely narratively speaking, a lot of the info that comes at the characters feels like common knowledge in retrospect. Kakashi is famous for having the Sharingan, how the village and mission systems work, and Sakura not knowing about her crush’s family being murdered seem like they should things the kids know. On the other hand, I’m super impressed with how much of a foundation Sasuke and Kakashi’s backstory have so early on and foreshadowing for both.

Kevin: The lowest point for me was the repeated use of the “Sexy Jutsu.” Once made sense to show Naruto as a troublemaker who could invent new techniques if he tried, and the Harem Jutsu showed that he can be creative and combine techniques for new tactics, but the other 2-3 times just feel like a joke being overplayed. The best moment was the fight against the Hidden Mist Chunin, since each of the kids’ personalities show through clearly. Sakura is terrified but keeps to her main duty, Sasuke starts retaliating to get rid of the threat, and Naruto freezes in place and needs to be saved, leading to an excellent emotional payoff when the fight is over.

Jared: The high points for me were Kakashi vs. Zabuza, Naruto’s hand stab, and Sakura and Ino’s incredibly ridiculous power walk competition in episode 3. Sexy Jutsu really beats you over the head with how many times they use that gag and Naruto’s stomach issues from episode 3 were just strange, so those would be my low points.

Carolyn: The music is a definite high! The emotional moments and humanizing of Naruto is nice to see. Using ninja skills to save a lost cat is completely adorable and feels like something All Might would do. Did the My Hero peeps grow up on Naruto? It feels like it. I also like how positive Naruto is in the face of adversity. He can make any situation a positive one. Laughing at the clunky exposition, “It’s going to take someone who is highly skilled.” Low point, again, definitely Sexy Jutsu (and teaching Sexy Jutsu to a little kid, WTF, these were different times) and Sakura’s desperate crush.

Noelle: Sexy Jutsu got old really fast. It was interesting to see Naruto expand it, as that showed he was learning, but aside from that, it’s an overdone gag. Glad they cut down on it. For good points, the Zabuza fight for sure, and each one of the kids standing up for themselves in the face of danger. And of course, Naruto stabbing himself in the hand to show his resolve!

Kara: Low point was absolutely the diarrhea episode—add to that the weird middle school comedy of errors surrounding it. I only had so much tolerance for Sakura’s crush and Naruto’s willingness to either mess with or take advantage of it. High point for me was Konohamaru’s desire to be called by his name and not his function or association. It was such a goofy little episode, but something really resonated for me about being willing to go to ridiculous lengths just to be recognized for who he is.

David: The bizarre ‘love triangle’ dynamic as a whole is the low point--this is notably represented well in the “diarrhea episode,” but comes across everywhere else too in how obviously undercooked Sasuke and Sakura’s characters are at this point. On the other hand, the high point is how obviously fully developed Kakashi is despite us knowing so little about him at this point. Unlike the rest of the side characters, there is clearly a lot going on in both what we see him doing here and what is implied to be happening in his background, and that’s as exciting a hook as it was when I was in middle school.

Joseph: The gags are hit or miss, but mostly decent. For me, the low point is any time an information dump rears its head. Zabuza standing on top of his sword for an eternity while he and Kakashi trade off exposition about the Sharingan is sloppy. I dig most everything else, and the high point is how the story handles this early-stage version of Naruto. He is just straight up a bad ninja, and it shows. He’s loud, brash, and obnoxious in an all orange jumpsuit. He’s the anti-ninja. Best of all, he’s terrified, and he totally should be.

Daniel: I really like the show’s tone, usually. But the high point and low point were within five seconds of one another. In the first episode, it’s so rad when Naruto finally reveals his Shadow Clone Jutsu against Mizuki. And then they all beat up Mizuki, and you get these “BONK BOOP SCHWWWWOOOP” sound effects, which takes all of the power of the scene and kicks it out the door.

Danni: For me, the highest point of this batch was in the first episode when Naruto overhears Iruka defending him against Mizuki. That’s a potentially life-changing moment for Naruto, finally learning why so many in the village hate him. Had it been anyone but Iruka who had found Naruto, he likely would’ve ended up turning against the entire village in anger. It’s a touching moment of understanding not just between teacher and student, but also between a pair of orphans linked by the same tragic event.

The lowest point is anytime I‘m reminded the sexy jutsu exists.

COUNTERS

Ramen consumed so far: 2 bowls, 1 cup

"I'm gonna be Hokage!" count: 8

Number of Shadow Clones summoned: 46

And that's everything for this week! Remember that you're always welcome to join us for this rewatch, especially if you haven't watched the original Naruto!

Here's our upcoming schedule!

-Next week, on JANUARY 25th, we'll be discussing EPISODES 8-14, hosted by KARA DENNISON! The mission in the Land of Waves continues! THIS IS THE ONLY INSTALLMENT WE'RE ACCEPTING QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS FOR THIS WEEK!

-Then, on FEBRUARY 1st, we discuss EPISODES 15-21, with KEVIN MATYI hosting! Not only do we start the Chunin Exam arc, but we get our first FILLER EPISODE!

-On FEBRUARY 8th,we'll discuss EPISODES 22-28, with JARED CLEMONS as host! The Chunin Exam kicks into high gear!

Thank you for joining us for the Great Crunchyroll Naruto Rewatch! Have a great weekend, and we'll see you all next time!

Have any comments or questions about episodes 1-7? What about our upcoming installment, featuring episodes 8-14?

-----

Nate Ming is the Features Editor for Crunchyroll News and creator of the long-running Fanart Friday column. You can follow him on Twitter at @NateMing. Check out his comic, Shaw City Strikers!

By: [email protected]

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

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thedegenerateasexual · 7 years

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top 10 teen wolf episodes as rated by me i guess

IN the order from most to least favorite, and i did not include any 6B ones because it isn’t fair for me to use those when the season isn’t finished yet. (EDIT: season is now finished and while none of the 6B episodes made the ranking i did adjust the honorable mentions accordingly.) this is long & i had fun making it

3.19 Letharia Vulpina: ok ok so just like Everyone Knew I Would i did pick this one because of all the prime derek/chris material—that all-important moment where they had their claws and gun trained on each other, being handcuffed to a bench together, derek saving chris’s life despite insisting he wasn’t gonna—BUT there’s literally not a single second of this episode i don’t love. we open with deaton being a total badass and scaring the shit out of some yakuza dudes, then KIRA gets to be a badass, and then there’s a small scott/allison/isaac moment when he’s all laid up (which was my ot3 for a little while in 3A…don’t judge), allison gets to threaten peter with a stun baton on her girlfriend lydia’s behalf, and that doesn’t even BEGIN to get into the absolute delight it is to watch everyone running around trying to deal with all the chaos the notgitsune is causing (we even got to see coach get shot, which was actually pretty funny??). between all of that and the plot twist at the end (that we all saw coming…but hey) that it was really the nogitsune pretending to be stiles all along (and the very…gay…thing going on with him and scott), it’s literally like, the perfect episode. there was even a rain battle at the end i fucking love rainy scenes. PEAK television.

4.12 Smoke & Mirrors: my two favorite characters on the dumb werewolf show are derek hale & scott mccall and this episode is like a great big flashing sign that says “LOOK AT HOW AWESOME DEREK IS AND LOOK AT HOW AWESOME SCOTT IS!!!” because scott finally gets to KICK PETER’S ASS and comes back from something he shouldn’t be able to come back from because he’s SCOTT MCCALL, TRUE ALPHA, and how can we forget my son derek finally achieving the full shift and giving that big old “FUCK YOU” to kate argent. if that wasn’t enough, my third favorite character chris argent gets the second-closest he’s ever come to weeping in this entire series when confronting the sister he can’t kill at the end. also kate is in this episode and she’s the best villain i love her presence onscreen. also peak television.

1.12 Code-Breaker: i love s1 SO FUCKING MUCH bc it was so tightly plotted - it’s like back to the future and holes, it’s one of those things where every line serves a purpose and there’s no spare bits, and tw’s plot becomes such a mess later that it’s honestly really amazing. so code breaker is my favorite one because all the plot stuff comes together really well, and it’s just like well-done overall, there’s that sick backwards shot of allison, chris’s Angst when he realizes his sister is a serial killer, scott trying Really Really Hard and derek being Really Really Done (why don’t they have more scenes together…), stiles and peter cracking me up with the laptop password gag, like…there’s literally no part of this ep that isn’t a delight (also again kate is in it i love kate as a villain). it’s wonderful 10/10

3.14 More Bad Than Good: i had a real hard time with this one vs. the one immediately before it, the first one of 3B, but i love both bc i love watching scott stiles and allison absolutely losing their shit. in the end i like this one better bc 1. you get to watch them beat it and 2. they finally find and rescue malia and i FUCKING LOVE malia, my own daughter, also the scene where she reunites with her dad makes me misty every time. bonus content: watching araya hack off peter’s finger :D :D :D AND this is the first time derek gets to make heart-eyes at braeden. i’m so happy whenever he’s happy!!!

6.05 Radio Silence: this episode is everything i love about 6A all wrapped up in a nice neat lil package. i love 6A bc it totally fucking surprised me by making me like things i did not think i’d like, the biggest being stiles/lydia. and like…this season fuckin SOLD me on it, the way she fights tooth and nail to get him back and the way he’s so patiently waited for her reminds me 2much of claire & ben from @cambionverse and the beginning of me being sold was this ep, when they had the wall between them, and when they finally talked on the radio. and this episode even made peter hale interesting for 30 entire seconds which i thought was impossible—it was cool that he did One Genuinely Selfless Thing by going through the portal to save malia, and later when malia and scott had to take his pain to get at stiles’ keys you could almost imagine for a second he got to pretend someone actually DID care about him, that’s his reward for doing a single selfless thing. it was also stellar to see stiles (and the jeep!!!) again and see him working the problem from the other side it was like getting real sam back after half a season of soulless sam in spn s6 DO NOT call me out for referencing this show

4.05 I.E.D.: go look at these gifsets and read the tags. now come back. …okay okay aside from, That, which i won’t repeat as to avoid two paragraphs of capslock, derek also smiles in this episode. even scott is alarmed by it. HE’S HAPPY i’m happy he’s happy!!!!! i’m happy he loves scott!! i’m happy he spends half the episode trading long lingering looks with his future boyfriend!!!! but if that wasn’t enough this episode KEEPS ON GIVING because at the very end the calaveras show up and bully chris into saying the original code, and forgetting his daughter’s, which is deeply relevant to all my headcanons about the code lowkey being like indoctrination (watch that shit again it’s fucking wild…), and also it’s one of the only times in the series where he looks genuinely freaked out and i love watching his Turmoil™

6.10 Riders on the Storm: this is also everything i love about 6A in one ep, just like, less concentrated, bc there’s also the nazi werewolf (tho even PETER HALE getting judgy @ the nazi was truly a highlight). its got all the Big Damn Reunions, its got STYDIA, its got peter actually being slightly interesting, its got scott mccall: badass. its actually also got lydia martin: badass, which like…About Damn Time. it’s even got chris argent: badass, and it’s also got chris argent: badass smooching on a beautiful lady w/ his hands in her hair!!!! (her: that was so hot! me: GIRL ME TOO) also they thought this was the last stiles ep ever so his goodbyes to everyone were like really sweet & made me emo af

3.22 De-Void: so obviously i love this one because derek’s line when he was under thrall about “you’re NOT my ally you’re a HUNTER” got me into the dumb rarepair i wrote like 60k for so far but also i do genuinely deeply love the sequence where they exorcise the notgitsune from inside stiles’ head—lydia facing her fears in the ruined prom dress is such amazing imagery + im gay for the scott/stiles reunion. bonus content includes chris & allison interaction which breaks my heart (he’s so proud of her!!) and the tense kickass scene in the loft in the opening where the notgitsune (SCARY MOTHERFUCKER) is trying to goad chris into shooting it. i don’t love ALL of this ep bc it has so much thumb twins (& from here down there are no more perfect ones…sad) but i love MOST of it and the parts i do love are fantastic. so. i’ll deal w/ thumb twins

3.06 Motel California: look i know this episode should disturb the fuck out of me bc 1. derek and jennifer bang & in my eyes that isn’t a consensual encounter and 2. all the creepy ass suicides but like…honestly there is something so soothing about motels to me, i’ll put this one on to just chill out anyday. like it is delightfully creepy and i love all the meat to everyone getting hit with their baggage (uh…except the thumb twins), but mostly it’s the #mood i love. i actually even like the derek scenes before the sex starts because he is So Wounded and So Sad (“everyone around me gets hurt” BYE) and they rarely let him actually emote at all so it’s very refreshing

2.03 Ice Pick: this was like…such a perfect & amazing introduction to the new betas like if the new ppl in s4 and beyond had gotten this kind of good introduction (and hadn’t been killed off so quickly…) i would love them about 10x more. it’s got that nice s2 vibe that most ppl are into and i still love erica & boyd w/ all my heart!!! (DONT really love how creepy derek was w/ erica but we’ll blame it on being the alpha.) i also love how fucked up the scene with allison tied to the chair was & the fucking fight between derek’s pack and scott at the end…like scott gets to win a 2-on-1 fight and then derek gets to be mr. cool alpha dude and kick his ass. i LOVE THOSE FIGHT SCENES and bc of this episode “iron” is my derek theme song. so.

HONORABLE MENTIONS aka these were on the original list but didn’t make the cut:

1.11 Formality (aaalllll of derek’s ugly backstory this was when i knew i loved him)

2.10 Fury (the first ep i ever watched live, will always be fond of it for that reason even tho i don’t give 2 shits about matt)

2.11 Battlefield (the theme of doing things bc of the power of love will always get me, it was also the only teen wolf episode i ever made gifs of, back when i knew how to make gifs)

3.12 Lunar Ellipse (for scott becoming a true alpha for REAL + derek’s big ol’ well-deserved fuck-you to jennifer, i didn’t love 3A but this was such prime derek & scott material)

3.13 Anchors (like i said: watching stiles, scott, and allison all COMPLETELY lose their shit, also did you know the anchor allison chose in this ep ws her new code? Interesting)

3.24 The Divine Move (listen...you can laugh at the cheesy sfx ALL you want but when i watched kate argent come back from the dead to menace derek hale like his own worst nightmare come to life LIVE with mine own two eyes i jumped out of my seat and YELLED like everything about that moment was absolutely PERFECT and very few things are ever gonna top it)

4.08 Time of Death (derek learning to use a gun and then getting it on with braeden…bye)

4.11 A Promise to the Dead (not only chris unsticking himself from the wall for allison and scott’s sake but also derek and braeden walking around his loft half-naked in the rain...nice)

5.05 A Novel Approach (the stiles and donovan altercation…the first 15m where he acts with his face without saying a word…enough said)

5.18 The Maid of Gévaudan (i'm bitter about the flashback because i want ALLISON but it was a nice origin story + scott fighting the beast all on his own to save that library full of kids was one of the only truly amazing moments of 5B)

6.08 Blitzkrieg (the sheriff rebuilding stiles’ room and saying goodbye to claudia makes me really for real cry but there’s so much nazi bullshit that i couldn’t justify having the episode as a whole being one of my favs)

6.13 After Images (chris argent absolutely losing his shit the entire ep, fucking love it)

6.19 Broken Glass (derek hale's comeback and he got to spend all of his screentime with chris argent! i seriously considered poking this into the #10 spot but ultimately the sideplot i hated with malia and scott had so much more screentime i can't use it - i can't list an episode i'm always skipping parts of!)

#personal #teen wolf #im scheduling this to go up like not in the middle of the night #so im not like. actly here #dargent #chris argent #derek hale #kate argent #jennifer blake #braeden #draeden #melissa mccall #mcargent #scott mccall #about teen wolf

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joemerl · 5 years

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Julycanthropy 2019

Hey, anybody interested in the novel that I’m writing? No, guys, come back.

So, this year I learned about Julycanthropy, which is where you use a bunch of prompts to draw werewolves each day. I found several people who instead decided to use them as writing prompts, and since my novel is about werewolves it seemed like I should try something myself.

Basically, this is backstory, starting about twelve years before my story begins and ending a little before the present. Read if you’re interested, and I hope that you enjoy.

Word count: 2,865.

New Moon

Roger turned into a wolf for three days every week. It had nothing to do with the moon, as evidenced by the fact that it was almost invisible tonight.

He didn’t need the light—his wolf eyes could see excellently in the dark, and he barely even needed them with how strong his ears and nose were. But he missed the moon when it was gone. It made him feel even more lonely.

On the hunt

It was several weeks of practice before Roger first managed to take down a doe. He spent three days gorging on it before leaving almost half of its meat untouched. He felt kind of guilty about that, and afterwards mostly restricted himself to rabbits and mice. They were easier to catch, anyway.

Meal

“Can we please not talk about this during dinner?” his wife Carla asked, cutting up food for their younger son, Curtis.

Roger gave her a wooden smile, then turned back to six-year-old Randall, who had started the conversation.

“I eat rabbits because a deer is too big for just one wolf,” he said, trying to sound lighthearted about the whole thing. “But maybe I’ll catch one for the two of us once you start to change.”

There was a loud CLANK of cutlery as Carla looked up at him, nostrils flaring. Both boys recoiled in their seats, but Randall turned back to his father with cautious but curious eyes.

He forced a smile again. “...Of course, it’s always nicer when I get to eat your mom’s delicious cooking at home.”

Run

Carla was livid. “I don’t care!” she said. “I don’t want you talking about this in front of them!”

“All I’m trying to do is get Randall prepared!”

“You’re scaring him! It’s bad enough that you disappear half the week, Curtis keeps asking where you are, and Randall—”

“You can’t keep running from the facts, hon! His birthday is less than a month away! And after that—he needs to be prepared for after that,” he muttered, looking down at the floor. “He’s gonna start changing, whether we like it or not.”

She stared at him with her dark, furious glare. “And whose fault is that?” she spat.

Magic

Once upon a time, there was a mean old witch. One guy who lived in her neighborhood didn’t believe in witches. One day, he did something to make her mad—Randall didn’t know what. But the witch was so mad that cursed the man to turn into a wolf for three days every week, and then, to be extra evil, said that the same thing would happen to his sons after their seventh birthdays.

One of the girls at school said that witches weren’t actually real. Randall knew that she was wrong, just like his dad had been.

Feather

Randall and Roger got along well. They were both playful and easygoing, even now that this whole curse thing had added so much stress to their lives. Neither one of them wanted Randall to be cursed, but at least they were together for the whole week again.

Birds of a feather flock together, Roger thought that first night, as his newly seven-year-old puppy snuggled against him in their tent. Now what would that expression be for wolves?

Tranquilly

Randall had been really scared to change, even though his dad kept saying that it wouldn’t be scary. But it was scary, and it hurt, and now he was a wolf and it felt weird and he was sad that Mom and Curtis were at home while he was stuck here in the woods.

But he was with Dad, in a tent that they had constructed together back when they had hands. So he laid his head against his father’s furry chest and closed his eyes, listening to the sounds of the forest. His dad nuzzled his face, and slowly he began to feel safe.

Rage

One week before, Roger had been alone in the forest, getting ready to transform, thinking about his son joining him the following week. He slammed a fallen branch against the nearest tree trunk and screamed bloody murder at the sky. Even when he was in wolf form he howled and bit himself and threw himself against the ground, cursing that witch and himself for what they had done to his family.

Relaxation

Neither father nor son ever completely relaxed in the forest, trapped in bodies that were never quite their own. Randall felt much happier at home, snuggling with his parents in front of the TV or playing games with Curtis.

Bones

Roger taught Randall to hunt over the coming months, and soon deer had replaced rabbits as their prey of choice. Either way, two wolves ate a lot, and the area where they made camp was collecting quite a large number of gnawed-up animal bones.

One hunting expedition went wrong, however, and Randall wound up with a broken front leg. He hobbled on it for a day and a half, mewling in agony, before he could finally turn back into a human. He still had a broken arm, and they couldn’t even go to the doctor for it. His mom wrapped and unwrapped it each time he changed for the next few weeks, all while shooting furious looks at his father, who stared guiltily at his feet.

Escape

“But how do you break the curse?” Curtis asked shortly after his sixth birthday.

“I don’t—I don’t think there is a way to break it, Curt.”

“But there’s gotta be.”

He never fully gave up that goal.

Snarl

Carla and Roger’s relationship had never been idyllic, and the curse added an extra strain. It was a rare fight when she didn’t remind him what he had done to their children, or how it felt being abandoned for three days every week.

Over time it became clear that Curtis took after his mother. He had the same mercurial personality and the same hatred of lycanthropy. He started to acting out to Roger more and more as his seventh birthday approached, and could often be found cuddling up with Carla, the two sharing their frustrations about the family’s situation.

Claws

Curtis seemed nervous but calm on the drive down the forest, listening to his father and brother reassure him that everything would be alright.

When the change actually started, however, he clawed at his skin in agony, begging for some way to keep it from happening.

Paws

Wolves have five toes on each front paw, but only four on the back. That meant that one toe sort of just disappeared every time they changed.

Curtis counted his toes every time he turned back into a human, no matter how much his father mocked him about it.

(“Huh? I didn’t mock him,” Roger said, surprised and hurt by his wife’s accusation. “I just chuckled a little. I thought it was cute!”)

Nature

“Look, I know it’s hard. Really, I do,” Randall whispered, kneeling down to look his little brother in the eye. “But...this is just how it us for us Packwood men. You’ll get used to it soon. I promise.”

Curtis didn’t even look at his brother, just glared down at the coffee table. “I don’t want to be used to it. I want to be normal again.”

Waxing

Things got better for a while. Curtis still hated changing, even more than Roger or Randall, but he did get used to it. He spent his first weekend pretty much just lying on the ground and shaking, but after a few more weeks he would run around, wrestle and howl with the others, and they learned a few tricks to help bring him out of his shell as both a human and as a wolf.

Carla had been miserable when Curtis started to change, both for him and because of her own loneliness. Baby Con helped with that. Obviously she complained about having taking care of him alone half the week, but he kept her busy and became quite the cheery little mama’s boy as the years wore on.

Waning

“I hate hunting,” Curtis said, arms crossed tightly over his chest.

Randall forced a smile, giving him a playful push on the shoulder. “Aw, but you’re so good at it. Much better than me or Dad!”

Curtis scowled. He was only eleven, but was already in the sullen teenage phase that had largely bypassed his fifteen-year-old brother.

Things between their parents were getting bad too. They were fighting a lot more lately, with their mom often close to tears and their father just looking tired. Eventually the two separated, but Randall kept telling himself that it was only temporary. The two seemed even more miserable when they were apart; they cared about each other too much to not reconcile eventually.

Chained

Though he was no longer living with the family, Roger came over every week to pick up Randall and Curtis so that they could go into the woods to change.

Then one week, he didn’t.

Carla drove them, sighing and seething the whole ride to the forest. This wasn’t fair, she thought, glancing at her sons in the rear-view mirror. Roger was the one of who got them cursed---why did they still have to do this even when he was gone?

Howl

Randall insisted that their father had just had car trouble, or lost his phone, or something. He would be there when they got to the woods. Or show up sometime during the weekend.

“Liar,” was the first word Curtis said when they turned back into humans on Sunday.

Randall said the same thing, with less conviction, when they went to the forest the following week. And once again, their father failed to show. Curtis went to sleep in their tent, but Randall stood outside as though waiting for him to show up.

Halfway through the night, he stared up at the new moon and howled.

Sharp

Occasionally, the boys transformed at home, usually for birthdays or holidays. This time, Carla came into the living room and was shocked to see five-year-old Con stabbing Curtis with a knife.

Gently, on the front leg, as Curtis sat there and let him. As she screamed at them, Con yelled that Curtis had asked him to cut him before he transformed, because he read that making a werewolf bleed would turn them back into a human. He had been studying a lot of old legends like that, trying to find something that would finally break the curse.

Large

Con couldn’t understand why Curtis didn’t want to be a werewolf, of course. He loved the rare weekends when his brothers transformed at home, when he could cuddle up beside wolf-Randall and wrestle with him around the house. Everybody said that he might not be a werewolf, since he was born after the witch cursed his dad, but all Con wanted was to grow up and be a big-boy werewolf like his brothers and hang out with them every time they changed.

Slick

Nobody outside of the family knew about the curse, of course. Their neighbors simply thought that the boys enjoyed camping, a story which Curtis rather expertly maintained to his best friend, Dennis, who lived next door.

Of course, “camping” seemed like a pretty poor excuse to miss church every Sunday, even if they attended the Wednesday night services, so Pastor Gerig was under the impression that they visited family each weekend. Carla could even count on five-year-old Con to cheerfully keep up the ruse.

She knew she should be more worried about that, but she didn’t really see any other option.

Space

Practically every night that he was a wolf, Randall would sit on his favorite rock and gaze up at the stars. Curtis couldn’t understand how he found this so entertaining.

Clock

Sundown on Thursdays is when they transformed. Curtis spent all day checking the clock, dreading when he and Randall would have to go out into the woods, and then all day Sunday watching the sun, waiting for it to go down enough that they could change back again.

Climb

“Can werewolves climb trees?” Con asked, sitting in the boughs of the one near their house.

“Sure, little cub,” said Randall, who was sitting with his back against the trunk. “It’s a bit harder than doing it with hands, though.”

Con hung upside-down from the branch, his long hair nearly reaching the top of Randall’s head. “When I turn into a wolf, will you and Curtis teach me how to do it?”

“If you turn into a wolf one day, sure.”

Con scowled at that qualification.

Broken

One weekend, their mom told Curtis and Randall to stay home. She wouldn’t explain why, just browbeat them until they agreed.

Changing at home was a mixed bag. On the one hand, they didn’t have to go hunting, instead eating steak and hamburger (and eating so much that staying home every week wasn’t really an option). On the other, their more wolfish instincts compelled them to roam around the woods, so that just sitting and watching TV all day made them feel tense and confined.

Randall spent most of Friday and Saturday playing with Con, letting him ride on his back or having wrestling matches on the couch (which always ended with Randall pinning him and licking his face, to Con’s delight). Curtis moped all weekend because of course he did, but Con put on one of his favorite movies and read to keep him entertained. Overall Randall thought that it was a pretty nice weekend.

Until they changed back Sunday night, and their mom finally worked up the courage to tell them what the doctor had told her.

Pain

“The last thing I wanna see is one of you boys in pain.”

Curtis doesn’t like to think about the days surrounding his mother’s death.

Smoke

Randall was eighteen, and now his brothers’ legal guardian. Thanks to the curse, Curtis moving to the city with their grandparents wasn’t doable, and Con was understandably terrified at the idea of moving there alone.

The next few months were difficult, obviously, but Randall did a good job of keeping things together. He couldn’t get a normal job, since normal jobs generally require working more than four days per week, but he managed to scrounge up enough money, barely, to get by. He comforted Con when he cried. He tried to give Curtis space, though his efforts on that front were shakier than he would have liked.

With his lazy smile and laidback tone, you barely could tell how lost he felt, groping ahead as he stumbled along, his lungs sometimes burning every time that he breathed—

Discovery

Con began to accompany his brothers on their camping trips every week.

It was the first time that he had every actually watched them transform, and the first time that he had been allowed to play with them as wolves outside. It meant three days every week when he got to run around through the trees with Randall, climb trees with Randall and listen to Randall howl up at the sky. (Curtis, of course, spent most of his time moping around on the ground, because he’s boring.) Sometimes he got to see them hunt, which was scary but also exciting, and then eat, which was gross but also exciting. (Con had a backpack full of snacks and sandwiches for himself.)

Then at night he would read the bedtime story, since neither of them could talk, and then curl up beside them to go to sleep. If he got scared or sad about Mom then Randall would lick his tears away and play with him some more. It was great.

Con was counting the weeks until his seventh birthday, when he would finally find out if he would turn into a werewolf too.

Home

Con chattered happily the whole ride home as Curtis sat in moody silence. He was having one of those almost dysphoric moments that he got on Sunday nights, when his own human body felt strange after three days as a wolf.

Three miserable days with nothing to do, unless he wanted to run around and howl at the sky like his two idiot brothers.

Once they got home Curtis made a beeline for the bathroom and took a long, hot shower. Then he stumbled into his room (which used to be Randall’s room, before Randall moved into the master bedroom) and collapsed onto his mattress. He lied there for a long time, trying not to think, trying not to remember that he had to do this whole damn thing again in four days.

Full moon

Five days later, Randall was sitting on his favorite rock, looking up at the sky again.

The moon was full. It looked nice. Seemed comforting, somehow. Reminded him of when he used to sit up here with Dad.

But it also made him feel wistful. Reminded him of all those stupid werewolf stories, the ones that Curtis still vigorously tore through trying to find some cure for their curse. He envied the werewolves in those stories. They only had to change one night per month, after all.

#Werewolf #Julycanthropy #Werewolves #Bisclavret #The Bisclavret Brothers #The OTHER novel that I'm supposedly writing

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lex1nat0r · 7 years

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Akame ga Kill!

Kill All These Words

Alright, heads up right off the bat: there’s some uncomfortable homophobia in this show towards Bulat, one of the male characters introduced early on who pretty clearly has a preference for men. The show treats this as a joke, and it’s a real sore spot.

Akame ga Kill! (exclamation mark included) is... not what I was expecting. I’d heard it built up as a grimdark murderfest where you never know which character’s going to bite the dust next and it never quite felt as dire as all that. Mostly because all the murderkilling is interspersed with wacky slapstick bits. It’s a mixed bag, really. I like it, sure, but it doesn’t quite gel with me enough that I’m really into it.

Join me for a deep dive and spoilers below.

Akame ga Kill! suffers from a problem I’ve seen a few times in anime, which is that it rubberbands between two tonal extremes. On one hand, there will be scenes of slapstick comedy with chibi character models, and on the other hand are the scenes of violence and cruelty. Like in the first episode where it turns out that the nice rich girl who shelters Tatsumi tortures poor people in her spare time.

Yeah, it’s a sadistic show, or at least feels like it wants you to think it is.

Don’t believe her lies.

Let me first take a step back and give the rundown of some basic stuff. Akame ga Kill! is about Tatsumi, a guy from some podunk village who tries to join the imperial army in the city to get money to send back home. He ends up falling in with Night Raid, an elite group of assassins working for the Revolutionary Army trying to overthrow the corrupt empire. And right there I think the show missed a trick. I was expecting a mid-season twist where it would turn out that the Revolutionary Army was just as corrupt as the current regime and Night Raid would have to deal with that, but for the most part the Revolutionary Army is a non-entity in the show. Outside the final two episodes its presence is limited to a few resistance contacts.

An almost unforgivable oversight is how little attention the show gives to the danger beasts, the monsters that inhabit the land of... wherever Akame ga Kill! takes place. They get very little screentime as the show focuses mostly on Night Raid’s assassination targets. Another missed opportunity, I feel. On the upside, at least the danger beasts get lip service in that each of the Imperial Relics wielded by the tough fighters in the series is made from a legendary danger beast. It would have been nice to, y’know, see these powerful monsters on screen, but one takes what one can get.

The worldbuilding on the whole is pretty weak. The general aesthetic is pretty generic fantasy, but the major characters have some pretty anachronistic outfits and apparently guns are semi-standard issue to the armed forces? It’s a little distracting, but still forgivable because it feels like the background details take a definite back seat to the characters.

And speaking of characters: Esdeath.

Not gonna lie, I did originally get into Akame ga Kill because I wanted to know what Esdeath’s whole deal was.

Esdeath’s relationship with Tatsumi initially made me roll my eyes pretty hard, but it is handled better than I was afraid it would be and at least affects the plot in interesting ways while adding flavor to both characters. My one gripe is really that it should have had more setup instead of Esdeath falling in love at first sight. And it does eventually lead to the most emotionally affecting part of the whole show (more on that later).

Esdeath drawing Tatsumi in that amateurish anime style is one of the best little bits of character I’ve seen in an anime.

Now to get back into the meat of the thing:

Accusing a work of being emotionally manipulative is pointless because yes, every creative work is trying to make you feel something. But problems arise when you can see the strings. Akame ga Kill!’s attempts to make you feel sorry for a character who has just died or is about to die they just become tedious. It’s kind of fun to guess who’s going to get killed off based on what (usually tragic) backstory we see during an episode, but once the show actually starts drawing out the actual death scenes I start losing interest.

This is even more of a problem when the show tries to get us to care about the Jaegers, Esdeath’s team of relic-wielders who try to hunt down Night Raid. It spends a lot of time building up their characters and relationships, but my problem is that they’re the bad guys. They all work for a system that we’ve only seen to be oppressive and corrupt and none of them seem at all interested in bettering it, only protecting the status quo. So in the end I just can’t find it in me to dredge up any real feeling for them beyond wondering when they’ll die and how melodramatic it’ll be. The worst offender here is Seryuu, the Paladin type who’s definitely Lawful... something (let’s not get into D&D alignment quibbling here). She’s constantly talking about Justice while seemingly ignorant of the irony when the ‘justice’ she’s championing is rotten to the core. It might have been nice to see her have a change of heart and join Night Raid but there was never any real hope of that happening.

Seryuu (who’s family name is inexplicably ‘Ubiquitous’), pictured here with her relic Coro in the form of a jacked-as-fuck puppy.

Now, to be fair in the final few episodes Run does reveal that he joined the Jaegers to try and change the empire from the inside, but he’s also the Jaeger we know the least about so it doesn’t have a whole lot of weight. Plus, he survives so we don’t get to revel in the tragedy of seeing someone with good intentions cut down before they get a chance to effect real change. In a similar vein, Wave feels underused as it takes him to the final few episodes to finally decide to start bucking the system.

There is one death that did get me though, and that’s Tatsumi’s death in the second-to-last episode. It works so well because up to this point the show had been treating Tatsumi like the main character, letting us forget that it’s Akame’s name in the title. Tatsumi’s death also provides a nice emotional payoff to the romance subplot with Esdeath. It’s one of the real high points of the series because how genuinely unexpected it was.

That one moment aside, the thing about Akame ga Kill! is that I’m not sure if it’s making a sincere effort to tug at heartstrings or if the melodramatic deaths are just part of the show’s whole overblown aesthetic. While not tonally consistent with each other, the wacky comedy bits and the girmdark gore bits at least feel like they tie into each other thematically in that they’re both extremes. This also matches the show’s bright, cartoony artstyle. Even the character designs are over-the-top, with the aforementioned anachronistic design elements. Plus the initial members of Night Raid have hints of a sentai team’s color-coding going on. It took me a while to figure out that’s because the show’s leaning into being something of a caricature.

I mean, the fact that the second-to-last battle is against a gigantic mech should clue you in that the show was trying to be over-the-top and not taking itself too seriously the whole time. Something I admit to being kind of slow on the uptake about. Even the main villain, the corrupt Prime Minister Honest is a total cartoon. And I can’t mention the ridiculousness of the show without a special shoutout to Seryuu’s mid-season upgrade where during fights she gets Coro to bite off her robotic arms to replace them with various weapons.

This over-the-topness is even more emphasized with Akame ga Kill! Theater, a series of web shorts that aired on the official website and are supposed to be watched after the corresponding episode of the main series. Each episode of Akame ga Kill! Theater is about a minute and a half and consists solely of chibi slapstick

So where does that leave us?

Well, technically I think that Akame ga Kill! is a good show. The antagonists Night Raid goes up against have interesting and varied abilities, the action scenes range from well done to amazing, the animation is good, and when the music stands out it really stands out. My own lack of enthusiasm for the show comes from I think one part unrealized expectations and two parts finding the melodrama tedious.

Akame ga Kill! is a series that’s worthy of respect, even if it didn’t end up blowing me away.

A happy Esdeath. She is possibly the best-defined character in the show.

Postscript: Akame ga Kill! feels to me like it’s cut from the same cloth as Blood-C. So if for whatever impossible reason you want a show that is 100% Lex-approved and have a limited amount of time, I’d say check that one out instead.

#consumed media #anime #akame ga kill

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