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midnight-in-town · 1 year

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About Yor: she isn’t dense, but most likely indoctrinated by Garden

So I wanted to address this for a long while now, because I’ve seen one too many posts talking about Yor like she’s just an aloof assassin who doesn’t care about things outside her direct environment, which is why sometimes she says dense things.

I’m well aware that she’s a fan favorite so people don’t mean her harm, yet I think the whole story actually hints at way more than her being dense, especially considering her background and who she still works for.

In other words, since Yor was trained but also half raised by Garden’s leader, the Shopkeeper, it’s likely that, considering how they operate and what they’re about, they instilled in her a conditioned dependency since childhood or teenage years that would make her unable to learn things on her own without asking for their opinion, making it very hard for her to turn against them ever.

Want a striking example? Her encounter with Melinda Desmond.

Not only did she not know who Melinda was (but I mean, that at least could be understandable)...

...but she also didn’t know what a First Lady is.

Sure, it’s funny on first glance, but after thinking about it, what does it betray? That Garden probably made sure over years Yor would never get the slightest basic info and understanding on what politics of this country are all about. Because if their strong soldiers start to get opinions of their own, then they could start disagreeing with Garden and turning on them. So, “let’s prohibit people having free thinking, so that they can remain good little pawns” as we “fight for peace in our country”.

In fact, for Yor, until a short time ago (when she met Loid and Anya), all she did was thought and decided for her by Garden and, to this day, she still voluntarily asks them for their agreement when she opens up her close circle little by little: she asked them if it was okay to marry Loid and then she asked them if it was okay to befriend Melinda.

To be honest, that’s a scary ass thought process to envision, when Yor’s an independent working lady well into her 20s, but this shows how deep Garden’s indoctrination runs in Yor, since they got hold of her as a child/young teen.

Another striking example is the way she always describes her job, in an almost childish way. Her nickname “thorn princess” aside, I always found it interesting that Yor’s aware she’s an assassin but she isn’t morally anguished at all about killing people and never mentions or distinguishes any grey area in her missions. In fact...

... it’s all in black and white and she clearly thinks that the people she kills are all evildoers (which as we saw in the recent arc with the Red Circus isn’t always the case and begs the rhetorical question “why does Garden get to decide who’s evil?”), therefore “she’s not doing anything wrong”, which also pretty much betrays how she was pushed into it.

Long ago, Garden probably baited Yor with Yuri’s protection and told her that, since they’re “about peace”, Yor’s work would just help them to “fight against evil”. As a child, she wasn’t mentally fit to understand the deeper implications and then she was mentally conditioned to always do and think like Garden tells her to, which promotes this systematic childish description of her assassin’s job.

Finally, please take notice of the Shopkeeper’s reaction the first time she tries to argue about her work, in the ship arc:

Enough said, Garden’s awful. I’m sure there are more examples throughout the story, but I now want to talk about future character development.

After all, since the story obviously calls for Yor to ditch Garden, to protect what’s actually important to her (Yuri, Loid and Anya), we actually do see her changing little by little so far, thanks to her living with Loid and Anya. Her coworkers quickly mentioned that she’s more lively ever since she got married and the ship arc overall emphasizes that her family is starting to become more important to her than her job, so there is high hope for Yor. :D

Additionally, while she’s still far away from noticing that Garden mentally drove her into a corner, she now openly voices her concerns that “she’s not normal” but that she wants to understand why in order to learn how to change.

To be fair, fighting against indoctrination is tough and takes time so I’m very proud of her for slowly realizing that she ought to decide for herself from now on. :D

TL;DR Yor is not dense. She was indoctrinated as a child by Garden and can only (for now) see the world through the filters they taught her.

Ironically enough, the only character who knows about her real job and could, thus, notice that Yor isn’t being critical about Garden...... actually can’t because she’s a four year old who is too young to understand that Mama’s job is wrong. Well done, Endo-sensei!

#Spy x Family #yor forger #anya forger #loid forger #yuri briar #melinda desmond #garden #shopkeeper #sxf theory #my analysis

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twst-drabbles · 6 months

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Heartslabyul 6

Summary: While you didn’t go out trick-or-treating like Crowley wanted to, you did get a bucket full of candy. A little too much candy. You decided to throw some of the excess to the plant nymphs.

(Hehehehe, I made a neocities website right here. I’ll be loading all my writings up there eventually for safe keeping. But yeah, check it out!)

“Alright, ready for the next round?” You asked from your lawn chair, fingers drumming against the big and overly fancy black pumpkin bucket you got from Crowley for Halloween, “I think the next layer is white chocolate.”

Ace jumped up high, shaking his arms and legs, almost screaming in impatience that you won’t just start already. Deuce was stomping around in excitement, ready and revving to catch some candies and added them to their combined pile.

“Don’t scream, you’ll blast my ears out,” you deliberately slowed yourself down as you rubbed at your ear, dropping your scoop of candy right back into the basket just to annoy Ace further, “though, I am getting sleepy. Maybe we should do this another day.”

Then, you heard something else fall into the candy treasure trove you have. Looking over, you saw a pair of leafy legs wiggling about. Righting himself up, Trey presented the wrapped sweets high above his head before throwing it towards Ace and Deuce. Trey turned towards you with the sweetest look on his face, giving a little determined chirp before patting a little fist against his chest.

Leave it to me, he’s probably trying to convey. Adorable. He thinks you’re actually falling asleep in your chair and is trying to take up your duty for you.

“That’s alright Trey, I was just kidding,” you gently grabbed him before setting him down, “Go on. Grab some candy of your own before Ace and Deuce make themselves sick with it.”

As Trey walked to the candy zone with a nod, you shot your arms out and captured the basket that was in the process of being carried away by Cater and his clones.

“Stop that Cater,” you flicked one of the clones legs. It tripped and puffed into smoke, “I know you hate sweets but you can’t destroy them yet. Wait until the game’s over.”

The true Cater planted his butt on the table, kicking his legs out in annoyance. You patted his head.

“I’ll get you something nice later, alright? So stop with the tantrum just because I only have candy right now.”

Cater turned his head away from you, as though that wasn’t enough.

You tucked a finger under his chin, guiding him to look at you. “How does that new spicy ramen I found sound?”

Only then did Cater perk up and clap his hands with a trill of chirps escaping him. He hopped right up, dusted the dirt off his knees and ran off towards Ace and Deuce, probably to mess with them.

“You want to join in, Riddle?” You looked to your shoulder as soon as you felt a weight press upon it. You had a scoopful of small candies in your palm. “Those roots of yours will throw better then my hands ever could.”

Riddle’s little face creased with curiosity. He bent down and grabbed a candy, turning it this way and that before commanding a root to wrap around it and throw it over the heads of Ace and Deuce. Deuce decided to be a little menace and tripped Ace before speeding off towards the candy.

You snorted and Riddle gave a soft laughing trill of his own. A rope of roots grabbed each individual candy from your hands and threw them in high and wide arcs. Trey spotted something he liked bounce on the ground and slide under a tree’s roots. He slid right there with it, getting his butt stuck.

Cater had his clones at the ready to grab as many candies as possible, but one heavy lollipop bounced on his head, then onto the heads of the rest of his clones in succession.

“Whoops,” you said with a sigh, “threw it a little too well, Riddle.”

Just to ease the worried look on your Roseling’s face, you unwrapped a strawberry cream candy and held it to his face. He only took one sniff before practically wretched it from your hold.

Adorable. They’re all adorable.

#twst #twisted wonderland #twst-drabbles #twst-drabbles exclusive #drabble #heartslabyul #riddle #riddle rosehearts #trey #trey clover #cater #cater diamond #ace #ace trappola #deuce #deuce spade #house pet au #reader insert

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thevelaryons · 10 days

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Am I the only one who doesn’t get why Corlys is acting foolishly in Hotd? He’s supposed to be a really intelligent political figure in this story (F&B) but the decisions he makes (Hotd) are the opposite of intelligently sound. Ngl I hate how he bends over backwards to go to war for Rhaenyra when he was complaining about her just before.

This is actually one of my criticisms of how Corlys has been portrayed in the show. I’m on mobile right now (and Tumblr search function sucks on the app) so I can’t link them, but I actually have a couple of old posts about this. The show has changed several key aspects of Corlys’ characterization so now a lot of his actions make him appear politically inconsistent, especially with actions he’s supposed to take later on in the story.

Like you said, it makes no sense for show!Corlys to be supporting Rhaenyra. He DIRECTLY blames her for his son’s death and yet despite his complaints, he prepared his fleet and even helps make war plans for her. This is all without Rhaenyra offering him anything in return, like making him Hand. Meanwhile, when book!Corlys INDIRECTLY blamed Rhaenyra for his wife’s death, several concessions have to be made to appease him and get him back on her side. Nor does Corlys tolerate any harm done to his family: he wants vengeance for Laenor’s death, he commits treason against Rhaenyra to protect Addam, he commits treason against Aegon II to protect Baela.

In terms of show!Corlys’ political intelligence, he doesn’t really display much. Moments he has in the book were removed in season 1 (and based on the leaks I’ve read for season 2, other aspects of Corlys’ story that show him as a political power won’t be in the show). In the bts material for the show, it’s actually said that Corlys doesn’t really understand politics much but he fares better on the battlefield. And that is where the problem lies.

You can also see a similar sort of change with other Velaryon characters. Laenor’s entire characterization was changed. Show version of Laenor is depicted as someone who goes as far as to abandon his family and dragon because he craves the violence of the battlefield more. Some of the things he says on the show are very reminiscent of a display of toxic masculinity + him having internalized homophobia which his book counterpart was not even implied to have. Show version of Addam and Alyn are unnecessarily aged up and might already be battle hardened soldiers from the Stepstones, instead of being innocent young boys who know nothing of war (and that’s actually quite relevant to their story arcs).

HOTD showrunners have made many changes to characterizations. But in the case of certain characters, those changes seem to be based on racist stereotypes. Similarly to how show!Laena got reduced to a fast black girl/unwanted wife who’s violent death is meant to serve the story of Rhaenyra (a white character) there are actually several aspects of Corlys and Laenor’s stories that were changed to uplift the white characters around them. The essence of their characterization in the show is altered. As I’ve mentioned before in another post, the black male characters in House of the Dragon are depicted as more hypermasculine, violent figures than their white book counterparts in Fire & Blood.

So yes, Corlys is meant to be an intelligent character but the show reduces that aspect greatly to depict him as more violent than his book counterpart. Show version of Corlys participates in the Stepstones through engaging in physical battles. Book version of Corlys does so through tactical command of his ships. Show version of Corlys returns back to the Stepstones to participate in more battles. Book version of Corlys does not (it’s actually Daemon that sticks around in the Stepstones). Based on leaks for season 2, if those leaks turn out to be true, then show version of the character will continue to be portrayed as more a soldier used to commit acts of violence than a politician who can act very intelligently to outmaneuver his opposition.

#asoiaf #house of the dragon #corlys velaryon #rhaenyra targaryen #laenor velaryon #addam velaryon #alyn velaryon #laena velaryon #ask #you could actually make a bingo card of racist stereotypes and the way hotd depicts its black characters would fill up all the squares

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sorcerersandskillusers · 1 year

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I think Akutagawa will probably die, but he will transfer Rashomon to Atsushi. That way Dazai’s plan for combining their abilities still comes to fruition.

Sorry for reuploading again, I had to edit any panels containing blood out so tumblr won't flag this for violence again

I really think Akutagawa is going to die in this arc, Asagiri introducing his lung disease on top of saying that he was already dead before he got converted into a vampire feels like a message that this death is supposed to be final. However, I don’t think Akutagawa is done yet in the story, I’m sure he will have at least one last great moment with Atsushi before the end and I think it will tie together a lot of current plot threads.

Why Akutagawa will probably die: A lot of effort was clearly put, into making Akutagawas death seem permanent; He was confirmed dead twice, his lung condition was revealed which means even if he became un-vamped he would still not have long to live, this could be another fake-out death, but at this point I would be madder if it was, because even though I love Akutagawa, any more fake deaths would really lower the tension of the series

A lot of emphasis has also been put on Akutagawa looking for a meaning to his life, and slowly realising that maybe Atsushi is important to what Dazai is trying to show him.

I think that Akutagawa will probably temporarily regain control of his body, him keeping his promise is already proof he is still in there somewhere, Atsushi might reference Dazai and it might shake him out of the vampire's control, calling back to this panel.

But I don’t think he will be fully cured, so he will ask Atsushi for that duel he promised him. It would even parallel Atsushi “killing” Shibusawa in TDA, since both were technically already dead to begin with.

Atsushi taught Akutagawa how to value lives, and the patience to consider his actions. Akutagawa will teach Atsushi the conviction to take them and how to overcome the guilt he feels within himself. each one going from black and white, to grey.

My only hang up for this idea was that it wouldn’t make sense for Asagriri to waste all the build up for Atsushi and Akutagawas abilities being perfect complements to each other, but then I had a brain wave for how both things could still happen.

The strength of Shin Soukoku: Atsushi and Akutagawa have the perfect abilities to compliment each other; Akutagawa’s ability has range, defence, versatility, and the power to cut all physical matter, its main weakness is Akutagawa’s weak constitution.

Atsushi’s ability gives him high speed regeneration, insane speed, enhanced senses, basically indestructible fur and claws that can rend the very fabric of an ability.

And when combined, the ‘Black Tigers Supreme Claws’ are said to be able to even kill God if you can land a hit.

The ultimate spear against the monsters trying to destroy Yokohama.

Together they are the ultimate counter to almost any enemy, Dazai has pointed this out before. So, the best way I can think of to keep that perfect combination if Akutagawa dies is…

Atsushi inherits Rashomon: We know that abilities can be transferred from one person to another, Kyouka (a character with a close connection to both Akutagawa and Atsushi) got her ability from her mother. We also know that whenever Atsushi and Akutagawa fight a major villain they grow more in sink and coordinate and merge their skills more and more. This is what Dazai planned when he joined them together.

We also know that Akutagawa only sees his value in his strength, which for him is almost entirely in his ability. Rashomon is what protected him when he was on the streets, and it is what made Dazai take an interest in him. Strengthening his ability was the only thing he thought about for a very long time… Until Atsushi showed him how to see past his own skill and power.

Atsushi was the one who made him realise that he needed to prioritise some things over his own pride, and in the end, he even sacrificed himself to save Atsushi, proving that lesson had stuck. Him transferring Rashomon to Atsushi would be the ultimate show of humility, him finally letting go of trying to prove his own strength, and instead helping the person he once hated most in the world, he finally learned to temper his sword, just like Dazai wanted him too.

As for Atsushi; he has spent the entire series wracked by indecision, self-loathing and fear. All of which tend to leave him when he is near Akuatagawa. At first because he sees him as an enemy who he can be 100% sure needs to be defeated, so no doubt or fear clouds his mind.

Then as a rival who he can’t afford to let be better than him, someone who gives him confidence just by being everything Atsushi doesn’t want to be.

Finally, as an ally, someone who he can fight alongside and who stops that terrifying fear of being alone that Atsushi has been fighting his whole life. Akutagawa has truly become Atsushi’s source of resolve,

and we see that in how Atsushi perceives him in his vision.

So, if the transfer happens, it could symbolise Atsushi gaining that strength and conviction from Akutagawa once and for all. Completing their respective character arcs of Atsushi teaching Akutagawa to be selfless Akutagawa teaching Atsushi to be brave.

Dazai: Dazai is the ultimate connection for Atsushi and Akutagawa,

he is what binds them together and what drives them apart, he orchestrated their relationship and turned them into his trump card. But something that seems strange is that we never see Dazai’s reaction to Akutagawa’s death. Atsushi meets up with Ango after he escapes the ship, so there’s no way Dazai doesn’t know exactly what happened, the battle on the ship took place days before the Meursault prison break, so Dazai should have been able to receive one of Ango’s messages, so why don’t we see anything from him? not even disappointment.

We know Dazai has been planning sskk since he first met Atsushi,

and it seems crazy that he wouldn’t know about Akutagawa’s lung condition all the way back in the port mafia. So, I think it's possible Dazai always planned to have Akutagawa die to both motivate and strengthen Atsushi, since we’ve seen that he is, or rather was, not above sacrificing people for the greater good of his plans. It would also explain why he stayed so distant from Akutagawa, never really trying to make up for the things he did despite his promise to Oda, if he knew Akutagawa was going to die, then he wouldn’t want to get too attached to him.

I honestly think that if Dazai might regret his plan now, Atsushi has helped Dazai grow so much so fast since they met, his current arc with Sigma is proof enough of that. But it's far too late to back out of it now, and he probably justifies it with ‘He’s doomed to die anyway.’

The final battle: Every arc final battle in bsd involves Atsushi and Akutagawa fighting, whether against each other, or side by side. And through each of those fights, the two of them grow closer and closer, understanding each other a little more.

I think the impact of their defeat on the ship would be undercut if Akutagawa is just healed and they fight Fukuchi again just like before, there would need to be some major difference this time, and something to give Atsushi an edge over Fukuchi. And what better way to do that, then to use the form that already defeated him once (before he cut the past)

The Black Tiger’s Supreme Claws can cut through space, so can get close to Fukuchi despite his martial arts and insane ability. And If the time sword is cut by the tiger’s claws its ability will stop working, so it might be the only way to kill Fukuchi permanently.

The main weakness of BTSC was Akutagawa, since he was defenceless while it was used,

so if Atsushi could use it on his own, he would probably be a proper match for Fukuchi in a fight. (Also just imagine Atsushi showing up to face Fukuchi in Akutagawas coat, which he still has since he escaped wearing it and which was originally Dazai’s which fits so well, and facing Fukuchi to avenge Akutagawa, who he now thinks of as a friend.)

And for anyone who thinks that this would make Atsushi to OP, remember that BSD is not a show about who can beat who in a fight, its a show of strategy and hax, there are still plenty of ability users who could counter someone like Atshushi, this would just bring him to the same table as the other heavy hitters. Also keep in mind that the next arc will probably be when we see the skill users from Europe, who are meant to be the most powerful in the world, like the transcendents.

The event and aftermath: I think the actual transfer would happen after they finally have their duel and Akutagawa if dying, he would transfer Rashomon to Atsushi and ask him to continue Dazai-sans mission and he would acknowledge Atsushi as a more worthy subordinate then he ever was. He might even ask Atsushi to apologise to Kyouka for him, since he seems to genuinely care for her somewhat, it would be a really powerful moment for both of them.

And Afterward I hope Atsushi Finally snaps at Dazai, and actually calls him out for how he treated Akutagawa, which would be great for both Dazai and Atsushi’s character growth and maybe help Dazai realise that he feels genuinely remorseful for what he did, and that might help him understand how Oda felt after he gave up killing.

Overall this theory just ties together so many plot threads, character storylines and bits of foreshadowing, that I really think it might come true, but of course one of BSD’s best qualities is how unpredictable it is, so who knows what will ultimately happen.

I had to remove a lot of the panel evidence, here are all the panels I took out: link

#bsd #bungou stray dogs #bungo stray dogs #bungou stray dogs dazai #bsd analysis #bsd theories #bsd theory #bungou stray dogs theory #beast atsushi #bungou stray dogs atsushi #bsd atsushi #nakajima atsushi #bungo stray dogs akutagawa #bsd akutagawa #ryunosuke akutagawa #bungou stray dogs manga #bsd manga spoilers

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rascalentertainments · 1 month

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Wish Granted AU: Star: 🌟

Yeah, I finally got to the boy! Took long enough, huh? 😂 So I dud make a short character inspiration from a reblog chain a few weeks ago, so I'll go more into Star's character here:

So, much like the film itself, Star comes to Earth because of Asha's wish was so powerful, and aids her save Rosas. However, for "Wish Granted", he has no idea how to actually grant her wish. She basically fills him in on what's going on, and agrees to help. But he doesn't really understand why they need help. From his point of view, most of the humans on this part of Earth, and especially in Rosas look happy enough. He's just utterly fascinated with the animals, the trees, Asha, and just experiencing what humans see everyday.

But then he visits the Hamlet (in an animal disguise) when Asha wants to say goodbye to her Saba and mother. Star sees how sick Sabino has gotten, and the fear Sakina has for her daughter going back into danger. The Starboy sees that Asha's wish is entirely to help her family and community. (Its greatly emphasized once he gets to Rosas itself too) He partially understands and gladly accepts the task to help her. Asha can't believe this magical boy is a Star, it should be impossible. But just as her father said, the stars are there to believe in possibility. Star here is the impossible, made possible! Its no wonder his loveable and joyous personality leads her to falling for him! 😆

I took inspiration from this segment of the concept art book where they attempted to give plushie Star some kind of depth and character arc leftover from Starboy. They really tried to give Star something more than just being a toy, and Disney said "nah, a toy is good enough. Kids will love it." So Star's arc will be he starts off naive about the world and thinks everything is perfect. But once he starts seeing more of the people having other emotions other than happiness, he's processing how a human feels this. It hits harder when he actually feels a wish get destroyed, he feels their pain for a while after he connects with them. This is all going to connect to "At All Costs" when finally get that love confession scene! 😉

Now, my favorite part: POWERS!!! Star can shapeshift into different animals he sees, with his telltale sign of him being gold with white fur/hair. (Example image below) He's got a white six pointed star on his parts of his body that glow slightly, even in a human form, its just covered up by his black caped outfit.

I still kind of hate that Disney actually thought Star was too similar Genie just because he changes into animals. Like, what are you talking about? (I actually thought of MK or Beast Boy more than Genie.) Yeah, Genie could do that too, but he also changed costumes, size, shape, face, broke the 4th wall and did impersonations of movie actors of the time. Star didn't do all that. Besides, YOU MADE MAUI CHANGE INTO ANIMALS AND APPROVED OF IT!

Rant aside, He can change into any animal, but only has one human form. That's not only because there's way too many variations of people for him to adapt and he's not at that level of power yet. He mainly choose this particular human form because.... he thought Asha would like it. (He even gets the cape idea after he sees a picture of Magnifico. He just LOVED how that looked) Think of it as a boy trying make himself look better for the girl he has a crush on. 😂 His design is inspired by these three pieces of concept art combined with a dash of a superhero vibe. (Superheroes are hardwired into my brain, I tried my best NOT to do that! 😂)

Star can make animals talk, at least for a limited time, like when be has his big introduction song and the forest animals are his band. Animals are naturally attracted to Star, because he literally radiates pure joy and love. Those little critters just adore him! Think of this scene here:

One last thing to add is that once he's on Earth, and gets into Rosas, thus is when he gets the most attached to the planet. He has a big family with the stars, but he really wanted to be where the people are. He wants to see them dancing, ect...Meeting great people didn't just end with Asha, but also meeting the 7 Teens. He learns about their wishes as one desires, while confused on Simon's sleepiness/sadness. He actually attempts to heal Simon and can gain a new power. Star is not sure on how to react to Dahlia, who doesn't seem to have a wish. She seems happy cooking for the king (whom she has a crush on) and queen, no questions asked. Although, Dahlia does seem particularly curious about Star, even before finding out his magical side. She even tries to tell him to give up on granting Asha's wish, but he's definitely not doing that. 😂

When he meets the King and Queen, let's just say there's going to be a lot of angst/comedy with that. But when he has the mini stand off with Amaya. OH BOY, he's going to understand way more heavy emotions after meeting her...

(Star in this version is voiced by Jeremy Jordan, because he's a musical and VA legend! Plus he sounds so fun in every role he's in!)

Aaaand, that does it for Star! I mentioned in another post how when you look into his eyes, you can see microscopic galaxies or mini stars in eyes, like you can see the universe in his eyes! (When it gets to the At All Costs song, Asha can be seen in his eyes like she becomes part his universe) Any other bits will be revealed later, but I wanted to flesh the guy out here! He's a lot of fun to write and draw!

Now next up are the King, Queen and their ferocious yet spoiled pet Lynx! 😉

@signed-sapphire @oh-shtars @chillwildwave @lazytitans-world @emillyverse @annymation @kstarsarts @uva124

#rascal entertainments #wish 2023 #wish concept art #wish granted #wish reimagined #disney wish #wish rewrite #wish movie #wish starboy #wish star #wish asha #wish fandom #starboy #wish granted au #Wish AU #kingdom of wishes #the fallen star au

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the-cat-and-the-birdie · 9 months

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I had coffee my thoughts are all over the place it's not gonna make sense and I'm probably gonna change my mind about some of the things I said later but here's my ramble.

I'm so mad right now. There's so many things that piss me off with Peter B. I keep thinking about all the mess he keeps pulling throughout the first and the second movie. The fact that he betrayed Miles not once but twice BUT THREE TIMES (typing Miles up in ITSV, not telling him about the Spider Society or that he was an anomaly, CALLING HQ ON HIM BECAUSE HE WANTED TO SAVE HIS FATHER. Technically that's 4 but moving on.)

He refuses to acknowledge Miles as a fellow spider(which is probably why he didn't feel bad about finding Miles was an anomaly now he has a reason to not take Miles seriously.) And he keeps trying to insert himself into a mentor role when he's yet to do a whole lot of mentoring. What also throws me here is how he had the audacity to say the trauma builds character while being a mentor to help guide Miles into becoming Spiderman so Miles' could avoid the mistakes that Peter made.

I WILL NEVER BE OVER THAT CHAIR SCENE IN ITSV. How is it you as a grown man. A grown white man no less took a black teenage boy who you viewed as so much of a liability that you had to tie him up. And I know multiple people have talked about everything that's wrong with this scene but there's still something so haunting about watching him just nonchalantly be tied up kicking and screaming about how he wants to be let go that bothers me so much. And I find it hard to believe that this was just a scene we're supposed to just move on from. Did they do this on purpose? Was this supposed to showcase something about Peter's character that I'm not picking up on? Because I find it so hard to believe that the writers who made sure to explicitly show how Gwen's Peter is Christian because he later turns into a lizard wouldn't understand the implications of this scene.

I also don't think he's a strategic as he thinks he is. What do you think was going to happen when you forcefully tied this boy to a chair? You thought he was going to sit still? Also would you think the boy who's trying to save his father was going to do? Actually listen to your words? Sit back and be like, oh you're right I should just let my father die. (This is me going off my reasoning that he didn't plan out that one scene in ATSV. I think that he thought that because he's Miles' "mentor" he could get through to him in a way others can't. Which pretentious much?) His actions do more harm than good and it just works out for him somehow. (For instance Miles saving them in ITSV because he came late.)

These are my thoughts do with this what you will. All the stars decided to align today ig because I haven't been able to come up with coherent thoughts like this in a minute.

(I really need to rewatch itsv. So if there's anything here that I'm wrong about regarding itsv it's been like 5 years since I've seen it.)

I GET THISS SOOO HARD (I waited until I had coffee to answer this lol)

BUT YESSSSS Because like I can understanding giving Peter the benefit of the doubt, it makes plausible sense for a movie to have a certain amount of wiggle room plot wise.

But with writers who clearly understood punk enough to accurately show it in Hobie's arc, repeatedly put in the work to respect Cockney and Puerto Rican culture, who wrote every one of Hobie's lines with PERCISION - would just overlook the glaring hole in their story that is Peter.

Because we as a viewer are continually told we SHOULD look up to him and we SHOULD trust him - but in doing so they accidentally make him the exact opposite. Like.. It doesn't make sense to me.

The Focus on Jess & The Absence of Peter:

aka GODDAMN I hate Peter B. Parker [yet another rant about 'bad' writing, plotholes, and Peter not showing up for Miles or Gwen.

For example,

Jess is Gwen's mentor, and we see her mentor style is extremely different from Peter's and that's suppose to be a contrasting dynamic between them and the relationship between Miles and Peter. Okay, makes sense.

But by NOT having Peter be Gwen's mentor, the writers are implying that he didn't step up as an emotional mentor when all this given - HE SHOULD. Because he's the only adult that she knows, and she a freshly homeless teen who needs to be around people she trusts, rather than working at a society with an auditorium of adults.

But by trying to show off how much we should judge Jess, the writers have inadvertently given us a Peter who just..didn't take responsibility. That's what they're implying - that Hobie and Jess were the ones who came to get aid. And we're suppose to look the other way. I... can't do that, sir.

"Look at how mean Jess is, why not blame her-" Jess is doing her job. Where's the adult she actually knows and trusts. Can we get some dialogue about what he did for her? Or did he just do nothing?

Did they just forget to include that, or did Peter just forget to help?

For me, that's two points in the bucket. Not housing Gwen, and not being her mentor. He could've done one, the other or both.

But because he didn't, we're left asking "What WAS he doing in the Society?"

Missions, I assume. Cause he wasn't mentoring her, so he must have been off putting in legit work for Miguel, I assume.

If we're looking at the characters as full-rounded - which I would hope they are considering the depth of Gwen, Miles and Hobie, it's not a large jump to ask 'How involved was Peter in Gwen's time at the Society? Why is he not her mentor, or why is she not living with him?"

Gwen..should be staying with him. If you're an adult who knows a teen and they become homeless, and it is within your means - yeah, I do think it's a moral obligation to open your home to them, at least temporarily. If you care about them. But that aside, let's extend the benefit of the doubt. Maybe Gwen didn't want to see him.

But then the ratting Miles out thing. This, I can't get around-

Some may say that it was simply for plot development and that Lyla spoke suddenly as a mistake on her part.

And I gotta call bullshit.

Firstly, because this is the same movie where we're shown Hobie stealing parts prior to learning what the parts are for. The same film that literally animated a fight accurately to Bushwick down to the very street. Let's cut it some slack here.

And moreso - I could understand the justification that it was a mistake on Lyla's part.

If Lyla was human. She's not.

She's an AI, and a very sophisticated one at that. Lyla runs on protocol, because that's AI's do. She's made to do things the way that is mathematically most effective, based on her analysis and her code.

It's easy to see Lyla as just an avatar, and a comedic one at that - but Lyla is literally one of - if not the - smartest 'person' in the multiverse. She's the only one who can track Spot in real time. If Jess and Miguel need aid on a mission or with Spot, they call Lyla. And she's handled every Society mission prior to the chase.

Her speaking out of turn suddenly and giving Peter away is an understandable plot mistake, if she was subjected to human mistakes.

So far, Lyla isn't. It doesn't make sense, based on what Lyla is.

I think Lyla would know better than to give Peter away suddenly by detecting Miles' presence and still speaking out loud.

A lot ask 'What motive does Peter have for ratting Miles out?', but we also should also ask "What motive does Lyla have for ratting herself out?'

It's her goal to find Miles no matter what. She doesn't care, she kinda can't - she's an AI. She just has to find him and send Miles' location to Miguel. Her objective.

So her locating Peter without his knowledge and then giving herself away to him doesn't make sense - especially if Lyla knew Miles was that close, from a human standpoint and definitely from the standpoint of the most sophisticated AI in existence.

So I was under the assumption that - like you mentioned now, that before when he gets Miles alone, he may genuinely be trying to convince him still, but by the time they get into that space, I think that's around the time that it becomes a 'Okay, let's just get Miles back to HQ and talk about this' situation.

He genuinely ratted Miles out. In my eyes.

Because at this point, Miguel hasn't assaulted Miles. That comes later. So realistically speaking, his goal was probably to calm Miles down, and get him back to HQ however he could, and talk to him there.

Peter could've helped WAYYYY earlier.

People give Peter credit like 'Oh but he came over to Miles' side at the end-'

NO. YOU DO NOT GET A COOKIE.

Peter could've helped SO much earlier, and if anything, he was THE ONLY ONE in a position of helping.

Gwen can't do anything, like they physically restrain her when she tries to. And there's no point after they come to HQ that Gwen has the chance to turn around and help Peter.

Gwen doesn't get that chance. Peter DOES.

Had Peter helped Miles HERE, IMMEDIATELY, Miles would've gotten away without being assaulted by Peter.

If Peter had turned around and changed course in this moment, Miles would have been better off.

Fuck Peter B. Fuckkkkk hiiiimmmmm. NAWWWWWW

If Peter had let him go here, or helped him escape - Miles wouldn't have been taking hits up on that train. That's crazzzy.

But he wasn't trying to help Miles escape. If he wanted to, he would've. He could've just said "Matter of fact Miles, I think setting the WHOLE Society on you is a bizarre move and you should probably get out of here until Miguel can calm down and I can talk to him."

But he was like 'Nah, hold my baby. Matter of fact lemme tell you story in this pivotal moment when you're actively in danger. Here, look at me. What do you mean - I'm not stalling? I didn't rat him out on purpose.

Like either you did. And even if you didn't you didn't help him when you were literally the only person in the universe who could. In fact, he got away slower because of you. Lovely.

Peter is a grown man. He's not an idiot.

He knows Miles is in active danger. Why would an adult turn the conversation in that direction - about his baby - KNOWING Miles has no time.

As soon as Miles got his hands on MayDay, Peter is trying to change the conversation. Suddenly he's joking and laughing.

Even though Miles is freaking out. Why is Peter joking? He knows this isn't a joking situation. But here he is wasting Miles time, either accidentally or intentionally.

Because that'd be some good ass stalling.

There was nothing stopping Peter from helping him leave. But Peter was still on The Society's side, so he didn't. If he was on Miles' side, he would've helped him. He should've, but he was still for Miguel, because at this point Miguel hadn't assaulted Peter yet.

Congrats, Peter. Big L. Humbling Reality Spider-man everyone.

Like combine all this. AND THEN THE SCENE IN ITSV.

LITERALLY AND PHYSICALLY PETER IS ALWAYS HOLDING MILES BACK.

You cannot expect me to believe that the writers of a movie I can write 10k+ words about, just so happened to leave these two glaring plot holes for ONE character.

That I'm just suppose to ignore that Peter restrained Miles, a black boy, in ITSV. That he betrayed Miles for months, wasn't very active in Gwen's time at the Society, and he actively hinders Miles escape - if not actively ratting him out.

It baffles my mind.

It doesn't make sense, that these writers can write Hobie, Jessica, Miguel, Officer Stacy, Rio, and Jeff as fully rounded, well-thought characters. But for some reason, when it comes SPECIFICALLY to Peter B. - they just forget how to write. They just stop thinking about him the second they don't look at him.

IN BOTH MOVIES?

I don't buy it.

To have every other character be thoroughly thought through but have one of, if not these most iconic character full of plot holes...

I think the likely answer is they wrote him that way on purpose and he's just a bad person.

I'm sorry, and I'm laughing while writing this but like.

Either Peter is the ONE singular character who has a series of emotional plotholes - or he's just a bad mentor. It's one or the other. And it's open to interpretation.

But I wanna cut the writers some slack and say, No - they thought it through. And No, Lyla did not just randomly speak out of turn, he contacted her first off-screen before she replied to him.

And by waiting till the very end to come around, waiting until the person who looks up to you is deeply wounded to finally turn around - that's the same arc Officer Stacy goes through.

And we're not supposed to clap for him. It's lovely, but he doesn't get an award. And neither does Peter, not at all.

Maybe if had helped Miles escape in that moment. Maybe if he was Gwen's mentor or he housed her.

But as far as we know he spent those months of Gwen in the Society doing fuck all. We've seen no sign of his contribution anywhere.

And in a story about mentorship, that says something.

Anyway. This is long. Again fiosfgihrgirturetuier I'm SORRY

Once again, Fuck Peter B. All my Hobies hate Peter B. (not a typo)

He's worse than Jess.

And he's not worse than Miguel but I like Miguel more and it's not because of the ass that's just a bonus Miguel is cool (but also very wrong. but like personality wise we're cool).

Ummm I feel like I got off track here. Oh well!!

Damn he be doing Miles dirty. SMH

Bye.

#Gwen Stacy #Peter Parker #Jessica Drew #Miles Morales #Miguel O'hara #miguel o hara #spiderman #atsv #marvel #spider man #across the spiderverse #across the spider verse #atsv analysis #peter B Parker #no proofread

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starrylayle · 2 years

Text

Soman’s failed POC and Queer rep in the SGE saga — And why criticism is essential to the movie (franchise)

[repost]

Before I start though, I’d like to say that if you have any argument about forced representation, dni. I don’t give a shit that ur faves aren’t white anymore — and please stop fucking harassing Soman and the cast about this non-issue.

Now onto the racial criticism of Soman’s work, which I don’t see talked enough about.

Being a person of colour does not mean you are exempt from racial criticism. I’m sure this is known by now, but in the books, literally everyone is white. Like EVERYONE. And not only that, the beauty standards he portrays and tries to critique (but then fails miserably at unfortunately) are so Eurocentric it’s quite disheartening actually - pale skin, small noses, coloured eyes, etc. The themes are also quite Eurocentric as well — if you had told me that the books were written by a white author, I would believe you.

Now, I’ve always given him the benefit of the doubt here, considering he was writing a middle grade series as a marginalised author, which was a lot more difficult at the time, and because he does genuinely try to improve his POC rep in the later books (even if that does include retconning character’s previous descriptions lol). In that same vein, the cast is also noticeably more diverse, and I truly applaud Soman for that. However, he has not said anything in regards to the racism the cast have been getting, which considering his influence on the fandom, would have been much appreciated. (The only casting choice he actually spent some time defending was brunette Tedros 💀💀 — like mate, get your priorities together!). Also, since whiteness is quite intrinsic to the core themes of the story (I’ll make a separate post on that later), I worry that the movie will unintentionally be pushing it. And if that’s the case, people should be allowed to critique this (hypothetical) poor depiction of race, without it being considered racist. (As previously mentioned — this excludes those fucking weirdos who just hate on the cast coz their faves aren’t white anymore 🙄🙄)

Ok so, in regards to the queer-coding/queer-baiting:

Just like being a POC doesn’t mean u can’t have internalised racism, being queer doesn’t mean u can’t have internalised homophobia, especially to other members of the community. I don’t know why exactly Soman struggles with writing queer rep so much (I mean I can understand in 2013 — but now plenty of middle grade books include queer characters), but he barely has any canon gay rep.

Tristan/Yara, who is not even specified whether they are gay or trans, is one of the first characters to die, with absolutely no resolution to their arc whatsoever - and their queerness is never mentioned again. The next confirmed queer couple are two backgrounder guys who barely have any significance to the story. The couple after that are two evil white boys, who are only confirmed to be queer after they both die. They are are the only relevant gay characters at this point — yet ofc they’re dead, white and evil. This wouldn’t be a problem if there were other (good) queer characters, but since that is not the case, it just comes off as rather… icky.

Now notice how all these couples, as poorly written as they are, are all (white) gay men? There are hints that Hester and anadil might be in a relationship, but it’s never explicitly confirmed.

In addition, sophie and Agatha are explicitly queer coded — (I made a post about it on my acc for anyone’s interested) — they even kiss!! Of course people are going to be mad that they were baited into a relationship that ended up being incesteous! Especially, ESP, considering that Agatha is now a Black girl in this adaptation. We barely see any white canon wlw couples in media — Black sapphics are almost unheard of in the mainstream, especially as leads. first kill, one show that featured a Lesbian Black girl lead (a Dark-skinned one at that!)— got cancelled. And this happens all the time. Lesbians/sapphics, esp sapphics of colour, ESP Balck sapphics are barely given any time of day in our media in favour of centring gay white men in queer narratives, and thus they have every right to be upset at the queer baiting.

I’m not Black, but as a queer woman of colour, Agatha’s character has always been very special to me. I’ve always thought she should be a POC considering how different her and her mum are from the rest of her cookie-cutter village, and queer because she did not fit into conventional notions of femininity. It would be so awesome to see Agatha, a queer woman of colour, as the lead in a high-budget fantasy series. But alas, that is too many marginalised identities for the general audience.

Not only that, the twin reveal was just plain bad writing. It had absolutely no bearing at the story whatsoever and is never mentioned again. It was just done purely for shock value, and for that, I will absolutely critique Soman.

I know that this discourse is tired and worn out — and understandably so, it’s been years. However, now that this movie is approaching mainstream — At worst, this queer baiting can already add to the whole ‘lesbian relationships aren’t serious’ and other terrible stereotypes. At best, it deprives sapphics of much needed representation in mainstream fantasy films.

Remember, unlike with the books, we as fans have the power to influence the story. If the creators see how unpopular the twist is with the public, they can probably change it. We can make a difference! Btw, this doesn’t mean sophie and Agatha should be endgame — I’d like for them to be in a short term relationship and be confirmed as canonically queer — Tagatha can still be the end couple! (Not hophie tho, coz sophie is a lesbian and I despise Hort lol).

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bohemian-nights · 6 months

Note

https://www.tumblr.com/drakaripykiros130ac/732901209272467456/i-am-just-loving-the-so-called-concern-tg-stans

This is how I find out an anti-nettles tag exists of Tumblr people are so shallow minded and miss the point George's original story people really think just because these dumbass show runner decided the race-bend an entire group of characters for cheap brownie points of representation that it means Nettles no longer matters like no, it may no longer be about race just because the writers are trying to force feminism onto Rhaenyra's character but it's still about class. A low born orphan at just the age of 17 was capable of doing what dozens of well trained knights failed to do. She survived one of the biggest civil wars in Westeros history, she had one of the last surviving dragons of the dance (who cares who's the biggest, oldest, most shiny etc etc it was Nettles and her dragon that outlived them all in the end) AND she was capable if creating an entire culture around herself (the tribes could've easily over powdered her but instead chose to worship and respect her) mind you all she had was a dragon, she had no titles just her name. Also, she's a few of the very few characters in the books that show care and remorse, she mourned Jace someone she barely knew and cried for Driftmark despite having lived a life previously where she was mistreated and starving on the streets. I swear these Dumbnyra stans deserve their names (Dumbnyra), and just because some of us are pro-Nettles, it doesn't automatically make use of team Green, Team Green can kick rocks as well because they are such hypocrites, whining and complaining about how their fav characters were stripped of importance and reduced to a singular thing yet they turn around and strip Nettles's character as a gotcha moment towards to Dumbnyra stans, as if her relationship with Daemon is the only thing important to her character. These stans also need to realize the Nettles is one of George's favorite characters whose stories he'd like to continue.

👆🏽That’s for the fact that this racist(who I should mention I’m blocked by for no reason🤣) actually knows how to tag things properly. I’ll give her that, but who exactly died and made her an authority on Black representation?

Dumbnyra stans this is exactly why people keep calling you people racists:

Do tell me how white a** Alys Rivers(no disrespect, but come on) had more purpose than a girl who shows that Targaryen supremacy is a lie? The girl that shows you don’t need Valyrian blood to claim a dragon.

The girl that George himself said he wanted to write a novella on(never heard him say that about Alys, Addam, Alyn, any of the other dragonseeds, Rhaena, and Baela)🤷🏽‍♀️

They are so blinded by the fact that she “ruins” Dumbnyra(which isn’t what they claim it is which is why they are scared sh*tless of her being on a show they claim doesn’t matter) that they make up lies about Nettles being the most irrelevant character in Fire & Blood.

This can never be irrelevant/unimportant/unnecessary/whatever else you want to say to demean her:

That happened long after the Dance boo boo(when Missy Anne’s a** was long dead 😊).

And if the one who wrote that garbage happens to be reading this(because I know you people are stalking me), f*ck you. I mean that from the bottom of my heart. You've crossed the line.

You’re a bigot. You have no right to speak on Black representation let alone say we are good on representation that doesn’t even affect you and that you have no understanding of.

And you definitely don’t care about representation because if you did you wouldn’t want Rhaena who has her own arc to replace Nettles who according to you wasn’t Daemon’s lover. If she’s just his daughter or his mentee, well then you have nothing to be worried about. Her presence on the show shouldn’t disrupt your putrid little white supremacist ship or make Missy Anne look bad since what happened at Maidenpool was all a big misunderstanding and Mysaria’s fault😊 You shouldn’t give a second thought to her.

Yes, Black people care about this issue(and even if some of us are a part of Team Green because that’s the majority I see from Team Green actually caring about her, then so what🙃).

Do you see how we are portrayed by the media? Do you see what happens to Black characters in TV shows and movies? To Black women characters? Do you see how they are treated by production and the fandom?

What you people are doing isn’t new. Just look at The Bear, Sleepy Hollow, Vampire Diaries, Star Trek, Star Wars, GOT(see how Missandei was done), and Marvel fandoms(there are more than that I’m just too tired to get into it).

The moment there is even a hint of a possibility that a Black woman might be in a relationship with the fandom hottie, hell the moment a Black woman doesn’t have a stereotypical role, all hell breaks loose and you people look for every excuse and spout out the same tired crap on why so and so is irrelevant, is a terrible character, doesn’t need a man, needs to be cut, should be killed off, should be replaced, etc.

So just because you don’t care doesn’t mean we should accept scraps, or our “irrelevant” characters being cut, or swapped out with race-bent characters. Black people aren’t all the same sweetie and we deserve more than what you feel we do.

If that’s too much for your diminutive brain to handle why don’t we just combine Ulf and Hugh? It’s not too late to cut out one of the two’s roles in post-production. After all, they serve the same role and they are both white.

You know what? How about we combine Black Aly and Jeyne Arryn while we are at it😀

Should we view Helaena and Rhaenyra as the same? I have a hard time telling them apart since they are both white and blonde. They should wear name tags that way we don’t get them confused 🙃

Let me stop there.

Sorry for ranting anon, but I’m so tired of the disrespect. Like how does one character who’s supposedly so unimportant cause so much uproar?

I go in on Dumbnyra stans a lot(and that person shows exactly why), but you are right that all sides of this fandom treat Nettles like she’s trash. If it’s not saying she’s a plot device sent to ruin Dumbnyra from Team Black and that anyone Black can replace her it’s how Team Green is so worried about her being abused and how maybe it’s for the best she gets cut.

Their behavior is utterly disgusting. It's anti-Black, but no one takes anti-Blackness and especially not misogynoir seriously.

Nettles may be a secondary character, but she’s the most important secondary character during the Dance. She starts out literally homeless. She claims Sheepstealer by determination, not by blood. She’s the only one to claim a wild dragon. The only non-Valyrian dragonrider that we know of.

She gets the Rogue Prince to fall in love with her to the point where he’s willing to die for her and disobeys his wife’s orders to save her. She survives the Dance with a dragon intake. Becomes a fire witch and is worshipped by a mountain clan in the Mountains of the Moon(she’s still worshipped by them during the main series). Her legacy is cemented.

I love her relationship with Daemon, but she’s so much more than just Daemon’s love. She’s a survivor. She’s the final girl. She would be seen as special as she is if she was white.

A character like her will never not be needed especially in a world where the representation of Black women in media, particularly fantasy stories, is still pretty bleak.

#bnasks #nettles #bnask #anti daemyra stans #pro nettles #just continue to use the anti tag #f*ck 90% of you in this fandom #netty #nettles asoiaf #nettles f&b #hotd fandom misogynoir #yep this is why y’all are called dumbnyra stans

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chuuyrr · 2 years

Text

triple black

bungou stray dogs x gojo! reader

masterlist of infinity

╰➤ CW(s): major spoilers for bungou stray dogs (dragon's head conflict), jujutsu kaisen (gojo's past arc and jujutsu kaisen 0 is heavily referenced) and mentions of violence

╰➤ SYNOPSIS: an alternate universe in which the young holder of the six eyes and limitless ability user is under the influence of port mafia rather than heiwa, along with two other young mafiosos, nakahara chuuya and dazai osamu.

╰➤ PAIRING(s): 17! dazai & 17! chuuya x 17! reader (no established relationship, can be romantic or platonic)

╰➤ WORD COUNT: 3.4k+

honestly didn't know what i was going for, but here's a drabble i made while stressing over school :") enjoy

chuuya and dazai were about seventeen years old when the port mafia boss summoned them both to his office. it has been roughly a year since the dragon's head conflict, an 88-day underground conflict in yokohama between various underground organizations that is regarded as the darkest conflict in the city's history. it has also been a year since the formation of double black.

however, being an underground organization always meant violence and bloodshed, resulting in the emergence of another conflict, this time fought solely by the port mafia, so the two young mafiosi weren't surprised when an underground organization had declared war on their's.

"hurry up, chuuya. god, you're so slow."

"you just walk too fast, vagabond."

"no, you just have short legs."

"i'm going to beat the sh—"

the two sixteen-year-olds shifted their gaze to the young woman speaking to mori as soon as they entered the office and were welcomed by the light peeking through the glass panes. dazai and chuuya noticed your unusual and unfamiliar attire: a black high-neck zipped up jacket, a mini skirt, thigh-high heeled boots, and white bandages covering your eyes.

"boss, you called," chuuya cleared his throat, catching mori’s and your attention.

"ah, chuuya-kun, dazai-kun," mori acknowledged the two with a close-eyed smile, "i apologize for the wait, i was just discussing some things with our newest member."

mori's introduction of you followed suit as they stared intently at your eccentric figure and style, "this is gojo [name]-chan, and she will be working with the two of you starting today," he then motioned over to them for you, "this is nakahara chuuya-kun and dazai osamu-kun."

the two young mafiosi were taken aback. they were struck by your charisma and beauty despite the fact that they couldn't see the color of your eyes due to the bandages covering them. you notably had [color] hair that seemed to have been purposely dyed due to your snow-white roots, and delicate features.

chuuya cleared his throat and swallowed the lump that had formed, and dazai's lips twitched into a smirk just by looking at you. you were making them feel things they didn't know they had for someone like you. you were practially taking their breath away.

"well, well, if it's not double black," you began, folding your arms across your chest and smiling, "i'm honored."

"tch, someone did their research," chuuya remarked mockingly before averting his gaze away from you, finally mustering enough courage and composure to speak after being awestruck by you.

"oi, chuuya!" chuuya let out a small surprised yet irritated yelp as dazai jabbed an elbow to his side, "where are your manners? how could you be so rude to someone as ravishing as [name]-chan over here?"

"ohoho~ you flatter me way too much, dazai-kun," you snickered fondly at his comment.

"oh, i'm just being honest," dazai said dismissively, waving his hand dismissively, "unlike chuuya-kun over here, i'm a gentleman, so don't mind him at all, [name]-chan~"

chuuya exclaimed angrily with a nerve protruding on his temple, "HAH?!"

"well, would you look at that? i had a feeling you three would get along just fine," mori chuckled fondly as he watched the three of you 'bond' with each other.

"dazai-kun, chuuya-kun, you better not let me down. i will now entrust [name]-chan to your care. understood?" when the port mafia boss asked, the two young mafiosi noticed his eyes darken for a split second.

but they both brushed it off and responded promptly.

“understood, boss.”

“yes, yes, mori-san.”

chuuya's genuine impression of you was downright annoying. he despised the fact that you acted so much like dazai, particularly how you dressed up like him. your eyes are bandaged, whereas dazai's arms and right eye are bandaged.

he even thought you were blind at first, which may or may not have bothered him until you started ranting to him about how you were covering your eyes to hide and keeping an immense power you had inherited from a god at bay dramatically with a closed fist to your chest.

if only chuuya knew you weren't actually joking.

dazai, on the other hand, developed an interest in you. you were a complex person, and honestly? he recognized himself in you.

while you were bubbly and friendly to them and the rest of the organization, constantly addressing everyone with familiar suffixes like -chan and -kun at every opportunity, you were notably cunning and ruthless when it came to enemies and higher-ups.

he and chuuya were genuinely perplexed as to why mori still keeps you around when you're much more of a problem child of the mafia compared to dazai. you liked to break the rules and do things your own way, but that was before the night parade of a hundred demons.

you, dazai, and chuuya were present at the meeting with the higher-ups about an underground organization posing a threat to port mafia when the elephant in the room was discussed.

"gojo? oi, gojo."

when one of the higher-ups showed an image of the man behind the incoming dispute, chuuya couldn't help but feel nervous at your sudden undecipherable expression. it was terrifying to see you staring so blankly behind those bandages on your eyes.

dazai asked, blinking as he glanced at chuuya, then to you, "[name]-chan?"

"suguru."

your voice was barely audible as you clenched your hands into closed, trembling fists. at that precise moment, an ominous aura began to emanate from you, and it reeked of danger while also feeling sad, at least according to dazai and chuuya.

at that moment, gojo [name] had turned into something else. a slip of the mask, eh?

"you know this man, gojo?" one of the higher-ups inquired, noticing your expression, which prompted the others to look at you suspiciously.

"geto suguru," you answered louder this time.

"and how do you know him?" they inquired further as dazai and chuuya's eyes widened in response to your next answer.

"he was my best friend."

your lack of emotion in your tone of voice was enough to unnerve the two mafiosi with you. in fact, you were unusually quiet for the duration of the meeting, but when asked for an opinion, you offered strategies and ideas that were comparable to dazai's, just like a true mafia with black blood.

even if dazai could see how hurt you were behind the stoic mask you were wearing to hide your emotions, you don't let them get to you.

you were also an enigma. when you joined the port mafia, you had no record of your past. in fact, you just simply appeared out of nowhere, and judging by your actions, you weren't looking for a high-ranking position in the organization even if you had the potential and wits, as mori himself assigned you to tasks that involved higher-ups' work, which is why dazai and chuuya figured you out, at least partially for now.

it was midnight on december 23, two days before christmas, and just before the aforementioned war between the port mafia and the underground organization led by geto suguru, the cursed spirit ability user.

when you entered the room after disappearing without a trace and refusing to answer any calls, even from your own boss and superiors, chuuya was leaning against the wall in one of port mafia's offices, sharpening his knife with a whetstone, while dazai simply lounged on a velvet cushioned sofa.

"oi, where the hell were you?" chuuya asked, pausing from sharpening his knife, "do you have any idea how many of us were looking for you, gojo? even the boss himself thought you were taken hostage or something!"

"i just went somewhere," you shrugged casually before taking a seat on another sofa across dazai, past chuuya.

"and where's somewhere?" dazai asked, shifting his gaze to you, watching you cross one leg over the other, arms spread across the back of the sofa, seemingly staring at the ceiling.

"you guys sure do love me, always looking for me, eh?" you clicked your tongue, smirking.

"just answer the goddamn question!" yelled an irritated chuuya, "you've done nothing but disappear for the past few days, and when you do show up, all you do is pick a fight with a fucking executive."

"if i tell you, chuuya-kun, you'd just skin me alive with that knife of yours," you tipped your head to the side before turning back to face him.

chuuya's patience was running thin, so he aimed his knife at you, but before it could strike you, you had moved to the side, the knife stabbing through the wall instead.

"alright, alright. i'll confess, but it'll be a dead giveaway if i just cut to the chase," you whistled, shaking your head with your hands raised in the air, only for your expression to darken, causing chuuya and dazai to stare at you with narrowed eyes, "so, let's start at the top. why do you think mori-sensei suddenly recruited a new member, just a few days before the conflict, hmm?”

"what in the fuck?" chuuya spat out.

"don't give me that. think about it, come on." you insisted either way.

chuuya locked his gaze on you for a brief moment before opening his mouth to speak, only to have dazai beat him to it, much to his annoyance, "you made a deal with him. a deal involves the port mafia providing protection in exchange for you becoming a member."

"and why did i do it?" you inquired.

"the boss knows that if it's anyone, you're the best candidate for the dispute between the port mafia and that geto suguru guy's little gang," chuuya replied this time, earning an eye roll from dazai, "you know him, and you know that getting into the port mafia will give you the upper hand in putting an end to him. in simpler terms, it's beneficial for both ways."

"very good," you said, clapping your hands, "now where do you think i went just now?"

"easy, you saw geto suguru himself, didn't you now, [name]-chan?" dazai exclaimed, his lips twitching into a smirk, "you had your background completely erased when you joined the port mafia, but the truth is that you used to be a member of heiwa, the organization that runs tokyo. you went there to completely cut ties with them, only to run into him, and before you ask how i knew that, it's because of geto suguru's background. i couldn't help but recall your expression and reaction when he was mentioned in our last meeting with the higher-ups. you two were once under heiwa's command, but he defected and you soon followed."

you chuckled, "looks like you two really do love me that much." instead of a smirk on your face this time, it was a genuine smile, "good job."

the night parade of a hundred demons was an understatement. the cursed man himself dispatched over two thousand mutilated monstrosities to bring down the port mafia. you were on the front lines with dazai and chuuya, as well as a large number of the organization's subordinates.

the port mafia was losing members one by one, including your own group, which was agitating you. those cursed beings were no laughing matter for those without abilities was unfortunate, but you had to persevere despite everything. there was no time for you to wallow in guilt, and there will be no tears shed either.

"tch, your ex-best friend sure is shit, gojo," chuuya scoffed, his eyes narrowing at the new swarm of monstrosities charging towards you and everyone else.

although the three of you had been fighting and moving forward for what seemed like an eternity, it was becoming infuriating and vexing.

"tell me about it," you sighed deeply, arms folded and a single hand cupped your face.

"so much for lovers' quarrels," dazai remarked, shaking his head with a soft chuckle.

you snorted, pointing at him and chuuya, saying, "you're one to talk," to which dazai and chuuya gagged and held disgusted expressions.

"WE ARE NOT A THI—chuuya began to argue when a broken air conditioner was sent flying towards your direction from behind, causing him to scream in concern instead, "GOJO!"

the broken air conditioner merely hit something else, and an unseen force miraculously protected you just as chuuya was about to shield you. chuuya's eyes widened with the rest of them. before it could even make contact with you, the air conditioner that was facing you shattered into pieces.

what was that just now? why weren't you hurt? there is not a single scratch or piece of debris on you either.

you clicked your tongue in annoyance as you turned around to see a tall man dressed in a white outfit and blue sunglasses holding a rope in front of the monstrosities behind him.

"let me introduce myself; my name is miguel, and I'm your opponent, gojo [name]," he said, a grin on his face and a hand on his hip.

before chuuya could finish his sentence, you had turned your head over your shoulder and grabbed the bandages covering your eyes, loosening them with a single pull to reveal an eccentric, electric blue iris filled with pure rage. there it was once more. your mask has slipped; your entire playful and casual exterior had been wiped clean.

"sorry, but you're running on thin ice."

you had vanished from view, leaving only a brief disturbance in the air, only to reappear where your opponent was. the man whipped his rope towards you, only for you to flick it upwards with your hand.

'that rope of his has something unusual woven into it.' you thought, narrowing your eyes.

you quickly shifted your attention away from your thoughts and extended your right hand, not breaking eye contact with miguel, saying, "you're in the way."

a luminous red ball appeared and darted towards the monstrosity that was being shot down by the port mafia's subordinates as well as chuuya and his gravity manipulation, blowing a hole right in its face and effortlessly destroying all the glass panes and foundations of all the surrounding buildings, leaving behind a much more massive mass of destruction and a series of gasps and surprised looks from the port mafia. you just obliterated that thing as if it were nothing at all.

"what the fuck was that just now?!" chuuya exclaimed, clutching his hat, which was nearly blown away by the violent wind caused by your ability, "gojo could do that this entire time?!”

"my, my, our [name]-chan just snapped," dazai whistled, merely shrugging his shoulders at chuuya and the rest of their men's reactions to you as his black coat flew in the air from the immense turbulence of air in the atmosphere.

dazai couldn't take his gaze away from you, especially the crystalline blue that was exposed by your bandages. this was the first time he saw the six eyes you possessed, the true reason mori recruited and agreed to a deal with you.

you weren't just an ordinary ability user. you were a valuable asset to have, especially with your raw, untamed strength right now. dazai knew you were hiding something from the moment he met you through mori, and he could tell just by deduction, but he, like chuuya, was surprised; dazai didn't expect you to be this dangerously strong, with such an ability. In his eyes, you were a dangerous yet beautiful storm.

a terrifying force to be reckoned with.

miguel lunged at you while simultaneously using his rope, and you retaliated without hesitation. you easily avoided all of his hits and whips before taking a high jump back. miguel used his rope to grab and break electrical lines, but you simply jumped high enough to avoid the electricity leaking from the lines and manipulated that same unseen force to cut through and cause a smoke explosion from the collision.

leaping and bursting from the debris and smoke in mid-air, you immediately clasped your hands together and vanished out of sight, just in time for another one of those damned things to jump on you.

as the demonic creature that tried to get you fell and crashed to the ground from the building, miguel used his rope once more, this time to swing himself upwards at you who was somehow upside down in mid-air this time, but he merely crashed into that same unseen force that chuuya couldn't figure out.

with that, you flipped yourself upright and thrust your leg upwards then downwards, kicking him down with such force that miguel crashed to the ground alongside dazai, chuuya, and the other port mafia members.

even so, you didn't give your opponent a chance to catch his breath. you immediately engaged him in hand-to-hand combat, sending aggressive and domineering attacks one after the other with such precision and speed that miguel couldn't block any hit you sent him.

you literally gave nakahara chuuya, the mafia's deemed strongest martial artist, a run for his money. it was just straight up harassment at this point, and the fact that you were raining hell on him while wearing an indecipherable expression on your face was terrifying. your opponent coughed up blood as you threw and punched him towards a broken lamppost, delivering the finishing blow.

"oi, oi, [name]-chan, you're not going to leave us in the dust, are you?" dazai's voice trailed behind you, and his voice alone was enough to bring you back to reality, especially since you were about to walk back towards miguel with your right hand outstretched, presumably to construct another one of those red spheres.

"oops, looks like i overdid it," you smirked as you straightened your posture and looked over your shoulder to see him and chuuya approaching you.

"tch, why the fuck were you messing around this whole time when you have that ability?" chuuya focused his gaze on you.

"consider it my surprise, chuuya-kun," you chuckled, placing a hand on your hip.

your conversation was immediately cut off short however when a new presence had made himself known. the three of you averted your gaze and found yourselves coming face to face with a tall, slim man with long black hair partially tied up behind his head while the rest draped down his back, sporting a gold-colored kasaya garment over black yukata robes. he stared at you, then at dazai and chuuya who returned his stare with a dark glare.

"i didn't expect you to replace shoko and i with those two already," he exclaimed, pretending to be hurt as he feigned a frown, "you sure are cruel, [name]."

dazai and chuuya exchanged a brief glance as they took a step forward, almost as if they were both standing guard in front of you. you couldn't help but feel your lips twitched into a smirk. you've only known them for a short time, but their actions were sufficient to provide the big picture.

dazai and chuuya, on the other hand, didn't like how this young man was so familiar with you. although it was obvious that you and suguru used to be members of the same organization and best friends, he was a traitor, and chuuya, who was known for his unwavering loyalty, found this unacceptable.

who did he think he was for returning to you, let alone declaring war on the port mafia?

without another word, dazai immediately equipped himself with a gun, and chuuya activated his gravitational control ability as you completely removed the bandages covering your eyes, allowing yourself to make direct eye contact with geto suguru himself, even if it meant it would be the last time you'd see him with your very six eyes, and knowing how extremely painful it would be.

as you had already defected from heiwa, you had made a deal with the port mafia and pledged your loyalty. there was no going back now. you made the decision to stop him and protect the other children much younger than you back at heiwa from him.

work in dark to serve light.

so, with a heavy heart, you, along with dazai osamu and nakahara chuuya, attacked.

after closing the record file and putting away the worn out bandage and hair tie, as well as his pen, ango took hold of his glasses and adjusted them before sighing.

"in the memorable night of the night parade of a hundred demons, dazai osamu, nakahara chuuya, and gojo [name] defeated an enemy organization in a short amount of time, and as a result, they were dubbed as miekuro among other underground organizations. they are also known as "yokohama's vicious trio" after that."

(fun fact: 三重 (mie) means triple, and 黒 (kuro) means black.)

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intuitive-revelations · 6 months

Text

One major implication I don't think that episode really took the time to settle on is the implication that the Toymaker has already massively messed up the universe?

Toymaker: I came to this universe with such delight. And I played them all, Doctor. I toyed with supernovas, turned galaxies into spin tops. I gambled with God and made him a jack-in-the-box. Toymaker: I made a jigsaw out of your history... did you like it? Toymaker: The Master was dying and begged for his life with one final game, and when he lost, I sealed him for all eternity within my gold tooth.

And later:

Toymaker: Do you think a grand total of two can cause me to shiver when I've played against the Guardians of Time and Space and shrank them into voodoo dolls?

So to summarise:

It's implied the universe is now even more destroyed by the Toymaker's reality warping. Granted we don't know what the scale of this is, unlike the Flux, but it's possibly proportionally quite big considering how little of the universe is left already? That being said, he could have done this in history before the Flux, since it was a linear event, in which case this is far less of an issue.

That being said, it's likely this was reversed by the Toymaker being banished - so we're probably not going to see galaxy-sized spin-tops in the future. How many people died, and if they come back however, is less clear.

The Master (presumably dying after POTD), and the Black and White Guardians (at least - possibly the other 3 guardians too, excluding the Toymaker - though they're the main ones, and it's "order and chaos" specifically which are mentioned in the episode) have all gamed with the Toymaker and lost. The tooth!Master is at least left in our universe, and may possibly be secure with UNIT. The fate of the Guardians is a bit less clear, as is the implications for the balance of the universe.

But perhaps the biggest thing, and the one the episode actually took the time to give us a confused 14 reaction shot to:

The Toymaker has a made a 'jigsaw' out of the Doctor's history (or maybe history in general, although he does say 'your').

So what does that mean?

The hint is that the Doctor has already experienced whatever it is... so what was it that he caused with his interference?

To me there's perhaps three possible options:

The Star Beast - this would be an oddly minor thing to refer to, but arguably makes the most sense in the 'arc' of the specials. Perhaps he's referring to the Doctor encountering Beep the Meep for the first time again? ie. taken one jigsaw piece and exchanged its position in his timeline. For now this might be my headcanon regarding it, but would be really odd to be the intention, especially since we're already disregarding most of the other appearances of the Toymaker in the EU? It's also of course not the first time we've had an adaptation of an EU story in the main show without referencing the original (the no. 1 example being Human Nature - there are others like The Lodger and Dalek, but they're different enough that they can co-exist in a continuity with their source material).

The Timeless Child / Fugitive Doctor - RTD has said he's not going retcon the arc, but this arguably makes the most sense as a 'puzzle' being made out of the Doctor's history? Especially with regards to the Fugitive Doctor anyway, given there's the additional complications of her a) being the "Doctor", b) having a Police Box TARDIS, yet c) seemingly being from around the time of the Anchoring of the Thread.

The Toymaker's being time-wimey, it hasn't happened yet / it's nothing in particular - While it would be a bit confusing to contradict the one detail we got in the episode, this is always a possibility too. After all, there was a lot of sequel hooking all across these specials, so it might be something RTD will come back to, especially if we are going to be seeing more of the past Doctors in future series? Hopefully not by the biregeneration theory he gave about them all being split retroactively, because that is literally insane and doesn't even make the little sense the 14-15 one does....wtf.

So overall, what do I think?

Well I think I can be somewhat forgiving with the damage to the rest of the universe, just because it's implied that it might be reset, and the scale/lethality was never established. Plus like I said, there is some justification to the proportional issue not being too bad when combined with the Flux.

The Black and White Guardians implication is... interesting. We are gradually building up more and more of those 'Great Old One' / pre-universe elements in (New)NewWho, so there's a good chance this could come back in the future. It probably won't have immediate effects on the universe, as the Guardians seemed to be more concerned with specific dangers like the Key to Time. It could perhaps lead to more Eternals popping up across the universe, given the Guardians were the only force they really answered to. RTD I think is also quite aware of some of the Eternal-type lore too, since he played around with it quite a bit in those Series 1 articles talking about the Time War.

The Master's obviously coming back and as silly as this was, it does at least justify him being alive after POTD. It actually opens up the possibility of seeing Dhawan himself again too, which would be great! The nail-polished hand picking it up felt like a bit of a trolling moment, after how underwelming all the theories of who did it were when the End of Time came along. Someone pointed out that Kate actually has the same nail-polish, which would be interesting. Perhaps when we next see the Master, they'll be in UNIT captivity, Delgado style?

Finally, the jigsaw line, which is possibly the most interesting. Originally I was going to lean towards this being nothing / a vague setup for future past-Doctor stuff, since that seems to be the default, but now that I've laid it out... I think this could be a setup for more Fugitive!Doctor appearances. It makes the most sense from a story perspective anyway, given what the Toymaker said and some of the questions surrounding her not being answered, whether or not it's the direction the franchise would actually want to go.

After all, as controversial as the Timeless Child lore was, as far as I'm aware Jo Martin was pretty well recieved, and I'm sure RTD would love to look for opportunities to do more with her somehow. Whether he'd want something so continuity dependent from a showrunning perspective, however, is a bit more questionable.

#Doctor Who #The Giggle #The Toymaker #The Timeless Child #Martin!Doctor #Fugitive Doctor #The Master #Dhawan!Master #DW Meta #DW Spoilers #Doctor Who Spoilers #again I think this does kinda reinforce my complaint that we didn't get enough of the Toymaker messing with the outside universe #cause this was largely told not shown #can you imagine if we got scenes of him warping space #destroying galaxies #galactus style etc.?#maybe even a Dhawan cameo of him losing to the Toymaker?

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beevean · 5 months

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Nuke Sage. She brings nothing to the table lol

So far, she really hasn't.

I know that many people love her. Some love her arc, how she develops emotions and the need for a familial bond. Others love how efficient she allegedly is, how utterly loyal to Eggman she is even after she grows a heart. I know this, but there is nothing about her that appeals to me. She's bland, quirkless (she supposedly told Eggman one joke, offscreen), repetitive in her dialogue, the discount copy of Rei Ayanami and more blatant about it than the Death Egg, and her sacrifice for the sake of her "father" was literally nullified twice over.

Oh, you enjoy her because she develops emotions? Gamma is literally right there. And his sacrifice stuck. And I got to play as him and experience his change of heart. Frontiers' story is just a half-baked SA1, and that game already needed more time in the oven. no you cannot @ me.

And we talked multiple times how she's actually not as impressive as the game makes her out to be, and by all means, Eggman should have lost his patience the moment she kept insisting that he needed to team up with Sonic, like he did when Infinite disappointed him one too many times. mfw in the Japanese script, Eggman ends up saving himself from Cyberspace because Sage is that incompetent lmao

And the writing itself flipsflops between "Eggman is only proud of her because she's so impressive that it shows how great he is" (mostly in the missable memos) and "Eggman genuinely cares about his daughter and cries when she has to die and call her his daughter and adorable and holds her hand in the DLC and genuinely ponders whether she likes being called 'she'." It's... forgive me for the joke... wildly inconsistent :P

^ the thing is not that he assigned a gender to a creation of his, because he calls most of his robots "he", it's nothing new. The thing is that he actually stops in his tracks and questions if Sage would prefer "she" over "it". It's that he cares about her opinion, when by all means he shouldn't give a single shit about an AI's preference.

Then you add how fans, already juiced up over years of discourse on Mr. Tinker, took this undecisive writing and decided that this is proof that Eggman was Not So Bad After All, that he has a good heart deep down, that this sudden love for his "daughter" is what finally makes him human and tridimensional! They Fixed The Bad Character! Now yes I shouldn't base my opinions on the fandom, but as I said, if Flynn's intentions were to paint Eggman as a self-centered creator, he did a very poor job, because there is a reason the voice director ordered Pollock to sound like he was in tears when he said lines like "I understand. Go, fulfill your function".

And the kicker? Sage hasn't made a meaningful appearance yet. She cameo'd in MOSTH, looking sad and red/black instead of blue/white, and she's nowhere to be seen in Eggman's dreams in Dream Team, which lowkey implies that he actually doesn't love her as much as it seemed like in Frontiers.

but in the Takeover that everyone will take as gospel, Eggman says that she is the reason he keeps existing. Who wrote that. How can you put those words in that order in Eggman's mouth. And fans not only gush about how cute this is, but roll their eyes that Sonic is bored at this wildly OOC display of affection.

Sure, as a character she barely existed for one year, there's plenty of time for her to come back and finalize Eggman's direction. But yeah... so far she hasn't done anything to ingratiate me.

#sonic the hedgehog

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howlingday · 1 year

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concept jaune arc as a musketeer, as in the swashbuckler style swordsman. he's flamboyant and flashy when he's fighting so everyone assumes he's just super confident. but when you get to know the guy you learn he's still really self conscious since he learned to fight at first to be an actor, then as a tournament fighter. now he's trying to be a huntsman and he's not sure how to handle it since he's always been a duelist and a showman.

i mainly just wanna see how you'd handle a person with a really flashy fighting style and in fight personality with confidence issues and being a huge dork outside of his persona

Musketeer, eh? I actually have an OC in mind, but I'll keep him shelved. However, I do have an idea for a different kind of fencing hero...

---------------------------------------------------

"The Longblade of Aquadia?"

"I know, right?!" Blake bounced in her seat, giddy with excitement. Ruby had read the same story a hundred times over, but she never got this excited about the legendary hero. She brushed her hand over the leather cover, remembering her mother reading this story to her. "I can't wait to meet him!"

"But this story is over a hundred years old. He's probably old enough to be our grandpa." Ruby asked.

"Maybe he's got a potion of youth?" Yang offered. "He found that in one of his stories, right?"

"He did, but he gave it to his sweet Ba-Ma." Blake sighed. "Such a tender-hearted hero."

"Okay, I think you might be overreacting, Blake." Weiss said. "Don't forget why we're here."

Ruby nodded, pulling out her scroll to read over the facts. Unfortunately, after the first line, she felt sick and put it away. Why did they have to take a carriage to this city? Why couldn't this "City of Water" be outside of a caldera? You know, where air traffic isn't limited and horse-drawn carriage isn't the only means of getting there.

She opened her window, hoping to get some fresh air. That proved to be a pointless task, however, as the carriage suddenly stopped and she fell into Weiss.

"Get off me!" She shrieked.

"Benvenuto, and welcome," the driver cried with enthusiasm, "to Aquadia, the City of Water!" The enthusiasm soon fell. "Now get out and don't leave any of your crap in the carriage."

The team climbed out, marvelling at the beautiful white city inside the mountain. Alabaster and ivory walls accented with azure and cobalt designs beneath brick colored rooftops. At the carriage station, Blake found the gift shop with Longblade action figures, posters, and magnets.

"Oh, don't worry, I got your luggage!" Yang called out sarcastically.

"Oh, thanks, Weiss!" Blake said sincerely, not paying attention to anything else.

"You really like this guy, huh?" Ruby asked, stepping up next to her. "Kind of a shame we have to, uh, you know."

"Oho!" The station attendant called. He was a burly sort, with thick, black hair covering both his face and his arms. "Another band of adventurers are here to arrest our local hero, sì?"

"What?! No!" Blake shouted. "I mean, yes, but it's not-"

"Ah, don't worry about it." He waved his arm. "You're not the first, and you're definitely not going to be the last. The Minister is always trying to capture La Lama Lunga, but she's yet to capture him every time!"

"Oh, yeah, the Minister! We actually need to speak with her." Ruby said. "Do you know how to get there?"

"Oh, of course!" He pointed down the street. "Just keep going forward until you reach the statue of La Lama Lunga."

"Wait, he's a wanted criminal, and you built a statue of him?" Weiss asked.

"Well, it's not him, exactly, but rather the first of them all. The real legend!"

Yang looked at the action figures. On each shelf was a different masked hero. One was suave and handsome, complete with indents of chest hair on it's wooden body. Another was more like a rubber ball, with tiny limbs and a painted face. The last was very rigid, muscular, and made of plastic, complete with sword swinging action. "So it's a generational thing, huh?"

"You could say that." He shrugged. He leaned in to whisper. "But just between you and me, I think this new guy is gonna be the last. He can't even speak proper Valian. Capisci?"

"Not really, no." A bell rang in the distance, catching the team's attention. "Uh, we gotta go! Thanks for the help!"

"No problem! Welcome to Aquadia!"

The team made their way down the street, watching as boats passed by in the canals with different decorations. Some were ducks and other water fowl, or women with long, flowing hair, and at one point they saw one with a King Taijitu head. They saw a young man tie off a small black boat to a post, only to fall into the water after securing it.

"He really made a splash, hasn't he?" Yang joked.

"Ugh." Weiss groaned.

"What? I gondola the trouble to come up with that one."

"Please stop." Weiss increased her pace.

"Guess she'll let that slip, huh?" Blake rolled her eyes, but said nothing at the pun.

"Whoa..." Ruby marvel at the twenty foot tall statue of the hero. The Longblade pointed his rapier at the Minister's office in the main government building, as if challenging the Minister herself, like he did all those years ago. His stone cape seemed to flow in the wind.

"Just like in his first story!" Blake bounced on her heels. She then pointed a finger directly at Weiss. "He stood before the Minister, pointed his blade and said, 'This tyranny will not stand!' Ha!" Blake squealed, unaware of the cringed out faces the locals gave her.

"I see you're a fan of that scoundrel." Blake turned around to see a blonde woman with thick, black-rimmed glasses glaring at her without amusement. "Just like all the other tourists and citizens clinging to that old fairy tale."

"Uh, hi," Ruby greeted, "um, we're-"

"Team RWBY of Vale, correct?" She stepped forward with an extended hand. "I am Minister Isabella Arc. I was told to expect you at some time today."

"Uh, yeah," Ruby shook the woman's hand, noting the icy chill she felt from it, "we hope this isn't a bad time."

"Not at all, you're right on time." She glanced past Ruby and scowled. "Excuse me a moment."

Ruby watched the woman move past her so fast, she wondered how anyone could do that in heels. She approached a young man, who was sopping wet and was wringing his clothes free of water by the statue. She began shouting at him in South Valian, only to then hiss at him in a hushed tone that she caught as Common Remnant. It was a brief discussion, or more a scolding, and the teen made his way into the building.

"Uh, everything alright?" Yang asked.

"Yes, everything is fine." Minister Arc sighed. "That was my son, Jaune. He... It's not important. What is important is your mission here. Please, come inside, and we can-"

A thunderous roar echoed through the streets as people fled in terror. The team looked to each other and ran in direction of the cacophany. Ruby turned her head back and shouted, "We'll meet you later!"

The excitement was caused by Sea Wyrm, likely sneaking inside from one of the caves connecting the caldera to the ocean. It was attacking a small boat docked to a post, tearing it into splinters. Nearby a couple huddled into a shop, next to a woman who glared at the lovers.

Ruby opened fire on the Grimm, grabbing it's attention as Blake and Yang honed in on the creature. Weiss directed remaining civilians out of the area. The Wyrm fired off a glob of water at Ruby, who dodged. Weiss held up a glyph to block the attack.

Blake hopped along the post, tossing her blade into it's scaly hide. Yang lept at the serpent and punched it square on it's head, blinding one eye before leaping away. As it writhed, Blake used the momentum to carry herself into the air and swing around to bring it closer. Yang took hold with Blake and the pulled the Grimm closer.

Ruby ran up to Weiss, who nodded to confirm all civilians had been evacuated. As they ran to rejoin their team, they noticed foam building at the Wyrm's maw.

"GUYS, LOOK OUT!" Ruby shouted.

Suddenly, a potted plant soared in the air, striking the Grimm in it's other eye. It writhed again, carrying Blake and Yang around to the other side, where the former freed herself as the latter carried them to safety.

"HA HA HA!" A voice called from the rooftop. "You thought you could attack Aquadia unnoticed, did you? Well, you are sorely mistaken, my salty sea slug!"

Team RWBY looked up to find a man in a black cape, hat, bandana, and mask boast while holding out a long-bladed rapier with a flair. Blake squealed with excitement.

"Your tyranny ends here," he called out, "for I am La Lama- AAAAAAAAAAAAH!" He fell with a splash into the caldera. A few moments passed as they awaited for this "hero" to resurface before the Grimm dove into the blue waters itself. Blake gasped as the waters grew still.

Ruby ran to the side of the water, aiming for anything that might have indicated the snake or the hero. The only thing she saw was the hat floating in the water.

Soon, the water bubbled, and she saw a huge shape approaching quickly. Like a massive fist of some foul, ancient god of the sea emerged from the depths, launching a familiar black shape into the air. The Sea Wyrm opened it's maw to swallow him whole, but The Longblade was agile in his descent and caught his blade into the side of it's mouth, splitting a gaping wound into the demon all the way down it's side from the mouth. It thrashed about in agony before collapsing to the water. As it sank, ash flew away in the air, signifying the end to the terror.

The hero emerged from the water once more. As he made his way to the ladder, he grabbed his signature hat, shaking water from it as he climbed out. He noticed the huntresses and gave a bow.

"Thank you for the help." He chuckled. "Aquadia thanks you as well."

"It's him! It's him! It's him!" Blake practically squealed.

"I see one of you is a fan." His voice was suave and smooth, like a hero from one of Ruby's romance tales. "Unfortunately, I do not have time for autographs."

"We're not interested in autographs." Weiss said.

"And even if we did, we don't have anything for you to sign." Yang said. "Course, you don't look like anything from the gift shop."

"Y-Yes, well, I haven't had time to, uh, get a commission to an artist."

"Don't worry, you'll have plenty of time later." Ruby said, hoisting her weapon level to his gut. "When we bring you in."

"Aha." He chuckled. "Mo- er, the Minister has hired you, has she? She must be paying you quite well, isn't she?"

"Wait, is she?" Yang asked. "We haven't been hired yet."

"Well, we can finish it right now and go out sightseeing later." Weiss argued.

"But he's their primary attraction." Blake added. "Without him, Aquadia is just a pretty city in a mountain." Her ears perked and she flushed. "Er, no offense."

"Eh, some taken, but I understand." He replied.

"Look, we can bring him in, and ask for the details then." Ruby stated. "If nothing else, we can at least get a lead on how this mission is supposed to go."

"Ah, so you are the beautiful leader of this team, sì?"

"Don't push it." Ruby nudged him.

"W-Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" He hopped his way backwards before falling into the water again. The team rushed over to look down the side, only finding one set of bubbles rising from the depths.

After a minute, the team groaned. He got away. Or, in a more morbid tone, he got caught on something and he was drowning. Ruby was about to dive in when Yang held her shoulder.

"Whoa! I don't think it's that easy to kill a legend." She said. "Besides, I'm pretty sure he tricked us into thinking he fell in. Probably planned his escape beforehand. Let's just head back and let the Minister know what happened."

Ruby sighed. "Fine."

---------------------------------------------------

Jaune stepped out of the shower, shoving his head to one side as he fruitlessly tried to remove the water from his ears. If he knew he would be spending all day underwater, he would have prepared a spare set of dry clothes beforehand. Instead, he had to change his clothes inside out in the drain before returning home, still looking like a soaked rat.

At least Dad would be home for dinner. He was always there to save him from his nagging mother. He lost his leg in his final, fateful battle to protect his city, and had been forced to retire into the role as a banker. This was fine with him because one of his weird hobbies was counting.

"Jaune," he'd tell him, "when you get to be my age, you learn to count the most important things in your life. For me, it was always smiles. Nothing makes your life more worth doing than a smile."

Jaune would always smile at that, which he couldn't help but find funny. As he threw on a clean shirt, he made his way downstairs to dinner. A good meal would help him forget about the crazy day he had by the nicest café on the east side. He was grateful to the huntresses, but was still in surprise that his mother would stoop to sink as low as hiring professional Grimm killers to hunt him down.

True, she didn't know her son was Aquadia's number one hero, but still, that was just rude. With a sigh, he turned the corner to the dining hall, ready to forget all about those huntresses.

"Jaune, have a seat." His mother called. "Come and meet our guests for tonight, Team RWBY of Vale."

If Jaune wasn't the great hero that he was, he would have screamed right there. Instead, a squeak would have to do.

#rwby #la lama lunga au #ruby rose #blake belladonna #yang xiao long #weiss schnee #mama arc #jaune arc #papa arc #la lama lunga

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metvmorqhoses · 11 months

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If Alina’s hatred for Aleksander felt a little too contrived and compensating then perhaps that’s exactly what it was? Her character this season came off as someone desperate to prove herself; she was steamrolling ahead with blinders on and covering her ears at anything that challenged her (her goal of tearing down the fold and tada! happily ever after). It would make sense then that whatever feelings she has for Aleksander would be deeply suppressed and instead used as fuel in her anger towards him since she isn’t someone yet who is ready to deal with the messy nuance of the world she’s in and it’s contradictions, much less the complications of her own feelings. I do think Mal is boring but he wasn’t wrong for breaking up with her since he realizes he doesn’t really know who Alina is anymore. Aleksander on the other hand does know her in a way that only a soulmate can (“I have never turned away. I never will”). This whole season he was unhinged but in that desperation was a genuine worry for her. He wanted her to understand where he was coming from because he’s walked her path, he’s known what it is to hope and want to be a hero, and the inevitable heartbreak and pain it causes. It seems like he wanted to her to skip over that painful step if he could just get through to her. Unfortunately it is something she has to go through to grow. If season 2 was her stubbornly naive self in full mode, then hopefully season 3 shows us a more mature Alina who struggles to balance power and what it means. I don’t expect her to ever fully be on Aleksander’s side but I would like to see the understanding and at time’s tenderness, she feels towards him that was missing this season. Sorry I know this is nothing new to you but I’m still processing this season and always love your thoughts! An aside, Aleksander letting Alina kill him even while deeply disagreeing with her on a political and philosophical level, and still being amazed by her light as he marvels at “blue skies” killed me. I don’t care what anyone says really does love her.

From a pure storytelling point of view, this season and specifically Alina's arc (whatever it might be and under whichever lenses we might choose to look at it) was a writing failure. There is sadly no escaping that. It was crass, nonsensical, exaggerated, dull, colourless, problematic.

Even conceding her over-the-top and baffling behaviour was indeed done on purpose, no talented writer in their right mind could have possibly thought that good protagonist material, not even for the most black-and-white, simplest children's saga - especially having for canon a far more complex and valid characterization from the literary source (I can't believe I'm typing this, but here we are).

The fact that they managed to produce the worst books-to-show adaptation I've probably ever seen out of fear of a bunch of woke American mums and teens is genuinely disturbing.

This said, there are ways a good writer could salvage this, twisting this into sense and depth even, and you listed a lot of good points in this regard.

This idiocy galore could indeed be spun as Alina's hubris and blindness, her inexperience even, backfiring at her. It could absolutely be the arc that led to the wall she had to crush into in order to listen to what Aleksander was trying to warn her about, the proverbial finger children have to put into the fire themselves before believing it burns.

I could even raise the bar a notch and state that, psychologically speaking, when someone who isn't intelligent enough to understand their own being in denial is frustrated and angry with themselves, they funnily tend to project their own self-hatred and fury upon the person they trust the most and in general hold most dear. And this, even if I'm sure it wasn't absolutely intended, strikes me as particularly true regarding their dynamic in season two: no matter what Aleksander told her, no matter how much sense it made, no matter the obvious honesty of the feelings he was showing her (he opened a lot with her this last season despite her stubborn deafness, almost as if he had wanted to make up for the previous pretences and half-truths), she did nothing but choose him as her universal scapegoat and, quite absurdly, right because he was still the person she unconsciously felt closest to.

He was still her mentor and lifeline even the moment she decided to blindly sacrifice him on the altar of her own naive self-righteousness and hypocrisy. And he let her. Even in death, he wanted to serve the purpose of teaching her a lesson, open her eyes, and I don't think that ultimately, deep down, this truth completely escaped her.

A good writer would use all this to build season three. But I've honestly lost all hope at this point.

What I really don't think could be savaged is who Alina has time and time again proved to be as a person - she is someone who is in her twenties but has the brain of a not-particularly-bright infant; she is someone with the emotional capability of a rock; she isn't capable of complex thoughts, but above all she is self-centred and ignorant even when her personal life experiences should have at the very least taught her otherwise. I didn’t like her before, but now she is honestly ruined for me as a character. Aleksander deserved much better than her. He is everything she'll never be.

#darklina #shadow and bone #the darkling #aleksander morozova #dark alina #sab metas #one and one thousand stories lis told #anon #asks/replies

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deconstructthesoup · 6 months

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Holy shit, you guys liked my Hatchetfield/Fantasy High idea... still coming up with a good name for it. Just using "High School is Killin' Me" would be good, but that might get confusing in the tags.

That being said, oh boy do I have more, so... let's dive in.

Ragh: He's essentially Max Jagerman if he'd actually had the chance to get that redemption arc (instead of, y'know, dying and becoming a vengeful ghost). Back in his freshman year, he was that jerk, and when he met Fabian, it could've easily resulted in two equally hardheaded guys becoming each other's absolute nightmare, but after Fabian initially got rejected from the team despite being the best at tryouts---and after Fabian slipped Ragh the answers to a test in order to get into his good graces---Ragh stuck up for him and got him on the team. It took a while for them to really become friends, mostly due to the fact that they both needed to grow past the toxic masculinity, but they got there eventually, with Fabian being the first person that Ragh came out to. And, yeah, their relationship was initially "friends with benefits" until they got their shit together. (I don't know what Lydia's deal is yet---she might just have a chronic illness, but it could also have LiB connections.)

Tracker: Her story's fairly similar to in canon---religious family who kicked her out once she started questioning everything, moved in with her cool uncle as a result---only instead of dropping out of high school, she transferred from Sycamore to Hatchetfield High. This worked out pretty well, seeing as Jawbone had just started his guidance counselor position after getting clean and putting that psychology degree to good use. Tracker's adjusting all right to her new life---she goes to concerts at the Slaughtered Pig, she's getting really into witchy stuff, and she's bonded with the principal's daughter over having to go to the school your parent works at... and she's also somehow developed a gigantic crush on the local church girl, which she initially tells herself is completely hopeless. But at night, she dreams of a haunted forest, a full moon, and a woman with white hair whose face she can never quite make out. And one day, she and Kristen find a book in Jawbone's study...

Jawbone: He's kind of the Miss Holloway equivalent, because honestly? There's really no other character who fits the vibe. Instead of being an immortal 80's singer who became a witch, however, he's a seemingly normal guy who grew up in Hatchetfield and has left quite a bit off times, but always finds his way back, and he's staying this time. Part of the reason he always leaves is, of course, the pressure of being queer in a small town, but he also has always had unusual abilities that he can't explain, and he used to either ignore his powers through the use of drugs or show them off as party tricks that would eventually get out of hand. But after years of misspent youth, he decided to get his life together, kind of like Emma did... and when he came back to Hatchetfield, he found a copy of the Black Book and learned the truth. Jawbone's now a protector of the town, helping people in his own way---and sometimes, that means having to let people in on the truth about Hatchetfield.

Ayda: She's well known for being the principal's daughter, a total nerd, and a bit of a recluse through no fault of her own, but there is much more to Ayda than meets the eye. See, Arthur Aguefort, way back in the 1900s, made a deal with Tinky after he lost his wife---that if he never lost Ayda in that same way, he'd serve the Lord in Black for eternity. Tinky agreed, Arthur managed to find a loophole and get outta there with an indefinite lifespan and a seemingly immortal daughter, but Tinky wasn't too happy about losing a future resident of the Bastard Box, so he turned the gift he'd given Ayda on his head. Instead of living forever, Ayda is capable of dying, but every time she dies, she is born again, with no memory of who she was or the powers she has---the original Ayda could control flame, and so can every version of her. So Arthur has to watch his daughter die again and again, find herself again and again, struggle again and again... yeah, there's a reason he became principal of Hatchetfield High instead of the mayor. By this point, he's decided that if he can't help Ayda, the best thing he can do is get to know her well while he can. (She's gonna have a happy ending, don't worry---I'm not that cruel)

Aelwyn: On the surface, she and Adaine have the same relationship as they initially did in canon---constantly bickering, constantly competing, you know the drill---but underneath all that, Aelwyn cares deeply for her sister, and has tried very hard over the years help keep Adaine's powers hidden from their parents. It's really due to not wanting to upset their parents that Aelwyn doesn't try as hard as she should, and why she's fairly distant from her sister most of the time. Their relationship is sorta a Lex-and-Hannah situation... if Lex was a straight-A popular party girl instead of a grungy, rebellious high school dropout. Aelwyn does eventually find herself and grow closer to Adaine, but it takes a while for that to happen.

Zelda: She's still a super-shy and awkward dork who loves pretty much every alt-music genre known to man and has some mild anger issues. In all honesty, not a lot changes about her, aside from her being human and not a satyr---she has a crazy family, she's got a crush on Gorgug that eventually turns into a very sweet relationship, and she eventually becomes friends with The Seven... though, I'm gonna need to finish that season before I can give you guys any more information on the rest of them. However, I will say that the Penelope and Sam situation is gonna tie into the Honey Festival.

Other miscellaneous ideas/characters: Sandra Lynn is a park ranger in Witchwood Forest, Garthy O'Brien runs one of the only queer nightclubs in Hatchetfield, Basrar still runs his ice cream parlor, Gilear is still a mess

And... yep, that's it for now. I'll talk about some of the antagonists later, and then maybe I'll get around to The Seven.

#fantasy high #dimension 20 #starkid #hatchetfield #ragh barkrock #tracker o'shaughnessey #jawbone o'shaughnessey #ayda aguefort #aelwyn abernant #zelda donovan

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