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shizucheese · 3 months

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Okay okay okay, I need everyone to listen to me about this.

I know I kinda talked about this before in a reblog to someone else's post, but the idea has been rotating in my brain ever since and I feel like it needs to be further explored. A lot of people have been talking about the differences between TMA and TMP, and memeing about how people can actually quit the OIAR (which btw, I'll believe when I actually see it, by which I mean if we're able to get through the entire series without Teddy either coming back or turning up dead or otherwise facing "You can quit but you can never leave" levels of repercussions) but like nobody, from what I've seen, has been talking about what imo is the pretty glaringly obvious element at play here. So let's talk about the spider in the room, shall we? What do we know about the Magnus Institute in TMA?

People came there to give statements regarding their spooky experiences, including people who had doubts about doing so (because they weren't sure if the Institute was reputable, because they weren't sure if they believed what they had experienced, because they served a different entity so what reason would they have to do something for The Eye, etc).

The head archivist would ultimately become the Archivist, an Avatar of the Eye.

The Archivist's abilities included enabling statement givers to give their statements without going off track or leaving out details (we even see what happens when it's not the Archivist taking the statement), and being able to compel people to tell them things against their will, from statements to their darkest secrets.

You couldn't quit, at least not without gouging your eyes out.

The Magnus Institute was a part of the Eye.

Or was it? Because the other thing we know about the Magnus Institute is that the Web was using it as part of its plan to break free from the TMA world and gain access to the other worlds out there. How much of the compulsion aspects of the Institute-- people being drawn to the Institute to give statements, the Archivist's ability to draw statements and secrets out of people, people's inability to quit the Institute--was actually because of the Web? Where does the Eye's "compulsion to seek out knowledge even if it could be bad/ harmful" end and the Web's "not being in control of your own actions" begin? Was the Archivist--at least in the form Gertrude and John took--really purely an Avatar of the Eye? Or were they an Avatar of a mix between The Eye and the Web, much like how Martin, if he were to ever become a full fledged Avatar, likely would have been a mix of the Eye and the Lonely, just like his domain in S5 was? After all, Jonah was an Eye Avatar, was he not? And as far as we saw, he never needed to compel information out of people. He just Knew it (and used it to torment people).

One of the themes I've been playing around with in my TMA fanfictions since I first finished the podcast for the first time last winter is how the course of history would be different in the alternate worlds, where the Web wasn't interfering--at least not on the same scale, or for the same reasons--since it had already gotten what it wanted at the end of TMA. And I think that's exactly what we're seeing a version of in Protocol. I think the OIAR is what it looks like when it's entirely the Eye at play, with 0 interference from the Web. The Eye is all about having your secrets exposed, being watched, being followed. The tape recorders--something that would need to be turned off and on (controlled) in order to record something--were a tool of the Web. Now we're "witnessing" the events of the podcast through the audio from security cameras and other things that are constantly running; constantly seeing and listening without needing to be turned on and off. The statements aren't being given by people who somehow found their way to the institute and were on some level or another compelled to tell their tales. They're journal entries detailing a person's private thoughts. They're letters meant only for the eyes of the recipient, sharing secrets not meant for anyone else. They're recorded therapy sessions.

And the statements that are related to the Eye? The ones read in John's voice? They're forum and blog posts, which not only makes them the only ones whose sources didn't have the same expectation of privacy as the others, also ties them to the Web, since computers and websites were previously established as being associated with it.

#the magnus protocol #the magnus protocol spoilers #tmp #tmp spoilers #tmagp #tmagp spoilers #tma spoilers #shizu's red string board

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yuri-is-online · 3 months

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Love and Deepspace Timeline: Xavier

This is all speculation and should not be taken as fact, I have made a previous post about Zayne, but as stated there I do not have the necessary cards to make one for Rafayel and will direct you to this post by u/joonmin on the love and deepspace subreddit. This post is being made before I have managed to complete the Myths date (as soon as I hit level 55 it is over for you hos) and will be updated at some point once I have finished it, but I think I have enough information to explain Xav's overall timeline and hopefully clear up a few things for people missing his cards.

I have included a TL;DR at the end of the post for people who don't want to get lost in the weeds of theorizing.

Some information from that post about Zayne will be re-hashed here to help provide context about the game's setting. SPOILERS FOR ALL IN GAME CONTENT UP TO CHAPTER 8, VARIOUS MOMENTS, AND ANECDOTES, PROCEED WITH CARE.

Current Timeline

The current timeline where the main story of LAD takes place is set in the year 2048 in a place called Linkon City. We are told that the Deepspace Tunnel opened 14 years prior and that is when wanderers started invading earth. There is a lack of understanding about why this has happened, and it has sparked an interest in space exploration in the hopes of finding a solution.

The Hunters Association is sort of like an adventurers guild? It's supervised by the government, and is sort of split between Hunters like MC and researchers attempting to understand what makes the wanderers tick.

This includes researching protocores, currently the only thing the hunter's association knows for sure is that they contain a great deal of energy, and that they can cause disease in humans based off of which category the protocore falls into. This is confirmed the be what is wrong with MC, and appears to be a problem all versions of her share.

The events immediately following the opening of the Deepspace Tunnel are referred to as the Catastrophe due to the amount of destruction caused by the influx of wanderers. This is what birthed the N109 Zone. According to the in game Spacepedia, it is surrounded by various other "no-hunt" zones, which it further clarifies as being places with "a chaotic Protofield and frequent Wanderer appearances," i.e. really dangerous places for people to live let alone go to. Civilians are outright banned and hunters need special permission to enter because of just how dangerous these places are considered to be.

Unlike Zayne and Rafayel, Xavier does not have an alternate self yet. The versions of him in his myths card and all of his anecdotes are all the same person, just at various points in his long life. The technicality of this is addressed in one of the shareable posts: Immortality No Longer A Dream! The article goes into detail about how a new biotech company using protocores to regenerate the heart. You can share this article with each of the three boys, who have different types of reactions, but Xavier's is not one of surprise or skepticism, but of acceptance. The article itself talks about immortality as something everyone will one day be able to accomplish, but Xavier disagrees.

Xavier's first two anecdotes, A Special Vacation and Passing By, both establish how exactly he has been living his life on earth since his arrival. We learn that he has been doing his best to keep a low profile by moving between various jobs and tries to avoid making friends. As mentioned by @exactlycleverpirate in the replies of this post (who has made their own timeline you can check out here) "Xavier says he has been on Earth for 214 years, and that this will be his last. That means he arrived in 1834. We also see in one of his Tender Moments, that he rented a book from the library 30 years ago. So he has definitely been on Earth longer than the Deepspace tunnel has been around." Chapter 8 ends tells us that soon Earth and Philos will be in alignment for the first time in billions of years, which is likely why Xavier says this year will be his last, but I am unclear about what exactly that will cause.

We learn that there are other immortals from the same place as Xavier living in Linkon City, and that some of the see him as a traitor. We can assume that many of these immortals are involved with Onychinus due to Xavier's knowledge of and interest in their organization.

It's not clear how or when Xavier chose to start working as a Deepspace Hunter, but the other jobs he's taken all seem to be related to the military/evol combat. He is also very keen on fighting wanderers, so being a hunter is a good way for him to hide in plain sight. Which is what he has been trying to do.

His Precious Bonfire date suggests he has been a hunter longer than MC and has a reputation of not participating in team events. He has the highest level of access to the Hunters Association database and seems to have a good working relationship with Jenna, who seems content to let him do his own thing. She also attempted to assign MC as his partner, in part seemingly because she wants to protect MC's evol.

There is of course also the concept of Lumiere, a legendary hunter who appears during the catastrophe caused by the Deepspace Tunnel and wreaked any wanderer he came across. He has a light evol, a giant bounty on his head, and looks exactly like Xavier when we see his wanted poster in Chapter 8. While MC might have her doubts, since we the reader know Xavier is immortal, it's not much of a jump to say these two hunters are the same person.

Chapter 8 gives us more detailed look at the exact dynamics these immortals have with each other, but I think it makes sense to talk about Xavier's origins first so we know where he is coming from.

Philos Timeline

As I said on my other post, all of the Myths cards take place on the planet of Philos. In the present timeline, Philos is no longer a planet, just a lonely core floating in deepspace at the other end of the deepspace tunnel. In Xavier's third anecdote, When Shooting Stars Fall, we finally learn what Philos is: it's Earth. An Earth that has been reborn by substituting the planet's old core with an artificial one and with a different name.

Now this anecdote takes place in the year 214, which is explained to us as meaning 214 years has passed since Earth was destroyed and reborn as Philos. How does that make sense if we are currently on a very much alive earth with a very dead Philos on the other end of the Deepspace Tunnel? No clue, but I think that's going to be one of the main focuses of the story. Something had to happen to Earth to make it become Philos, and then something happened to Philos to make it uninhabitable. Given what we know, both are likely related to wanderers.

I also want to briefly mention that in Rafayel's myths card, it is mentioned that the sea is missing so the Lemurians have no home. Based off of MC's description of the weather and how "fragmented landmasses" are being held together, I wonder if the re-birth of Earth as Philos is what caused the seas to dry up? And if so what role did MC have in the creation of Philos if any?

This anecdote is from the pov of MC who is studying at a school she simply refers to as "The Academy." It is unclear if this is the same school as she and Xavier are attending in his Lightseeker cards, but based off the uniform he wears and the sword he carries I think this is likely meant to be a highschool of some sort, and the Astria Knyght Academy is a form of military school equivalent to a college.

Xavier's words about immortality being a privilege come into play here as we learn something about MC: she always seems to have heart problems, specifically she always seems to have Protocore Syndrome, the exact same disease she currently has. In this anecdote she explains it as being a birth defect that has only one cure, a special protocore. One that supposedly can cure any illness.

Protocore disease prevents the patient from living forever, something Xavier finds very hard to accept. He abandons MC for a month without telling her where he is going to try and find this Protocore that she needs to live, but comes back too late. By the time he finds her, the core can't save her and he holds her as she dies. She asks if he thinks they will meet in her next life and he promises to always wait for her.

We know current timeline MC has shards of an Aether core in her heart, and that her heart is currently stable. While the anecdote does not outright say that the cure to Protocore Syndrome is an Aether core, Xavier's knowledge of them and his emotions when MC brings them up to him makes me think it probably is. Currently we do not know how an Aether core can be obtained, other than (assuming that is what he brought MC) Xavier was injured getting one. The MC here says she is unable to live for more that a century, something that has changed in her next re-incarnation but we don't know why.

When MC re-incarnates she is brought under the tutelage of the Grandis Knight, the personal knight and retainer to the King of Philos. Xavier is the Crown Prince of Philos, and is also studying under swordplay under the Grandis Knight. She has no memories of Xaveir, who does not tell her about their shared past despite holding on to the gift she made for him: a star sword tassel. This doesn't seem to bother him as much as you might expect, he mostly just seems happy to have her alive again.

She is stupid jealous of that tassel because Xavier openly admits to being in love with the girl who gave it to him. But he also speaks about her and the MC in the same sentence if that makes any sense? He sees both versions of her as her, and just as he promised he intends to wait for her so they can be together.

Xavier is an interesting character (to me anyway) because he has a pretty clear arc to his attitude towards his relationship with MC as he ages. He starts off as being shy in the third anecdote, then he moves to being openly teasing and affectionate (outright asking to elope and saying things that make it sounds like they might have been betrothed) in his lightseeker cards, to how he is at the end of his myths date and currently with MC: restrained in his interactions with her but unable to completely keep himself away. Why he has become restrained, why he thinks he needs to distance himself from MC is unclear. What is clear is that he has no interest in taking the throne from his father, a man he actively hates and does not seem to see eye to eye with. While their relationship seems to have always been tense, the breaking point is during Xavier's Gladius Ceremony.

The Gladius Ceremony is a sort of coming of age ceremony where the heir proves their ability to ascend the throne by killing a wanderer with nothing but their lightblade. Something happened during that trial that Xavier does not want to talk about and MC mentions he has "changed" since then. Like he left part of himself behind????

As an interesting note this trial takes place in a forest, a sentient forest much like No-Hunt Zone 7 in chapter three.

Xavier says he cannot be the man his father wants. What his father wants is not clear, but I personally think it has something to do with what wanderers are as Xavier seems to have a degree of sympathy towards them if they show a degree of sentience. It also might have something to do with how Philos was made, as both MC and Xavier acknowledge that the planet is dying.

The MC mentions that Xavier leaves her a lot but always comes back within a specified time frame. He goes on expeditions into Deepspace, but never tells MC what he is looking for and we as a reader do not learn. He does, however, mention finding a newborn planet filled with flowers and offers to take MC there if she will give up on being a knight. She is confused, as her entire life's purpose has been to be his knight, and doesn't fully comprehend a world where Xavier isn't going to be king.

But the card story starts with MC being crowned Queen, with Xavier as her Grandis knight, so we know that's what will happen. So neither of them got what they wanted in the end.

The "Lightseeker" title of Xavier's card refers to a unit of knights that are commanded by the Crown Prince and answer only to the royal family. Their duty is to keep Philos safe from Wanderers, much like the modern day Hunter's Association. Both the MC and Xavier are training to become Lightseekers, and have a sort of rivalry for the spot. MC keeps beating Xavier when they spar but he seems to have the stronger Evol so they're quite equally matched. It's stupid cute how everyone but Jeremiah thinks they hate each other, speaking of which:

Jeremiah is a friend of MC's in the same class as her. He's also her wingman who keeps trying to help set her and Xavier up, something Xav doesn't seem fully aware of. He's stupid jealous of their friendship which Jeremiah seems to find really funny (he's the only one who knows how delulu they are for each other and seems to find a lot of enjoyment in teasing them.)

Jeremiah also ends up being a knight under MC's command after they graduate the academy. Xavier however... goes missing after a meeting with his father and does not reappear even after he dies. He is missing for a period of 200 years until MC finds him again in the same forest that his Galdius Ceremony took place in. He saves her from... something. An illusion? A cosmic vortex? Whatever it was Xavier has discovered something that affects the health of people's hearts. And he seems determined to not get close to MC or let MC get close to him because of it.

I think it might just be because she is about to die from her disease, which she doesn't seem aware she has but always does, and Xavier doesn't want to have to watch her die again. But I haven't finished the card yet so I don't know.

He also seems to be under the impression the whole world is going to end now, and not just Philos.

The last thing we need to take from all of this information about Philos is the existence of a group called the Backtrackers. Xavier was with them once, but he isn't anymore. MC was seemingly under their care and, according to his Passing By anecdote, traveled through the Deepspace Tunnel with them but was lost. I'll explain more about what I think about them now that we're ready to return to the present timeline, but just know that the Backtrackers are A) from the Philos timeline and B) likely immortal just like Xavier is.

Back to the Present

In Chapter 8 you are either introduced or re-introduced to Jeremiah, who now owns a flower shop called Philo, likely named after his home planet of Philos. He is a friend of Xavier's and they both share the same current goals, which includes protecting the MC. Jer's job in this chapter is to provide MC with a fake identity to use in the N109 zone, but he does provide us with some information to try and tie up some loose ends with Xavier's timeline.

While the Nonintervention principal he refers to probably does have something to do with MC, it also likely just refers the fact that since both Xavier and Jeremiah are from Philos and therefore the future they are trying not to interfere with the timeline too much. Something that whoever blew up MC's house does not care about anymore, implying that if that was indeed Onychinus then we can assume they likely are also immortals from Philos who want MC and her Aether core for something.

When MC finds Xavier again after his 200 year disappearing act he is leading a squad of Lightseekers from various units. I think these are probably the Backtrackers, and that there was a split in the group after the MC and the Aether core went missing during their journey into the Deepspace Tunnel. We know that at least Xavier has been here longer than the Deepspace Tunnel has been, but there is room for speculation around Jeremiah and the others. As Pirate again pointed out in the comments, whatever disaster during the travel the Backtrackers took into the Deepspace Tunnel likely caused them to arrive at a bunch of different points in time.

While this confirms that Xavier and Jeremiah are not from this timeline it raises a lot of questions about MC. Her memory is constantly spotty, and I had wondered if that had something to do with the Aether core... but now.

With the way Xavier tries to limit his interactions with her and says he's the last person who should be trying to get close to her I wonder if Xavier is worried MC is being erased from time? Or if she belongs to this timeline so while he loves her, while he wants to be the one she chooses, he subconsciously knows he's from a doomed timeline and therefore unable to stay with her. This also raises questions about the other two love interests; we know MC has forgotten things about Rafayel and I theorized she has forgotten something about Zayne. Is this because they also don't belong? Does MC not belong? Or is it something related to the trauma MC experienced from being experimented on?

TL;DR

This was all pretty complicated so I thought I would sum up the basic points because I felt a bit incoherent.

Xavier is the Crown Prince of Philos, a future version of Earth that was created by replacing Earth's core with a fake one.

This fake core allowed the citizens of Philos to live forever unless they had the rare heart condition know as Protocore Syndrome, something the MC always has no matter how many times she is reborn.

The cure to Protocore Syndrome is a rare Protocore that Xavier tries to get for her but gets back with too late. He watches her die and while he was already shown dislike seeing her injured, this seems to turn it into a genuine trauma of his. He is shown to be deeply distraught seeing her gravely injured or sick in multiple moments/dates and is determined to take care of her. In a rare decision by the writers, this does not appear to manifest itself as a desire to not see her engage in combat as he trusts her ability to take care of herself, just maybe not her willingness.

MC is reborn and begins military training with Xavier intending to become his knight, but Xavier refuses to take the throne of Philos for reasons he does not share with MC. He also begins disappearing for long periods of time on journeys into space. On one of these journeys he finds a young planet filled with flowers and attempts to convince MC to elope with him and abandon her dreams of being a knight. He seems uncertain if MC's desire to be with him is just because she has been told she is to be his knight or if it is because she genuinely loves him; Xavier knows which one he wants it to be though.

After talking with his father he disappears for 200 years and founds a group of knights investigating a forest with an unstable Protofeild where killed Wanderers simply don't stay dead. It is my theory that these are the Backtrackers mentioned by past MC, Jeremiah, and Xavier.

Xavier arrives in this current timeline in year 1834. Other immortals from Philos begin to arrive in the current timeline at different points and agree upon something they call the Nonintervention Principal, likely to keep from destroying the spacetime continuum too much. What they are refusing to intervene in is unclear.

The Backtrackers made a journey through the Deepspace Tunnel with future past MC and an Aether core, but something goes wrong and she disappears. Xavier has been waiting to see her again ever since he got here, and intends to wait forever.

There are more immortals than just Xavier and Jeremiah living in Current Timeline Linkon City, some of which are very likely allied with Onychinus and searching for the MC. Why is related to the Aether core in her heart, but might also have something to do with her Evol.

It is my personal belief that many of these citizens of Philos used to be in the Backtrackers, but even if they didn't they see Xavier as a traitor to his people and more importantly to them. Why is unclear, but I imagine it might be because of their goals for the MC and her Aether core. In a broader sense it might be because they intend to do something to current earth to save their home, and Xavier disagrees with that but the two things do not seem mutually exclusive.

Earth and Philos are about to be in very close alignment, and both Xavier and Jeremiah expect something bad to happen around that time.

Final Thoughts

I would be interested in knowing the direct Chinese translation of these particular lines from precious bonfire to see if there is any difference to them... but honestly this is one of the things that sold me on him. She dies and he follows the traces of her light until he finds her again, and he tries to keep her alive but he fails and so he follows her again.

I saw at least one post wondering of Xavier will betray MC and rip the Aether core out of her heart, and I want to clear that up here. I understand why people might think this if they haven't read any of his anecdotes but no, that's not going to happen unless it's the only way to save MC's life. Xavier very much wants to keep MC alive, his efforts to distance himself and withhold information from her are always done to serve that goal.

Rafayel is the one who has a pretty good reason to want to cut out MC's heart, not Xavier. And I do mean good reason I don't really hate him for it and am not trying to imply he's a bad character or a bad romance option for it.

One of Xavier's immortal friends is name Noah. There is always a chance that this is a coincidence, but there's a part of me that wonders if he shares the same name as Dr Noah because they are the same person. The anecdote he appears in involves Xavier getting him a new identity so I don't think they're likely to be related.

I actually really like MC , Xavier, and Jeremiah's friendship and sort of hope it gets some focus in some small way in the future. Jer and Xav had to have bonded over losing MC, not to mention Jeremiah spent 200 years fighting Wanderers with MC under her command. She talks about him as being her best friend!!! I want to see more of him!!! (if he doesn't have a partner and if I can't have Tara x Jenna I should be allowed Tara x Jeremiah)

I'm worried there might be a plot point that involves Xavier dying in the future and then maybe we get to meet a different timeline version of him and end up on the opposite side of the "can't tell this ghost wearing your face how I really feel" spectrum.

Speaking of which I like how Xav seems to respect MC's current life and doesn't expect her to be a carbon copy of her past selves. It's nice (stares at critically acclaimed mmorpg villain Emet Selch)

Anyway that's it. I'll update the post when I finish the Myths card, which I fully expect to make me cry like a baby. If anything confused you my askbox is open, just because I write for twst doesn't mean I am not open to talking about this if I made mistakes or if you feel like any of this was unclear.

#love and deepspace #lad xavier #love and deepspace xavier

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ghostflowerhotpotch · 10 months

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How do you think the events at the end of the movie would’ve played out had Miles actually gotten sent to his home universe (Earth-1610) and Gwen had also arrived there as well when she got the watch from Hobie? How different would that part of the movie be excluding the stuff that happened at Earth-42.

Honestly? That's a good question.

I initially was thinking of someone a fic response like I did with the jealous prompt I got a few days ago, but I couldn't find a way that I could align all the canon elements in the fic in a way that would give a good conclusion. Perhaps I would use that idea for a proper fic.

Regardless, the thing that I keep thinking is not on Miles or Gwen, but Miguel and his allies.

At first, naively so, I thought Miguel and the others were looking for the Spot; perhaps I just wanted to think this a bit more positively; because the idea that this grown ass man roped two other people to capture a 15 year old that wants to save his dad is...a choice.

(I swear I don't hate Miguel, he just tests my patience a lot.)

Now, for obvious reasons these would be a problem for any Ghostflower reunion because Miguel has no chill; and would not wait nicely for this young couple to settle an argument.

Where is he, though.

Not seriously, what is this?

I was thinking he would be in Visions Academy, but this doesn't look like it at first glance. The dark atmosphere and the rain is not helping this either. If anybody has an idea, I am listening, but the only clue I have is that Miguel has a gigantic red sign that says "Welcome."

(Fun fact, the first time I saw this movie i almost expected the sign to say Hell. It wouldn't make sense on a world building sense but that was what going on my mind seeing this situation.)

Riley we know was waiting in front of Miles's house.

Now, this one is not really a problem because in the scenario that they are all in the same universe, this would mean Gwen already dispatched the Meathead (the director's words, not mine;) with Miles just entering his room after that.

Considering the situation, there is a chance Gwen would either see Miles going into his apartment, or perhaps Miles realizing that Gwen is on the alley. However for the nature of this ask, we would not explore those scenarios in this post.

Here is when it gets tricky.

Jessica was following Miles' dad, which makes sense considering they are looking for Miles and he may try to go directly to his dad.

In the scenario the timing tracks exactly the same, Gwen would probably look at the window and see Miles, so she may or not realize Jeff is coming.

What would I think if Gwen got to Miles directly? That things would probably escalate rather quickly.

I think if Gwen saw Miles lying on the floor (As he did when he got home in Earth 42;) she would quickly rush to him. To which I would expect Miles to either adopt a defensive posture, or tell her to stay away.

We need to remember that as far as Miles is aware, she is still working with the organization, last time they saw each other she was attempting to capture him (Well, honestly she didn't try very hard, but it would still be betrayal for him.)

Of course, I imagine Gwen would start with either a "I'm so sorry, Miles," "I am not here to fight, I am on your side," "I know a way we avoid the canon event." Perhaps she would say a combination of all of those things, the problem is that I don't think we would have a chance because problem number 3 would arrive.

(Imagine this is Rio from 1610.)

Now, I am going to be a bit generous here, and I will imagine that Rio didn't hear Miles coming in (unlike Rio from Earth 42,) perhaps the other version of her heard Miles come in because she was picking up laundry and was close to the door.

But I am sorry, every time I try to imagine an scenario where Gwen and Miles get to met here, I can't imagine any of them being quiet enough to not make Rio realize there are people in her house. Emotions are running way too high for either of them to think about that.

In the movie, Miles was on the floor and heard Rio appear, so he had the time to get his jacket on. In this scenario? Frankly I imagine Miles and Gwen would be close to screaming so neither of them would realize of her coming by.

Now imagine you are Rio for a moment.

You all of the sudden hear your son and or/the girl he was with earlier screaming about nonsense you don't know what the heck could be about, and when you open the door you see your son and that girl in Spider suits. No idea if there is any information or pictures of Gwen's as a Spiderwoman on Earth 1610, but that's kind of a moot point when your son not only is dressed up as the current spiderman, but also is sporting these.

(Sorry I don't have a full image, I try to get ANYTHING in the movie that would give me a good visual, and no shot; I couldn't get the complete image of where I got these, and finding these was a pain and a half.)

There is a 50/50 chance that Gwen/Miles may be able to sneak a "is a costume!" lie, but all things consider this would probably make Rio realize a lot of things are making sense all of the sudden. Rio would probably rush to Miles once she sees he is this hurt and freak out, no doubt.

And if things couldn't get worse, is around this time Jeff is coming upstairs, and who came with him?

YEP.

Now, we see that Jess spies on Gwen and Miles' parents thanks a device, not sure if this is the spider thing Gwen used earlier to track the Spot, or something else; regardless, she would definitely see them there, if not hear the ruckus.

Here is the thing, would I think Jess would do something?

...Sadly, yes.

Jess has kind of a soft spot for Gwen, and while I don't think she was the best Mentor (less about what she taught Gwen and more on not being there for her enough, but that's another discussion.) Jess gave the chance to Gwen to go to 1610 in the first place, she also let her try to fix it (thought the circumstances weren't too generous,) and while we don't have a clue what she would do next, I am inclined to believe that canonically, she is not going to snitch to Miguel that Gwen went by, perhaps only mention that Miles isn't in this dimension.

Because here is the thing, she has a soft spot for Gwen, but we can see that she definitely thinks Miles is a problem; and considering she is still helping Miguel, I doubt her mind had changed much in that regard.

So while she let Gwen "go" to get Miles (though there is the chance she is just letting her go so she can track where she is going,) I doubt she would see Miles there and not do something.

Now we have Rio screaming her lungs out about what the heck Miles has been doing, Miles probably trying to explain the situation to her, Gwen may or may not try to defend Miles (honestly the only reason I may think Gwen doesn't say anything is because this is really a conversation she shouldn't be involved.) And Jess then comes out from the window to collect Miles; she may also bring her Motorcycle with her which would cause even more chaos.

Hey remember how Jeff was just going upstairs? I like to think is something like this.

I know is an old meme but imagine Jeff, happily coming back home after an end of his shift; and he finds the house with his son on a Spiderman costume fighting a very pregnant woman (who may have the motorcycle INSIDE HIS HOUSE,) the girl he brought with him earlier shooting webs or something trying to stop the black lady, and his wife probably screaming on a corner.

While writing this, I originally was going to say earlier that having Miguel and his croonies here could make things a tad complicated; no wonder I deleted that earlier because this is just chaos.

Speaking of Miguel, no doubt Jess informed him that Miles was at his house, with no signs of Riley. Depending or where he is, he may be coming by soon enough.

Sorry if you or anyone else was expecting a fluffy or heartwarming scenario, but in this blog I try to adhere to canon facts as much as I can for these analysis, and I couldn't answer with canon possibilities without taking everything into account.

That being said, oh my g-d this was so much fun; I should try to do these more often.

I will see if I use the original fic idea I had in mind, while drafting this I also thought of the possibility of what would happen if Gwen's picture (That as discussed in this analysis, she may have with her) fell off while she was leaving Miles' apartment; if anyone is interested in that last idea please say so because I am on the fence about it.

That's it for today! Hope you folks had fun with this.

#ghostflower #gwiles #miles morales #rio morales #gwen stacy #jessica drew #atsv files #ghostflower files #atsv #across the spiderverse #jeff morales

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lavendermoonlitskies · 4 days

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Fanfic Friday: fic recs!

Hiii everyone, happy Friday! I forgot that I made a post like this ages ago for fanfic Friday, but I’ve read a bunch since then so here are some recommendations of Good Omens fics I’ve enjoyed recently:

“Heaven isn't built to house a love like you and I” by ItsScottiesStark

Rating: T

Length: 37,291 (8 chapters)

Summary: They did it. They stopped Armageddon. They survived.

This was it, the first time they were actually free to finally figure out what their side entailed.

Aziraphale is a being of love. Always has been. And now, all the love he has for Crowley is free to flow from the edge of his fingertips to the demon's, in a gesture that could only mean one thing; I'm with you. I'm here.

As much as his hands itch to reach out for the love of his existence, his words seem to fail him, time and time again. He knows Crowley deserves more than gentle hand holding and forehead kisses in the dark. He aches to scream his love from the top of his lungs, for the whole world to hear. And the demon knows it.

And he waits. Because he'll wait forever for Aziraphale. Because he knows they are meant to be one.

This one is great at immediately grabbing your attention. It starts on the bus during that scene towards the end of season 1 where Aziraphale holds Crowley’s hand, which very smoothly leads in to this theme of physical contact and how although they’re both unfamiliar with it, it’s secretly something they both long for from the other. Without spoiling too much, they sort of subtly lean into this desire for physical affection in a way that’s incredibly sweet yet almost tragic with how hesitant they are at the start of it. You can tell that they want so desperately to let the other know how much they care, but they still don’t know if the other is on the same page (so “he waits. Because he’ll wait forever for Aziraphale.”). This writer is really great at conveying how much they really love each other, highly recommend!

“Twin Suns” by IneffableDoll

Rating: T

Length: 7,291 words (3 chapters)

Summary: “I thought you were gone,” Crowley mumbled, and it was almost cliché, it was almost the kind of sentimental rubbish he would’ve moaned at had he heard it from someone else. But they were the rawest words he could manage. He’d thought Aziraphale was gone. That was all, and it said everything.

***

Directly following their celebratory meal at the Ritz, Aziraphale and Crowley clash with the feelings that struggle to settle after everything they’ve been through. And, in so doing, learn to rely on and communicate with each other in new ways.

Similar in concept to the previous one I mentioned, this fic takes place after the events of season 1. They get into some real honest conversations (something I love reading in fics because the characters in canon are not at that point yet and I am HUNGRY for some emotional honesty from them), and something I really love about this one is how patient they are with each other. In chapter one Crowley says that he’s not ready for this conversation, and Aziraphale respects that. Without spoiling too much more, they’re both super careful with the other’s boundaries as they kind of start to think and talk more about the love they have for each other that they’ve never really gotten the chance to explore until now. I absolutely love how they take things nice and slow, attentive to how the other is feeling about all of this. This kind of love is a new concept for the both of them, but they wouldn’t want it with anyone else, and so they try. And I think that’s beautiful.

“Icebergs and Angels” by The_Bentley

Rating: T/M (two versions)

Length: 23,498/24,929 words (8 chapters each)

Summary: It's 1912 and Aziraphale, not wanting to be lonely during his mission aboard Titanic, invites Crowley along for a cruise. But he boards the ship before knowing exactly what his mission is. When he learns Heaven wants to teach humanity a lesson for the claim even God couldn't sink it, it could damage his relationship with Crowley, who has his own views on Heaven's need to punish innocents. Can he repair things with Crowley and can they work together to save as many lives as possible?

The concept of this one is so cool, and very much something I could see actually happening in the show as another historical flashback/mini-sode. Aziraphale is given a mission from Heaven that entails many humans losing their lives, he’s obviously not on-board with that, and Crowley is there to help him save as many human lives as possible because, as much as he’d hate to admit it, he really is a nice demon who very much disapproves of Heaven’s disregard for human life. Throughout this one you get to see how the two of them interact with the humans, all while Aziraphale is battling this inner conflict of wanting to just go along with Heaven’s orders without questioning it while simultaneously knowing that it’s wrong. The narration is great, beautifully written and I really felt like the writer understands these characters on a very deep level. There are two different versions of this one, both of which are fantastic. I personally felt that the more platonic/aroace approach to Aziraphale and Crowley’s relationship in the context of this particular story was more fitting, but if you’d like something a little spicier I thought that the Mature rated one was just as good! (I’m linking the non-spicy version here, but the link to the spicy one is in the summary!)

#good omens #good omens fic rec #good omens fanfic #good omens fic #good omens fanfic rec #fanfic #fanfic friday #fic recs #crowley #aziraphale #aziracrow #ineffable husbands #good omens fandom

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fandom-flight · 9 months

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I'm about halfway through Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint,and I'm really impressed with how it practically bleeds with themes of storytelling and our relationship with stories as humans. There's the obvious stuff, like how the main character's whole shtick is being a reader with "bookmark" and "fourth wall" abilities, but as of about chapter like 240, I've never stopped tangibly feeling how much ORV seems to want to explore the concept of stories (and not just in the sense of the novel's world where stories are like a kind of power, though that is kind of part of it). I ended up having a lot of roving thoughts, so more under the cut

Specifically what I mean by this is that almost every aspect of the world building and the plot has some kind of commentary on how people relate to stories. The constellations, for example, are very clearly kind of meant to be audience stand ins, especially in the beginning. They're watching the stories of our main characters on stream much the same way that we the readers are watching the story of ORV on our devices in the real world, and oftentimes their reactions to the events mimic our reactions from the outside– they cringe when characters do embarrassing things, they ship characters with chemistry, they hold their breath when things gets tense, and feel genuinely sad and heartbroken when bad things happen to the characters in their show. It's through their financial support that some of these stories can continue to be told, kind of the same way that fans' monetary contributions to artists enables their art to continue being made. Kim Dokja even calls out how the tables have turned early on in the series, that he used to be the one watching them through a screen, and now the situation is totally reversed. The constellations also kind of mimic the negative effect that the audience can have on art– sometimes artists have to bend to the will of their supporters even when it goes against their desired direction for their own art because that's what pulls in the money, and the way that incarnations and dokkaebi have to listen to the will of their sponsors feels like a very on the nose parallel for this. ORV sets up both the constellations and Kim Dokja as content consumers who have a love of stories in common in order to make a statement about how loving stories is universal, while simultaneously laying groundwork to make statements about the line between reader and narrative. Another thing that Kim Dokja has in common with the constellations is that both he and they are increasingly brought to the boundary of the fourth wall as the series progresses. In the same way Kim Dokja starts to realize that he IS part of the story now, and that the people he previously just saw as characters are actually real human beings that he has emotional attachments to, the constellations also start becoming characters who appear in the story and impact it directly, rather than being detached observers. This process of becoming a part of the story after being emotionally invested in it is naturally not something that literally happens to people in real life, but readers wanting to insert themselves into a narrative they love is something very human. I mean, fanfiction is incredibly popular because a lot of us humans can't just leave media that we love alone, we keep thinking about it, we want to expand on it, change it, and sometimes even insert ourselves into it. Historically, myths have had many different versions circulate over time, with some cultures borrowing figures from others and literary giants creating characters of their own (or even versions of themselves *cough Dante cough*) to insert into these legends.

In addition to the very human desire to become a part of the stories we love, ORV also calls out how humans are are kind of enamored with certain themes, and that we show this by having these themes appear in various legends the world over. Realms of death, myths of resurrection, tales of slaying supernatural evils, all of these things are shown to be so universal that constellations sometimes have copyright disputes over them. The fact that the constellations that appear in ORV are so varied is another place where ORV proves to be a love letter to storytelling. The author has such a diverse collection of gods and historical figures that I can't help but see their love for stories as something so strong that it transcended culture and nationality. Furthermore, the fact that constellations obtain their status from how widespread their stories are feeds into the theme of people being stories, which is another interesting angle to look at the relationship between people and stories. ORV has characters literally say "people are stories" out loud, and Han Sooyoung references the philosophy that people only truly die when they've been forgotten, but there isn't a single second where I really stop feeling like this holds true for everyone in the book (and not just because souls being stories and people needing stories to live ends up being part of the worldbuilding). The idea is that our stories give us value, both intrisinsically and extrinsically. ORV represents this literally, as the notoriety of a story actually makes people stronger, and also stories can be used as currency or food to some people. Even on a scale lower than the constellations, the reputations of characters and the rumors of their incredible deeds can increase their value to outsiders, the same way that a person's reputation in the real world can affect their job prospects and social connections (this is a little more obvious and would happen in any story, but I think that the mythologizing of the ORV characters in their own universe is meant to exemplify the effect of a person's stories on their perceived value).

The theme of people being stories also extends to a related but still separate (I think) theme of everyone being the protagonist of their own story. Kim Dokja begins ORV by talking about how much Yoo Sangah feels like a protagonist. She has all the qualities that a main character should have, and Kim Dokja feels like he could never match that, despite the fact that he clearly wants to be a protagonist really badly. He wants to be cool, special, and confident, but it's not until the scenarios start and he starts being able to use skills in a way unique to him that he starts realizing that maybe he can be a protagonist too. And again, this is a theme that ORV just constantly exudes– Kim Dokja often explicitly talks about how everyone is living their own life and being their own person. When he sees Yoo Sangah and Lee Hyunsung for the first time after the intermediate dokkaebi Paul separates them following the golden thrones destruction, he's impressed by their growth while he wasn't looking, and we the audience are reminded that these people learn and progress as the center of their own world. When Kim Dokja is separated from his friends after the Dark Castle arc and hears what they've been up to, he muses about how, even without him, the world continues to turn, scenarios continue to run, and people continue to live. It very much helps that the author of ORV gives every side character a vibrant and memorable personality so that we can better empathize with them as their own people with their own lives, even though they might not get as much screentime. Characters who we do not think to care much about are shown to have significant development while the main character isn't with them. Kim Namwoon matures into a calmer, happier person in the Underworld long after I forgot he existed. Han Myungoh went from bring an insufferable nepotism baby to being a determined and loving father who is willing to be an ally. The author constantly reminds us that Kim Dokja isn't the only one in this world who is a protagonist with a story worth telling, and in a way, it kind of feels like they're also telling the readers that, not only are we the main characters of our lives, but we also can never forget that the people around us are protagonists of their stories as well.

In short, ORV uses just about every character and storyline to convey that humans may love to consume the stories of others, but we can't forget that we're also writing our own stories by living them. Humans are made up of the stories they love, the ones they write themselves, and the ones they put a part of themselves into, and I just get the sense that the author has a lot of feelings about stories and how important they are to us as a species in every sentence they write. I'm definitely curious to see how the story ends because I can't imagine how the author will conclude the series when making a statement about this theme seems so important, but anything that would be a satisfying conclusion to the story would really be counterproductive to making that statement. As a reader, I want a definitive "and they lived happily ever after after solving the story's problems," but since the author actually has Kim Dokja muse on how "he never felt satisfied by 'and they lived happily ever after'," I kind of can't imagine that that's how this series will end? Because it doesn't sound like the author was ever completely satisfied with those endings either. But I also don't think ORV is meant to be a tragedy, so I'm excited to see where things go!

#orv #omniscient reader's viewpoint #orv spoilers

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aeor-is-for-reccing · 10 months

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Alternative Timelines and Echoes: A Shadowgast Rec List

Hey everyone! This week we have nine incredible fics that are all about Alternative Timelines and Echoes. Recs under the cut, and as always, remember to comment or kudos if you liked them!

I always figured that I'd be the one to die alone by thesweetpianowritingdownmylife (6443,Teen) Reccer's Content Notes: Choose Not to Warn

Written pre-episode 97, Essek is travelling with the Nein and Caleb summons an echo of himself for watch. The echo version of Caleb is from a world where Essek died.

Reccer says: It's sweet and a little sad

the better version of our past by KmacKatie (kmackatie) (5840,Explicit) Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

While casting the time spell with Caleb, Essek has a moment of glimpsing a number of different futures

Reccer says: I liked it!

Time Relentless Takes No Sides by PryingBlackbird, sociallychallengednerd, toneofjoy (15260,Teen) Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

A device discovered in Aeor upends everything. Caleb is trapped in an endless swirl of alternate timelines, and there seems to be no way out.

Reccer says: It's very gripping, and the exploration of all of the different Calebs and Brens is fascinating!

The Refraction of Verisimilitude by marsastronomica (16537,Explicit) Reccer's Content Notes: Choose Not to Warn

The second in a scourger AU series, Bren attempts to keep the upper hand as Essek's world is rocked by the presence of the Nein

Reccer says: It's very engaging and textured, with Essek and Bren being matched opponents - plus there is a very good scene involving Essek showing Bren what exactly an echo might be used for

small works of cosmic scale by mousecookie (2547,General) Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

Essek has a breakthrough he wants to share with Caleb. A breakthrough that apparently includes a snail.

Reccer says: I liked it!

In all worlds, nothing is immutable by CherryMilkshake (22265,Teen) Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

Essek tries to travel through time, but instead finds himself in a world where he is happily involved with Caleb

Reccer says: I liked it!

Hang the Hourglass by Luckyowlsfoot (5723,Teen) Reccer's Content Notes: Major Character Death, Graphic Depictions of Violence

An alternate timeline's Essek has to step in to help in Aeor and Cognoza. he can't stay, however.

Reccer says: It hurts in just the right ways

And two fics each for:

reflections and other illusions of control (series) by atlasarcana (84220,Explicit) Reccer's Content Notes: Choose Not to Warn, Graphic Depictions of Violence, Dubcon/Consensual Non Consent

Essek and Caleb have bedroom issues and summon an echo. The Echo is from a timeline where Bren remained a Volstrucker. Soap opera relationship drama and cross-timeline espionage ensues.

Reccer 1 says: I like that it explores the idea of Bren vs. Caleb as different possible outcomes to the same childhood, and Essek vs. Shadowhand-Essek as different possible outcomes to the same adulthood with/without the Mighty Nein. Reccer 2 says: This fic series has everything. It's a wonderful character study through the means of kinky exploration between three (or...four?) people with incredibly tangled relationships with violence, shame and desire. Bren's characterizations is such a delight.

multitudinous echoes awoke and died in the distance by mousecookie (10003,Teen) Reccer's Content Notes: brief suicidal ideation

Caleb and Essek are summoned to an alternate timeline as Resonant Echoes of their evil selves, and fight to survive and get back.

Reccer 1 says: Cool concept and good emotional moments Reccer 2 says: It’s imaginative, fast-paced, and intense. The atmosphere is tense, and the visuals are really quite good.

Aeor is for Lovers is an 18+ Shadowgast Discord server. The above fanfic recommendations were pulled from our community for this weekly event. All fics, unless otherwise specified, will primarily feature Shadowgast. Have any questions about what this is? Check out the FAQ! Next week's theme is Babygast, so get ready for some cute kids!

#shadowgast #cr fic recs #fan fiction rec list #critical role fan fiction #aeor is for lovers #essek thelyss #caleb widogast

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wildissylupus · 6 months

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hi idk how much you analyze on hanzo but something thats been on my mind is the progression of his character through non-canonical events/interactions. I am aware there isn’t a lot of canon Hanzo content so take this thought with a grain of salt.

In Overwatch 1 hanzo’s personality was more stand-offish and maybe even rude. Now in Overwatch 2 he’s more approachable in a weird way? He’s still the same brooding guy but it’s almost like we see this “healed” version of his in overwatch 2. Not just from interactions but also from his character design aka the underbags being less prominent, him looking physically more healthy, the lack of bottle that has his sake (ofc this could just be them upgrading his look in the game).

While this is amazing and something I have always hoped to see from hanzo, part of me hopes that the developers/writers still remember hanzo from Overwatch 1. There hasn’t been a lot happening canonically with hanzo since the confrontation with Genji and if they were to skip from the last we saw of hanzo to the hanzo in overwatch 2 it feels like a lack of potential and even story telling?

Don’t get me wrong I love that hanzo is being given more personality and depth. It’s so refreshing that he gets to be something other than the ex-yakuza that murdered his brother lmao.

I guess I’m afraid that his development will feel rushed or like there’s gaps in it. I want to be able to see the rugged, tired bitter hanzo turn into the hanzo that literally contemplates the idea of settling down and adopting a dog, you know what I mean? I don’t just want it to be a thing that is skimmed over. I hope Overwatch touches on the more difficult situations in regards to mental health. And this isn’t just for hanzo, it’s for the whole roster.

I hope that each characters gets to grow and learn even if it’s unpleasant and “ugly” and that we actually get to SEE it in progression. Not just time skips and flashbacks or whatever.

Maybe it’s too early in canon mission events content to judge but it is something that has been in the back of my mind. I may be proven wrong later or be completely off but thoughts???

I do agree with this, though I don't think he should still be standoffish when he joins Overwatch, I do want there to be this awkward period where everyone adjusts to having him around. I also think that the reason for his character progression is going to be explored in his short story with Kiriko. It seems from the description that he's going to be getting some closure with his father, which would explain his change from OW1 to OW2.

However I think there is a different thing that could explain his change. Kiriko. I've explained this in passing but I think that both Genji and Hanzo are going to be given a second chance to be siblings, not to each other, but the people they have found on their own respective journeys.

Genji has stated that he sees Cassidy as a brother, which is interesting considering so far, other then Angela, since even OW1, he's shown the most concern about Cassidy's well being. Specifically his mental state. Unlike with Hanzo where is has been shown that Genji wasn't really knowledgeable of what Hanzo was going through with being the eldest son. Genji shows a lot more observation with Cassidy.

(Honestly I could write a whole essay about those two and how Genji is given a second chance to be there for who he views as an older brother BUT THIS POST AIN'T ABOUT HIM!)

I believe this is going to be the same with Kiriko and Hanzo but in reverse, while Genji gets the opportunity to look out for his older sibling, Hanzo actually gets to be an older sibling. He finally gets to relax and joke around, contemplate something other than Genji's death and how he can atone for that.

It would also be a nice parallel to Genji with instead of staying hang up on a previous relationship, he ends up creating a new one that is overall better for him.

It's also the matter of Kiriko and Hanzo's relationship is a lot more salvageable then Hanzo and Genji's. Listen, as much as I love those two, there is no way in hell they're going to get the normal sibling bond the fandom likes to give them. Even if that is the end goal for the writers, they would need to write a whole other novel for that kind of relationship between the two to not feel rushed.

Now I do want to point something out about his OW2 redesign because there's more then just the lack of Sake. It that fact that he's now covering his chest. This might not seem like a lot but in his first design he isn't protecting any part or any organ that is slightly to the right, in the middle, or the the left of his chest, meaning his left lung is exposed, his heart is exposed, his spine is exposed, basically a lot of stuff you would want shot at is exposed.

Combing this with and interaction with Genji from OW1, that is alluding to the fact that Hanzo "finds living challenging", then Hanzo covering his chest is a big step.

Anyway the fact that Hanzo is now on his way to being added to the list of characters who are practicing selfcare is so funny, cause out of all the characters to end up on that very short list at the beginning of Story Mode, I did not expect it to be Hanzo.

#overwatch #overwatch 2 #overwatch lore #overwatch headcanons #analysis #ow hanzo #hanzo #hanzo shimada

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seventh7crow · 10 months

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crazy rant about something that's been rotting my brain, but if D&D really wanted to cut the show short, why didn't they let the Night King win?

i am definitely not one for nihilistic, sad and everything bad endings, but letting the Night King win would have been a much more majestic way to end up the show, or to at least cut it short until someone else wanted to take over. i'll explain, because probably nobody is agreeing with me, but that's what Tumblr is for.

first of all, i have to say that i fucking pray all the time for George R. R. Martin not to choose something like this as an ending for the books, because i do not think it truly goes with the full message of the story, but let's get going.

as far as i know, the whole deal with the show's ending it's that the writers wanted to do other stuff, and therefore stopped caring, doing stupid choices and blaming it on “subverting expectations”. however, if they truly wanted that… why didn't they let the evil win?

of course, it would have been the most unexpected choice, but also much easier for their lazy asses: most of the plots could have been let unfinished (because, well, you don't have much time to complete your character arc when there's a fucking ice zombie apocalypse) and the writers would only have to make sure that certain things remained making sense until the end. and by those things i mean people not respawning suddenly (ehem, the dothrakis) or teleporting from place to place.

only a bit more of information about the Night King would have been needed: put revenge as the motion of all of it, or better, make it seem like it is at first and show us the truth behind it. show how the Night King once was a victim of that famous “wheel” Daenerys once talked about: the children of the forest and the first men fought, and so they condemned the Night King forever, so now he wants to destroy the wheel. imagine he thinks of himself as a savior too: peace beyond the grave, every single soul united in one big will without no other intention to interfere.

imagine we learn how his plan has evolved: at first, he only wanted everyone to suffer the same cruel fate he once experimented. but then we discover how he came to learn to see a future after death. one that it's better, one that it is more fair. one without wars, or hunger, or pain, or even seasons to interfere: nothing more than a peaceful, long night.

we learn this through Bran, and we resonate with his motives thanks to Jon, through whom we discover that there's nothing after life if it's not for the Night King's plan.

some of our heroes' faith wavers, and maybe we even see some men and women willingly switch their sides, ergo, kill themselves. fighting to death for the aftermath to be totally empty? why not choose a peaceful, everlasting afterlife?

however, we see the strong will of most of the characters to remain alive: the freedom of one's soul and all the things that it brings us, such as love itself. they realize all the many reasons there are to, well, decide not to “live” as a meaningless zombie forever.

but at the end, no matter how much they fight, the white walkers take over the whole place, killing everyone and growing in number. some lose their will and let themselves die, some fight to the end, but the Long Night comes and nothing but snow is left behind.

in my version of these events, only the dragons survive (maybe someone might think about some characters making it out, and it could be cool, but in my version all of them die). with ice symbolizing death and fire life, they are the only remaining beings full of it to escape the doom. Rhaegal, Viserion and Drogon arrive Essos, where people are confused about the radio silence from Westeros. after many years, some of Essos' most curious minds decide to explore what happened, possibly even sending grayscale infected as test drives, confused about why the dragons do not want to travel back to Westeros.

like that, the Song of Ice and Fire is told to the following generations: a story about a war between life and death where unfortunately the latter stressed on its inevitability. “Valar Morghulis” or “all men must die” it's repeated more than ever, gaining a new meaning when people popularize newer doctrines where it is key to accept death as part of live. at the end of the day, if they remain uncertain of the consequences of not embracing it, they can always visit the ruins of the forgotten continent of Westeros to see the undeath roaming the land.

well this was just a silly little idea, to be honest, so don't mind me too much. however, even this stupidity would have made more sense that the actual Game of Thrones ending. i feel it would have been cool to see sacrifices such as people deciding to “stay behind” to burn the bodies and ensure their loved ones didn't turn into white walkers, risking themselves to become “others” as well. it would have also been great to see the last images of Westeros be the Essosi people arriving to a frozen landscape. maybe the only survivors could have been some remaining children of the forest.

at the end, it all would have been more cathartic. no less controversial than the actual ending, but i feel like it would have made more sense? i don't know, i just hope you all like the idea, or at least that you find it interesting!

#a song of ice and fire #game of thrones #d&d #jon snow #daenerys targaryen #night king #george rr martin #melissandre #arya stark #sansa stark #robb stark #rickon stark #bran stark #catelyn stark #ao3 #ao3 author #stannis baratheon #house of the dragon #princess rhaenyra

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absolutely-normal-about-x · 2 months

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Okay but now I've got to ask: what if Axl survived until Legends as well?

But we're here to have some fun, folks!!!!!!!

I gotta do a really big think here, boys

Now, Axl is a very interesting case because you have to consider that he’s not as well known after the elf wars compared to X and Zero. So he can go anonymous the longest.

In terms of his appearance, he’s slightly older but not as grizzled as X and Zero. His armor is slightly altered, but he still has the experience and skills to be in the same ranks as X and Zero. But now he wears a large poncho, a cowboy hat, and currently holds a large rifle on his back, but still holds on to his iconic pistols. He's also the type of dude that pretends his lollipops are cigarettes and cigs are shit, but chewing down a delicious treat while shooting down enemies is such an Axl move in your honor. In terms of personality, he’s a bit more mature and wise than he previously was but is more lax and adventurous. He's the wise, fun-loving uncle!

Like Zero, he also awakens earlier than X and the guardians. So he’s been around before the events of Legends 1. He would have been awakened after Zero, so there is that. It's kind of tricky for me since he has the copy-chip ability to translate that into a carbon body. The best way I can spin this is that Axl is essentially a shapeshifter, but the trade is that he can't copy 100% of the individual's form and abilities for a much more limited time, which also depends on the size of the individual. He can't shapeshift into smaller beings, nor can he shift into larger forms (basically back to a primitive version of his old copy ability but with fewer drawbacks than it used to). But you know that it wasn't limited to him. That's right, baby! His good old-fashioned sharpshooter skills never faltered after all those years!

Like Zero, he became a wanderer, exploring this new world. However, unlike Zero, who normally just stays distant from others, he is doing his own thing. Is Old Axl here? He explores this world and wants to see what it has to offer. He used his shapeshifting abilities to disguise himself in order not to be seen. Always interacting with the world around him, he made a name for himself as “The Gunslinger.”

Going around to different islands and helping people out basically, but as a vigilante, noting that he's not exactly a “digger” like Zero. But boy does he love a good old treasure hunt, though. Eventually, he formed his own little group after he began to mentor and pick up strays on his travels, slowly forming essentially Red Alert 2.0 (probably under a different name). But unlike the original, Red Alert is less like morally questionable guns for hire. They are more of a vigilante group that targets air pirates who start trouble and steal their shit for fun. They have their own set of morals to prevent falling into unfortunate choices (something that Axl made damn sure to never repeat in the circumstances that led to his first family’s demise). He made sure that the group can work without him but he’ll check up with them every now and then.

The interesting thing about Axl is that unlike Zero, he died earlier in the elf wars so he wasn't around when the Guardians were created so he didn't have that same clue as Zero when it comes to Volnutt’s connection towards X in the first place. So it's gonna take a while for him to figure out that X and Zero are alive..

In terms of how he finds out it would've been more of an accident than coincidence, probably in a bar where Fefnir hangs out once a day. Having a neat conversation with the large guy talking about things until some asshole got way too drunk for his own started harassing folks one thing lead to another a bar fight ensues. Lets be honest these two had a blast during the whole fight especially Fefnir like holy fuck this dude is fucking awesome, like his sharpshooter skills are insane he’s never seen anyone with those types of skills…Aside from Blonde Basta- Uncle Zero and his father. Axl compliments Fefnir with that strength of his. Fefnir asked The Gunslinger if they want to spar because he wants a hell of a challenge since most of his opponents aside from his family are just reaverbots or just crooks who barely stand up against him. Axl would at first think about it but realizes he never really got a good fight in years…

“Oh! What the hell sure thing Kid! But first gotta do it with my clear mind first cause can't fight while wasted! Meet me up on the Next island over so we can have a real fight if ya want to invite yer siblings come on down i love to show ya a real challenge!”

“Oh you're on old man!’

“Oi! I'm not that old!”

The next day on the island where the duel is taking place, Axl is waiting for his opponent or well opponents cleaning up his pistols and rifle thinking about how odd that kid was. Reminiscing the good times he had in his previous life, sighing that spirit reminds him of his youth. Then he hears talking, turning around he sees the kid and others and jeez talk about the family. Huh judging of the others he recognizes them from the news along with Fefnir the “Four Guardians if he puts it, but one catches his attention well two. The scrawny blue one who seems the most excited to meet the “Gunslinger” and is talking to that man. He looks so similar to the older man, so that must be his dad probably. It was at this moment he decided to introduce himself to get a good look at the family until he stopped at the Older man…he reacted with the same expression of bewilderment that X does when he's-

“X? X is that you?!” he blurts out dropping his once cool attitude taking off his hat revealing his iconic scar.

The man’s eyes widened, shaking at the sight he was seeing. Tears welling up in his tired yet kind eyes of his..

“A-AXL!? YOU'RE ALIVE H-HOW?! YOU DIED IN THE ELF WARS!”

“Ha! You ya really think it's gonna take more than that keep this son of a bitch down i’ll tell ya-”

Without warning he was hugged by his old friend who got a lil bit too emotional for his own good. Before giving the gunslinger some breathing room. Like damn X changed a lot he looks pretty much rocking that tired dad look…literally even having the dad bod and all!

“Jeez X you changed alot since the last time we saw each other, I get this is a peaceful era and all but damn you way more relaxed is retirement treating ya well?”

X chuckled at the comment “More or less-”

“Umm excuse me” a voice interrupted the conversation between the two veterans looking at the confused Guardians and Scrawny Blue who were standing there awkwardly.

“Dad do you know this guy” Scrawny Blue asked

“Yeah! This is your Uncle Axl”

The boy’s eyes widen with excitement at the man while the other 4 are in bewilderment at this sight.

Holy shit he's an uncle! Damn he knew X is the type to be a parent but damn settling down was not on his bingo list.

“Damn X didnt know you had it in ya! Lemmie guess those Four are your apprentices or something?”

X looked at the guardians and then to Axl laughing nervously

“Ummmm actually Axl…those four…are my children too like…there his Siblings…”

“HOLY SHIT X MY MAN, MY BROTHER, I HAVE NO IDEA YOU WHERE THIS LOOSE-’’

“AXL!! NO IT'S NOT LIKE THAT I SWEAR TO ASIMOV AND NOT IN FRONT OF VOLNUTT HE'S TOO YOUNG FOR THAT!!!!”

“What is happening?!”

“When we will have OUR FUCKING FIGHT UNCLE AXL!?”

To say the least it was an eventful day for those two but don't worry Fefnir got his fight with uncle Axl ... .After X explained what the hell happened after the elf wars and such. To say the least he loves his nieces and nephews.

#megaman x #rockman x #megaman legends #legends reborn #au #megaman volnutt #mmx axl #Don’t worry he learns about zero too #Axl: Hey so the hell is zero?#X: Oh he’s sleeping in the couch after we had to hose him down because of how dirty he was #Axl: Please tell me he looked like le-#X: Yes #Axl: AHAHAHAHHAHA #Oh as ur wondering why the whole Fam where there cause X got curious about the Gunslinger #and sibs (Minus Volnutt) wanted to see Fefnir getting his ass owned #They got what they wanted…until fefnir dragged their asses to fight Axl #And Yes after getting over the Shock Axl loves his nieces and nephews and jokes about Volnutt being a mini X

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where-theres-smoak-2 · 1 year

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S+B Season 2 Trailer Thoughts

I just watched the shadow and bone season 2 trailer and I have some thoughts about it, a bit of speculation and theories too. I am going to be talking about spoilers from the books in these speculations so beware if you don’t want any spoilers. But anyway I figured the best way to start this was by starting from the beginning of the trailer.

The Opening Scene

The opening shot of the trailer showing Alina watching the fold rush towards the village she is standing in and the darkling stepping out of the fold.

At first I thought maybe this was Alina seeing the darkling’s return through their connection but then I remembered that we’ve technically already seen the moment the darkling returns and exits the fold in season 1 and he is not wearing the same clothing in this scene. However I do still think this has some connection to the darklina bond. My theory is that Alina is going to have recurring nightmares about what happened to Novokribirsk and in those nightmares she is going to see the darkling return over and over. I think this is going to cause her to become really paranoid that Aleksander is still alive which is where the bond comes in because I think Alina can sense Aleksander through that bond they have but as of yet doesn’t understand it so these dreams or rather nightmares she is having of Novokribirsk are being invaded by the bond version of Aleksander who I think is trying to reform a connection with her and communicate with her. I could see a situation though where Alina feels like she’s losing it a bit and that everyone around her doesn’t believe her when she tells them she thinks the darkling has returned. If it is that she is having nightmares about the events at the end of season 1 then I think that could be interesting as one of my main complaints about the book was that it seemed like these traumatic events that were happening to Alina didn’t have much of an effect on her and I don’t think hers, or anyone else’s, mental health was really properly explored in the books. So if they are going to give some attention to that in season 2 then I think that is a good thing.

Alina’s Powers

Something that did catch my attention in the trailer was the difference in Alina’s powers. In season one they were a more golden colour but occasionally would turn a pure white colour in those bigger more powerful moments like when she was protecting the stag or when she breaks free from the darkling’s control in the fold. In the trailer we see one moment when she is with Nikolai where her powers are that golden colour:

But the rest of the time her powers have this blue tone to them almost more like lightning than sunlight. My theory is that her powers take on this change when she gets the second amplifier. There is this shot of Alina using her powers on a boat which I think could be the scene where she gets the sea whip amplifier and uses her powers for the first time with it:

As her powers burst out from her in pulses you can see those golden wisps that are very reminiscent of her season 1 powers but there is also this blue electric like light. After that we only see her using this more electric blue light like when she is practising the cut or fighting against Aleksander. I think they’ve done this so the audience has that visual representation that her powers have changed and grown stronger with the new amplifier but I do think its interesting that they have gone for a much colder colour maybe its a sign that Alina is being drawn more to her darker/ colder side? I did get the sense that Alina is feeling very angry in this trailer and I think it could be interesting if they decide to explore her more darker impulses. Either way I do think this scene looks pretty damn epic and I can’t wait to see it.

Genya and Baghra

So I can not be the only book reader that side eyed when both Baghra and Genya appeared in the trailer unharmed and looking perfectly healthy. It was one of the first things that caught my attention. With genya when I saw this scene with her and david:

My first reaction was to squeal like a shipper, I feel like this is going to be a great emotional scene between them both. But then I noticed that, and big spoiler for non book readers incoming, she has no scars. But then I figured well maybe they’ve changed things from the books and she reunites with david briefly before getting her scars as there is this scene that shows genya backing away looking terrified from a Nichevo’ya:

Which could be the scene where she gets her scars, its the first thing that popped into my head when I saw this moment in the trailer. But then I saw another image that got me scratching my head again. This one is a still that was released and not in the trailer:

I’m 100% sure this scene is where Genya confronts the Queen and King from book 3 which results in Nikolai banishing his parents. Unless all of the scars are on the other side of her face then it doesn’t look like she is scarred and this scene in the books takes place way after she is scarred, so whilst I could kind of see them changing things so that Genya and David reunite sooner I don’t think they would have changed the timeline to this extent where they are at the events of the third book and she still hasn’t got them. Which makes me wonder if they just removed that plot point altogether?

There is also a couple of shots of Baghra and like genya she doesn’t seem to be injured in anyway, again book spoilers, but when Alina sees Baghra again in book 2 she learns that Aleksander has blinded her as punishment for helping Alina escape. Alina is horrified by this because she realises that not even his own mother is spared his wrath. It makes Alina see him as even more of a monster. Yet from the shots in the trailer it looks like Baghra has 20/20 vision. So I can see this being one of two scenarios. Either they decided to cut those plot points out, whether that was because they didn’t have time for them or because they want the audience to still have some sympathy for the darkling and thought those two plots would make that impossible for the audience to do is up for debate. I do think they tried to make Aleksander more sympathetic in season 1 than he was in the books so I could see them doing that in season 2 as well. Personally I am kind of hoping that they have cut them out because I personally felt these actions didn’t make much sense in the books. Particularly when it comes to genya because he made it clear that Alina was not to be harmed yet when Genya didn’t shoot her leading to Alina getting away the Darkling punishes her by letting the Nichevo’ya feed on her. Which doesn’t make sense given the don’t harm order. Whilst punishing Baghra makes a little more sense it still seemed like an overly brutal reaction from Aleksander towards his own mother, maybe I am alone in this but I did feel like it was a case of making him evil just because ya know he’s evil. Both these actions gave very 2d villain with no depth vibes.

However there is another possibility and that is simply that the scenes have been edited for the trailer so as not to give away spoilers to non book readers. I’ve known of other shows and films where they have edited scenes in the trailer to hide certain plot points, an example could be Marvel’s Eternals (mild spoilers for eternals) in the trailer we see this shot:

But the actual footage in the movie was this (sorry about the crappy image quality).

As you can see they deliberately edited out the clouded, blanked out look to her eyes to hid a particular plot point and its possible they have done this here with the shadow and bone trailer too.

Darklina Tether Bond Scenes

So one thing I am really excited for being a darklina fan is seeing their tether bond scenes. We got a glimpse of one of the scenes in the teaser trailer we got and it looks like we have another in this trailer and once again there were a few things that caught my attention. The first was that they were in the war room and wearing the same clothes that they were in episode 5 which oh the flashbacks. But what I am curious about is what this model on the table is supposed to show?

I recognise the black structure as being the model of the fold from the war room but it looks like it is now surrounding some kind of model of a building. So is this like the Darkling's war plans or is this suppose to represent Novokribirsk and showing where the fold is currently?

Another thing I thought was interesting is that it shows as a shot of the darkling’s hand where the stag amplifier used to be:

It looks like there are wisps of the sun summoner powers coming out of the wound on his hand. When I first watched this scene I thought it was the same scene as the tether bond scene but when re-watching it (because obviously I couldn’t just watch the trailer once) I realised that when it pans out the darkling is wearing different clothes and his face is scarred so they are either two separate scenes or the, what is the writers said they called it the mind palace I think, shifts and we see the darkling with the scars. Either way you can see that the darkling actually looks somewhat frightened at what is happening:

I think this is when Aleksander finds out that he and Alina are still linked and that some of her power still exists within him. I think at first this will frighten him somewhat but as time goes on he’ll begin to use it and learn to control it.

I also didn’t miss the fact that in that first pic of his hand in the background you can see he was looking at a poster depicting him and Alina standing together. I am assuming this was some kind of propaganda that was made before the events of the fold. I do wonder if it is him looking at this poster and thinking about Alina and what could have been, how he planned for them to rule together, to change the world together that triggers Alina’s powers to manifest in him for the first time.

The Palace Attack and The Chapel

So one of my favourite scenes in the 2nd book was the darkling’s attack on the Palace and the resulting chapel scene between Alina and Aleksander. I think we get some shots from those scenes too. Namely I think this shot of Nichevo’ya crashing through a glass dome ceiling and attacking people at a dinner is the attack on the Palace:

There are also images of a Nichevo’ya in front of a stained glass window depicting the sun summoner which I think is from the chapel scene:

I also think this shot is from the same scene and it looks like the crows will be part of those scenes:

I actually think this bottom shot will be where Alina tells everyone to leave her and run and Mal is arguing with her trying to convince her to come too. If I am right then this is a scene that I am really looking forward too because it is a great moment in the book and I think it will be visually epic too. I definitely think the whole attack scene will be action packed and have you on the edge of your seat. I was a little worried that they might cut the scene so seeing these images has given me a bit of hope back.

But it does lead me to some more confusion and questions as if you’ve read the book you know that after the chapel scene Alina’s hair turns white yet there are scenes that seem like they happen post chapel scene but where Alina still has dark hair so it looks like maybe they cut that too or like with Genya and Baghra it could be editing to hide the plot point?

The Destruction of The Fold

So we have had some interviews that have caused me a bit of confusion as to where exactly they are going with the plot in season 2 because we have had some say that they are moving away from the books but they have also said that they have adapted some things from both book 2 and 3. It looks like the destruction of the fold might be one of them, possibly. We have this shot of Alina and Aleksander going at each other with their powers and it does kind of look like they might be in the fold:

So I think this might be the final showdown in the fold from book 3 that results in the destruction of the fold, lord please let it play out differently from the books though and Alina doesn’t lose her powers because I will be so mad I hated that plot point with a fiery passion. But interestingly there is also this scene of Zoya and Inej which is what first made me think hey wait are they getting rid of the fold in this season:

To me it looks like they are standing next to the ruins where the fold was created but clearly the fold is gone and all that remains is a desert wasteland. However what is interesting is the presence of the Nichevo’ya. So I am wondering one of two things, is this them fading away or are they going to do a cop out where you think Aleksander is dead but then these Nichevo’ya appear as like the cliff-hanger or something and you are left wondering if he really is gone or whether someone else is controlling the Nichevo’ya.

Alina’s Agency and Possible Dark Side

This one is a small one but a couple of lines I noticed from Alina raised some interesting possibilities to me. One was where she is talking about how she needs all three amplifiers. Its a simple line but what I found interesting was it seems like Alina is taking a more active role in searching for the amplifiers for herself. In the books one of my criticisms was that Alina very much seemed to be dragged through the plot by other characters rather than making any decisions or plans for herself. It was something I found really frustrating. One example was that Alina doesn’t make the decision to go after the stag herself it is Mal who says they need to do this, what I liked about season 1 of the show was that they changed this so that Alina is the one who comes up with the plan and tells Mal they have to go find the stag before Aleksander finds it first. This gave Alina alot more of her own agency and it looks like that will continue in season 2.

But another line that had me raising my eyebrows a bit and really did intrigue me was when Alina tells, I am assuming Aleksander though I can’t be sure, ‘I’ll destroy the only thing you have left’. Now I don’t know if Alina said this in the book, if she did I don’t recall it, but I couldn’t help but notice how similar this line is to one that the darkling said in the book ‘I will strip away all that you know, all that you love, until you have no shelter but mine.’ Maybe its just me but these two lines just seem so similar to me. They have that same idea of taking something precious away from another and leaving them with nothing. It does make me wonder if the writers put this line in deliberately to draw that comparison between darklina. Is this another hint that maybe Alina is being drawn to a darker path because if that is the case honestly I’d be down for it, I’ve always said it could be interesting to explore those darker impulses that are half hinted at in the books but never really committed to. Of course I could just be looking too deeply into the line.

Wardrobe Change

I couldn’t do a post on my thoughts and speculation on the trailer without talking about the new costumes. I couldn’t help but notice some interesting changes to some of the characters outfits. Lets start with something I noticed about the grisha. We have this pretty cool looking shot of Aleksander with his grisha:

I couldn’t help but notice that his grisha are now dressed in different outfits. The colours of their Keftas are much darker but they’ve also got this interesting aesthetic to them where they look like they’ve been stained with shadow. It gives quite gothic vibes and it is an interesting change. Which got me thinking why they changed the grisha’s keftas was it just to show how much darker Aleksander has become? But I think the real reason is a much more practical one. I mentioned above that we see scenes of Zoya with Inej well I noticed that Zoya is still wearing the old style of Kefta that we saw in season 1:

There is also this shot of who I think is nadia and another grisha running away from flames and again they seem to be dressed in that old grisha style:

The previous shot shows an inferni throwing flames and they are dressed in the new grisha style:

So I think the show’s team gave the darkling’s grisha new uniforms so that when Alina’s grisha and the darkling’s grisha get into conflicts the viewer can clearly see which grisha is on which side, which makes alot of sense from a practical point as you don’t want your audience distracted from action scenes because they are trying to figure out who’s on which side, now we can all go well those guys are wearing gothic couture so they must be the darkling’s guys. Still I kind of love the change, the new costumes are fun to look at.

Alina also gets an interesting costume change as we see her dressed in a more militant look. In the books when she chooses new kefta she goes for a gold kefta if I remember rightly but they seem to have ditched that idea and gone for a different look and its kind of intriguing:

It kept wondering what it was reminding me of and then it finally hit me:

It’s a more decorative version of her first army uniform from season 1. It is an interesting choice to put her in a first army uniform and honestly I am not sure how I feel about it. On one hand it is an interesting way of showing the difference between Alina and Aleks. Alina has that connection to the first army as she grew up as an Otkazat'sya serving in the first army so it is a interesting call back to her roots. Whereas Aleks grew up as grisha and has a strong connection to the second army as he is it’s founder so it makes sense that we see him in the Kefta look. However one of my biggest issues with Alina’s character was I never felt like she cared enough about the grisha so, I don’t know it feels a bit off, seeing her dressed in the uniform of the first army who I’ve always seen as the soldiers of the king who oppressed and used the grisha. I mean I could 100% be looking too deeply into it and I’m sure it wasn’t their intention but I just don’t know if it was a good idea to have someone who is claiming to be fighting for the betterment of grisha to be dressed in the uniform of their oppressors. But like I said that could be just me. It does look like a cool outfit and it does make her look like a general or badass military leader I think I just wish it looked more like a Kefta seeing as Alina is grisha and is suppose to be their chosen one or whatever. It’s an interesting choice for sure but I think I am going to have to see the context of why she chose it as opposed to a kefta before I decide on how I feel about the choice. Context matters after all.

Finally I want to touch real quick on the changes to the darkling’s kefta. I’m not going to talk in too much detail about it as I already talked about it in another post but I do like how they have added the gold to his kefta. I do wonder if Aleks did this to mock alina a little, like as a reminder that they are still connected and little piece of her power still resides in him. Or it could just be that he is that much of a simp that he has to wear her colour too in an attempt to convince her and the world that they are meant to rule together. Or maybe he just find’s it comforting to wear her colour like putting on your ex’s jumper when you miss them lol. Either way I do like the look of the new kefta.

Little Moments.

So just some final little thoughts I had throughout the trailer that weren’t deep enough to go into, the crows look as badass as ever and I can’t wait to see what shenanigans they get up to this season. Speaking of badass Tolya and Tamar also look really cool and I am excited to get to know their characters in the show as well as Wylan and Nikolai. I haven’t read the Six of Crows books so I don’t know much about Wylan but it looks like Jesper just got his demolitions expert from that shot of him blowing something up in the trailer. I am again really interested to get to know his character more. I loved Nikolai’s line about ‘adventure, danger, now you’re speaking my language.’ I do think Nikolai is going to be one of those characters that relieves the tension and we’ll get some good comic lines from him. I also think the flying boats look really cool. From the quick glimpse of it I think the sea whip also looks great but I don’t want to think about its fate, I don’t think I am going to enjoy that scene at all.

Concerns

Ok so I will say that I am slightly more excited about the season after this trailer than I was after the teaser. However I would be lying if I said I didn’t have some concerns about this season. I have seen rumours that the season is bad but I don’t tend to put much stock in rumours I much prefer to watch it myself and then decide whether I agree that it was bad or not and I will still definitely be watching the season the moment it drops on Netflix. However my main concern is around this blending of both books into one season. I feel like they have got way way too much to fit in. Both books have some pretty big moments in them and I feel like if there are too many big moments in the show its going to feel too cluttered and rushed. Then there is whatever is going to be going on with the crows and I am just a tad bit concerned they’ve made a mistake here and bit off more than they can chew. I think I am mostly worried that they are trying to rush through the events of the grisha books to get to the six of crows plotline and don’t get me wrong I love the crows but as I mentioned before I haven’t read the six of crows books so whilst I do enjoy them they aren’t the main reason I watch the show, I am much more interested in the grisha story and darklina and the darkling as a character. That’s just my preference though I am sure there are people out there who prefer the crows and would like them to get to that plotline faster. I just really don’t want them to make a bad season because they have rushed through it and added too many elements to it and then that resulting in the show getting cancelled. I am still going to try and reserve my judgement though until I’ve seen the season for all I know it could be absolutely amazing and I could be blown away.

Anyway think I have rambled on enough, what did everyone else think of the trailer? Are you excited for the new season?

#shadow and bone #shadow and bone season 2 #s&b season 2 spoilers #shadow and bone season 2 spoilers #darklina

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bapydemonprincess · 12 days

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Hello doll! Now that people are finally appreciating my baby boy Finny 🤧, I need more people to talk about older Cielinny. Cause I always talk about older Cielinny when they already adults but late teens?? Early adults? I always like to imagine how it takes them to come to term with how their relationship is more than just platonic to some extent. Like there’s so many ups and downs between them. Trying to find a new bride or getting to court someone after the whole engagement being broken off. (Sad I feel like it’s the only right thing for poor lizzy mental state.) But will like to see if you have any thoughts about it :0

I think it's always been a bit difficult for me overall shipping o!ciel with anyone, I mean, I do but I imagine and feel like the romantic aspects aren't that heavy. He seems in my eyes like someone who cares and loves but truly cannot get too physical with them? And as we've seen with those who care about him, it's rough.

HOWEVER , hear me out friend, whether in AU form or maybe, indeed, in a version where the events go.. okay in the manga and o!ciel can get older, I can see him possibly being able to focus on family and a love, especially one like Finny who is conveniently close and in a sense they grew up together.

And older finny I imagine finally learns to respect o!ciel and not glomp and hold him too tight, and o!ciel warming up to things like hanging out more with him, listening to his exciting rambling, enjoying things he never appreciated before such as the different flowers in his own gardens, the seasons and weather, and get to do things he couldn't before while so so hyperfixated on revenge like picnics and boat riding and going off exploring especially if they go somewhere else like another country.

And also, in typical Victorian tradition, O!Ciel writing to Finny, sharing notes to better express his feelings through that. He's no poet for sure, but he wants Finny to know he appreciates all he is, doesn't want him to ever change despite how dark the world is, and ... loves him even if he cannot give him the same beautiful romantic relationships in the books.

And thus Finny works HARD himself to write back, revealing he IS more poetic (in my opinion even if English isn't his first language) and REALLY tells o!ciel how much he means to him, no holding back at all, leading to the young earl GOING RED and having to reread things a few times vtryfuygih

#kuroshitsuji #o!ciel #finnian #finny #cielinny

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grayskythunder · 9 months

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AU where show Lloyd accidently ended up in another dimension where the Lloyd (spelled Loid for the sake of organization for this au) there never got dropped off at the boarding school and was raised by Misako and knew about the whole destiny thing the whole time

He never freed the Serpentine so in turn literally most of the show's events never happened except the final battle and now they get to live happily helping the police sometimes and bonding together over the years missed. Yeah also tomorrow's tea never happened

Loid isn't as close with the other ninja but still cares and respects them all. Everyone is also less skilled than the show ninja since they didn't have to deal with yk Overlord part 2, chen, morro, etc. (Even nadakkhan cause clouse wasn't there to release him) Loid is the only one who's close to the skill level of the show ninja. He's been raised lovingly and had a good education in everything really and still loves his father even with the prophecy

Lloyd is forced through a very strong version of the traveller's tea portal and ends up in Loid's world. He's already heavily injured and minorly stabbed from the fight beforehand and is barely conscious when the other ninja find him.

He's healed by master wu and kind of rambles for a bit about what just happened until he slowly realizes this isn't his world. Master wu is pretty shocked and Lloyd is freaked out upon seeing Loid. (Loid's hair is the same color as young Garmadon's) he almost passes out when he sees his father again, the same as he was during season 3.

They talk it through but the au is mostly meant for angst on Lloyd's part! (Seeing Loid live in a seemingly perfect world and family compared to his) also mostly conversation based because I want to explore the different dynamics everyone will have with each other!!

That was my ramble!

#ninjago au #ninjago #lloyd garmadon #idk what to name this au #just me rambling #PerfectWorldNinjagoAu #grayskydoodles

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godsofhumanity · 9 months

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I meant hera and demeter sisterhood hcs loooool

oooohhh lmfaoo sorry haha, WHEW! i was worried someone read my hc and was like "yeah that's romantic".. ewww they are SISTERS in the sibling-sense.

so, Hera and Demeter are like two sides of the same coin to me.. Demeter physically looks like Rhea, but Hera has a lot of Rhea's personality.. so they kinda balance each other out. like, Rhea's whole character gets embodied between the two girls (im not talking about Hestia in this post haha).

anyways, this is important to me because, in my hc's, Rhea sticks around with Kronos for a REALLY long time before she finally puts her foot down.. and i mean, she goes through A LOT. similarly, Hera also sticks around with Zeus for a REALLY long time.. and unlike Rhea, Hera never gets to finally be free of her difficult husband.

now, naturally, i think Zeus and Kronos are on different levels, and there are reasons why i think it was necessary that Kronos x Rhea didn't last, but Zeus x Hera do, but i won't explore that here... my point is that i think Rhea has a hugeee heart, and was extremely forgiving (note: she's not a pushover, she doesn't love Kronos, but she forgives him for all the pain he causes her because she's just the bigger person)... and i think that's similar to Hera always opening her arms to Zeus every time he betrays her heart. Hera inherits Rhea's forgiving nature.

meanwhile, Demeter is wayyy more rigid. she doesn't stay on Olympus because she knows the absolute dogs many of the gods are on Olympus... and she hates the environment. she hates the debauchery, the competitiveness, the corruption. she saw it once, and she will never give Olympus another chance. that's why there's no question that Persephone will be raised away from Olympus... Demeter is unforgiving.

this is where the sisters balance each other out. Hera teaches Demeter to open her heart a little more, Demeter teaches Hera to stand up for herself and fight harder. in this way, both learn the right time to wage war and the right time to end it.

my classic example is the Persephone and Hades myth. we all know how pissed off Demeter was when she learnt of Hades and Zeus' secret arrangement.. in my version of events, after Persephone spends time in the Underworld and learns of a future where she could be a great goddess on her own, not under the shadow of Demeter, she decides to seize that opportunity (she does not love Hades at that time, she just has ambitions and wants to make the most of her godhood), however, when she learns that Demeter's gonna starve the world to death, she decides that she should go home because she doesn't want everyone else to suffer. in Olympus, Zeus, Demeter and Hades are all arguing about what should happen to Persephone, and Hera is the one who is like, "hey let's listen to what Persephone wants"... and by doing that, i think Hera helps Demeter to forgive not Hades, but Persephone.. she helps Demeter let go of her daughter and understand that Persephone isn't leaving her and isn't betraying her.. she kinda opens Demeter's heart up a little.. idk if i explained that properly.

anyways, my point is that Demeter and Hera help each other develop.

i imagine Demeter to be Hera's closest confidant in all the affairs that go down in Olympus. i like the idea of Demeter being the one who encourages Hera to put her foot down to Zeus, and i like the idea of Demeter being on Hera's side for all of those mini-(failed)-rebellions that we see Hera lead against Zeus in the myths. to be clear, i don't think Demeter encourages Hera to abuse Zeus' mistresses-- that's Hera's own thing. but i do think Demeter helps Hera to be a little tougher.

i think Hera spends the most time in Demeter's company, like on her farm... i think both women appreciate being away from the buzz of Olympus... i imagine that in their youth, when the second generation of titans and the Olympians were on good terms (i.e., before the punishment of Prometheus), Demeter and Hera would have gotten away from the busyness of Olympus by hiding out on Asteria's island (which was forbidden to all gods/men), and they would spend their time with the other girls; Hesione (Prometheus' wife), Metis (this would have been before her death), Asteria, Styx, Eos, Selene, etc., dancing, frolicking in the fields, making flower crowns, sparring, etc.

and then after the titans left Olympus when relationships broke down, Hera and Demeter were kind of the only ones left... that's how they started hanging around Demeter's farm instead of Asteria's island.

anyways. they are super tight and are essentially each other's best friend <33

#anon #anonymous #asks #hc

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daraemory · 4 months

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tl;dr I’m really struggling to find my place in the pro-wrestling fandom.

(disclaimer: I’ve been taking a break from twitter and tumblr for the past couple of months so I don’t know anything about any recent iwc drama, what’s been going on in the dirt sheets or even the more legitimate wrestling news sources. i’ve been on tiktok some but unless it’s a ship or thirst edit, i hardly watch any posts on wrestle-tok.)

i feel like all i ever see in the wrestling fandom is people talking about how everything sucks. how terrible the product is. don’t get me wrong, people should be free to criticize pop-culture no matter the genre or medium. there is absolutely a LOT of problematic things in the industry that should be called out publicly.

it’s just, that seems to be all there is. wrestling makes me happy. i want to be in a community with other fans who are made happy by it too.

maybe it’s because i’m too used to the typical tv/movie/book fandoms. while i will jump at the chance to tell anyone who will listen how there is no greater performance art than wrestling, that is more “real” than marvel or star wars (which i both love) or any other popular franchise, that no “method actor” in hollywood comes close to what pro wrestlers do year round… but at it’s core it’s still about stories and characters and that’s the way i tend to approach it.

i want to have thoughtful discussions about current storylines like how luchasaurus is showing signs that he is breaking free from christian’s influence, theorize the possible motivations he had for choosing christian over jungleboy to begin with. i want to talk about how dalton castle is spiraling under the weight he’s put on his own shoulders to save ring of honor. i want to talk about the new version of warhorse and what led him to feel he had to change everything about who he was. my shipper heart wants to explore why jay white mentioned his “destino” only days before naito finally main evented wrestle kingdom. i want to read pages of meta about past arcs like the corruption of brandon cutler from his time with peter avalon where he refused to cheat to his becoming the “stooge” for the young bucks.

i am tired of “booking” and “pushes” and “ratings.” yes, i am aware that that is just as much a part of wrestling as the characters and the storylines. it’s just, for right now at least, i want wrestling to be a place where i can escape and lose myself in kayfabe just like i would in any other fictional world.

there’s just so much real life awfulness going on in both the world at large and in my own personal life, i want to be able to stay away from negativity in the things that bring me joy. and while it has been refreshing to just watch wrestling on tv without knowing about any of the back stage bullshit, i am longing for a community to discuss the things i love about it. i have a handful of wonderful non-wrestling friends who are always happy to let me word-vomit about what’s happening in kayfabe, but it isn’t the same as being able to have conversations with people who have the same knowledge and enthusiasm for the stories and characters as i do.

i just wonder if there is such a place in this fandom for me. or if that’s just not how wrestling fandom works. or if that’s how all fandoms are these days. admittedly, i’m a fandom old. i started out in fandom reading fics from yahoo mailing lists i accessed on dial-up internet.

anyways, i just needed to get this out. if anyone has any advice or thoughts about this, i welcome them, but please be patient if i don’t reply right away as i’m still not ready to be back on tumblr regularly.

#pro wrestling #aew #wwe #njpw

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magnetarbeam · 7 months

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I've just been forced to face the fact that Legends fans are a minority and it's really depressing, so now I'm going to think about my ridiculously self-indulgent Rogue Squadron Vestara AU.

The more think about it, the more I question how in-character it actually is for her to choose to do this. If the idea is to choose her own path, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense for her to choose a path that still puts her in a specific defined command structure where she doesn't actually have much freedom. Then again, Rogue Squadron historically isn't known for being particularly disciplined.

I guess if all she's trying to do is find herself. In canon we don't get to see her piloting much, but as far as I remember she enjoys the first flight she takes in Ship. I don't think it's too much of a stretch for her to want to exercise her piloting skill more, especially since the Lost Tribe don't really seem to use any fighters, and the helms of those shitty old Corporate Sector frigates would more likely be reserved for at least Sabers.

She enjoys flying, it's not a skill she's had much of a chance to use - at least not in regular ships - and she's trying to explore herself in new ways and stuff. I think it makes enough sense.

In terms of strict command structures, I think it would make a lot of difference for her that in a regular military, everyone isn't constantly plotting to stab each other in the back.

And, like, at this point Syal's more familiar with treason and knowing when you need to defy the command structure than Wedge was at her age. All that LotF angst has to have been good for something, and I've already talked about some of my headcanons for what happened to her after she ended up among the Jedi in Fury.

I'm operating under the vague assumption that this story is supposed to be continuitous (if that's even a word) to Guiding Star, which is the theoretical story that details the events that Syal and Wedge and Tycho and Gavin went through while Revelation but mostly Invincible happened. An important part of her character in LotF is that by Fury, she's come to question her own judgement as much as she questions her superiors, and I haven't planned it very much, but I assume part of her arc in Guiding Star involves her resolving that, and that she now believes she has enough experience to determine for herself whether the current government is or isn't worth spending lives for.

(Side note: 44 ABY is the year Syal turns 27, which makes her probably the same age here as Wedge is in the first X-Wing book, and I love that symmetry, trivial though it is.)

I've been thinking of it as Vestara actually joining the Rogues three or four months after FotJ (on a ten-month in-universe calendar), so by now Ves has had plenty of time to gain experience with X-Wings, and learn from most of the best pilots alive. Also, at this point, Syal's had enough time to consider Wynn Dorvan's decisions as the next Chief of State and decide the GA under him is worth spending lives for. He is a genuinely good guy, FotJ just puts him in bad situations constantly.

According to at least Luke, Daala was doing a fine job until FotJ. Syal wouldn't have agreed with Daala's actions during FotJ, but in the timeskip, at least, I think Syal would have probably continued to lead the version of the Rogues that she inherited at the end of the Second Galactic Civil War.

(Second side note: I'd like some kind of story that actually demonstrates Daala having done a good job as Chief of State.)

The other pilots on Rogue Squadron at this point are a point of much questioning.

I'm going with the idea that there was another reorganization of the squadron after the end of FotJ, to update the roster. At least half the point of Rogue Squadron is political symbolism and representation and stuff, and there are some educated guesses to be made from that.

In addition to Syal herself, a convenient addition is Zueb Zan, the Sullustan who was her gunner when she flew Alephs. That's a relationship Syal already has, and what little there is to see of him in canon makes me like him enough.

The other canon character I can think of to add here is Drathan Forge, Inyri's great-nephew who shows up briefly at the end of Outcast, when they have to blow up the ancient artifacts beneath the mines of Kessel before said artifacts blow up the planet. In that scene, Drathan claims to be a skilled pilot, and says he has provisional Academy acceptance, and that he'd have to keep his grades up for another year. So the end of FotJ is about when he'd be getting in. If this is a few months after that, I'd find it acceptable for him to get into the Rogues on the basis of skill and family history. Hells, Inyri didn't have any formal training.

Anyway, the implicitly successful diplomatic reintegration of at least the major players of the Confederation during FotJ leads to the roster including a token Bothan and also a token Commenorian. The whole Treaty of Vontor issue results in a token Klatooinian or something. Syal herself is Corellian, obviously.

Drathan, I expect, is a representative of the various corporate enterprises currently operated by Lando. I think in Outcast, Lando has a line about how he's selling to the private sector since the SGCW (maybe before that), and if I recall correctly that implies that he's potentially enabling stuff like YVH droids to end up in the hands of enemies of the Alliance.

I'd buy the Alliance having someone who's from Kessel, another one of Lando's operations, in Rogue Squadron as an attempt to convince Tendrando Arms to be more loyal to them.

Anyway, Vestara's role in this is as both a token Jedi and a token ex-Sith. She's not ready to commit to the Jedi path yet, but if she doesn't fully leave the Order and instead is still being trained by Luke on the side, they might play her up as proof that despite the Jedi Order leaving the Alliance's authority and stuff, they haven't abandoned the Alliance completely. That would be especially important in the aftermath of the end of FotJ, and how I've decided the official line of the GA is that Abeloth was an instrument of the Sith. Especially, but not necessarily, if I decide to work this plotline into Voices of the Force, where her influence stretched far beyond Coruscant.

Also, the fact that Vestara used to be a Sith is useful too. Between Abeloth and Caedus, hate for the Sith is probably the highest it's been since... I don't even know. The highest it's been in millennia, maybe. Even Palpatine, as I recall, wasn't nearly as public about it in his life as Caedus was at the end.

If they can show people a former Sith who's been redeemed, the Jedi might prevent public opinion from going so far as to approve, for example, Kesh being glassed and its mostly innocent population killed. The Alliance doesn't know where it is, so that's not an immediate concern, but it is a concern nonetheless.

That's still only seven out of twelve.

I think Vestara's new girlfriend is someone in a position of a friend to the Rogues, but not actually in their command structure, because that way it won't get weird if one of them gets promoted.

Another headcanon I have is that the age of majority in the Galactic Alliance is 14, a relic of the strategic realities of the late stages of the Vong War, so theoretically there's no rule preventing people Vestara's age from having a position here.

#star wars legends #vestara khai #syal antilles #rogue squadron #rogue squadron vestara au #voices of the force au

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