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moonlit-imagines · 4 years

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Headcanons for being a younger Avenger and mentoring Kamala

Kamala Khan x reader

warnings: avengers game spoilers, guns

a/n: so excited about this one; i made y/n just a bit older (and gn!) so that they’re in their mid-early teens during a-day! hope thats okie doke! reader has electrokinesis. this accidentally got really detailed

prompt: anonymous: “Hey there! Would you mind writing HCs for the Avengers Game about female reader being a young Avenger (around 17) and mentoring Kamala Khan?”

you were just a kid yourself when you joined the avengers

and you were an inspiration to kids around the world

“does SHIELD think nothing of child labor laws?” -bruce

the avengers became your family

and seeing what you could do...they knew you could handle yourself

and then a-day happened

the day started off so perfect

and the kids went ballistic over seeing you

“y/h/n! look, it’s y/h/n!”

“can i get a picture?”

“hi, guys! of course you can!”

but there was one kid who stuck out among the rest

kamala khan

“you’re the one who wrote about the sewers, right? i freaking loved it! may i just say your art is amazing?”

“r-really?”

“oh, yeah! and the part where you had thor spin mjölnir to push water towards the sewer lizards so i could shock them? genius!”

she could not wait to tell abu about what you had just said

you obviously took a selfie with her and handed her a little pin with your own “icon” on it

but your world got turned upside down that day

the battle was one you’d never forget

and the fighting with your own teammates afterwards would haunt you for years to come

“what do you know, y/n?! you’re just a kid!” -tony

“oh yeah? im one of the only functioning members of this team!”

“everybody calm down. y/n makes a good point, but—” -nat

“thank you”

“...but there’s some stuff you should leave up to us. you really shouldn’t have to take on so much responsibility” -nat

“she’s right, y/n. this was our fault” -bruce

“are you kidding me?! i’m just as guilty as the rest of you, i’m an equal member of this team! for years we’ve dealt with this together, taken the blame together! what’s changed?”

“y/n...you saw what we did out there. that changed everything...” -bruce

you technically were an inhuman, just not terrigen-based

didnt matter to AIM, they took dr. pym for god’s sake

so you had to run, you were on your own for a while

a long while

you laid low for five years, most boring five years of your life

at least you still had your life, though. it just wasn’t what it used to be

but you got a message one day

“‘tiny dancer,’ huh? my moneys on either nat or tony. nah, tony would have chosen ‘rocket man.’”

you couldn’t be sure, maybe it was just a random shield agent...maybe hank pym? god, this was crazy

the message brought you to, uh, cap’s memorial statue

and there was a young girl arguing with a couple of boys...an inhuman!

you hopped in and saved her, she seemed scared

“hey, kid, you alright?”

“y/h/n? is it really you?”

she seemed vaguely familiar

“are you tiny dancer?”

“no, i thought you might be? they sent you here, too?”

there wasn’t much time to chat, AIM was onto you

you two unfortunately got split up for a minute, but you were practically raised by the notorious clint barton and natasha romanoff, and various other spies

yes, you planted a tracker on her

and met her at the bus stop!

“you found me?”

“that i did, kamala. see, i do remember you”

“that is so cool! i mean—not almost getting killed, or the guy with the big head...”

“what guy? you need to tell me everything”

the whole busride was a bit overwhelming. kamala explained the resistance clues, her powers, her undying admiration for the avengers, you name it

but it made you feel good to know that there were people out there that didn’t hate you

“so what was it like? being the teenage avenger?”

“uh, it was...it was really cool. i felt like i was one-of-a-kind. but sometimes people didn’t take me seriously, it was kind of aggravating”

“yeah, no one takes me seriously either...”

“you know, depending on how this all goes, i might be able to give you a few pointers”

“really?! that’d be great!”

once you got to utah...you saw the chimera

it brought back some bad memories, kamala could tell

“you okay?”

“me? yeah, im good. just thinking...okay, well, do you have a plan on how to get yourself across all of this?”

“actually, i do!”

it was kind of creepy in there, but when you laid your eyes on caps shield, you kind of broke

“do you hear something, what it that?”

“...hulk. kamala, you need to get out of here, i’ll catch up to you, i swear”

she didn’t leave in time, so she got to see the greener side of bruce. you chased him back and tried to get bruce back

meanwhile, kamala found AIM troops...oops

bruce cooled off and man was he doing rough

“y/n, is that really you?”

“yeah, its me. surprise. how long have you been the big guy?”

“too long...a few years”

“jesus, im sorry. i’ll be right back, though. some kid brought me here, i gotta go get her. you kinda scared her off”

she was passed out when you got to her

but bruce is a doctor, he’d figure it out

“i could give her a little shock to wake her up, you know?”

“oh, i know. just let her rest for a minute. she needs it”

“right...well im gonna take a look around, maybe go see what i left behind. i could power the place up, but we’re missing some parts to actually get this thing running. best i can do is lights and doors”

you turned the little things on and turns out did leave a decent amount of stuff in here

your first pair of pistols that nat gave you, the gigantic stein that thor gifted you for your 13th birthday, gadgets tony needed an “extra boost” for *bzzt*, a note from cap that just said “good luck, y/n, you’re going to do great!” you cant even remember what it was he was referring to. you just missed him

kamala walked in while you were shuffling around and cleaning the place up

“hey, dr. banner wanted me to come get you. is this your room?”

“that it is, and it’s a huge mess. this is literally all my belongings ever”

bruce had his plan and you just went along, helping kamala out as you go

“baby steps, kam, don’t want you to pass out. but don’t worry, happens to the best of us” -you

“really? you pass out too?” -kamala

“oh yeah, for sure. tell her bruce, remember that time we had thor overcharge me to literally make me an EMP? and tony was busy listening to music so he wouldn’t get out of the blast radius and his armor shut down? so he was out of commission and i had just collapsed from it all? good times”

“y/n, we thought you died” -bruce

this hc is so long omg — anyways you guys ended up finding tony and it was sort of entertaining but he kinda punched bruce and then hugged you

“you got so big”

“shut up, tony”

you kinda harbored some bad feelings since none of the avengers did anything to help you once they started rounding up inhumans (but you still missed them)

getting attacked again

“okay, kamala, remember what i said about baby steps. dont overdo it. i trust you with this!”

“thank you, y/n! uh—oh my god!”

aaaanyways you went to the ant hill to see hank and pick up some supplies, boy was it great to see some familiar faces, then back the the chimera you went to fix it all up

“can you hold that right there for me, kamala? thanks. i think that just about does it. now i have a surprise for you...your own room!”

you helped kamala get it nice and tidy while talking about each other’s lives, she really did remind you of yourself when you became an avenger. excited, scared, underestimated, all of that. and she begged you to share some mission stories, so you obviously did

“you know, if you stick around for a while, you’re gonna have some cool stories, too. maybe even a kickass costume.”

“oh! a costume, ive got that sorta covered. check it out. a burkini, muslim women wear it for swimming and stuff. my mom got it for me”

“love it. soon we’ll find you a fitting name and update the suit, but seriously, this was the perfect way to go. you look great”

“you think so? i don’t know if i feel that cool. maybe i should try something else?”

“if that’s how you feel, you don’t have to stick to it. you can experiment all you want! but i really think you did awesome on this. come on, pose with me! and hey, i like your pins.”

at this point, you’d do anything for kamala, she reminded you so much of yourself. you would have killed for a mentor your age back in the day.

natasha was in fact tiny dancer...called it

“oh, god, y/n. you’re all grown up...im sorry we left you alone. but if it makes you feel better, i always kept an eye on you”

“well, i kind of took on a protégé...she’s like your grand-protégé. kam, c’mere”

after thor finally came back, everyone started fighting again and ditched, it felt so familiar. but you couldn’t leave kamala behind, you swore to yourself that you couldn’t do that.

she was so good for this team

MODOK was defeated (by kamala herself) but there was so much left to do, tons of threats to extinguish, training to accomplish

“y/n, tony won’t turn his dad rock off! he overrode the speakers in my room”

“oh, it’s on. get chastity’s fabric dye and bleach pens. we’re gonna start some trouble”

she gave you a high five one time and nearly broke your arm

sending each other tiny hand memes

“hey, ms. m, how’re your parents? doing okay without their favorite super-daughter?”

“my abu doesn’t stop texting me actually, says my family is super proud of me. it’s a nice change of pace”

you take her on covert missions for field training, it was Educational(tm)

*elevator music playing* “so...what do you want for dinner? i was thinking we could ask thor to barbecue”

sleepovers in her room that just turn into her showing you her superhero merch, listening to music, prank lists, sneaking off to the HARM room for hand-to-hand combat training and power experiments, thinking up new costume designs

“tip: you always need backup suits, you never know what you’re gonna run into out there. one time tony pushed me into a tower of paint cans and they spilled all over me. steve yelled at him for two hours afterwards. worst mission ever, except steve said ‘motherfucker’ and i have never recovered from the emotions of that day”

“wow, i wish i could have been there for that”

“don’t worry, kami, you’ll see some crazy ‘team bonding’ along the way”

she geeks out about captain marvel sometimes

“hey, i’ve got a book carol gave to me about ‘teens taking responsibility.’ you wanna read it?”

“is it any good?”

“i don’t know, i only read the first two pages”

you ended up having a true heart-to-heart with her after one mission when she made a mistake that nearly cost you guys the mission. you told her that not every mission is going to go perfect, each avenger had slipped up in the field, and she had just started, shes not going to be perfect

“i am literally always here if you need anything. i know what it feels like to be a teenager among legends, but trust me, you’ve made it this far and you’ve proven how much of a badass you are. i know you can take anything that gets thrown at you”

kamala said she makes vegan nachos and yeah she makes vegan nachos

you guys have to hide from the rest of the team when she makes them bc they eat ALL OF THEM

gaff (the SHEILD vendor) has you test his gear, you recommend gear to kamala

you were so excited to guide kamala on her journey of heroism

taglist: @ravenmoore14 // @purpleskiesstorm //

#kamala khan #kamala khan x reader #kamala khan imagine #ms marvel #ms marvel x reader #ms marvel imagine #avengers #avengers x reader #avengers imagine #marvel #marvel x reader #marvel imagine #avengers game #avengers game x reader #avengers game imagine

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occidentaltourist · 3 years

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The Unbearable Whiteness of (Comics) Beings

An excellent thread by Gene Demby, correspondent and co-host of NPR’s Code Switch podcast, on the deeply embedded whiteness of Marvel and DC comics characters.

From Droll Embiid.@GeeDee215:

A quick thing about Isaiah on The Falcon and The Winter Soldier.

About a decade ago, I interviewed Robert Morales, who invented that character for Marvel in 2001. The result was "Truth: Red, White, And Black" which recast the story of Captain America's origins as part of a Tuskegee Syphillis Study-like plot.

In Robert's story, the US rounded up hundreds of Black GIs in a segregated battalion during WWII to use as guinea pigs. The US is trying to re-create the procedure used to turn Steve Rogers into Cap.

They get it wrong — a lot. Almost all of the Black men they round up die.

Only five of the 300 Black men subjected to the super-soldier experiments survive the process; of that five, Isaiah is the only Black super-soldier who survives the war, and he is thrown in prison for decades.

"It was so depressing I didn't think they would approve it," Robert told me. ""But it was depressingly realistic. And *likely.*

"Robert died in 2013. But his revision of the Cap story was part of a wider on-page reckoning w/ the whiteness of the stories in the mainline MCU/DCU.

The Kents of Smallville, as one example, were reimagined as radical abolitionists — Free-Staters who settled in Kansas to oppose the state from becoming a slave state. Clark Kent, then, would be directly downstream from the principles of his forebears.

It's a very liberal inclination — positioning the Kents on the side of justice for a century-plus before the space-ship landed on their farm.

but it skips over some bigger, more important question about race and power: like how is it that whiteness was literally so universal that both a Kansan *and* a Kryptonian might possess it?

Much more under the cut.

Black mainline comics writers kept playing with these premises. The legendary Dwayne McDuffie, wrote his Black superman analogue Icon as having become Black upon imprinting on the enslaved Black woman in the American south who found and adopted it.*

*why this character was still -male- is...yeah.

anyway, a lot of mainstream superheroes, in their reimaginings, have to nod to the oppression in this country. (There was an aside in one of the Nolan Batman jawns that positioned the Batcave as originally a hideout the Waynes used for fugitives on the Underground Railroad.)

And i think that speaks to how deeply embedded the whiteness of these characters is.

The Green Lantern's power ring had to scan the earth for the bravest person in a world of billions of people and...decided that its rightful bearer was a white fighter pilot from the Midwest?

anyway, more later!

okay, so young Kal-El rocketed across the cosmos as a baby in a spaceship before crash-landing in a field in Kansas. He was Kryptonian but also, somehow, a white boy. Which brings us back to this question upthread: whiteness could literally span the cosmos?

in those Silver Age days, that's literally how they explained it: he could be a white American because there were white Kryptonians.

This was underscored by the fact that they created distinctly *Black* Kryptonians — who lived in a place called Vathlo Island.

Vathlo Island "retained its independence throughout history and did not join the planetary federation, though good relations were maintained."

Kryptonian Wakanda, I guess.(Yes, I know i'm mixing universes to make that metaphor work. calm down, nerds.)

Not long after that first (and one of the only) references to Vathlo Island in 1971, Neal Adams, a white artist at DC, asked his editor a q: what happens if Hal Jordan — the Green Lantern — dies? The editor told him that there would then be a backup Lantern.

The backup Green Lantern they had in mind was a white gym teacher who used to play Big 10 football.

Again: the bravest person in the world was a white USian dude.

Adams eventually pushed back, and along w/ Dennis O'Neil, created a Black character to take over the GL mantle: an ex-Marine named John Stewart.

(Adams told me his editor originally wanted to name the character Lincoln Washington, but he talked him out of it. Phew.)

Again, y'all see the problems here — the bravest person in the world is still a male, a USian and a member of the US, military? — but as representation went, Stewart was better than a lot of the other Black superheroes that DC tried their hands at.

In the 70s, DC created Black Lightning (who was black and electrical), Black Goliath (black and a giant), and Nubia ( black...and Wonder Woman). And at Marvel there was Luke Cage, who, in his earliest pre-dab incarnations, was a jive-talking powerhouse in butterfly collars.

Anyway, the upshot here is that John Stewart taking over the Green Lantern mantle...stuck with Dwayne McDuffie, who created the Milestone comics imprint under DC in the 1990s, featuring all characters of color.

(Milestone's Superman analogue, Icon, mentioned upthread, became a way to embody and critique a certain kind of ascendent respectability politics; he was, after all, essentially a Black cop. Milestone was already playing with chewier ideas around race than mainline DC.)

McDuffie would eventually become a the principal player in the DC Animated Universe. When they were creating the Justice League animated series, underlined that there way that the show could have a team in which everyone — even the aliens Kal-El and Hawkgirl! — were white.so instead of Hal Jordan, the original Green Lantern, taking his traditional place as at the Justice League table , the animated series launched with John Stewart in that role.

The show debuted in 2001 and became a huge hit. McDuffie often pointed out that, as a result, a generation of younger fans who were introduced to the character through the animated series had only ever known a Black Green Lantern.

(There were a lot of reasons the 2011 Ryan Reynolds Green Lantern movie failed, and the "who tf is THIS guy?" factor probably played some role in it.)

There's a lot more, obviously. But some of these IPs — Batman and Superman and Captain America, in particular — are 80+ years old. They're holdovers from a pre-Civil Rights Act America, a pre-Stonewall America, etc. They represent a bunch of stuff that is ever harder to update.

And it will be interesting to watch how that chafes against the the fact that they are more valuable and popular than they've ever been. Could a critique of the premises of the Cap origin story, like Robert Morales', even happen today?

#gene demby #the falcon and the winter soldier #superman #marvel #dc comics

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ravnicaforgoblins · 3 years

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Ravnica for Goblins

Exciting Planeswalker Visitors

(Caution: Before we begin, this post is going to be much more opinion-based than previous ones. These are my own homebrew ideas, use them as/if you wish, discard/dismiss them if you prefer.)

Planeswalkers are an integral part of MTG Lore, as well as several of its most iconic characters. Put simply, a Planeswalker is an individual with an inherent gift for traveling between planes, or worlds. The gift does not appear at birth, but is usually triggered by some manner of incredibly emotional (usually traumatizing) event. In addition, each Planeswalker displays a unique aptitude for a particular style of magic; be it plant growth, transformation, becoming transparent, illusions, invulnerability, summoning beasts, structural analysis, setting things on fire, etc. Whatever their specific brand of magic is, it’s usually on a higher level than an ordinary person can hope to achieve.

Planeswalkers, as a general rule, are wanderers by nature. They may have a home plane, or even an adopted home plane, but being able to traverse the multiverse leads many towards lives of constant adventuring/shenanigans. Add in the fact that Planeswalkers cannot bring anyone else with them on these travels (except in very rare cases), and you end up with a special breed of super-powerful magical loner. They show up, make a name for themselves with their big magic, and depart when they feel like it. Did you say, “Instant Adventure”?

Ravnica has a few native Planeswalkers among its citizens; Ral Zarek, Vraska, and Domri Rade. In addition, it has several Planeswalkers who have at some point or another (depending on your timeline) devoted enough time & energy to be effectively considered citizens; Azor, Tezzeret, Kaya, Dack Fayden, Dovin Baan, Gideon Jura, and Jace Beleren. Some of these are currently dead, missing, or magically barred from ever returning. At one point, Ravnica had more Planeswalkers on it at one time than any plane in the multiverse has ever or will ever see. If you are going the War of the Spark direction, good luck. You'll need it and so will your players. For everyone else, which Planeswalkers you choose to include in your campaign (if any), should be based on who will work the best for the story you’re trying to tell. A recommendation; if you find their lore too distracting and complicated, stick to the main beats. A lot of these figures can be boiled down to simple ideas, and you don’t want to bore your party with the entire novel of these usually dramatic/tragic lives. Trust me, the base concepts are enough.

With that in mind, here are four Planeswalkers that I, a random person on the internet, believe would work great for a Ravnica campaign. My choices are not based on who has canonically already spent time in Ravnica, or who would be the most powerful/dangerous to suddenly appear in the city. Several Planeswalkers have their own prior commitments on other planes that are pretty central to their character, and BAMFing them to Ravnica for a quick Bad Guy to take down wouldn’t do them justice. These four characters would slide into various aspects of Ravnica beautifully. These four would be the most exciting visitors to Ravnica.

Ashiok, Dream Render

I don’t think any MTG character could be as good a fit for a Ravnican Guild as Ashiok is for House Dimir. Ashiok is almost literally a walking shadow of secrets and intrigue. Their origins, their age, their motives, their face; hell, their gender is a secret yet unrevealed. Ashiok’s power is creating living beings born of the greatest fears stolen from people’s nightmares. Literally.

It’s like if the Dimir stopped half-assing the art of stealing thoughts and turned it into a weapon of mass destruction. Because even the mightiest of Ravnicans are afraid of things. Ask Niv-Mizzet about the Nephilim sometime, see how quickly he changes the subject. What’s better, for a Guild that prides itself on always having the up & up on everyone, Ashiok is inscrutable. They have no past that can be divined, no secrets that can be stolen, no previous encounters to prepare any for their arrival. Neither Lazav nor Etrata can claim such anonymity, despite their best efforts. Ashiok is a true enigma and a dangerous new weapon for House Dimir.

Ashiok also comes with the ability to create minions and NPCs from out of any PC’s worst nightmares, making encounters a great combination of roleplaying & combat. Fighting them is specifically facing one’s deepest & darkest fears made real. Can you say, “character development”?

Ashiok’s arrival could spread this new magical art to other Dimir Agents for a longer campaign, but it might be best to confine it to Ashiok in order to allow for a cleaner victory. Ashiok is not a fighter, cornering them into a direct confrontation should be enough to make the Nightmare Sculptor run for the hills. The mind is powerful, but also very squishy.

Tibalt, the Fiend-Blooded

You know how the Cult of Rakdos are technically Chaotic Evil but generally just a bunch of artsy hedonistic nuisances? Tibalt is to them what a gallon of gasoline would be to a lit stove. Good for fire, bad for everything else. Tibalt is an empath specializing in Pain Magic. Quite literally, he loves hurting people for fun. Drawn to pain like a magnet; physical, emotional, spiritual, psychological, etc, he is sadism personified.

His brief time on Ravnica during War of the Spark was enough to make a strong impression on the Rakdos.

“I like this one’s energy.”

This is because they do not realize how bad Tibalt would be for the Cult. There is a fundamental difference between the Chaotic Evil the Cult practices and the Chaotic Evil Tibalt delights in. The Rakdos have survived 10,000 years by taking in the freaks, the rejects, and the crazies, and giving them a place where they can live out their most depraved hedonistic fantasies. They are the voice of the outsiders bringing all figures of power & authority down a peg. They always punch up, never down. Tibalt is a young man with no home, no friends, no job, and no interests or hobbies beyond inflicting pain in as many people as possible. Tibalt punches everyone. The most important distinction between the two is that the Cult of Rakdos is a culture, a way of life for people to embrace; it might be crazy, but it welcomes & accepts people no matter how insane the world says they are. Tibalt does not care about anyone but himself. Following his example would see the city turned into the largest, bloodiest, and most destructive riot in its history; with Tibalt inciting and sicking every monstrosity he can find onto the city at once. He will burn the Rakdos candle at both ends and leave them to suffer the consequences of his fun. The aftermath being the city in ruins, the Cult wiped from the face of existence, and him moving on to his next project. In short, Tibalt will hurt the Cult of Rakdos as much, if not more, than the rest of Ravnica. Because that’s how he gets his kicks.

The one thing standing in his way will be Rakdos himself. As the single largest diva on the entire plane, Rakdos does not tolerate anyone who tries to steal his spotlight. As a 10,000+ year-old Demon Lord, Rakdos is in a league of his own, and Tibalt is just a hotshit little pain mage with a few tricks. It’s not a fight, it’s either an exit or a curtain call for the Planeswalker. If Rakdos is around, Tibalt’s spree will be very short-lived. If, however, Rakdos is doing his usual thing of hibernating for weeks, months, or years at a time, that’s a different story. Tibalt is good for if your campaign wants to bypass politics & intrigue and go straight to killing Cultists & Demons. He’s bad for anyone he comes in contact with.

Garruk Wildspeaker

In case I haven’t made my contempt for Domri Rade clear, I hold Domri Rade in utter contempt. As a character, as a Planeswalker, and most of all as a Gruul, he’s a failure. Scrawny, weak, gullible, and stupid. My chief grievance with Domri is that he fell short in all the areas the Gruul Clans idolize. He couldn’t survive in the wilderness on his own without his Planeswalker abilities, he couldn’t fight for himself except against weaker opponents or with herds of animals as backup, and he acted on orders from someone else who wasn’t Gruul. For a Guild built on independence and survival of the fittest, he failed both completely.

Garruk is the real deal. Gigantic, strong, savage, and cunning. Here is a man who, on a fundamental level, has embraced animal savagery as a way of life. He lives like a predator on the hunt, an alpha of any pack, and a fierce threat to all who intrude upon his territory. On a plane like Ravnica, where civilization has encroached on the untamed wilds almost completely, Garruk would be a gamechanger. Not only could he feasibly fight Borborygmos for leadership of the Gruul, he could win, and he could unite the Gruul under his howl of reclaiming the wilds from so-called “civilization”. Garruk would bring animal strength to the Gruul in ways they’ve only begun to tap into, and he’d do it in their language. Because Garruk understands the Gruul, and they understand him. They have so much in common with each other that it’s hard to think of any Planeswalker who could be welcomed so readily into a Guild. They would become so much more than rock-smashers and anarchists, they would become Ravnica’s reminder that nature will survive when all traces of society have crumbled away.

As if taking on the city itself wasn’t big enough already, Garruk has also taken to hunting other Planeswalkers, and can actually track them across the Multiverse. Meaning a few high-ranking members of Guilds and even the Living Guildpact have to take his threat seriously. He’s got a particular grudge against necromancers, dislikes talking, and has a special gift with animals of all varieties. All of which provides plenty of ideas to build from. He’s an 8ft tall Human Druid/Barbarian who willingly chooses animal savagery over intellectual reasoning, can there be anyone more perfect for the Gruul?

Did I say Ashiok was the most perfect fit for an MTG character in a Ravnican Guild? Yeah, scratch that. Garruk is.

Sarkhan Vol

Most Planeswalkers have a theme to their abilities. For some, that theme extends to their personalities as well. And then there are Planeswalkers who can be adequately summed up in a single word. For Sarkhan, that word would be “dragons”. Sarkhan sees dragons as nature’s purest & most destructive form, and carries a fascination with them that is perfectly healthy for anything with wings and scales that breathes fire, but generally less healthy for everything & everyone else.

One of the things that makes Ravnica unique is the distinct lack of dragons (emphasis on the plural). Ravnica has a dragon, Niv-Mizzet the Firemind, who made the executive decision thousands of years ago that he alone was sufficient to represent his entire species. Ravnican dragons are considered more intelligent than dragons on other planes, Niv himself being a prime example of this. Around the original signing of the Guildpact, Ravnica’s Godlike dragons were hunted to extinction, with Niv leading the hunt against his own kind. They were not entirely successful in this endeavor, but what few dragons do remain in the present day survive by staying as far off Niv’s radar as possible. Some dragons live by carrying out Niv’s will under constant supervision, or by hunting in the untamed wilds outside the city, or as sideshow attractions for the Rakdos (usually with their wings cut off to prevent escape). They are effectively stripped of anything that would identify them as “dragons” for the sake of their own existence. Since dragons are such a notoriously touchy subject for the Firemind, few have the nerve or fire immunity necessary to speak out against it.

Sarkhan would be horrified. If he thought the extinction of dragons on his home plane of Tarkir was bad, seeing them living like this would infuriate him beyond words. What would Sarkhan do once the initial shock of seeing his spirit animal (in more ways than one) reduced to pitiful scraps of life as lab rats, scared prey, and freak shows wears off? Let’s make it a game! Do you think Sarkhan will:

A. Cry.

B. Throw up.

C. Embrace this as a plane’s reality that he has no right to get involved with.

D. Scream.

E. Set something on fire.

F. Set everything on fire.

G. Bring back the dragons.

H. Burn the city to the ground with dragons.

I. Kill Niv-Mizzet.

J. All the above except “C”.

If you selected Answer “J”, then congratulations! You’ve just won a free trip to a BURNING METROPOLIS! Sarkhan will absolutely make it his life’s goal to bring dragons back to Ravnica and destroy the whole wretched city down to the last brick. How he would do it is up to you, but it’s a solid bet that even if every other Guild treats him like an apocalyptic madman, the Gruul might side with him over some shared beliefs in smashing the city apart with ferocious animal savagery. They tend to lean towards such ideas with uncharacteristic willful compliance. Ravnican dragons are primarily red, with the most prominent breed still remaining being the Utvara Hellkites beyond the city limits.

Oh, and Sarkhan can turn into a dragon, too. Have fun with that.

#ravnica for goblins #ravnica #goblins #d&d #dnd #dungeons and dragons #dragons #planeswalkers #mtg #campaign #roleplaying #tibalt #sarkhan #ashiok #garruk #fun ideas #guilds

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surveys-at-your-service · 3 years

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Survey #420

lol blaze it (i’m funny i swear)

In your opinion, which fast food place has the best fries? Without a doubt, Bojangle's. Good. Shit. Are there hurricanes where you live? Yeah, they're common here. What do you hate the most about yourself? I'd really rather not get into this right about now. What song are you listening to right now? "Beast of Gévaudan" by Powerwolf. What was your first concert? Alice Cooper. Also my only concert. What’s your favorite Johnny Depp movie? Alice In Wonderland. Who did you last say “I love you” to? My sister. Do you like pumpkin pie? Anything pumpkin-flavored is a hell no from me. Do you know anyone named Austin? Knew, rather. Do you know anyone who is having a baby? My friend recently announced she and her husband are having their second child in December. What was the last thing you cried about? Just PTSD. Do you prefer regular or chocolate milk? I like both, but I prefer chocolate. Do you think you are an argumentative person? Definitely not. How many deep dark secrets do you have? Two or so, idk. What was the spiciest thing you’ve ever eaten? Some wings at Buffalo Wild Wings with one of the hottest sauces. Wanted to die. ... Yet I continued to get that one whenever I went for years lmao. Who last called you sexy? I don't know. Would you class yourself as a good role model? In some ways, but in a lot of other ways, no. Are you scared of the dark? No. Do you have a motto? No. Who did you last see on webcam? The doctor that overlooks my TMS progress. Do you need a haircut? I need a trim for sure. How would you react if your mother told you that she was pregnant again? Well, considering 1.) she's way past menopause and especially 2.) she's had a complete hysterectomy, y'know... that's kind of impossible. She also hasn't been with a guy in many years, so she would have to be joking. You log into Facebook and see the red ‘1’ notification next to the message icon. Who do you want it to be? -___- Would you rather exercise alone or with other people? ALONE. You will NOT see me exercise in front of other people. What is the most difficult or involved video game you’ve ever played? The most involved is DEFINITELY World of Warcraft, and I guess you could consider it the hardest too, given some of the much more difficult things I've done in it. It itself isn't a hard game whatsoever, but you can pursue some really hard achievements. Ever watch the show Supernatural? If you have, then what’s your favorite episode? I used to love it, but just stopped watching eventually. My fave episode... Man, it's been too long to remember many. Probably one of the funnier ones. I remember I specifically liked the bit where they were in your everyday comedy show, as well as the one where I THINK Dean kept trying to prevent Sam from dying. I just remember the "Eye of the Tiger" bit that is pure gold. Ever heard of flavored honey? If so, what’s you’re favorite flavor? Oh, no, but that sounds good. Do you remember what your favorite show was when you were little? Yeah, Pokemon. Do you put anything besides cheese on grilled cheese sandwiches? Besides butter, which I think is pretty standard, no. When it comes to books, what do you think is the “perfect” amount of pages? Uh, I dunno. It depends on the book. I don't really care about page numbers. Would you ever be interested in going scuba diving? Yeah. Out of all of your friends/relatives, who would you say has the best vocabulary? Girt, probably. Are any of your fingers or toes deformed? What about the nails? I don't think so? When is the last time you cried? I was sobbing earlier today, fun stuff. Would you ever date somebody that has been divorced more than once? Most likely not. ESPECIALLY at my age. What are some stereotypically nerdy things that you like? Oh god. WoW, M:tG, big glasses, anime (does that count? idk really), video games... a lot of stuff, really. Have you ever attended a wedding that ended where the bride and groom didn’t actually get married? What happened? Y I K E S, no. That would be SO uncomf. What scares you the most about becoming a mother (hypothetically, if you don’t want to have children)? Actually raising it properly, physically and emotionally. Would you ever want a job in fashion? What would you enjoy about that type of job? No. Would you ever be a surrogate mother? No. What do you think would be the best and worst parts about being a twin? It'd be cool to have someone you feel an almost supernatural connection towards, but I'd also feel like I wasn't as "original" as I would be if I was born alone. Do you feel that your childhood was more rough compared to others around you? I mean it wasn't awful at all, but sure, in some ways compared to at least someone. How would you react if you found out today that you were actually adopted? Well today I'm a wreck, so don't tell me. I want to know that I wasn't lied to for 25 years. Have either of your parents ever cheated on one another before, that you know of? How would you react if you found out today that one of them cheated? I'm not entirely clear on this, but I'm 90% sure Dad cheated on Mom with his now-wife. Dad also accused Mom of cheating, but I HIGHLY doubt that's true. Do you like cleaning and organizing? Not really. How would you react if you found out you were infertile? If you don’t plan on having kids to begin with, what is a long-term goal you’d be crushed to find out was impossible to achieve? Fuck having kids. I'd be a terrible mother. So to answer the other question, I'll be pretty, pretty sad if I can't get permission to spread Teddy's ashes at Yellowstone. Would you take your dream job if it were out of the country? Well, obviously not considering my dream job is a meerkat biologist, and I'm not moving to Africa. Have you ever been robbed? No. Is anyone close to you an alcoholic? Not anymore. Dad was, but he's recovered. Have you ever dumped anyone? Yes. What kind of tea do you drink? I hate tea. Do you know anyone in a gang? No, and I hope I never do. What’s the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for you? Risk his fucking sanity and health to try to hold my fucked up self up. What is your orientation? Gay? Straight? Metrosexual? Anything other? Bisexual. I've kinda been questioning pansexual of the late, though. I don't know. Have you ever done anything really dangerous or illegal with friends? Not to my memory. Name three feelings you’re feeling right now: Regret. Hopelessness. Loneliness. And the reasons for these feelings? Take a wild fuckin' guess. How do you feel about your life right now? It's an actual dumpster fire. Is it easy for you to like yourself? Why or why not? Fuck no. Because there's just not very much TO like about me. Even on my good days, I see flaw after flaw in myself. What subjects come naturally to you? English, some aspects of science. What subjects do not? Math, economics, politics, history... Do you read more fiction or more non-fiction books? Definitely fiction. When I read a book, I want an escape from the real world. How has today been for you? BOY HOWDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What did you do? Went to TMS therapy. Sat on the Internet. Cried. :^) Are there any candles lit in the room you’re in? No. Are there any lava lamps near you? No. I want one, though. Do you like cats or dogs better? Cats. Are any of your friends a pothead? Yes. What’s a goal you’re trying to accomplish soon? Start losing weight again. That'd be pretty goddamn grand. Are you a high maintenance person? Definitely not. The last time you yelled as loud as you could, what was the reason? I was having a nightmare. Have you ever been heartbroken? For sure. Who did that to you? First Dad, then Jason. Did you go through an ugly stage as a kid? Boy, did I. The last type of sandwich you made or ate: A pb&j. The last time you spent most of the day in bed: Literally every day. I do just about everything in bed. Pathetic, I know. The last friend or acquaintance you made: Ummmm idk. The last thing you took pictures of: A hydrangea bush. The last time you were scared: Now. The future is terrifying, my friend. The last thing you looked up online: The definition of a word to ensure I was using it correctly. The last thing you disagreed with: So I've been watching John Wolfe's old stream of him playing Alice: Madness Returns, and he went on a total soapbox about smoking being okay essentially because we're all gonna die eventually from something, and I really disagreed with it. Does your house have a separate laundry room? No, just like a closet. Do your parents still help you financially? I'm still entirely dependent on them. Does your car have a backup camera? No. Have either of your parents ever been in trouble with the law? Not to my knowledge. Have you ever had a pet that lived to be really old for its breed/species? REALLY old, no. Teddy was definitely up there, but beagles have lived longer. What was the last strong scent you smelled? Lysol. Have you ever told someone to their face that they were ugly? Christ, no. Is your bed against more than one of your walls? No. Have you ever been attracted to someone’s parent? Don't think so? Have you ever pole danced before? No. Have you ever broken into someone’s house? No. Have you ever seen a live bat? Yes. What is the most amount of money you’ve spent on a meal before? I dunno. Have you ever taken a woodshop class? No. How much time do you spend on Facebook, if you have one? Funny you ask, because as of today I decided to take a break from it for awhile. I've found it's nothing more than a breeding ground for envy and making me feel like a horribly incompetent adult. Has a teacher ever made you hate yourself/your work? I had one photography teacher in college that I was NOT a fan of. He was super, super hard on everyone, like to an unnecessary degree. We were students, not pros. Have you ever been on the barrier or front row at a concert? No. Are your parents supportive of you? Somehow.

#survey #surveys #random questions

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thelastchair · 3 years

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Powder Magazine

(Written by Sam Cox - December 28, 2020)

Growing up in Montana, my winter free time was consumed by skiing. Big Sky was the destination when I was barely old enough to walk. Eventually we made the move to Bozeman and Bridger Bowl became my second home. During the early years, my family made the trek to a handful of Warren Miller movies when they were on tour in the fall and Snow Country was the magazine subscription that landed on the coffee table. I was vaguely aware of Jackson Hole, Snowbird and Squaw Valley and my father would occasionally regale me with tales of skiing (read Après) in Germany when he was in the Army. At some level, I already understood that there was something special about Bridger, but realistically, my sphere of outside influence was quite small. Christmas of 1989 turned my entire world upside down. My aunt and uncle are longtime Salt Lake City residents and Brighton skiers. Typically they would send a package each year with the customary cookies, toffee and a card. However, this year they sent two VHS tapes and a magazine - Ski Time, Blizzard of Aahhh’s and a copy of Powder. Things would never be the same for me. Scot Schmidt became my hero, Greg Stump was taking skiing into uncharted territory and above it all, Powder created an eloquent voice for our sport and was the fabric that held things together. Even at my young age, everything that I’d intuitively sensed before was distilled into a potent desire to devote myself to the simple pursuit of being a skier.

Johan Jonsson, Engelberg, Switzerland - Photo: Mattias Fredriksson/POWDER

Powder was founded in Sun Valley by the Moe brothers in 1972 as an annual portfolio of The Other Ski Experience. After several years of running the magazine, Jake and David Moe sold Powder to the owner of Surfer Magazine. A repurposed aircraft hangar in San Juan Capistrano became the new home of skiing’s most prestigious publication. Over time, there was an ebb and flow to the size of staff and cast of characters, each person leaving their unique mark. For decades Powder weathered corporate acquisitions, office relocations and the constant metamorphosis of the ski industry - never losing its voice, Powder remained the benchmark. It was a source of creativity, inspiration and a defacto annal of history. For many it was also a shining beacon, a glimpse into a world filled with deep turns and iconic destinations - even if this world could only be inhabited inside the constructs of your imagination.

My story and the impact Powder had on the direction I would take is hardly unique. The magazine left an indelible impression on countless skiers. When the news broke this fall that operations were being suspended indefinitely, a heartbroken community took to social media to pay homage to the magazine and how it changed their lives and in some cases, careers. This is my version of a tribute and it’s definitely not perfect. In order to gain some perspective, I reached out to former staff members - a collective I admire and respect. It’s an attempt to articulate the essence of Powder, capture its influence on the skiing landscape and give credit to the people who made it come to life.

Bernie Rosow, Mammoth Mountain, CA - Photo: Christian Pondella/POWDER

HANS LUDWIG - The Jaded Local

“Skiing has always been really tribal and one of the last vestiges of having an oral history. Powder was a unique concept, because they weren’t really concerned with the family market. They were just concerned about being really into skiing. Growing up in Colorado and skiing moguls, my coaches Robert and Roger were featured in the early Greg Stump films. Being in their orbit, I knew a little bit about skiing culture and what was going on out there, but didn’t have the whole picture. The Stump films resonated with me, but Ski/Skiing Magazines didn’t really do it for me. Powder was the door that opened things culturally, it was the only entry point before Blizzard of Aahhh’s.”

“Something that nobody gives Powder credit for, is sponsoring the Greg Stump, TGR and MSP movies and giving them full support right from their inception. It legitimized those companies and helped them become one of the catalysts for change and evolution in skiing. Ultimately this change would have happened, but at a much slower pace without the support of Powder. Getting support from Powder meant they’d weeded out the posers and kooks and what they were backing wasn’t something or someone that was “aspiring” they were a cut above.”

“Powder brought a lot of things into the mainstream, raised awareness and helped to legitimize them: Jean-Marc Boivin, Patrick Vallencant, Pierre Tardivel, telemarking, monoskiing, snowboarding, the JHAF, Chamonix, La Grave, Mikaela Shiffrin, fat skis pre McConkey, skiing in South America….the list goes on.”

“I had some rowdy trips with Powder. Writing “Lost In America,” I went Utah-Montana-Fernie-Banff-Revelstoke via pickup truck, only backcountry skiing and camping in the mud. It was a month plus. I did another month plus in Nevada, which was after back to back Jackson and Silverton. Total time was two plus months. That was fucked up, I was super loose after that whole thing. So many sketchy days with total strangers”

“People forget that Powder was around long before the advent of the fucking pro skier. Starting in 1996, the magazine was in the impact zone of the ski industrial complex. There is limited space for content each season. It was a challenge to balance the pressure coming from the athletes and brands to cover something that was going to make them money vs. staying true to the Moe brothers original intent and profiling an eccentric skier, a unique location or even fucking ski racing.”

Full Circle - Photo: MJ Carroll

KEITH CARLSEN - Editor

“When I was young, Ski/Skiing didn’t do anything for my spirit, but Powder lit me up. It ignited a passion in diehard skiers and gave them a voice and community. It was focused on the counter culture - the type of people who rearrange their lives to ski. This was in direct opposition to other magazines that were targeting rich people, trying to explain technique, sell condos or highlight the amenities at a ski area.”

“Skiing has always been my outlet and mechanism to get away from things in life. My two talents are writing and photography, so I enrolled at Western State with the direct goal of landing an internship at Powder. Even at 19, I had complete focus on the direction I wanted to take. If it didn’t work out, my backup plan was to be a ski bum. 48 hours after graduating, I was headed to southern California to live in my van and start my position at Powder. When the decision was made to close the magazine, it was really personal for me. Powder had provided me direction in life for the last 30 years and I needed some time to process it. In a way, it was almost like going to a funeral for a good friend - even though it’s gone, the magazine lives on in all of us and can never be taken away.”

“It was, and will always remain, one of my life’s greatest honors to serve as the editor-in-chief for Powder Magazine. It was literally a dream that came true. I’m so grateful for everyone who came before me and everyone who served after me. That opportunity opened literally hundreds of doors for me and continues to do so today. I owe the magazine a massive debt of gratitude. Every single editor was a warrior and fought for the title with their lives. They were doing double duty - not only from competition with other publications, but the internal struggle of budget cuts, staff reductions and trying to do more with less. Powder never belonged in the hands of a corporation. The magazine spoke to an impassioned community and never made sense to an accountant or on a ledger.”

Trevor Petersen, Mt. Serratus, BC - Photo: Scott Markewitz/POWDER

SIERRA SHAFER - Editor In Chief

“Powder celebrated everything that is good and pure in skiing. It highlighted the old school, the new and the irreverent. The magazine also called bullshit when they saw it. It was a checkpoint, a cultural barometer and an honest reflection on where skiing has been and where it’s going.”

“My involvement with Powder came completely out of left field. I was never an intern or established in the ski industry. My background was strictly in journalism, I was a skier living in Southern California and editing a newspaper. I knew that I wanted to get the fuck out of LA and Powder was that opportunity. It was a huge shift going from my job and life being completely separate to work becoming my life. Literally overnight, Powder became everything - friends, connections and part of my identity. It derailed my trajectory in the best possible way.”

Brad Holmes, Donner Pass, CA - Photo: Dave Norehad/POWDER

MATT HANSEN - Executive Editor

“Keith Carlsen was a man of ideas, he had tremendous vision and influence. He came up with the ideas for Powder Week and the Powder Awards in 2001. In some respects those two events saved the magazine.”

“Powder was the soul of skiing and kept the vibe, it changed people’s lives and inspired them to move to a ski town. As a writer I always wanted to think it was the stories that did that, but in truth it was the photography. Images of skiing truly became an art form, 100% thanks to Powder Magazine and Dave Reddick. Dave cultivated and mentored photographers, he was always searching for the unpredictable image from around the world and pressed the photographers to look at things from a different angle.”

“It sounds cliche, but writing a feature about Chamonix was the highlight for me. Sitting on the plane, things were absolutely unreal. I linked up with Nate Wallace and the whole experience from start to finish was out of my comfort zone. Ducking ropes to ski overhead pow on the Pas De Chèvre, walking out of the ice tunnel on a deserted Aiguille du Midi right as the clouds parted, late nights in town that were too fuzzy to recall. The energy of the place taught me a lot. I didn’t have a smartphone and there was no Instagram - I had time to write, observe, take notes and be present with who I was and with the experience. As a writer it didn’t get any better.”

“The true gift of working for Powder, was the once in a lifetime adventures that I wish I could have shared with my family, I was so lucky to have had those opportunities. It almost brought tears to me eyes.”

Peter Romaine, Jackson Hole, WY - Photo: Wade McKoy/POWDER

DAVE REDDICK - Director of Photography

“Just ski down there and take a photo of something, for cryin’ out loud!” “I’ve found that channeling McConkey has been keeping it in perspective. Powder’s been shuttered. That sucks. What doesn’t suck is the good times and the people that have shared the ride thus far and I’m just thankful to be one of them. There’s been some really kind sentiments from friends and colleagues, but this must be said - Every editor (especially the editors), every art director (I’ve driven them nuts), every publisher and sales associate, every photographer, writer, and intern, and all the others behind the scenes who’ve ever contributed their talents get equal share of acknowledgment for carrying the torch that is Powder Mag. There’s hundreds of us! No decision has ever been made in a vacuum. Always a collective. At our best, we’ve been a reflection of skiers everywhere and of one of the greatest experiences in the world. It’s that community, and that feeling, that is Powder. I’m not sure what’s next and I’m not afraid of change but” “There’s something really cool about being scared. I don’t know what!”

Scot Schmidt, Alaska - Photo: Chris Noble/POWDER

DEREK TAYLOR - Editor

“Powder was the first magazine dedicated to the experience and not trying to teach people how to ski. It was enthusiast media focused on the soul and culture. It’s also important to highlight the impact Powder had outside of skiing - today you have the Surfer’s Journal effect where every sport wants that type of publication. However, prior to their inception, everybody wanted a version of Powder.”

“Neil Stebbins and Steve Casimiro deserve a lot of credit for the magazine retaining its voice and staying true to the core group of skiers it represented.”

“Keith Carlsen is responsible for the idea behind Super Park. This was a time when skiing had just gone through a stale phase. There was a newfound energy in park skiing and younger generations, this event helped to rebrand Powder and solidify its goal of being all inclusive. Racing, powder, park, touring - it’s all just skiing.”

Joe Sagona, Mt. Baldy, CA - Photo: Dave Reddick/POWDER

JOHNNY STIFTER - Editor In Chief

“What did Powder mean to me... Well, everything. As a reader and staffer, it inspired me and made me laugh. I learned about local cultures that felt far away and learned about far away cultures that didn’t feel foreign, if that makes sense.”

“But I cherished those late nights the most, making magazines with the small staff. Despite the deadline stress, I always felt so grateful to be working for this sacred institution and writing and editing for true skiers. We all just had so much damn fun. And it didn’t hurt meeting such passionate locals at hallowed places, like Aspen and Austria, that I once dreamed of visiting and skiing. The Powder culture is so inclusive and so fun, I never felt more alive.”

Doug Coombs, All Hail The King - Photo: Ace Kvale/POWDER

HEATHER HANSMAN - Online Editor

“Powder is a lifestyle and an interconnected circle of people. It’s about getting a job offer at Alta, opening your home to random strangers, locking your keys in your car and getting rescued by a friend you made on a trip years ago. Through the selfish activity of skiing, you can create a community of people you cherish and can depend on through highs and lows.”

Ashley Otte, Mike Wiegele Heli, BC - Photo: Dave Reddick/POWDER

The contributions of so many talented individuals made the magazine possible. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everyone who shared their experience at Powder with me. Also, I want to thank Porter Fox and David Page for crafting inspiring feature stories that I enjoyed immensely over the years.

After the reality set in that the final issue had arrived, a void was created for generations of skiers. I’ve been focused on being thankful for what we had, rather than sad it’s gone. It’s a challenging time for print media and I wholeheartedly advocate supporting the remaining titles in anyway you can. In a culture driven by a voracious appetite for mass media consumption and instant gratification - I cherish the ritual of waiting for a magazine to arrive, appreciating the effort that went into creating the content and being able to have that physical substance in my hand. Thanks for everything Powder, you are missed, but your spirit lives on.

Captain Powder - Photo: Gary Bigham/POWDER

#skiing #powder #last chair #powder magazine #the other ski experience #the skiers magazine

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crqstalite · 5 years

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part 14, partner in crime #2 (torian && ba’shira)

bleh, this one’s kinda slow because it’s just torian thinking about ba’shira and ghenkl misaging them. probably will be re-written later lol.

written: 9.5.19. word count: 2,235

════ ⋆★⋆ ════ character song: miss jackson, panic! at the disco

character file: ba'shira cadera, champion of the great hunt.

when they first met, ba'shira had flipped him onto his back and held him at gunpoint. all with some clever quip too, which is what he remembers most from that experience. other than the fact that the noise could've attracted some unneeded monsters, but the verdant green orbs of her that glowed in the darkness of the transport station took his mind off of his impending doom immediatly.

"i just wanted to see you again." she says so smoothly, turning around slowly as her hair just barely covers her eyes. she's quick, agile as she kicks his legs out from under him and flips him over with ease. "now what are you doing out here?"

torian is sure that's when he first fell in love with the companion to the champion.

(he's also halfway sure that at that point, she barely even knew his name. and intended to shoot him if he didn't answer.)

companion is the wrong word, the charming (if not also brazen) female bounty hunter is much more than just a side character. even if she didn't take the shot to end their target, ba'shira has been part of theksevoy's crew since the beginning (well, mako holds that title, but ba'shira claims a close second). they have a special relationship (one he's jealous of if he's being honest), they always know what the other's about to say, when the other needs backup, exactly when the other's beskar'gam needs cleaning or repair. she was part of his crew when the great hunt was still in session, and apparently often accompanied him to targets. like a brother and sister, the two do not take shit from anyone.

it's amazing. watching two of the galaxy's finest piggy back off each other (sometimes literally, the smaller female leaping off the taller male with her jetpack and proceeding to incinerate the surrounding area) it's something different than when she and torian are out alone.

stars, he really needs to stop thinking about his boss like this.

however, the dark haired woman made it clear she didn't want to be just his boss anymore. from the sly looks and coy answers to his questions, ba'shira isn't exactly shy about her desires. his first major fear was that she wasn't exclusive to him due to her less than conventional tactics to earn her way to the targets' names and locations, but it seems that fear was absolutely baseless. after his confession, he's not even sure she looks at other men or women.

or, can keep her hands off of him.

it makes him nervous, he'll admit that. she makes him nervous. he hasn't really known many other women in a romantic sense, but meeting a woman who wasn't born or raised mandalorian changes his outlook on the galaxy. she interprets their culture as she goes along, follows laws as loosely as possible. but, she doesn't hold back when it comes to him. ba'shira just leads, and he follows. the armored woman isn't afraid to either, as she yanks him by his armor to smash her lips on his.

stars, she is strong. he knows this too, watching her train and as they spar. she's fast, but muscular as well. her loose clothing hides it, but once she's in little more than a sports bra and sweatpants, he can see their excursions have turned her into a very brawny warrior. as the sweat shines off her forehead during their brawls and she straddles him, she asks him to call uncle before she releases his arms from her grip.

he can see their future going far.

"she still isn't down yet?" theksevoy startles him out of his thoughts, though he keeps his poker face up. the man is a hulking 6"3 beast, dark skin with blonde hair and caramel brown eyes. he stands quite a few inches taller than torian himself, and can lift so much more. at this point, he can see why the galaxy's most wanted is such an icon, women nearly chasing him down at every outpost they stop at. "thought you guys were supposed to be gone like an hour ago."

"trying to get rid of us, champion?" he asks as thek chuckles.

"i'd never, torian. guess we're playing by the no curfew game again tonight, huh?" the older male asks, winking as torian tries to catch on to whatever joke he's trying to get across. "when can i expect you back?" he asks, once he realizes his sly joke flew right over the young mandalorian's head.

"depends on her." he answers. "if she stays out, i stay out." and that's true enough. torian would never come back without her.

"cool. don't do anything stupid. ghen needs this job." theksevoy answers, tucking his hands into his lounges and heading back up the stairs to his and mako's quarters. torian's mind wanders to the slicer that's the closest in age to him other than his partner. he's curious what's she's been up to lately. but, he'll catch up when he and ba'shira get back.

torian had yet to meet this ghenkl, though he figured she wouldn't be too much trouble if thek trusted him and ba'shira to arrange the details. she'd only been described as meaning well, if not a little all over the place. a tall, buff pale zabrak woman in a cantina should be easy enough to find. the only things he knows concrete about this woman is just that, and the fact she'll probably see them first.

"of course, champion." he answers, the other male disappearing back to his quarters after nodding. thankfully, he doesn't have to wait long for the woman of the hour once he hears her her boots clank on the durasteel of the mantis. she isn't dressed up, which isn't surprising (he never expects her to, and she hasn't broken that expectation except for once). she's got a mischeveous grin on her face as she takes his hand in hers.

"you ready to go, torian?" she asks, shaking out her messy ponytail and letting the shaggy haircut fall around her shoulders. the tawny curls accentuate her face in a way he can't describe as her eyes twinkle in the dim light of the mantis.

"always."

carrick station is busy, as always. when they disembark from the mantis, ba'shira is (as always) attracted to all the shiny new blasters the gtn is advertising. of course, she's also wary. (the last two nearly killed her and left her face wishing that she hadn't been swayed so quickly.)

of course, the two youngest members of the crew get distracted by all the weapons on display. now, ba'shira knows what torian has his eye on for life day, and intends to sneak back out later to retrieve the vibrostaff. it's not even close to the holiday yet, but even she knows she's gonna forget when it is.

they head down the cantina after they've wandered the expanse of carrick station for a bit. pulling out her holo, the photo of the zabrak woman is compared to everyone she can see. humans, more humans, a few twi'leks and torgutas mingle among each other. in the dim light, she's considering just spending the rest of her night and allowance on drinks for her and torian to spend the night out. his pale skin nearly shines in the yellow lighting, and she figures it'd look better with a few kisses of her painted lips on it.

"oi!" a voice makes her turn, and looking up a woman fitting the description is waving at her from an alcove above them in the vip area. "come on up, would you?"

she and torian share of look of confusion before heading up the elevator. the bouncer gives them a look at first before turning away in a gruff of approval. a moment later, they step out onto the vip area of carrick station, turning this way and that to find the woman who had been speaking to them. eventually, ba'shira finds the scantily dressed woman who wears little more than a bikini and a jacket over a pair of greaves and boots. she's sitting with a dark skinned male, who gives her a small grin. "ba'shira, yeah?"

"that's me." she says, pulling out a chair for torian before taking her own. "i presume you're ghenkl?"

"you'd be right." ghenkl responds. she's tall, taller than ba'shira had originally assumed, and buff enough to go along with it. in the back of her mind, she figures this is why she and thek are friends. "alright, now this elusive job thek couldn't come down and give me himself."

ba'shira looks around once, then twice before handing over the datapad with the details. she's already technically trespassing (the entire crew of the mantis is, in fact, on republic soil) and there's no reason getting into unnecessary trouble because of one little slip up. her contact grins, handing the datapad back. "just like the old days then."

"i'm sure it is. you want in?" ba'shira asks. ghenkl nods adamantly. "tell thek whenever he needs me, i'm ready to jump in."

"great." ba'shira says, moving to get up from the table.

"hey, wait a sec kid." ba'shira pauses, as ghenkl gestures to sit back down. "spend sometime with an old woman for a bit, yeah? you're legal aren't you?"

"i am." ba'shira says warily. "i should really get back though."

"bah, you take after thek. always so quick to leave the party. given, corso and i were just waiting for you two. but sit down for a bit, lets talk. we're going to be working together anyways." ghenkl says, hailing down a passing server droid and ordering a round of some unpronouncable drink. once she and torian take their seats again, ghenkl asks, "how long have you known thek anyways?"

"a couple of years. least since the great hunt." she answers. her features are dulled by how her hair covers her face. scars decorate her face as she smiles, the lines under her eyes crinkling. ba'shira wonders how old she is. "why?"

"just curious. wondering why he wouldn't come down and see me himself, but that's none of my business." ghenkl says sarcastically. "it's been so long since i saw him last."

"i'm sure he had something else to attend to, captain." corso says. he has an accent that ba'shira typically associates with backwater planets. she wonders where he's from. "'sure he'd be here if he could be."

she's also curious whether she should tell the smuggler that no, theksevoy had nothing better to be doing today. but, he had promised mako he'd take a day off and spend it with her, so she figures he did have something important to be doing. "he'd be here if he could."

"good to know. alright, i asked you one thing. got any questions for me?" ghenkl quizzes.

"how do you know theksevoy?" ba'shira asks, curious. it doesn't seem like the two of them would be good friends exactly, especially hearing that ghenkl is allied with the republic for the time being.

"we were lovers for a period of time. partners in mostly general crime now." she says lazily. the droid rolls back over to their table with drinks in it's metal claws, placing all four down on the table before rolling away again. "you drink, kid?"

"i'm not a kid." she feels like she's had this conversation with her boyfriend before when the words leave her mouth, but doesn't overthink it too much. "and not really."

"really?" she cocks an eyebrow like she doesn't believe her, turning her gaze to torian, who looks more bored than anything. "eh, suit yourself. who's this kid?"

"still, not a kid." ba'shira answers before torian can cut her off.

"ya'll look younger than you should be, alright?" ghenkl shrugs, sipping on her glass of alcohol. "too young to be involved in a war."

"torian cadera." her boyfriend answers before ba'shira can give a retort, "we're not kids."

"hey, didn't mean any offense." she says.

"how old are you?" ba'shira questions, crossing her arms over her breast plate. "calling us kids."

"thirty three." ghenkl throws back her cup, putting it back down on the table. "i'll be thirty four in a couple of months, why?"

ba'shira admittedly had not believed the smuggler would be that old. she'd assumed there had only been a few years seperating them, not nearly a decade. ghenkl definitely didn't look that old either. "what about him?"

"who me? twenty-six." corso answers. damn. he's still older than both of them. both she and torian were only twenty-two (torian was turning twenty-three soon), making them both really the youngest.

it's silent for a while longer before ba'shira really does make the motion to leave. "it's late, i think torian and i are just gonna go."

"alright then. don't be a stranger." the zabrak woman responds. "hope to see you around!"

ba'shira doesn't wave back. she's not scared of her, how much damage can she do to her, but rather wary. something she typically isn't of anyone. but, she's working so closely with them now, ba'shira can't help but be cautious.

"don't be too afraid." torian says just before they step back into the hangar, lacing his fingers into hers.

"i never am." she says, turning to face him. "don't worry too much about me, cyare."

"of course, shira." he responds, pressing a kiss to her forehead as she smiles, but not before pressing her lips to his.

#swtor #star wars the old republic #swtor oc #oc #original character #fanfiction #swtor fanfiction #torian cadera #female bounty hunter #female bounty hunter/torian cadera #swtor fanfic #ba'shira varnek #ba'shira cadera

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villains4hire · 5 years

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Widowmaker (Amélie Lacroix) Overwatch.

(Disclaimer: I do not speak French so I will not being doing complex phrases/rps in French other than the simple phrases. I may or may not learn bits about France that come up relevant in rps. Also I may not change my own bio to her overtime if more is revealed because Blizzard as a whole is not the best when it comes to writing or really cares at times)

Do I want them to die: Nah. Widowmaker actually does succeed in a lot of assassinations due to how much of a killing machine she’s been made into. I don’t think I’ll kill her though, I’ll be fine with her killing other muses or if it’s an au one-off with her own death, but no more than that. Amélie is a victim in the end as well, but at this point? She needs to be stopped for her own good and the good of other people.

Will I have/get icons: I have them! Tag: widowed sights Age: 33 (No longer ages) Sex: Masculine. Gender: Trans Female. Race: Altered Human. (Nationality is French) Sexuality: Pansexual. Personality traits: Near unfeeling. Incredible memory. A planner. Always has a backup plan it seems but can still fail like anyone else. Taunting. Intuitive. Cold, merciless (albeit with people she once knew perhaps or knew of that her husband worked with? She has canonically showed mercy such as to Tracer even if she doesn’t understand why she did it other than feeling a sense of dread to act on murdering them) Does have forms of emotions but it’s hard to feel. Incredibly sadistic as she enjoys killing to a great degree. Intelligent. Capable of blending in, but getting to know her makes her feel rather awkward unless they’re close. Has social skills to a degree but not like she once had, but enough to get by. (Old Personality traits that can be seen in glimpses on a blue moon for what’s left) Thoughtful. Kind. Passionate. Loving. Mental traits: Has ASPD, she was born with it, but had therapy to live an easier and happier life until she was abducted, thus only worsening it and building off of her trouble with feeling emotions. Do note that her ASPD does not equate to her violence and rather is victimizing someone with it. Feels emotions and an alien happiness upon murdering someone as part of her altered mind. As moving on: her mind is different now, and her perceptions are near alien in their process. There is some deep-seeded brainwashing and actual coding into her brain to be loyal to Talon. Mentally she is actually quite a broken individual underneath it all as an actual person almost literally.

While her external body has been repaired from the damage, along with scarring removed due to nanomachines? Amélie’s mind and brain even while altered shows signs of extreme and inhumane mental breaking from torture when examining her altered brain’s activity? It’d be hard to discern at first due to the fact my Widowmaker is basically near being inhuman in altered genetics, but someone with extreme intelligence such as Winston, Mercy, or an expert could probably figure it out.

Physical traits: Blue-skinned. Slender but unnaturally compact muscular frame, modified physique to resemble something more alien or altered as still humanoid and human, but not quite as much. A slight diversion from canon design is that I’m kind of just, zipping up the blatant gap in her suit that exposes her chest that doesn’t make sense other than being fan-service along with the one on her back as that’s another big exposure spot. I’m fine with that part of her suit being see-through or something though to show off the tattoo on her back. At least that kind of makes sense? Yellow eyes. Has tattoos on her arm and back. Powers: (These aren’t insane enhancements other than reflexes but they are there. Like at most it’s just, ‘her kick could snap someone who is the average joe like a twig’. Or she could suddenly move in a way too fast to react but not fast enough to go beyond the sight limitations of normal humans and so on etc) Enhanced Speed. Enhanced Strength. Enhanced Endurance. Incredible trigger-time, predictions and insane reflexes as she can keep up with even Tracer to a degree despite being outmatched in speed. An extreme acrobat, perhaps her second most impressive physical capability next to reflexes being her first. Can pass lie detector tests with ease due to her abnormal heart-beat and pulse. Significant slowed bleeding even to deadly wounds. Is compatible with any blood-type for transfusions or donating wise. I head canon that it’s more of a ‘Spider-Sense’ in a way as that could explain why she could somewhat keep up with Tracer or predict her when she was in the middle of her dashes, otherwise it’s just too unrealistic to me that ‘she’s that skilled’ because there’s a limit to raw skill. Heat-signature devices don’t pick her up, but can still be motion detected or otherwise. (I don’t base this on in-game because that’d be actually broken) She is genetically enhanced through a specialized process that’s extremely hard to replicate and needs specific conditions along with the person in question meeting specific requirements or they die during the process, otherwise there’d be a ton of agents just like her running around. To make her hair functional and not just a big ‘grab me-here sign’. Her hair grows rather rapidly, if grabbed or snagged? Depending on her subconscious movement or thought? It’ll either help her stick to surfaces and unstick or simply fall off if pulled hard enough, or she has the thought to get away or a pain response that it wasn’t on purpose and is fast enough to rapidly regrow in view. The strands or part that is taken off will become incredibly sticky and cling similar to spider-webbing. This is rather optional as an rp element and not required but better to rationalize a supposed ‘killing machine’. Her eyes are not just for show and she can see in the dark, they glow yellow when shined a light on in certain conditions.

While not Doomfist himself or one of the previous users? Widowmaker does take a direct blast and punch to the gut from a kid using the Doomfist, which sends out a shockwave and sent her flying from the impact. She grit her teeth in pain but quickly got back up so yeah, Widowmaker can take quite a bit of punishment it seems and keep going without breaking a sweat. There are limits to it of course as with any character as she’s certainly not more durable than Winston or something.

Weapons:

A grappling hook that she keeps in one of her wrists. Her signature weapon: Widow’s Kiss that can alternate to automatic fire and sniping capabilities on a wire. Vibration sense due to her reactions to Tracer in ‘Alive’ even if not visible? Venom Mines which is basically a poisonous mine but I do imagine she could pull out different ones since rps aren’t limited to game limitations along with weapons. Though she will use her default weapons unless plot-weapons and gadgets are needed. ‘Infra-Sight’ for her helmet is perhaps her most powerful ability even if utility-wise. It is capable of detecting multiple types of heat-signatures from living things to non-living things, theorizing the depth and detail of buildings based on what’s in them heat-wise at the time and storing the memory for later use, along with being a powerful scoping device which I imagine has more functions than it does in-game. She probably has some amounts of hacking ability due to the fact she has to get in and out of places, but nowhere near to the level of Sombra, in fact I can imagine Sombra probably gives her devices/has made her devices that auto-hacks for her.

Suit:

Her suit and heels have functionality rather than being a fashion design, such as her suit regulating her body-temperature and albeit low-temperatures don’t bother her to begin with, but it has ballistic and flame-resistance against bullets or minor amounts of heat/explosions, along with changing shades in color since she does wear different suits in the comics based on the environment at times or at least a few which makes sense? It’s not like, ‘super-this-makes-you-invisible-camo’, but it does make someone much harder to see and seems apt for a stealthy sniper. Her heels absorb impacts from long drops and absorb the kinetic energy, but not infinitely so. She could still drop too far and take massive injury, but she is definitely able to take a grand drop and keep going without breaking a sweat while someone would just splat on the pavement, though she can break her own fall with her own gear and gadgets, which is what I think they were going for. Motivations: To kill and feel the enjoyment of it. Talon means little to her other than giving her a target, her loyalty ingrained innately however. In her redeemable and redeemed verses: she wants revenge to put it simply and then later still wants justice, but is less brutal albeit she can’t but help enjoy murder still.

Weaknesses: To a degree? Widowmaker if subdued can override her coding if subjected to enough mental shock or something that’d really invoke an emotional response like a picture of her and her husband. It’s not going to be pretty for how she reacts or pleasant if she gets broken down emotionally so be warned. She does have minor failsafes to reinforce her suppressed personality or altered memory in the forms of implants in her brain. These can be overcome however with enough emotional stress and just stop working altogether if worn down enough in use. These chips are monitored however and she is scanned while resting without her knowledge to ensure they are functioning properly.

Backstory:

https://overwatch.gamepedia.com/Widowmaker

Blizzard isn’t the best with writing canon so I will be using the concept of this but having my own additions, headcanons and analysis added to this.

Basically, Widowmaker DOES still feel and I headcanon that the heroes of Overwatch, especially ones she knew or does know of? Innate traces of her past life, memories and attachment to them for however you want it to be after discussing it with me? That is the one driving force that kept her from killing Tracer when she honestly had the chance in ‘Alive’ after slamming her into a wall and could’ve easily turned around and killed a high priority target. That or subconsciously shot Ana in the head in a way that didn’t kill her.

She could’ve headshotted Winston at the museum but didn’t. There were several opportunities when Reaper and herself were ganging up on him. So while it might be ‘plot armor’ and the heroes themselves seemingly bullet resistant as Doomfist was getting shot to heck by Tracer in his short? I think it’d be ic for Widowmaker to shoot Winston in the head with a fully-charge rifle round which would seriously hurt even him, so the fact she didn’t is going to be further explained as more subconscious actions by Amélie.

With Ana? She shot to kill but vaguely recognized her which made her motions falter and aim in such a way that it didn’t kill her. Tracer? She could’ve outright murdered her and her body was screaming to do it, but something deep within her made her feel like she shouldn’t which made her continue to her escape, despite it would’ve taken less than a few seconds to simply shoot her dead. This is practically confirmed with not only that action with Tracer? But the fact she leaves a rose to her dead husband that she murdered as a sleeper agent in one of the comics. Even if it’s only a glimpse or sliver left? She’s still Amélie deep down and it heavily influences her more than she cares to admit or realizes fully.

Overall my Widowmaker does not care about Talon as an organization other than her innate loyalty that she’s subtly abstracting from but not entirely. There are failsafes for Widowmaker how I headcanon it that keep her grounded to Talon, mentally in need and also due to the things they’ve done to her mind to associate them to certain things that keep her from committing betrayal. Redeemable and redeemed future verses are through outside intervention or accidental injury to the components which suppress her personality or memory. Those are largely headcanon’d but make sense to me the most for development in Widowmaker as a character if anyone is interested in that aspect.

#widowed sights #bio #neutral villains #redeemable villains #redeemed villains

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sungggyu · 5 years

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190602 ; “ARBOR DAY” fan account

recently, i flew to macau for woohyun's solo concert "arbor day" so i'll be sharing a little fan account for everyone who wasn't able to attend his concert! more importantly i would say this is for myself as well since it would give me something to remember when i look back on this moment in the future ;~;

i believe some people may have already seen tweets of random anecdotes from this concert so for starters, i'll be skipping the anecdotes and saving them for the end. i'll start with a general impression and account of the entire concert and the other events (rehearsal/hi-touch/group photo) instead.

so, a nam woohyun concert. i personally have never been to a solo concert/fanmeet event of woohyun only so i did not have any expectations beforehand of what this could turn out like. i must say, however, that after experiencing his concert, it did fit in with the image of woohyun in my mind a lot with all his teasing, playing, flirting and also tears ( 〃´艸｀) whereas at sunggyu's solo concert last year, he gave off the impression of a shy older brother figure, woohyun's really was just that of a playful crybaby boyfriend hahaha.

although there have been fan accounts from his previous concerts in seoul and taipei and it isn't like i haven't already heard all of his songs before this, i was still impressed by the versatility of his music when i saw it live. from ballad to rock to dance, you name it. the arrangement of the stages from start to end where he changes from one genre to another seamlessly really just seemed to highlight this fact even further. performing all these different genres is one thing but performing them well, which he did, is a whole other thing and for that, i find it really commendable. also, there’s this other thing - his voice……!! it’s really so, so beautiful and rich and his vibratos especially, they really resonate deep within your heart or maybe that’s just my bias speaking. i was turned into a puddle from the moment he opened his mouth and sang the first song during rehearsals :-( but all bias aside and as everyone probably would've already guessed, his singing was really just pure solid from start to end so that's that on that.

moving on, fan interactions. i realised that the woohyun i saw that day is really not that much different from the woohyun we see on the cameras in that he’s every bit as talkative, playful and if i may add, even more mischievous because the language barrier gave him more things to tease fans about. those aside, he’s also just as caring and sweet to fans so yeah.. i was a puddle….. like what i said earlier (இ﹏இ`。) important stuff (i.e. introductions, wrapping up etc.) aside, i felt like woohyun really took quite a bit of time out to play with fans. he would ask us questions and pick out any answer he could hear from the crowd and expand it from there and by expand, i mean, using it to tease fans. at one point he would ask us if we really meant it when we said we would stay by his side and fans were like “YESSS” and he’s like “really? really really?” then fans “YEAAAAA!!” and then woohyun just went “really? fake! fake!” in mandarin and the exchange went back and forth a couple of times until he got enough fun out of it. he was also super adamant that he was not performing “hold on me” when fans screamed “hold on me!!” after he announced that the next song was the last song but he was such a liar, the song immediately after he said that was “hold on me”… this child（´＿｀;） he also made sure the translator went through the same teasing we did. i have to admit the translator was not very good at her job and really did not do her homework at all because there were so many fandom-related terms that she completely missed out on but it’s alright.. woohyun made sure she learned ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

towards the end of the concert, he gradually became more and more emotional compared to his playful self at the start of the concert. he spoke about things that were not all that unfamiliar to inspirits by now such as parting for a long time, not being able to see each other for a long time and more. the only thing that made this a little more sad than, say, sunggyu, dongwoo or sungyeol’s farewells, was that this is a man who wears his heart on his sleeve so personally, his fears (i presume) of not wanting to part from fans for such a long time could be felt more easily :-( he always seemed to be a little extra touched when fan support events throughout the concert mentioned staying by his side all the time. he would point it out and ask if we meant what we said, if we really really mean it. i guess behind his playful mask he’s still a really sensitive and emotional person who needs a lot of love ;~;

hi-touch!! his hands were really so small and chubby.. stubby? a lot of people have told me i have huge hands for a girl so when i did hi-touch with woohyun his hands and mine were pretty much the same size…… ( ´～`) i had a guy acquaintance who attended the concert as well and he was telling us how woohyun’s hands were tiny compared to this.. nam tiny woohyun :-( anyway his hands felt so nice ha ha it was so warm and when we passed by he had his free hand placed on his lips as a fingerheart while telling us “thank you~ thank you~” <3 moving on to the group photo, i must admit i felt that he stood a little far? the backup dancers and manager actually stood between him and the fans but they would duck down when the photo was taken.. which was kinda dumb because if it weren’t for woohyun making the effort to lean forward in most photos, it would have looked like a photo of woohyun and fans, not a photo of woohyun with fans :-/ but this aside, woohyun does different variations of hearts in each group photo haha. when my group was leaving and the next group was getting ready, he would look at us and make lots of kissy fingerhearts saying “i love you” over and over in mandarin (இ﹏இ`。)

through this concert, i felt that i’d experienced a new side of woohyun. of course, it’s nothing i haven’t seen or heard from inspirits who’ve seen him overseas but witnessing it for myself always beats secondhand accounts. i hope that before he eventually goes on hiatus for his mandatory military service, he’ll be able to have all the opportunities he can possibly get to explore more sides of himself and until he’s discharged from his service, i hope he knows inspirits will wait for him just as we’ve been doing for every other enlisted member ♡

for those who are interested, i’ll insert the anecdotes at the bottom of this post after this final photo~

(i) woohyun was asking us what we liked about him and he was reading out answers that fans yelled at him. some fan in the front yelled that he was tall and when fans laughed after he repeated that answer, he was so indignant - “ah really someone said it right here!”. fans laughed even more so he sought out the same fan who said that and asked them “you said i’m tall, didn’t you?” and the fan yelled enthusiastically “yes!!!” and woohyun laughed (so adorably!! literally “he he he he”) and asked them why were they so cute hahaha

(ii) i don’t know how the conversation got here but at one point he ended up asking the general age of the audience. on the topic of age, a fan shouted “ahjussi!” at woohyun and woohyun was so offended hfsjfsljk. his exact words were “예? 아저씨라고요? 나? 나 아직 아니야! 오빠! 아직 애기애기! 아기~ 저 아기 아니라고? 오빠오빠!“ (“i’m sorry? you're calling me ahjussi? me? i’m not one yet~! *indignant* i'm oppa! i'm still baby, baby! baby~ *sputters* i’m not a baby? i'm oppa, oppa! he he he”) this was so!! cute!! yes nwh you are a baby :-(

(iii) during the ending ment,

woohyun: woollim ent., who allowed me to be where i am today.. crowd: *booing*

LOL

(iv) woohyun wouldn’t let the translator off the hook too lol during the ending ment, he thanked the macau agent promoters and the translator couldn’t quite catch the name of the agents so she stuttered a little and didn’t manage to get the pronunciation right. woohyun repeated it for her once, twice, syllable by syllable, and she hesitantly said it again (although it still sounded a little bit off). there was an awkward silence after that since the translator left it hanging at that and woohyun said in fake exasperation “yes… yeah…” and when the translator still didn’t say anything after this, he laughed a bit and said he meant for her to continue on hahaha.

(v) the last line of “smile” went “늘 난 옆에 있을게” (i’ll always be by your side) so when he finished singing the song:

woohyun: 진짜 옆에 있을거에요? (will you really be by my side?) inspirits: yes! woohyun: 옆에 있을거에요? (you’ll be by my side?) inspirits: YES!! woohyun: 真的? (really?) inspirits: 真的! (really!) woohyun: 假的! (fake!) inspirits: 真的! (really!!) woohyun: 假的假的! (fake! fake!) inspirits: 真的真的! (REALLY!!) woohyun: 真的? (really?) inspirits: 真! 的! (REALLY!) one brave soul: 假的! (it’s fake!) woohyun: …누구야! =_= who are you? (who’s that! who are you?)

icon of maturity, nam woohyun ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

#personal #woohyun #infinite #♡♡♡#*fan account

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f4liveblogarchives · 5 years

Text

Fantastic Four Vol 1 #116

Thurs Jul 25 2019 [06:01 PM] Wack'd: Yes, it's our first Doom team-up! But more importantly--holy shit is that a gradient on the title at the bottom?!

[06:01 PM] Wack'd: A bold new age of comic book coloring is upon us! [06:02 PM] Wack'd: Meanwhile, in the credits, Lee's title has been changed from "plotter" to "editor" [06:04 PM] Wack'd: The remaining three decide they need to make a plan themselves and I gotta admit? I'm surprised that this is our first issue where Reed literally can't work out the solution for them [06:04 PM] Wack'd: With this established a pattern, that's a good hook [06:05 PM] Wack'd: So it turns out the machine Reed slipped into earlier was radioactive [06:05 PM] maxwellelvis: oops [06:06 PM] Wack'd: And Sue determines that they might be able to trace that radiation signature to find Reed, using one of his gizmos [06:07 PM] Wack'd: (They can't use an actual geiger counter because, if an ordinary device could find the amount of radiation on Reed, he'd be very very screwed) [06:08 PM] Wack'd: Unfortunately, the landlord has got out and led the cops to the Baxter Building [06:08 PM] Wack'd: So Johnny fire-bombs them [06:08 PM] Wack'd: He fire-bombs the cops [06:08 PM] Wack'd: Normally I'd be all for this but, uh, time and a place, dude [06:09 PM] Wack'd: Good luck avoiding jail after that! [06:09 PM] Bocaj: Consequences are for people without superpowers [06:09 PM] Bocaj: like money [06:10 PM] maxwellelvis: "Fuck da police!" [06:10 PM] maxwellelvis: "Not now, Bic-head!" [06:10 PM] maxwellelvis: "JOHNNY NO!" [06:10 PM] maxwellelvis: "JOHNNY YES!" [06:10 PM] Wack'd: So rarely do heroes wading through the sewers acknowledge that actually it's not a fun time

[06:11 PM] maxwellelvis: Spider-Man grumbles about it all the time. [06:11 PM] Wack'd: So! Was Reed mind-controlled? Yes and no [06:12 PM] Wack'd: Reed's earlier boastfulness was him daring the Over-Mind to try and take him over [06:12 PM] Wack'd: Counting on the idea that he'd be able to resist [06:12 PM] Wack'd: And, well [06:12 PM] Wack'd: NOPE! [06:13 PM] Wack'd: Reed's arrogance gets his ass completely, thoroughly kicked [06:13 PM] Bocaj: Good [06:14 PM] Wack'd: Even the ol' "power of love" trick doesn't work!

[06:15 PM] Bocaj: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrvh_jB6c70 [06:15 PM] Bocaj: Hey this is some good imagery though [06:15 PM] Wack'd: It is! [06:15 PM] Wack'd: Buscema rules, actually [06:15 PM] maxwellelvis: Pretty sure that's why they got him to draw all those Conan comics [06:16 PM] Bocaj: I mean, he still can't draw children like a lot of artists can't [06:16 PM] Bocaj: Franklin is an unending nightmare [06:16 PM] Bocaj: Cherubic terror [06:16 PM] Wack'd: Anyway Reed is two seconds from being full-on mind-flayed when Johnny and Ben show up to kick the Over-Mind's ass [06:16 PM] Wack'd: Considering this went great when it was all four of them I'm sure this'll be no sweat [06:16 PM] Bocaj: wtf is sue? [06:17 PM] Wack'd: Glad you asked [06:17 PM] maxwellelvis: Getting backup, I think [06:17 PM] Wack'd: She's on monitor duty [06:17 PM] Bocaj: 😐 [06:17 PM] Wack'd: But seeing the guys getting their asses kicked she's like "actually, fuck this" [06:18 PM] Wack'd: And flies over to force-field Over-Mind into submission [06:18 PM] Wack'd: But hey, uh, remember last issue when he effortlessly broke her force field? [06:19 PM] Wack'd: And also how he just kind of in general is impervious to fire and brute force? [06:19 PM] Bocaj: yes [06:19 PM] Wack'd:

[06:20 PM] maxwellelvis: I was kinda hoping you'd say "Archie doesn't" [06:20 PM] Bocaj: So its not going great is I think what you're insinuating [06:21 PM] Wack'd: You know what? Picking up Johnny by the head *while he's flamed on* is one hell of a move [06:21 PM] Wack'd: Respect [06:21 PM] Wack'd: Also I initially interpreted this as Over-Mind hitting Ben with Johnny [06:22 PM] Bocaj: you gotta hit that motherfucker with this motherfucker [06:22 PM] Wack'd: Which also woulda been pretty cool [06:22 PM] maxwellelvis: You know, for a guy called "Overmind", he's surprisingly beefy [06:22 PM] Bocaj: Might overmind [06:22 PM] Wack'd: He was super strong first and then his entire race filed their brains into his head [06:22 PM] maxwellelvis: Ahh [06:22 PM] Bocaj: As ya do [06:23 PM] Bocaj: If you're a space nonsense [06:23 PM] Wack'd: So with Johnny and Ben out of commission and Reed being promoted to Over-Mind's second-in-command, Sue decides she needs backup [06:24 PM] Wack'd: (She also evades Over-Mind ordering Reed to kill her by taking her weird space bike as high as it could go, and then doing a hairpin turn which causes Reed to topple over, which is pretty neat) [06:25 PM] Wack'd: So anyway, about backup [06:26 PM] Wack'd: The Marvel Universe has conspired to that basically every single superhero has some out-of-NYC stuff happening in their own books [06:26 PM] Wack'd: (Or so the narrator claims--I'm certainly not about to go check) [06:27 PM] Bocaj: It was neat but probably unsustainable how the marvel universe used to do that [06:27 PM] Bocaj: If Iron Man was said to be too busy to do Avengers one month then his book tended to reflect that [06:27 PM] Wack'd: Huh! [06:27 PM] Bocaj: If Beast popped over to do an X-Men crossover, then he's not in Avengers [06:28 PM] MousaThe14: Yeah I’m relistening to Jay and Miles from the start again and it’s interesting to know that they at least attempted to keep that sort of thing consistent with Wolverine disappearing from the main book to have his own solo series and other such things [06:28 PM] Wack'd: Man Buscema out here killing it with the splash pages

[06:28 PM] Bocaj: I know that during Jim Shooter's era he tried to keep things organized like that so that the shared universe felt more unified. And with New Universe every book was supposed to progress a month at a time with every issue but not all the writers got the memo [06:29 PM] Umbramatic: oooh [06:29 PM] Wack'd: Kinda makes long-form storytelling tough [06:29 PM] Umbramatic: but huh [06:29 PM] Bocaj: It does [06:29 PM] Umbramatic: ye [06:29 PM] Bocaj: Its more manageable if the universe is smaller [06:29 PM] Bocaj: That space bike looks unnecessarily unergonomic [06:30 PM] Wack'd: And while I'm handing out kudos, the color department's doing killer work

[06:30 PM] Bocaj: Anyway, there's a website that tries to put all the marvel universe in a chronological order. I'll go check what they have to say [06:31 PM] Bocaj: (Huh, Franklin looks less horrific here) [06:31 PM] Wack'd: I feel like with Stan and Jack gone, everyone's starting to stretch their muscles a bit [06:32 PM] Wack'd: Or maybe it's just the natural progression of time, who knows [06:33 PM] Bocaj: Ok so the Avengers were busy with the Kree/Skrull War, including having to deal with the skrull cow loose ends that Reed left behind [06:33 PM] Bocaj: Thanks Reed [06:33 PM] Wack'd: Sue rolls a nat 20 on persuasion

[06:34 PM] Bocaj: Did she invent his honor and nobility out of whole cloth and mindfuck him into thinking thats who he was for decades to follow? [06:35 PM] Wack'd: It's been there in a few previous issues, though thanks to Stan it comes and goes depending on the needs of the plot [06:35 PM] Wack'd: I remember during the arc where he trapped them in Latveria the story couldn't make up its mind whether or not he cared if his subjects died [06:36 PM] Bocaj: Where he had the DOME? [06:36 PM] Wack'd: He also has a tendency to let the Four go when he's bored, which I suppose is kind of honorable [06:36 PM] Bocaj: if you think Goku is honorable [06:37 PM] Wack'd: But yeah, the idea that he isn't just an egomaniacal loon has kinda gently poked him on the shoulder now and again [06:38 PM] Wack'd:

[06:38 PM] Wack'd: "In about 20 other issues, but I don't recognize it either" [06:39 PM] MousaThe14: Old Man Johnny [06:39 PM] Wack'd: Doom and Goofy have the same dentist apparently

[06:39 PM] Bocaj: "I'm glad we don't have to deal with a bossy autocrat who tells us what to do everyday" [06:41 PM] Wack'd:

[06:42 PM] Wack'd: So Doom's plan is that Over-Mind will be too distracted by Johnny and Ben to fight Doom, who will use a "stop hitting yourself" device on him [06:43 PM] Wack'd: But anyway Doom does the comic book thing of announcing his moves [06:43 PM] Wack'd: And Over-Mind is, as established, not an idiot [06:43 PM] Wack'd: So he ignores Ben and Johnny and just wails on him [06:44 PM] Bocaj: Ha [06:44 PM] Wack'd: Sue was the contingency--she could use her force fields to protect Doom [06:44 PM] Wack'd: But, uh [06:45 PM] Wack'd: Well, he was supposed to take more of a beating first [06:45 PM] Wack'd: To weaken him [06:45 PM] Wack'd: So her force field does nothing and Reed is still convinced he needs to murder her, so [06:45 PM] Bocaj: This plan is butts [06:45 PM] Wack'd: It would've worked if Doom wasn't a boastful idiot! [06:46 PM] Bocaj: It was fundamentally flawed [06:46 PM] Wack'd: Fair

[06:47 PM] Wack'd: So! [06:47 PM] Wack'd: Doom is down. Sue is down. Johnny and Ben are worthless. The gizmo is broken. And Reed is more of a jerk than usual. [06:47 PM] maxwellelvis: Only the author can save them now [06:48 PM] Wack'd: Man, Archie Goodwin's way more buff than I thought he'd be

[06:48 PM] maxwellelvis: Oh no, not THIS asshole [06:49 PM] Wack'd: You're acquainted, I assume [06:49 PM] Bocaj: He's a gem fusion [06:49 PM] MousaThe14: The Stranger is looking less like a hobo than I last saw him [06:49 PM] maxwellelvis: He's the guy who basically heralded in one of the X-Men's lamest periods by literally spiriting away Magneto and Toad to his alien zoo. [06:49 PM] MousaThe14: But last I saw him was in an Essential X-men [06:50 PM] Bocaj: I like that his icon is his own mustache [06:50 PM] Wack'd: So turns out murdering Sue is a bridge too far for Reed, even as mind-whammied as he is, and he passes out [06:50 PM] Bocaj: They call that the ghola test [06:54 PM] Wack'd: Stranger: You call yourself unbeatable, and yet you are the sum of the Eternals, who were once beaten. [06:54 PM] Wack'd: Over-Mind: By the survivors of Gigantus. What of it? [06:54 PM] Wack'd: Stranger: 😏 [06:54 PM] Wack'd: Over-Mind: well shit [06:55 PM] MousaThe14: The Eternals? You mean the Irrelevants? [06:55 PM] Wack'd: These Eternals will eventually be retconned to be those Eternals [06:55 PM] Wack'd: Don't worry about it [06:56 PM] Wack'd: Anyway the Stranger traps Over-Mind in the Micro-verse and pisses off [06:56 PM] MousaThe14: This is one hell of a deus ex [06:56 PM] Wack'd: It was actually set up earlier in the story! [06:56 PM] maxwellelvis: That's all the Stranger is is a walking deus ex machina [06:56 PM] Wack'd: It's more of a Chekov's gun, really [06:57 PM] Wack'd: If you put a race of beings capable of defeating your baddie above the mantle in the first act... [06:57 PM] MousaThe14: Oh well that’s fine. [06:57 PM] MousaThe14: Setup payoff, only the most basic form of storytelling. You’re free to go, F4 comic. [06:58 PM] Wack'd: Anyway Doom decides he's gonna go walk it off and next time, Richards! Next tiiiime, that whole bit. [06:59 PM] maxwellelvis: "Oh, by the way, Reed, I despise you, and all that you stand for, and oh you know the rest!" "He's a good kid" [06:59 PM] Wack'd: Johnny's pissed that the Stranger let them get their asses handed to them for like three issues when he coulda curbstomped Over-Mind whenever he wanted [06:59 PM] Wack'd: And concludes this was an act of deliberate malice on someone's part [07:00 PM] maxwellelvis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U96sqmTFsss [07:00 PM] Wack'd: For once, Johnny actually has a point before storming off

[07:01 PM] Wack'd: The Watcher, seeing this, decides "fuck it, I'm gonna make this mean something"

#1971 #Archie Goodwin #John Buscema #The Main Book

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talietikasero · 5 years

Text

So I’ve been working on a fic for a couple of months, and I thought I’d put it here because this site killed off external links. Formatting might be a little funky

Set during the events of Tekken 7, combining parts from Anna and Steve’s character stories. Picking up from Steve’s T7 ending and mixing in the updated story of Anna’s wedding being crashed by Nina. The idea is a what-if with the possibility that the two of them are still at the cathedral. I haven’t been able to fully write chapter 1, but it’s still a work in progress. Here’s part of what I’ve got that I’m willing to share here. Italic text in parentheses are internal dialogue.

__________

[“Come out! You can’t hide from us forever! We’ll find you!”]

“This was a mistake. I can’t keep this up.”

“Whoever this kid is, he can’t take them all on by himself.” With a firm grip on the railing, she readied herself and leapt over, landing next to a pillar that was near the cover the man had found. “Hey, are you alright? You’re not looking too good.”

“What in the hell. Who are you?”

“(Play it cool. Make a good first impression.) Can’t you tell? I’m your guardian angel. (You just lied through your teeth.)”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but you can’t be serious… I can’t really see that. You may be wearing the same colors, but I don’t think I can fully trust someone I literally just met when other people are trying to kill me. Especially someone dressed in something like that. It looks nice though.”

“(He didn’t buy it.) Okay, okay. You got me. But I was about to ask you the same thing.” Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that a small stream of blood was trickling down. ”Are you, uh how do I put this. Are you sure you can keep fighting with that bullet in your left arm?”

“Shit! I didn’t even notice that.” He ran over to the pool and began to wash the blood off.

“Use the basin to wash it off. I think I have a small cloth you can use… to… clean it… or not. (Okay?) On second thought, maybe what you’re doing isn’t such a good idea.”

“They’ll get an unpleasant surprise for next time. What’ll happen? Satan is accidentally summoned?” He rinsed off what was left, leaving a trace amount in the water. “There, I think I stopped the bleeding. Where’s that thing you offered?”

“Here.” She took one of her pocket blades out and cut off an unconscious soldier’s uniform sleeve, noticing that there was a medical icon printed on it. “You managed to even take down their combat medic? You’re insane.” She tossed the cut cloth down and reached inside one of the uniform’s pouches to find an antibacterial gel packet, gloves, and a roll of gauze. “Hold out your arm. This isn’t the best idea, but it should help. Fair warning, this is probably going to sting. The best thing you can do is clean and dress your wound.”

“(Not letting my guard down just yet…) Thanks.”

“Do you have another shirt or a jacket?”

“Yeah, it’s on the staircase. Why?”

“Use your tank as a wrap.”

“Do you really think that’s a good idea?”

“It’s a trick I’ve used before. Just trust me.”

“(Do I really have a choice here since you’re really the only one I can somewhat trust?) Okay?” He walked to the stairs to retrieve his shirt and started to roll up the left sleeve. “Never really had to do this before, but it’s better than having you cut this off too.”

“Hey, I only do that to enemies and people I don’t like.”

“I could use some privacy. Please turn around.”

“Alright.” She faced the other way as he changed clothes. “Lucky you, there aren’t any more of those guys right now. How long have you been here anyway?”

“I lost track. An hour? Three? Time’s lost to me… Done. Could you tie this?”

“(I think I’ve seen this kid around before.) Loose or snug?”

“Somewhere in-between so it doesn’t fall off or constrict.”

“Like this?”

“Perfect.”

[“Hey! He’s over there! And looks like he has backup! Take her out too!”]

“Oh, come on!”

“There’s no time for introductions, we’ll pick this up after the fight’s over.”

“Got it, that is if you don’t leave first!”

___________

“Nice work out there, kid. Now, what were you saying about ‘if I don’t leave first’?”

“The last woman in a dress I met here tried to kill me and ran off. By the looks of it, she crashed some wedding earlier.”

“Nina… That sister of mine is a bitch, I’ll give you that. She posed as me and assassinated who would’ve been my husband. Don’t know how or why everyone present didn’t know that it wasn’t me that walked down that aisle.”

“That explains the mess of bodies, blood, and broken glass back in the main hall. Wait, did you say she’s your ‘sister’?”

“Older by two years. Now that I think about it…” She studied the face before her, noting the striking similarities. “No, you can’t be. There’s no way you are-… (This is bizarre. Is he... her son?!)”

“(Oh my god?) Are we-?”

“Relatives?”

“Unbelievable. I’ve had a nephew this whole time?! I didn’t think anything of it, but were you part of-”

“If you’re going to end that question the way I think you are, the answer is yes. Unfortunately for me, I was. We can’t stay here. They’re going to send more after us.”

“Follow me. I know how to lose them. Start running!”

__________

[Chapter 2]

“There’s so many options. No wonder why this place is popular. That cherry tart looks good, but so does that strawberry one… ag Dia, I can’t decide.” Anna redirected her attention from the food display to see Steve more focused on the drinks than treats. “You look tired. Do you want something?”

“Anything would do. I’m not picky, so I’m fine with whatever you decide to get.” [New message received four minutes ago. “Hey, you’re still in Italy, right? My flight just landed.”] “I’m going to find a seat.”

“Two cappuccinos, espressos, cherry cream sodas, and cherry and strawberry tarts please.”

“Sure thing. Those’ll be right out.”

“Now, where did he go off to?” She took a quick look around, finding him seated on an armchair near the back, and made her way over. “We should be fine now that we blend in.” She checked her phone, with a text from Bruce waiting for her. [“Anna, where are you? I went to the cathedral and you weren’t there. Is everything alright? Please answer me.”] “Oh, good. He’s still in the country. ‘Bruce, don’t worry yourself. I’m still here, but in civilian clothes. Come to the café by our hotel.’”

Steve’s attention was fixed to his phone, reading and clearing the notifications. “‘Yeah. Wait, what are you doing here?’” [“Sightseeing. What else? You told me you were staying for a week or so.”] “’Oh, right. Uh, I’m at a café right between the airport and my hotel. Come meet me here.’” [“Got it. Give me a few minutes. I need to stop by the rentals.”] He looked up to see Anna seated across from him. “I appreciate the gesture, but you didn’t have to buy me a new outfit.”

“I gotta ask why the staff were pretty nice to you; it’s just like they met a celebrity. You don’t have to pay me back because it’s the least I could do after that stunt you pulled. You needed one since what you were wearing reeked of sweat and gunfire. It’s not often that I see someone take on the Force by themselves, let alone I help them. How’s your arm feeling?”

“To a level, I’m, uh, ‘famous’. It’s not as bad now but using my tank top as a temporary bandage wasn’t the worst solution. I’m pretty sure I’ve had worse injuries than this. Just that the main difference is I’m not in a café with a newly met family member and in a hospital. Though there was this one person I fought that gave me trouble…”

“It’s black. A little bit of blood is the least of your worries. A wash or two should do it. Would that work for your other shirt? Maybe, or maybe not. Although if it were on the chain print, it’d make a good rust effect.”

“I’ll try to keep that in mind, but please don’t try to ruin my clothes for the sake of ‘art’.”

“Your orders miss.”

“Grazie mille.” As the waitress left, Anna opened a sugar packet to mix in. As she was stirring, she cracked a smile. “Just in case you end up losing it, I know a guy that can build you a robotic one.” The comment was enough to make Steve wince. “What? I can’t have a good laugh? I’m kidding about that.” She sipped some of her coffee. “It’ll take some time, but wounds heal.” Another sip, and she placed the cup back on the saucer. “Would you like to try semi-formal introductions? Or would you like to tell me what you were doing there? An Italian cathedral isn’t where I’d think to run into someone like you.”

“Introductions? I think I can do that, but do you think this is a good idea with all these people near us? Not to be that person, but there might be a spy. I don’t think we’ve got them off our tails just yet.”

“You’ve got a point…” She glanced around and noticed all the other patrons minding their own business. “This shouldn’t get anyone’s attention but think of it as an exercise. I’ll start.” She cleared her throat and held her hand out. The two shook hands as she began. “My name is Anna Williams. I’m 41, an experienced assassin trained in the styles of Koppojutsu and Aikido, and I’m the secretary / bodyguard of Kazuya Mishima.”

“That was a lot to take in… My name’s Steve Fox. I’m 21, the current world middleweight boxing champion, and a former human experiment created by the Mishima Zaibatsu intended to be a super soldier for the Force. How many times have you heard that line?”

A couple seated nearby overheard and looked to see who it was. “Is that who I think it is? That couldn’t be… You should look because that voice sounds familiar.”

“Oh my god, it is! He hasn’t been seen anywhere for a while, but what’re the chances we see him here? Who’s that lady with him? A bodyguard? She’s pretty fashionable.”

“Can’t tell... We could ask him for a photo or to sign something for us.”

Anna caught the conversation and made eye contact. “I think you’ve got fans here.”

“I can hear.” Steve turned around to speak to them. “Do you two have a notebook that I can autograph? I’m really not one for photos.” One reached into their backpack to take out a pen and journal and handed it to him. “And here you are.”

“Thanks! We’re sorry to bother, but it’s nice to see you’re still around!” The couple gathered their belongings and left.

“I stand corrected and take back my last statement.” She watched as the couple exited and rejoined what she believed to be their tour group. “That was weird. How often does that happen?”

“When I first got my title? Too many times that I couldn’t even step outside of my flat without being hounded. But now? Rarely.” He picked up a fork and took a piece of the strawberry tart. “Wow, that is really good. I try not to eat sweets or anything junky that often, but I’ll just work it off like nothing next time my partner and I train.”

“Once in a while isn’t that bad, but good for you about staying on top of what you consume. Besides, you’ve had a rough day and you’re technically on vacation. Anyway, so that’s what the mark is for. Incredible, your story’s something right out of a comic book. Here’s another question: how did you get out? It must’ve been someone inside.”

“Did you ever meet a Dr. Kliesen? She was the closest person I had to a guardian angel. The other ‘doctors’ kept calling me some code, but she gave me my name. I wonder if she’s still alive.”

“I can’t recall; however, I do know a Dr. Bosconovitch. Old man created the Jack series and that pink haired robot that what’s his name with the anime hairdo travels with. Aria? Anastasia? Alisa? Something starting with ‘A’. Cute as a button, but you’d think chainsaws on her arms are overkill.” Hearing the words “chainsaws” and “arms” in the same sentence caused another nearby patron to perk their ears up.

“What’s this about a girl with arm saws?”

“They’re probably talking about some cartoon character.”

“Son of a bitch.” Anna muttered under her breath. “You wouldn’t think they’d have brushed it off as that though.”

“I did try to tell you be careful of what you say.”

“At least I don’t have to try and teach you how to think like me; you do need to be aware of your surroundings, of which I clearly wasn’t but I caught it immediately.”

“Pretty sure I do already; there was a time where I was trying to stay under the radar. Back to your other question: I was there looking for an answer. I got much more than I expected, but-”

“You can tell me. I’m here to listen.”

“But-…”

“It’s okay with me if you’d rather not say anything. I won’t get mad if you stay silent, but I’ve learned from experience that it’s better not to bottle it up.”

“I fought the Force to let her get away.”

“…”

“The silence is deafening. You are mad, aren’t you?”

“Not at all.”

“I’ve been told I’m too nice at times, even to the point of letting something like that happen. Even if we’ve got a relation that I went in knowing she’d reject.”

“(Quick, say something reassuring to help him feel better.) You can’t really tell exactly what she’s thinking. The only relation you two have is a non-consenting one, if you can even call it that. You didn’t ask to be ‘born’, but she didn’t ask to be put into cryo-sleep either for close to twenty years.”

“Explains why we look roughly the same age. Were you put into sleep as well?”

“(Oh good, it worked?) I volunteered. She was forced. I was woken up first. Decided to fuck her memories up too for the fun of it.”

“You two really hate each other, huh?”

“She is responsible for our father’s death. All these years later and we’re still fighting on whose fault it really was. We learned how to fight from them; your grandfather taught us Koppo, and your grandmother was the best person to learn Aikido from, being a world champion and all. Mom and I had a close relationship…”

“…Is she still alive?”

“Neither of us know. I think I have something that’ll interest you, while we’re still here.” Reaching into her tote, she took out her work laptop and set it on the table. “The Zaibatsu has files on everyone who’ve participated in the tournaments.” She powered it on and entered her login info. “You, me, our friends, and even the dead.”

“T-the dead?”

“Oh yeah. For example, those men in jaguar masks. The names remain the same, but they’re not the ones from years past.” There was a Zaibatsu logo icon with the label [participants]. “Skimmed theirs and the armored one is the younger brother of the original; the other was an orphan the first took care of.” Anna typed the surnames “Fox” and “Kliesen” into the search bar; the latter returned one result for a “Leo”.

“Oh. I never would’ve guessed.”

“Here.” She rotated the screen towards him. “This one’s yours and I think I found the one for your guardian angel’s child. Says someone recently got to it.”

He tuned out the surrounding noise to focus. “Mostly everything’s correct. Nothing’s actually changed since the last time I checked this.” He scrolled for a few seconds until something caught his eye. “Oh, that’s new. They know that I destroyed that one lab.” [Last accessed 15:34:55, one month ago.} “(What the-…)”

Anna raised one brow and tilted her head to the right. “That was you?”

“It was a while ago, but yeah.” He swapped over to the file labeled “L. Kliesen” and skipped to the “family” section. [Family: Mr. Kliesen (father, status unknown), Dr. Emma Kliesen (mother, deceased.)] Reading that one word listed next to presumably the last photo taken of her made his heart sink further down. Trying to prevent his voice from cracking, he muttered to himself. “’Deceased.’ That’s…”

[“Don’t worry. You’re going to be okay. Please remember that. I’m sorry, but I have to go.”]

“Are you alright?” She asked in a concerned tone.

“I didn’t think I’d be able to take any additional damage today, but here I am. She’s gone. The one person who treated me like a human is gone.” His face was blank, but she could sense the mixed repressed emotions.

“My apologies, but am I interrupting something?”

“Bruce? What are you doing here?”

“Huh, I didn’t think to meet you with Anna of all people, in Italy of all places. Small world isn’t it?”

“To put it bluntly, she’s my aunt.”

“So, you’re Ni-”

“Yes.” Anna lightly elbowed his side. “Please, don’t finish that sentence.”

A young man wearing a dark blue shirt, brown jacket with the sleeves rolled up with shoes of the same color, khaki pants, and aviator sunglasses entered the café. “Yo! There you are.”

“Oh? A friend of yours?”

“Close friend.” Hwoarang repositioned his sunglasses to the top of his head. Turning over to Anna, something clicked about her. “You look familiar. Have we met before?”

“Don’t believe we have, but I’ve seen you around.” She recalled that his hair was more of a red-orange and that he wore goggles. “Wasn’t your hair a different color? You’re one of Kazama’s ‘friends’, aren’t you?”

“It was, but someone can only consistently dye their hair for so long. Also, yeah, if you wanna say that.”

“Going natural, huh? If I’m being honest, that streak you’ve got suits you.”

“You’re too kind.”

“You’ll have to excuse him.” Steve remarked as he drank his espresso. “He’s a real try-hard when it comes to first impressions.”

“I’m working on it.”

“I’m sure you are.”

Anna couldn’t keep herself from giggling. “You two sound like an old married couple.”

“At this point, we might as well be.”

“Look at that, there’s already a ring. When’s your special date?” Bruce couldn’t keep a straight face. “I’m sure we’d be available by then. Isn’t that right, Anna?”

“Oh absolutely.”

“God no. Don’t give him any ideas.”

__________

[Chapter 3]

“We’re on the next floor. If you two need anything, just come to room 1211.”

“Thanks. Are you two doing anything tomorrow? We were thinking of going on a tour or just wander the city.”

“We’ll let you know.”

“Alright then. Have a good night.” Lightly shutting the door, he fought off tiredness to walk enough distance to safely drop face first onto the mattress. The softness muffled his voice. “It’s only 8pm and I am exhausted.”

The room was quiet, with the only sound coming from a running shower. Five minutes passed, and the water stopped.

“That was much needed. I feel completely refreshed.” Hwoarang stepped into the room with a towel wrapped around his waist. He noticed Steve fast asleep with his head between two pillows. “Huh. Today must’ve been rough for you, eh?” He picked up the clothes laid out and went back into the bathroom. Examining himself in the mirror, the area around his right eye was still visibly damaged despite treatment. “Fuck. That’s not going away any time soon.” He put on some loungewear, exited again, and sat on one of the room’s chairs with his legs resting on the left arm. “That’s new, a few more notifications than I usually get. Package delivery update, something from Xiaoyu, and… oh.” The last notification was a message from the hospital Baek was admitted to. “Please be okay…”

Fifteen more minutes had passed, and Steve woke up. He rubbed his eyes and sat upright. “How long have I been out?”

“About ten minutes? Twenty, maybe? Just so we’re on the same page here, that woman from earlier is your aunt?”

“Yeah, how we met is by a strange coincidence…” He stood up and stretched for a few seconds. “She told me today was supposed to be her wedding, how it went downhill because of who I tracked down to the same cathedral posed as her and turned it into a war zone.” He walked towards the closet and took out one of the coat hangers. “What’s weirder is that we booked rooms at the same hotel.”

“It might be more than just that. There must’ve been a reason as to how and why you two met today after all this time. When I first entered, she was one of the people I saw also participating but we never fought; she was always set to go against some lady in a purple suit. Then you showed up and she was absent?”

“Huh, I never noticed that last bit you just said. Then again, can’t really say I was fully paying attention because there were a lot of people trying to kill me at the time. My focus was just staying alive.” He took off the new jacket Anna had bought for him and hung it up. “You’re starting to sound like some street-side fortune teller. I mean, you may be right, but I can’t just jump to a ‘this is all laid out in the stars’ conclusion.”

“Just throwing something else in there to try and make it interesting. And before you ask, no I don’t have a deck of tarot cards in my luggage. How’d you get this room anyway? Did your adoptive parents put in a good word for you?”

“Nah. I’ve been to my fair share of luxury hotels, mostly from travelling to fights. The front desk recognized who I was and gave me a discount.” A cold compress was taken out of a mini first aid kit the hotel provided upon request. “You’re not looking too well. This should help.”

“For someone who’s a degree of famous, you still amaze me at how you don’t let it get to your head.”

“It’s just a title, something I can keep a hold of for a while. Hold still!”

“Ow! Steve, what the hell!”

“Stop making sudden movements while I’m trying to treat your eye injury.”

“Okay, okay. How does it look?”

“Not as bad now. It may take more time than you’d expect, but just be patient.”

“Or it could just become part of me, like how your scar’s your most ‘defining’ feature.”

“That’s… oddly sweet of you?”

“I almost forgot. I got you something.” He reached into the duffle bag placed on the table and took out a small teddy bear dressed in a pilot uniform that was holding a heart. “Saw it at the airport and thought you might like it.”

“You didn’t have to but thank you.”

“Happy late Valentine’s Day.”

Meanwhile in their own room, Anna kicked off her flats and sat down on her bed. She broke open a small wooden box, pulled out a bottle, and poured herself a glass of what would’ve been her wedding gift wine. Gently swirling the alcohol, she glanced over at Bruce, who was busy checking his laptop for everything from unread emails to how the G Corp military were doing in his absence. “Can’t let this go to waste. Would you like any?”

“Not much of a wine person, but I’ll just have the amount you poured.” Another glass was taken out, and the two made a small toast. Bruce sipped from his, whereas Anna downed hers.

Taking a second to settle, she cleared her throat. “Bruce, how do you know him?”

“Who? Your nephew?”

“Who else would I be talking about? Yes, him.”

“I forget you can drink more than humanly possible and still function. To answer your question, the fifth tournament. He was your usual cocky kid that thinks they could take anyone down. Had to beat some sense into him, now we’re acquaintances.”

“Damn, I do have a lot to catch up with. Any word from Kazuya yet? How’s he faring without us and against his own fucked up family?”

“He actually did it.”

“No. You’re kidding.”

“I’m not when I say that he finally got rid of his old man. I wasn’t there, but I heard from the soldiers who were around the perimeter.”

“And now Kazuya Mishima has solidified his image as the hero in this ongoing war.”

“There’s still that bastard son of his. As far as I’m aware, he’s lost his bodyguards.”

“Both of them? I knew Nina’s gone because she has no loyalty for an employer, even if they are a big name. What about the other? Did he leave because of the lie he was promised? I feel a little bad for that girl…”

“No idea.” Bruce opened the files with the names “E. Gordo” and “C. Monteiro” attached. “Says here her grandfather was his master, he was dying, and there’s a note with ‘Zaibatsu scientists unable to provide critical medical care; patient is now deceased’. The man was a Capoeira legend.”

“Why did you decide to accompany me anyway? I understand that he was one of your soldiers and that Kaz was busy.”

“Aside from him asking me to have your back, I don’t think those girls would’ve been up for the job.”

“Who were they again? There’s that nature lover and now the cat pop star.”

“Julia Chang and some kid that goes by the name Lucky Chloe. As dreadful as she is, the cat’s made a fool of Gordo.”

“Vid or it didn’t happen.”

“Pour yourself another glass then.” Bruce searched through the helipad’s surveillance footage and found the “match” between Chloe and Eddy. “Watch this.”

[“Step it up a gear, old man! You’re gonna be my backup dancer, so don’t mess this up!”

“O-old man…?”

“You got a problem? You lost and you’re still gonna gimme attitude? Again! ‘It’s me, Lucky Chloe!’ Hey, you think I’m doin’ this ‘cause I wanna? This job isn’t as easy as it looks! You’re workin’ with a professional now! Get with the program, hair-for-brains! Again! ‘It’s me, Lucky Chloe!’ No, no, no! Your hand goes like this, and your hips like this! Oh, and when we do this for real, you’re wearin’ a girly costume.”]

“Haha! Well, she is good for something now.”

“Then there’s that Chang girl. I know she’s valuable to us, but that’s steadily decreasing.”

“His half-brother and the fembot ‘rescued’ her.”

“Funny how she’s adopted but looks almost identical to Michelle.”

“You really do get bored and read up on everyone, huh? How do you think Michelle’s holding up?”

“Don’t know but most likely still hates the Mishimas. Says here she’s been on and off the radar since the attacks all those years ago but has taken up a side gig with Julia. They’re a mother/daughter wrestling team.”

“Figured and that’s good for both. Someone’s got to take down those big guys, and what better team to do so than those two. The big bald one tried to hit on me a while back.” She looked at the photos and compared how little Michelle’s aged. “Wow, time’s been really nice to her. What’s her secret?”

“Probably sold her soul to Ogre to retain her youth. The pendant she was attacked for was able to control him. Like a witch, but in a good way.”

“Oh, you’ve got jokes now.”

“I’ve had them, you just haven’t been around me long enough to hear any.”

____________________

[Notes per chapter:

C1: I can’t write a fight scene to save my life OTL. If you look at the stage layout, there’s a small pool of water on the ground floor / right under the starting balcony.

C2: “ag Dia” is Irish for “by God”. Since the exact location of Duomo di Sirio isn’t specified, a friend and I came up with the idea that it’s set in or at least near Rome and/or Vatican City. The outfit for Hwoarang I described is his new “casual” outfit from T7. Upon close detail inspection, there is actually a ring he wears on his right hand. I improvised Dr. K’s words and Leo’s file.

C3: I picked Chloe’s version of the fight and actually copied the dialogue from it. The “wedding wine in a wooden box” comes from an idea I saw my cousin and her husband do at their wedding: place a bottle inside with letters of what they loved about each other, with the condition “only open in case of a fight” so they can be reminded of why they’re together in the first place while enjoying some wine. Hopefully this note clears it up. The validity of this is questionable, but I put Anna’s birthdate (December 11) as her hotel room number.]

#my half assed writing skills #wip #fanfic #tekken #tekken 7 #starring:#anna williams #steve fox #and featuring later on:#bruce irvin #hwoarang

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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Ready Player Two: The Sequel’s Best Easter Eggs & References

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This piece contains spoilers for Ready Player Two.

When Ernest Cline published Ready Player One in 2011, its exhaustive array of Easter eggs were literally built into the worldbuilding—seemingly one pop culture name-drop per pixel that made up the digital OASIS, per the fierce 1980s nostalgia that creator James Donovan Halliday possessed for the most formative decade of his adolescence. And once the billionaire inventor revealed the Easter egg hunt for his fortune, it made perfect sense that the 2040s generation of gunters would immerse themselves in the same references, placing themselves into Halliday’s mindset to inherit his treasure.

Almost a decade later, those ’80s references are more exhausting in Ready Player Two—like when Wade rattles off his vintage morning routine basically cosplaying as Marty McFly, down to getting woken up by Huey Lewis and the News’ “Back in Time” via a Panasonic RC-6015 flip-clock radio. Whereas the Wade of Ready Player One enthusiastically logged onto the OASIS by quoting The Last Starfighter, the sequel’s gunter-turned-billionaire seems burnt out. He takes no joy in playing at a fictional character’s life instead of trying to improve his own.

Similarly, if Twitter reactions are any indication, readers of Ready Player Two are already finding the dense ’80s shout-outs to be more white noise than fun tidbits to be caught and noticed. It’s the same trick, but it loses its efficacy once you’ve seen behind the curtain.

That said, there are a handful of Easter eggs that break through the static. Because what’s the best way to make two familiar things new again? You mash them up.

Seven Shards for the Siren’s Soul

In some ways, it feels as if the sequel is retreading familiar ground, not quite copying Ready Player One’s Easter egg hunt but certainly building a seven-part quest around solving pop culture riddles. What somewhat redeems the narrative choice is a slightly different take on Easter eggs: not an exhaustive ’80s Wikipedia entry, but the personal Easter eggs of one woman’s life.

That woman is Kira Underwood, wife of OASIS co-founder Ogden Morrow, but also the unrequited love of James Donovan Halliday. As young adults, their Dungeons & Dragons campaigns eventually transformed into the creation of Gregarious Games and, ultimately, Gregarious Simulation Systems and the OASIS. But when Kira died young, both men mourned her… but only one tried to bring her back.

This time around, the prize is not Halliday’s fortune, but Kira’s “soul”—or, at least, a digital copy of her consciousness that Halliday copied without her knowledge or permission. Each Shard references a key point in Kira’s life, plenty of which overlap with Halliday’s ’80s obsession, as Kira met the two boys in 1988—in the middle of playing Sega Ninja, in fact. That’s the trial for the Second Shard, but later Shards relate to properties dear to Kira, which makes gunters like Parzival initially disregard treasured texts like J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Silmarillion or the rich discography of a certain iconic purple-themed musician.

And as the Shard search goes on, the clues become more and more specific to Kira’s life, including the learning-is-fun planet that she and Og created together (Halcydonia) to bring free educational games to underserved children when they were unable to have biological children of their own; and Leucosia, her D&D character-turned-AI-persona. Each Shard also includes a “toll,” or a memory that Z must experience as Kira, to better understand how she was a vital person on her own, beyond these two men’s love for her.

While the Seven Shards won’t be immortalized in the best-of lists of fantasy quests, it’s a clear effort to reinterpret the notion of Easter eggs to be more than just however many pop culture references one person can hold over another. They can also be the personal artifacts that others are encouraged to excavate, and experience the world through another set of eyes.

Planet Shermer

Recast the foul, restore his ending. Andie’s first fate still needs mending.

The Third Shard’s riddle sends Z and Art3mis to Shermer, a planet named after the fictional Illinois town in which John Hughes set the majority of his movies. Inspired by his hometown of Northbrook (which was previously called Shermerville), Shermer was a composite of different aspects of suburbia from both sides of the tracks and everything in-between. A 2010 Vanity Fair article related how in Hughes’ mind, Sixteen Candles’ Samantha (Molly Ringwald) was a “passing acquaintance” of Ferris Bueller’s eponymous hero (Matthew Broderick), and The Breakfast Club’s Bender (Judd Nelson) grew up near Planes, Trains, & Automobiles’ Del Griffith (John Candy).

The OASIS’ Shermer follows Hughes’ thinking, by throwing his iconic teenage characters into a planet-sized Breakfast Club of sorts, with them all attending the same Shermer High School; Z notes that depending on which direction you approach the school, its facade resembles all three aforementioned teen films. That’s amusing enough, but then you remember that actors like Ringwald and Michael Anthony Hall collaborated with Hughes in a number of films—which means all of their alter egos are going to homeroom or the cafeteria together.

This portion of the book is rather delightful in how nonchalantly it plays out every fan’s crossover dreams and how it engages with parallel-universe casting decisions. For instance, Parzival notices Keith Nelson and Amanda Jones (Eric Stoltz and Lea Thompson) from Some Kind of Wonderful, only to realize that that couple is technically the original Marty McFly and his mother. And when it comes to deducing the Shard’s clue, superfan Samantha deduces that they must recast Duckie (the “fowl”) from Pretty in Pink, replacing Jon Cryer with a Weird Science-era Robert Downey, Jr., who had originally been up for the part. (You can already imagine the digital de-aging fun in the inevitable Ready Player Two movie.)

But while their goal is to get RDJ-Duckie and Andie dancing at prom, what’s most important is visiting Hughes himself in his home office to obtain his original Pretty in Pink ending. Perhaps the best Easter egg embedded in this mashup world is that when Art3mis and Z go to the Hughes’ home, they encounter his wife, Nancy Hughes. “I’ve never seen her here before!” Art3mis, who has played through this world’s rhythms countless times before, excitedly tells Parzival. “I didn’t know you even could!” It’s a nice parallel to Wade’s realization that Kira is more than just the wife or love interest, that she and Nancy Hughes are worth squeeing over all on their own.

L0hengrin’s Genderbending Avatar

As Wade relates, Parzival looks almost like him, just a bit thinner, taller, more muscular, and less afflicted by acne. His avatar is an idealized version of himself, as is the case for Samantha with Art3mis—though in Ready Player Two, she has incorporated her IRL facial birthmark into her digital persona, while Wade still sticks with his dream-self. They might also dress as pop culture characters, like Art3mis in her Molly Millions (from William Gibson’s Johnny Mnemonic) phase, yet it only goes so far as typical cosplay.

But in the sequel, Parzival meets YouTuber and gunter L0hengrin, who he identifies as a fan by name alone; in Arthurian legend, Lohengrin was Parzival’s son. When they meet in the OASIS, however, Parzival is struck by Lo’s avatar: She primarily takes the form of pixie-haired teen Helen Slater in The Legend of Billie Jean, but she’s also known for shifting into floppy-haired James Spader in Tuff Turf. While Lo, a trans woman, is not the first OASIS user to find herself in a nostalgic movie avatar, the fluidity of her gender presentation speaks to a deeper identification with various iconic figures depending on her gender in that moment. It also opens up the possibility of other genderqueer or nonbinary users finding their own unique representation via ’80s figures—after all, there are infinite personas to choose from.

The Afterworld

Another mashup world that Parzival, Aech, and Shoto visit on their quest for the Shards is a planet-sized shrine to Prince. And while its name is technically the unpronounceable Love Symbol, those in the know call it the Afterworld. Under ominous skies of “Purple Rain” they drive a “Little Red Corvette” to raid Paisley Park not for weapons, but for musical artifacts with which to challenge the Purple One(s).

Basically, the three gunters have to reenact Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, doing musical battle with seven iterations of Prince as the Evil Exes: Purple Rain Prince, Cloud Suit Prince, Gett Off Prince, Batdance Prince, Microphone Prince, Third Eye Prince, and Mesh-Mask Prince. Not to mention their henchmen, in the form of several past bands and collaborators.

All things considered, the battle goes pretty quickly, especially since Aech is a super-fan coaching Parzival through how to wield the Cloud Guitar, and they have their own backup in the form of Prince’s old band Morris Day and the Time (a.k.a. The Original 7ven). There is a reason that Scott fights seven separate battles, each with its own arc and stakes. It ratchets up the tension in each fight and hints at Scott possibly failing, instead of seeming more like a means to an end, as is the case with Ready Player Two’s big jam session.

This one might be a tad more controversial for readers, depending on how sacred one holds Prince, but I would argue that inspiring a reaction—positive or negative—still counts as an Easter egg that works.

Needle Drops

Both Shermer and the Afterworld include dozens of music cues that can be triggered by passing over a certain spot or into a key moment out of pop culture history, though the needle drops are a consistent Easter egg throughout Ready Player Two. These “soundtrack landmines,” as Z calls them, set the scene, striding into Shermer High School to Killing Joke’s “Eighties”; or add gravitas to a moment, like when Parzival stares at Art3mis, realizing he’s still in love with her, and Boston’s “More Than a Feeling” begins playing.

For the most part, these cues belong to everyone: They’re planted in the same spaces for any user to trigger, regardless of whether or not they’ve ever actually sung or danced to these moments in John Hughes movies. Yet little Easter eggs like the Boston needle drop—which can only be triggered by one avatar staring at another for five seconds, while the ONI records an increase in heart rate—feel like personalized love letters to two lovebirds, caught in a special moment unique to just them. That’s exactly what you want an Easter egg to do.

Ready Player Two is available now from Ballantine Books. Let us know the Easter eggs that worked for you in the comments below…

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#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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aisarete · 7 years

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But look ok

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (2010) is a phenomenal movie no matter what anyone wants to say to me and I love it and I ESPECIALLY love Drake Stone

He’s a “bad” guy but as Wreck-It Ralph says, that doesn’t mean he’s a “bad guy”! The difference between Merlinians and Morganians is that Merlinians are self-sacrificing (”We are but servants!”) and Morganians are self-serving (”I am no one’s servant.”)

Now there is nothing inherently wrong in thinking of your own interests and serving them. If your interests include the total subjugation of others, that’s when you’re wrong. Morgana has that goal, for whatever reason (and a woman who is god knows how old living in the middle ages and dealing with the oldest group of old boys’ club ever probably knows a lot about what it means to be subjugated, and even if she gained enough power and agency for herself that doesn’t mean she was able to change much in society since she is painted as a villain and everyone just looooves Merlin don’t they). Drake Stone, as far as we can ever tell, does not share that goal.

In fact, Morganians do not necessarily share her goals at all! A Morganian puts themselves first and uses their power to further their own goals, which Merlinians morally object to. THIS is probably the truest reflection of Morgana and Merlin’s ideologies. They use the same type of magic, after all, and so this is purely an ideological battle and not a literal one where, like, she gained her powers from the actual Devil or something. Merlin is the one who has the spell of The Rising, too. He was just as capable of using that magic, he just chose not to. SO Merlin probably didn’t want anyone around who would use magic so powerful to serve themselves in any way - that path is awfully tempting towards doing wrong, so his idea was just to abstain entirely. Only use magic for the good of others. (And he got to choose his own “others” and define his own “good” but we won’t go there right now.)

Anyway, any sorcerer who was unwilling to only ever use their powers for Merlin and his ideals the betterment of others probably got ousted if they couldn’t be manipulated or otherwise brought-around, and not only that - they were probably attacked and killed if possible because Merlin wouldn’t have wanted them going to train with Morgana instead. It’s all for the greater good, right? But that didn’t do him any favors or win him any love with those who got away. Even if they didn’t plan to go to Morgana before, they would have had to eventually or be killed. What chance does a Merlinian apprentice, training unfinished and stunted by what is “allowed” by the great Merlin, have against Merlin himself? No, they would have gone to Morgana to be trained and protected, or a Morganian sorcerer. They wouldn’t have had a choice.

This brings me to my baby boy who did nothing wrong ever in his life, except perhaps falling prey to a little bit of vanity. Drake states that his master disappeared when he was 15. That’s- that’s like, a sophomore in high school at the most. He was a baby (sorry, any sophomores reading this, but you are very smol and he was smol and he didn’t deserve any of this ok!?)! And he also says this left him with abandonment issues. Now, I’ve already said he’s vain, and he obviously likes to be extravagant and impressive, and he was in AWE of Horvath when he showed up.

Drake would never want to let this guy down, both for his own pride and because he knows Horvath’s reputation and doesn’t want to die. He would not want to casually show weakness or appear less than confident and capable. Therefore, he’s not lying. It would do him no good to say that, and could actually lose him some respect, but he says this defensively and reflexively. He’s proud of what he managed to accomplish, all on his own and hurting all the while. Unlike Dave and his having gotten “help” for his “issues”, I doubt those abandonment issues were addressed in any real way except to acknowledge their existence. But he must have been at least somewhat close or at least dependent on his Master for him to have had abandonment issues at all. He didn’t have a nice family to go back to, a bunch of friends and a cute dog to sooth that pain.

THEORY: his Master was his only family, either biologically or adopted, and after they disappeared he had no one. Did he live on the streets after that, stealing and tricking and magicking his way through life until he clawed his way to stardom? Was he in foster care, a group home- what? Anything could happen to a 15yo kid on his own, and not a ton of it is good.

Another thing about Drake is that he honestly seems to adore his fans. He’s hanging out with MAXIM HORVATH, a literal Morganian LEGEND that has been missing for CENTURIES and yet is still immediately recognizable even to someone with at most five years of official training, who is taking him on an EPIC QUEST to rescue the GREAT MORGANA and RAISE THE DEAD- but he’s got time to stop and chat with fans, sign a few pictures, take some selfies... And when Horvath calls him away, he pushes that kid but he pushes him back to his mother. There was MORE than enough space in front of that boy for Drake to walk straight ahead and ignore him entirely. Instead, he pushes him out of the way and therefore behind him, doing double duty to prove that Horvath has his full attention now and keep the fans from following him, something which would piss off Horvath and not end well for them.

He also says “It’s just nice for them to see a genuine icon like me!” Though the line sounds pretentious, the delivery was anything but. Maybe it really is just his vanity, but he seems to genuinely believe it does something good for people to see him and be able to talk to him in person. (This ties in perfectly with my earlier theory, because it’s a well-known fact that Drake Stone pulled himself from the literal gutter to become an international sensation and multimillionaire all on his own, yea. That’s iconic no matter how vain that person is.) And when Horvath says they’ll all be dead soon - Drake looks crushed. But he’s in too deep now, has been since he first put on that ring, and he knows he’s no match for Horvath.

If Drake puts one toe out of line, becomes intransigent or disposable in any way, he’ll be dead and those fans will still be dead anyway, so why bother? He’s got no close personal ties, that’s obvious, so no one he would be otherwise willing to put his life on the line for or even really take an extra step to protect if it meant sticking his neck out. Drake puts his life before the lives of others and continues to follow the path laid out for him by his Master because he doesn’t really have any other options. Morganians are self-serving before anything else, but again, that doesn’t necessarily mean evil.

Drake also warns Dave when he’s in the bathroom. Don’t believe me? He goes into the bathroom and could have immediately attacked when he saw Dave literally with his pants down. He could have easily knocked him unconscious, he’s capable of at least that much, especially when Dave was both distracted and unaware. Instead, he announces himself AND announces the fact that he knows who and what Dave is, even if Dave didn’t know that himself and so didn’t catch the hint, which isn’t exactly Drake’s fault. They banter rather than fight, Drake offering to let Dave hit him once for free even, despite knowing that even untrained he is facing the Prime Merlinian who could probably knock him flat in one go. He even sows some dissent between Dave and Balthazar in letting Dave know that Balthazar has been less than honest with him (which could be read as a great many things including an attempt to show the Merlinians as untrustworthy and thus lure the untrained Prime Merlinian over to the cause of the Morganians; cue my AU fic that’s never gonna get written).

The point is, Drake never really tries to attack Dave, who is practically a civilian with how untrained he is. Balthazar gets trapped in place for a sec and then Drake steps back and lets Horvath handle it, and only steps in when Horvath seems to need backup. Honestly, Drake is so horribly, horribly outclassed by all of them and it only becomes more clear as they continue their quest, which is probably not doing great things for his self-esteem, and he knows that if he becomes redundant to Horvath he will end up dead. Throwing magic at Balthazar (which was a desperate, reflexive act anyway) wasn’t good enough? Ok, let’s smash their car. Notice that they took off before actually hurting Balthazar and Dave at all, though. Drake pushes further and further, trying to be useful, trying to be confident, trying to be an ally that Horvath needs - but he was still betrayed in the end.

Drake Stone was a good guy at heart, and he didn’t deserve what happened to him. I WANT A SEQUEL, DISNEY, AND I WANT HIM IN IT.

#the sorcerer's apprentice #drake stone

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schpiedehl · 7 years

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Regarding Okieriete Onaodowan, Great Comet, and Hamilton

Ok so this is more a loose word vomit than an actual essay or analysis so here the fuck goes - As you can mayyyybe tell by my icon, I was INCREDIBLY ENTHUSED by the prospect of THE Okieriete Onaodowan playing Pierre in NPGC1812. I loved him in Hamilton, I drew his as Pierre basically as soon as the casting was announced (way pre cool wig), I ran out and bought tickets for the week after his premiere, and I unexpectedly got to witness the ABSOLUTE GREATNESS that was his opening night. NPGC1812 is my current favorite musical and Dave Malloy is a goddamn genius but I honesty do not think that any actor has captured the essence of the character quite as well as Oak has. He perfectly melds the smoothness of Groban with the gruff, awkward emotionality of Dave. This is A++ casting and having seen him live I honestly cannot think of a better actor for the role. I only lament that his run is limited as is my bank account. (And I live a whopping 12 hour drive away. I'm dedicated, friends). So anyway, gushing over Oak aside there are a few things I'd like to address because I am a literal pillar of salt and I hate everything and everyone. Regarding the notion of "Stuntcasting"/"non traditional casting" - I have seen many many many people refer to Oak's casting as "non traditional" and describe it as a ploy to bring in that sweet, sweet Hamilcash. Before people even had the chance to see/hear him in the damn role, people were decrying it as a gimmick (both the casting a Hamilton actor and, worryingly, to casting a black man in a "traditionally white" role). I'll tackle the BIG FUCKING ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM FIRST - non-traditional casting. I have seen people assert that Pierre is a "traditionally white role" and that casting Oak was at best a gimmick. This is a categorically false assertion because NPGC1812 has ALWAYS employed and was written with the assumption of "non traditional" colorblind casting. This is why a role like Natasha, a White Russian aristocrat, has been played by Denèe Benton, Lauren Zakrin, Shoba Narayan, and Phillipa Soo, all women of extremely diverse and different backgrounds. And this is a casting choice which is reflected throughout the production, which even goes as far as to have a "genderblind" ensemble with male swings going on for female tracks and vice versa. While Pierre has never been played by anyone other than a scruffy middle aged white man (Dave, David, Scott, and most recently, Josh), the precedent was always there for a non-white actor to play Pierre, given that many of the other principal roles have either been played or covered by a non-white actor. Accepting the NPGC1812 has always had what would be considered "non traditional" casting by the standards of the rear of the theatre world, we must then parse out what people mean when they say that Oak's casting in particular is "non traditional." First we must note that Oak was recommended for the role by NPGC1812 director Rachel Chavkin, a friend who knew he would be an excellent fit for the role. Oak is a great actor and his voice is well within the acceptable range for Pierre. He is also an established Broadway (and television) actor and performance artist with a strong resume to backup his fitness for the role. 3 prior Broadway shows, including the immensely popular Hamilton, is certainly nothing to shake a stick at, and his prowess as a versatile actor really shines through. If anything, Oak's casting is a strikingly traditional choice for a show with such experimental and avant garde roots. Thus, and perhaps it is because I'm pretty jaded at this point, I can only assume that the reason people view Oak's casting as "non traditional" is the same reason that people reject Denée as Natasha - because he is a black man playing a role originated by a non-black actor, which is ostensibly a "canonically" White role (as per War and Peace, not the canon of NPGC1812). Whether they openly admit it or not, many people are uncomfortable with the idea of dark skinned black actors playing the leads in narratives that are not explicitly black. This is especially true for those who are maybe unfamiliar with NPGC1812's casting, though by no means is it exclusive to this group. Oak defies people's racialized expectations for what the character should look like and sound like, regardless of the extant casting choices of the musical, and people are quick to reject him simply because, well, he's not a scruffy middle aged white man. This is something that I have seen with other shows, including, perplexingly, Hamilton where dark skinned actors are often rejected or ignored by the fandom at large. Much of the blowback has been from Grobanites who feel that Oak is a poor replacement. For them, Josh Groban was the quintessential Pierre, a scruffy white boy with the voice of an angel. Don't get me wrong, I really did like Groban's take on Pierre and he was an excellent choice for the role, but that by no means warrants the racialized vitriol lobbed at Oak, which often include critiques of his appearance. Even some fans of NPGC1812 were apprehensive of Oak's fitness for the role based in his appearance and the fact his role is Hamilton was a predominately rapping role. The underlying assumption was that a black man who raps would not be able to embody the beautifully sung tortured emotional state of Pierre. Even some people who have heard his Pierre have asserted that his is lacking due to qualities of Oak's voice - qualities which remained undefined even when pressed for explanation. I'd like to think that I'm reading too much into this and that people apprehension regarding Oak isn't at least partially to do with the fact he is a Black man but I've spent too much time in the garbage fire that is the Hamilton fandom for this not to be the conclusion I have come to... Now, regarding that Hamilton fandom, re: Hamilton stuntcasting -Fucking stop. Oak is a professional actor and this is his fourth Broadway show, his second show as a principal actor. He is not the goddamn liaison of Hamilton, he is not his characters in Hamilton, and he was not cast in NPGC1812 based on his connection to Hamilton. A brief note to Hamilton fans getting into great comet: Oak is not James Madison or Hercules Mulligan. He is his own person and he's been in other things. He's a fantastic actor and singer if you give him the chance to live beyond his couple of lines in Hamilton. That got away from me there a bit at the end. Feel free to provide counter arguments or ask for clarification if you bother to read this. Also if you have the means, go see Oak in Great Comet immediately. He's fantastic and the show needs as much support as it can get.

#okieriete onaodowan #oak onaodowan #natasha pierre and the great comet o f812 #npgc1812 #Hamilton #great comet #great Comet discourse #racism

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