#How the heck did he find the motivation and strength to keep up the act for that long | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

emma-d-klutz · 3 years

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IF I were to write a Maribat fic

It would be mostly a played for comedy and drama take on “Marinette picked up this whole Bat thing way too quickly.”

Like, post Miracle Queen, Marinette is just overtaken with so much guilt about Master Fu and is also desperate for a new mentor to be a replacement and a distraction from the blame she puts on herself and the burden of being the new Guardian. She is absolutely sure she is not ready to be in charge.

She calls Damian and asks for an audience with Batman. Damian is like, “Oh, isn’t this the girl who kicked me out of Paris? What was it you said? ‘No Gothamites in my city.’ Isn’t that what you said? Didn’t you say you can’t have our “type” of vigilante in Paris, because we’re too, what was it, overemotional? Is this that girl who is on my com right now? The one who rejected joining the Teen Titans? That’s you? You want me to TALK to my FATHER? I would barely ask him a favor for someone I actually LIKE.” Except then she kind of blows up at him and tells him the situation, and Damian gets real quiet and listens, and he feels a little sick because he’s remembering the Ric Grayson situation and also Alfred’s most recent death, which he ALSO blames himself for, so like... they got shit in common. He says he’ll talk to Batman about a video call.

Cut to three months later, Marinette has just THROWN HERSELF into being Batman’s disciple. She calls him Master. She practices fighting day and night out of the suit, and IN the suit she uses her powers for training and is often seen sprinting for miles or scaling the Eiffel Tower with only her upper body strength. She comes to school covered in bruises and with the darkest circles under her eyes, and her friends are WORRIED, they really are, but she’s like 80% less bubbly then usual, so no one is really confronting her and are just silently wondering what the heck happened. Most people assume that this has something to do with her taking Adrien and Kagami being an official couple really hard.

For fashion design, well. Marinette has gotten really into armor lately.... huh. (It’s because the Batfam encourages her to not rely on a magic suit that can turn off at the worse time, and she is convinced she must be prepared to be Ladybug at any and all times. If anything, she’s lamenting that she doesn’t know how to make weapons.) (She got a grappling hook styled like a yo yo as a present from Master Bat.)

She texts Kagami out of the blue one day like, >>Hey. Come over. I am in the process of making my masterwork >>Oh and bring a sword >>A sharpened one, not a training sword And Kagami comes over to see a twitchy (”ok that’s pretty normal”) super serious (”well that’s not. she’s usually so flighty and indecisive”) Marinette. And in the place where there was once an Adrian shrine and stalking schedule is now what seems to be a Hawkmoth shrine and stalking schedule. Marinette brings out what looks sort of like shiny silk with jewels woven in, and Kagami’s assumption is corrected. No. It’s a polymerized titanium she synthesized herself with light elemental defense crystals woven in by hand. Marinette is very proud. It’s a prototype. She plans on making a material that can be beautiful formalwear and as stab-proof as any kevlar. But it’s still a prototype so Kagami can you pretty please do some slashing and stabbing on it pretty please? See she wants it to be really good before giving it to her other Sword Friend, because Dami is a really harsh judge, and her motivation just won’t be able to take it if she gets notes from him this early on in the process. Kagami is actually really on board and helpful in this venture.

She does like indirectly ask Marinette if she’s heartbroken of if she’s with Luka or what have you, and Marinette just gets really harsh and says she has other priorities. She also makes some grandiose proclamation that neither of them are good enough for Adrien, because Adrien is pure goodness, he’s kindness and forgiveness personified, and it’s just... it’s just... it would be really clear to anyone who has ever heard Batman wax poetic about Superman where she is getting this highkey cringe behavior.

She’s on video calls with Batman all the time. They definitely have a conversation that goes something like this:

“I am certain the mean girl from my school is working for my main supervillain.” “Good. You can find him through her.” “Yess! I have been looking forward to the chance. I am going to interrogate her.” “Ladybug, no.” “I am going to tie her up with my yoyo and dangle her over the highest skyscraper in Paris and tell her I’ll drop her if she doesn’t tell me the identity and location of Hawkmoth.” “Befriend her at school and track her movements.” “Ok but wouldn’t it be quicker to dangle her off a building?” “You’re letting your emotions about someone from your civilian life interfere with your judgement and letting yourself act hastily and with negligence, which is exactly how you lost your first mentor.” “Ah....... you’re right. I’m sorry, Master. I won’t be reckless.” “Good. Tap her cell phone.”

As for Chat Noir, he is FREAKED OUT by her change and all the secrets she’s keeping now. And her behavior towards him has REALLY changed. Well not too much, but it’s noticeable in a way that unnerves him sometimes. Like she’s become a super serious workaholic, but she’s also insanely protective of him, to the point where he feels a bit resentful that he’s not being treated as a competent partner. He’s really trying to get Ladybug to talk out what she’s going through, and he’s anxious all the time that she’s on the cusp of becoming akumatized. Honestly, he’s not wrong on that part. He knows that this is all because she blames herself for Master Fu, and he is also aware that she is spending much more time in contact with that Robin from Gotham who they met once or twice, and he knows she’s keeping some secrets, but NO he is not aware for at least half of the story that she is being remotely trained by Batman. She’s telling him to shut up a lot more and bossing him around more and seems to know way more about Hawkmoth’s movements than him and it feels like he’s out of the loop, but she’s also, like, often spewing out how important he is to her as her partner and keeps giving him handmade pastries and saying, “An army crawls on its stomache,” so like honestly wtf mixed signals much

Batman agreed to mentor her temporarily and has been trying to find someone else from JL to take over, preferably Wonder Woman or Flash, because he agrees with Ladybug’s assessment that to be a hero in Paris it is necessary to have weaponized optimism, or Zatanna or Shazaam, because they could train Ladybug in her magic hopefully. He is told several times that it would be easier to get her mentorship if she agreed to join Teen Titans or Young Justice, which of course they all know, so thanks, but Ladybug would def refuse to leave Paris and her partner, so her joining YJ isn’t really up for discussion.

Flash said that she’s great but that, “She’s SUCH a Bat,” and that clearly she’s so attached to him that she should just stay one of his. Batman asserts that she is only being like this because she is desperate for a mentor, and if someone else took her on, she’d probably/hopefully change again just as fast. Flash says he isn’t so sure, and that at this delicate point in time, being handed off to someone else might, like, retraumatize her or smth.

Ladybug literally started breaking fingers interrogating someone.

It is on camera.

The LadyBlog is in SHOCK.

No one knows what to do.

Even Hawkmoth sees the video footage and is like, “Jeez, am I... Mayura, are we in over our heads here? Did we break the teen hero? Is this our fault?”

Anyway, those are all my favorite ideas of the ones I’ve daydreamed so far. There is also stuff about how she interacts with the other members of the Batfam and that she uses the Horse Miraculous to travel to Gotham to be trained in hand-to-hand and also to just sob for hours and scream at things because she CAN’T let her emotions out like that in Paris and the bafflement of the Batkids like “you... came to GOTHAM... to NOT repress your emotions. um, k.” And Cass loves her and thinks she is Baby Sister and if someone is mean to baby sister in front of her she will stare into your soul until you are quiet ect ect many ideas.

The reason this is an IF and not a WHEN:

dudes I have no plot

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juminsmysticmc · 3 years

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I'm so sorry that you are sad. Honestly I was suprised that request are open for so long... So I will request! Can I have RFA + minor trio (i'm so happy that i don't have to choose one part this time, i love almost everyone) who was forced by her family to have job like lawyer or doctor but she dreamed about being a writer since she was very young? Thank you and don't be sad about lack of requests. I'm sure thatbin short time you will again have tons of them

RFA + Minor Trio with a Mc who was forced to do high sociality jobs instead of becoming an author

Thank you, yeah, they were open for a pretty long time, the likes and reblogs also went down a bit, I believe that I was gone for too long, ups.

But I will catch up!

Your words made me happy! Thank you for your support!

Jumin

,,I look up to you, my love,’’ Jumin praised you in your shared bedroom as you faced each other.

Your head was resting on his warm chest as you could hear his heartbeat.

,,Why?’’ you asked him, curious about what he would say next.

,,You achieved so much. You studied medicine and are a professor at such a young age, saving other people’s lives, it’s really amazing, you know?’’ he asked you, smiling down at you as you stayed silent for a few moments.

,,You think so? Because I always wanted to become an author. I can’t think of a time in my childhood in which I wasn’t thinking about a story. I only began to write them down way too late. I didn’t even get the chance to ask a publisher to look at them,’’ you whispered sadly, and Jumin could hear it.

,,Why didn’t you do that then?’’ he asked you, now patting your back.

,,I was forced to. My mother, gosh, it was such a hard time. That’s why I don’t have a good relationship with her.

She burned all my writings, forced me to go to the school she wanted, all because she wanted me to have a good stable job; a job with money, contacts to marry into a rich family, to marry another doctor, and open my own hospital.

Because she came from a medical family, I had to do the same.’’ you sighed.

,,Then… just resign, I will call a publisher tomorrow. You don’t need to worry about money. I already told you once… just put yourself above everyone else… if you want to become a writer, I will open that possibility for you… I will protect you, even in front of your mother,’’ Jumin whispered and held you tighter in his arms while you began to fall asleep with your heart at ease...

Zen ( this one was kinda hard cause, like everyone else knows, I always try to stick to the original story line and MC is his manager after they become a couple so…)

,,I’m so proud of you,’’ Zen laughed as he kissed you.

You just resigned your position as a lawyer, all because you were going for your own carrier.

,,Thank you, Zenny,’’ you mumbled and gave him a kiss on his cheek.

,,You motivated me to not do what my family wants. Thanks to you, I’ve realized that even if that was a stable job, nothing can beat doing something you love,’’ you laughed.

Zen knew that you were very brave and that it took you a lot of strength.

But luckily, you saved a lot of money in your years as a lawyer so every single door was open to you.

,,ARE YOU CRAZY?!’’ someone screamed when you just returned in front of Zen’s door.

,,YOU BARELY KNOW THIS MAN! WHAT CAN HE GIVE YOU?! NOTHING! HE WILL TAKE ALL YOUR MONEY!’’ your mother screamed at you.

,,Mother, I have enough of my own. So does Zen and we already talked about this. Besides, no one is saying that I won’t keep making money anymore,’’ you told her calmly, making your boyfriend even prouder.

,,Ah! And what do you intend to do? So you think that you will write something and someone else will make a book out of your crap?’’ she asked you, laughing at your idiotic idea, or so she thought.

,,No,’’ you laughed.

,,I will work as his manager and while I am doing so, I will write my own book, my steps, and a script for a movie. Everything is already set, mother,’’ you smiled and pulled Zen.

,,One day, we will be able to talk like a mother and a daughter, but until then, stay healthy,’’ you lastly said and then closed the door behind yourself.

Yoosung

As you helped Yoosung, he realized more and more that you taught him with a bit of bitterness.

Of course, humans and animals were different, but you noticed that there were a few basics you could help him to remember.

One day, Yoosung finally found enough strength to ask you about it.

,,Mc, do you like your job?’’ he asked you, a bit nervous even though you two had been together for such a long time.

You answered with a short, ,,no’’ and then you smiled.

,,I hate it. I wanted to become a writer. I put all my hope into it and lost. My parents were pretty strict and they still are. I had to become a doctor and I couldn’t change that. And so, here I am, with the most wonderful job, saving human beings, without actually enjoying it,’’ you told him and laid back on your chair.

,,And why do you keep doing it?’’ he asked you.

Well, that was a good question. You really had no idea...why…?

,,Let’s do it like this! Work on your books, on whatever you want to write. Write whenever you have time and once I have the job, you can resign yours! I will make your dream come true. You just have to go through it for a little while longer,’’ he smiled at you, actually making you tear up.

,,Yoosung, I’m so happy that I met you back then,’’ you laughed in tears and kissed him with all your love.

Jaehee

Back then, when Jaehee gave you the key, she never thought that this could be a harder fight than she imagined.

As a banker, one of the most known in Korea, you however, knew what you were talking about.

But something felt off.

And Jaehee, even though she didn’t like it, began to understand while you supported her so much with doing what she loved.

You were probably going through the same.

,,We need these credits and you need to fill out that page and sign here, these papers,’’ you told her, with the most monotone voice you ever had.

,,You don’t look as if you enjoy this. I’m sorry that you have to do this for us…’’ she mumbled.

In the next moment, you smiled at her. ,,Don’t worry, Jaehee. this just isn’t my favorite job, that’s why. I just don’t like my job, it has nothing to do with you,’’

This made her feel even more uncomfortable.

,,Mc, why don’t you do the same as me… I mean, I thought that we would do this together, but seeing you so busy… is that really something you want to do?’’ she asked you, more nervous than before.

Currently, Jaehee was questioning all her decisions.

Was it the right decision to leave Jumin’s company and open a shop with a stranger she kind of felt attracted to?

,,I’ll find a solution,’’ you smiled and stroked her arm.

,,I have to wait until we are finished with the preparations or else our money will be cut off and we won’t be able to do anything. Then, when this coffee shop is up and running, I will write a book about how to make it work, give out information without wanting money for it, and just helping people,’’ you smiled, your eyes looked even warmer now.

,,You- oh my, my head, what was I thinking? Of course, what you’re saying makes so much sense,’’ she laughed.

,,Let’s do this. I will support you with all my heart,’’ she smiled and signed the paper you needed from her.

Saeyoung

,,I’m home,’’ you called as you rushed inside and took off your shoes.

Saeyoung rushed to your side as he helped you to take off your jacket.

,,How was your day, my dear?’’ he said.

You were shocked to see your fiancé in a dress with fake hair.

,,What the heck are you doing?’’ you laughed as you kissed him.

,,Since you weren’t home, I had to play the madam of the house,’’ he acted.

,,In short, he had to act like an idiot,’’ Saeran said and rolled his eyes as your friends, the other members of the RFA laughed.

Yes, carefree days finally came.

,,How was work?’’ Zen asked you.

,,Please, no, don’t let me begin! I hate it! Being a judge for teenagers is just so… Ah, I can’t take it anymore! I’m pissed and I don’t want to do it anymore,’’ you said and drank some water.

,,Why?’’ Jaehee asked you. You were doing a good job, why did you think like that?

,,Because I don’t want to take children from their parents anymore. I’m sick and tired of it,’’ you answered.

,,If they get neglected…’’ Saeyoung answered, this time being serious. He knew what he was talking about.

You looked at him. You understood his point, but…

,,It’s not fair to judge by things you hear or experience yourself. Sometimes, there are good parents who lose their children, you know?’’ you warned him.

But you already knew that Saeyoung put an end to all of this, even though you didn’t like the way he did it, just like he did it for Zen back then when he posted a short chapter of your book and made a lot of publishers come to you.

As a little thank you, he said back then.

And even though you didn’t like the method he used, you were thankful to him and were happy.

If someone wants to see a oneshot out of this HC please comment below or send me a message ( anon works out too ) I want to hear your opinions.

Saeran

You laid down on your couch when you turned your head around to read the time.

Once again, it was 3 am.

Saeran walked over to you without you noticing him and hugged you from behind.

,,You’re still not sleeping?’’ you asked him and nuzzled your face into his neck, inhaling Saeran’s scent.

,,Jumin needed help with something and I had to finish it,’’ he lied. He waited for you but he would never tell you. The thing he worked on wasn’t even that important.

He just wanted to see you, because as a politician, you two barely had time for each other.

It was funny. He hated politicians, his ,,father’’ at first, but you… you were different.

You were fighting for something.

And he knew that if it wasn’t for him, you would have given up this job a long time ago.

,,You know, if you want to do something else, do it… you don’t have to stay in that position just for me,’’ he mumbled as he stroked your hair.

,,It’s okay. We need to save Saeyoung. I don’t want to get revenge, but I want everyone involved to get what they deserve. You know, back then I never would have thought that the job my father forced on me would someday help you. I always hated him and myself for not being able to change it. But as soon as we win this fight, I will finally realize my dream and write a book about our life. What happened to you and Saeyoung should go public and I will fight for it!’’ you told him.

He hugged you and took you in his arms, carrying you to your shared bed.

,,We should pay our respect to your father and visit him over the weekend,’’ he whispered and waited for your answer, but you already fell asleep.

,,Thank you, Mc,’’ he whispered before he also fell asleep.

Jihyun

,,I never thought that in the two years I wasn’t around you, you would actually change your job. I’m happy that now you’re able to do what you always wanted to do,’’ Jihyun praised you.

,,Yes, thank you. I never liked working in a hospital, although I grew with the job.

But today, writing about all these things helped me.

And I finally showed my parents that a writer can also be something to look up to,’’ you smiled as you watched your daughter Lucy.

,,Did you ever speak to them again?’’ he asked you.

Your parents and his father didn’t come to your wedding; that was why only the RFA came.

It was kind of sad that the only true friends you guys had were the RFA, but everyone else weren’t really people you would call friends.

,,No, well, having a daughter going from being a surgeon to being an author is something to feel disappointed about, apparently,’’ you laughed sadly.

,,I will never ever forbid Lucy to do anything she loves,’’ you said and then looked over to Jihyun.

He nodded and agreed with you.

Your husband hugged you and kissed your cheek, he had to think about the time he first saw that you actually published something. He could only imagine how hard that time must have been for you.

He was also kind of sad that he wasn’t there with you. Jumin told him later that he actually supported you a lot without even telling you because he knew that you would have never accepted his help.

But from now on, he would be there and support you.

For you, and for the sake of his family and friends.

Vanderwood

One day, when Vanderwood was cleaning up after the two of you moved in, he saw a box.

The box, which was standing in the middle of a room, was getting on his nerves so much that the long haired man decided to throw it away, thinking that it was nothing but trash in there.

However, he soon realized that he had been horribly wrong.

The box slipped out of his hands and a lot of papers fell out.

,,Huh?’’ he asked himself as he picked one up, the words “chapter one” written on it.

One by one, Vanderwood sorted the papers and actually noticed that three whole books were inside the box as single pages.

Just when Vanderwood was at chapter six of one of the books, you entered, the cleaning session long forgotten when you arrived.

,,What is that?’’ you asked him when you saw that he actually read something from your books.

,,You should tell me, don’t you know that that’s against the copyrights? I mean, you are a lawyer, you should know that-’’ Vanderwood quickly stayed silent when he saw your tears.

,,I can hide this scandal, you know?’’ he whispered.

But he was totally wrong.

,,I wrote it years ago. Back when my father lost a trial because of a lawyer. At that time, he forced me to become one too to get revenge.

And so I had to give up on my books,’’ you told him.

,,But your father died! Who cares?! Change jobs!’’ he said, a bit louder.

,,With what money should we pay for the appartnemnt with… and the food?’’ you asked him and laughed. He seemed to forget that he still didn’t have a job and that you were the only one with an income.

,,We will manage. I will make it come true,’’ he told you, and indeed, Vanderwood made everything you wished for come true.

You didn’t know how, and he asked you to not ask about his methods, but your books were published. You could work as an author and could give up what you didn’t enjoy and he was actually working as your manager.

,,I told you to clean the keyboard twice a day!’’ he hissed while you smiled at him.

MASTERLIST 1

MASTERLIST 2

MASTERLIST 3

29.03.2021// 22:26 MEST

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kitkatwinchester · 4 years

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So...considering we’re on the home stretch of the greatest show of all time--a show that has been a huge part of my life for the last eight years--I figured now was probably a good time to start doing reactions and reviews. I’ve seen a lot of Tumblrs do this, and I want to join in on that.

So basically, I’m gonna start by just doing a bullet point list of reactions as I go. Fair warning, I get very excited and very into this show, so the list’ll probably be pretty long. But hopefully you enjoy it! And, even if you don’t, this gives me something to look back on years down the line. XD

Also, my mom is watching it with me, so I might include some of her reactions/our discussion in my list too!

And, because I can, at the end of all of it, I’ll give a much more concise review/reaction based on how I feel after the whole episode’s over. Because why not. XD

Enjoy my watching! XD <3

Oh we’re starting!

...did I miss the “then” title card?

Oh wait there it is.

Dude we’re going FAR back on this “then”. I wonder what that means?

My poor baby crying again. :(

DEAN’S APRON OH MY GOD I’M DEAD! XD XD <3 <3

“It was. In the 50s.” Point taken.

My poor baby. :( :( :( :(

Oh so killing Amara is officially a plan? Okay then.

“I’ve killed Hitler.” I can’t believe he’s still talking about that! XD

Actually I can believe he’s still talking about it, I take that back.

DEAN WITH THE MARIO BROTHERS OMG!!

Okay, I know this episode has something to do with them celebrating holidays because of a fairy or nymph or something like that, and this is already feeling like a light-hearted, fun, domestic Winchesters episode. I hope it stays that way. <3

Have you tried turning it back off and turning it on again? Hit reset.

HE READ MY MIND!

MEAT MAN!! XD XD

Ummm...okay then.

Also SCOOBY-DOO UNDIES!!! DEAN YOU DORK!! XD XD <3

In case you haven’t figured it out yet, Jack is my favorite and Dean is my second-favorite.

“Language!” “That’s it I’m getting my gun.” XD XD

I can already tell that so many of my reactions are probably just gonna be me quoting and then laughing. XD

They don’t seem very concerned? Shouldn’t random people not be able to get in?

This lady is such a mom omg.

Mrs. Butters? XD

Wood nymph. Got it.

“Shouldn’t you be in the woods somewhere? Nymphing?” XD XD (P.S. That was my mom’s favorite line in this episode. XD)

You what now?

Necessities of life?

Hmmm….I like her, but she weirds me out. Something is off.

Dean’s “oof that’s awkward” face. XD

“2020.” Hearing that year said out loud just feels...oof. Just oof.

Poor nymph…

Wait, haven’t we seen those symbols before? Maybe I’m making that up.

HA! “It’s kind of been one apocalypse after the other.” He’s not kidding.

OOOOH!! HERE COME THE HOLIDAYS!!!

WAIT WHAT IS THAT TELESCOPE THING?

WAIT WAIT WAIT WHAT??!! A MONSTER radar??!! Dude WHAT?! Man, they’ve needed something like that for YEARS!

Wait wait wait...relatively nearby….it’s not gonna ping because of Jack is it?? SHE’S NOT GONNA HURT JACK IS SHE??!!

Oh okay nevermind. Just a vamp nest.

Say what now?

We can...that just...umm...okay then??

“Heck...heck yeah.” XD XD XD

Yeah I’m with Sam on this one. She seems innocent, but, like…

Dean does have a point though.

But also things like this never last. It’s too good to be true.

MY BABY!!!

“She’s probably harmless, but just in case, watch yourself”?? Dean that was a terrible way to do that but okay.

Snickerdoodles. XD

My poor baby looks so lost. :(

I mean...Dean makes a good point there. But also the son of Satan is adorable and she’s suspicious. But anyways.

“Ignoring your trauma doesn’t make you healthy.” SOMEONE FINALLY SAID IT OMG!!! XD XD XD <3 <3 <3 <3

...Jack is hiding something? IS JACK HIDING SOMETHING?!

...do we know what Jack is hiding??

The only thing I can think of is that he knows about Cas’s deal with the empty, but he had a soul when that happened, and it wasn’t really eating at him then. Is it eating at him more now for some reason??

IS JACK HIDING SOMETHING??!!

Jesus christ this is gonna bother me…

Okay but when has that ever actually worked, Dean?

Awww….

I’m guessing they didn’t tell her he’s a nephilim? If they don’t really trust her--which they don’t--they shouldn’t. Is there a chance she knows already? I feel like she wouldn’t be acting like that if she did.

Vamps watching a movie with vamps. Classy. XD

...ew…

At least they’re drinking from bags instead of from humans I guess?

Nice slicing at the same time, boys.

Huh. Well. That was easy. Too easy?

CHRISTMAS! XD <3

THE TRAIN OMG!! XD XD <3 <3

Their faces. XD

HER DANCE!

Okay she’s kind of adorable not gonna lie.

“We are so keeping her.” XD XD

DEAN’S LITTLE EXCITED HANDS ON THE RAILING OMG I’M DEAD!! XD XD <3 <3 <3

If I can’t get adorable Jack right now, I’m okay with adorable Dean. XD <3 <3

Sam is still suspicious, but Dean is totally into it.

“Enjoy the world you’re fighting for.” That was really quick and so subtle, but d*mn that’s a good line.

MY BABY!!!!

HIIIII JACK!!! I MIIIIISSSSSED YOOOOOUUU!!! <3 <3 <3

Uh-oh. I don’t like the way she said “what are you”. DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH MY BABY!!!

“He’s a millennial.” XD XD

DEAN IN THAT NIGHTGOWN OMG!!! I know it was in the promo photos, but seeing it in the context of the episode is even funnier. XD

Sam’s gagging at his bro’s “down there” bits lol.

Oof. She is VERY absentminded by Jack and whatever he is. No likey.

...hmm. I still don’t trust her with Jack.

“Poppycock”???

HA!! “I’m worried about your cholesterol.”

And Sam and Jack’s little smiles at that omg. <3 <3 <3

“We got one!” IS THAT A HILLYWOOD PARODY REFERENCE/GHOSTBUSTER REFERENCE??!! Because IT FEELS LIKE ONE!!!

The way they’re running to their rooms to get ready omg.

And that cut to them being dressed and going.

LUNCHES!! XD

Their faces! XD

The cinematography in this episode is AWESOME. Go Serge Ladouceur (and yes, I looked that name up. XD)

No crusts. Blessed knives. “I just waxed it.” She IS a mom!

Wait no. Take Jack with you. I don’t trust her with him.

“What shall we do with you.” LEAVE HIM ALONE IS WHAT!

Oh. They’re doing dishes.

WAIT DON’T TELL HER THAT JACK!

...I don’t like the way she’s talking to him.

Oof. Mary. *gags*

Jack you’re adorable and I love you but please stop being so gullible and stop sharing so much personal information.

WAIT NO! I know you feel guilty, but DON’T TELL HER YOU KILLED HER!

...dangat.

...oh. That was actually super sweet, and honestly the EXACT thing Jack needed to hear. ...maybe she’s not so bad?

...wait what? She just...pulls those out of thin air?

Ha! Another hunt

THEIR FACES WITH THE LUNCHES! ESPECIALLY DEAN’S!! XD

Aww! Thanksgiving! <3

Where is Cas during all this? Talking to his angel friends I guess?

That finger gun at Sam omg.

It’s so EASY for them wow.

Halloween! Fitting given our current season.

Their little smiles awww!!

THE BEERS TOGETHER HOLY FRICK!!! IT’S JUST LIKE WHAT TEAM FREE WILL 2.0 DID WHEN JACK CAME BACK! AND what the boys and Mary and John did in Lebanon! NEVER GETS OLD!! I LOVE THIS FAMILY!! <3 <3

...I still don’t necessarily trust Mrs. Butters. BUT I LOVE SAM AND DEAN AND JACK!

Those faces for the lunches just get better and better.

GRENADE LAUNCHER!!

MJOLNIR OMG NO WAY!!! I CAN’T BELIEVE HE STILL HAS IT!!! THIS EPISODE HAS SO MANY EASTER EGGS OMG!!! <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Also that is an AWESOME shot.

BIRTHDAY!! Awww… <3 <3

OOF. Poor Dean. XD

Jack’s laugh and then immediately being like “oop” and bringing his head down but still chuckling when Dean glares at him I CAN’T. XD XD

I LOVE THIS FAMILY!! <3 <3 <3

AWW!! She made extra for him!

Okay, I like her. But I’m still cautious.

Oh. THERE it is.

What’s she doing??

Jack’s got you lady.

My mom is wondering why she has to walk away to make another smoothie when before she was just producing them. I’m wondering if maybe she has to near the ingredients to whip it into a smoothie magically, but that seems weird...continuity error?

Get her, Jack. My smart boi. <3 <3

My Mom: “You better hurry it up there, Jack.”

Oh it’s evil Men of Letters dude. NOW I get why we went that far back.

Oh! AND the Thule. NOW I get why Dean mentioned killing Hitler again. Wow. Nice connections on this episode all around. Go writers.

...she did what now?

WTF??!!

HOLY FRICK!!!

HOLY S*** HOLY S*** HOLY S***!!!

Do NOT ask about tea or cookies after you just pulled sh** like that.

On a more positive note, the way Jack just said “son of a bitch” out of nowhere like that is so adorable because he, like, NEVER swears, but also that’s Dean’s saying and it just proves that he’s taking after his dads and just already growing up and AHHHH I LOVE HIM!!! <3 <3 <3 <3

Also Jack please go tell your dads what you found.

Okay so during the commercial break, my mom and I looked up wood nymphs and had this big discussion and here’s kind of what we came up with:

So we were trying to figure out if wood nymphs are supposedly evil, and we didn’t find much, but they do have super strength (which explains her ability to rip off that dude’s head…), and the ability to control wood and nature, which might explain why she can pull smoothies out of thin air.

So then we saw on the SPN Wiki page for this episode that part of the description mentions that the wood nymph would do anything for her family, and that makes me wonder if she has, like, ulterior motives to protect her wood nymph family? But also, she said the Men of Letters were her family, so that translates to Sam and Dean now, right? So theoretically, she wouldn’t hurt them, she’d be trying to protect them. Which means they should be fine, because she only hurts threats. But then my mom pointed out that maybe she considers Jack a threat and that’s a really good point, so now I’m worried all over again. She’s still acting weird with him, and even though I did like that little advice she gave about second chances, maybe it’s all an act? My mom thinks she, like, poisoned his sandwich or something with anti-nephilim juice in order to try to hurt him, but that was before she knew he was a nephilim, right? I don’t know. I think my mom makes a really good point. I hope my baby winds up being okay. :(

Okay. Back to the episode now.

Ahhhhhhhh noooooo. Where are the boys when we need them?

Wait, DATE?? EILEEN??!!

No. He isn’t. Go away.

Sam look at yoooooooouuuu. <3

But also please take a moment to notice how uncomfortable your son is and ask him what’s wrong please and thank you. (And yes, I will keep saying son thank you very much.)

Ha! She wants him to get a haircut just like Dean does. The joke’s about Sam’s (and, by extension, Jared’s) hair will never not be funny.

Ha! “Language.”

YES!! EILEEN!!!

YES SAM!! GO GET YOUR GIRL!!

DEAN! XD

Okay the Sam and Eileen thing is adorable, and Sam and Dean’s banter is hilarious, but guys...look at your son please and thank you. :(

I’m so torn between wanting Sam to just be happy and enjoy himself and wanting him to help Jack ahhhhhh.

Sam can go on his date. I’m sure Dean can handle it.

Roses! Nice touch.

Ha! Dean with the supportive big bro action.

Such. A. Mom.

“Boys.”

Wait nooooooo.

Okay but Alex’s acting right there...tip top. So subtle. Jack is trying so hard to be sneaky and warn Dean about what he saw, and the way Alex is conveying pure panic but also showing how sneaky he’s being is AWESOME.

Also that little “sh*t” or “da**it” or whatever it was that he mouthed? Somehow so cute and makes me so worried at the same time.

“The Dean Cave”?? XD XD

Dean I am BEGGING YOU, please take a cursory glance at your son.

...da**it...

The subtitles say “suspenseful music plays” XD XD

Wait Jack noooo. Don’t go after her alone! Chase Dean instead!!

NOOO!! NOT IN THERE!!!

She’s totally gonna trap him in there.

...what?

She’s being so condescending shut the fudge up.

What? No.

Does he still not have a soul? Is that what he’s hiding? That wouldn’t make sense.

Oh wait. I get it now.

HE IS NOT!!! SHUT THE FUDGE UP LADY!!

LADY STOOOOOP! HE DOESN’T NEED YOUR SH**!! HE ALREADY FEELS GUILTY WOULD YOU QUIT IT??!! :’( :’( :’( :’(

HEY! NOT COOL!

I HOPE SOMEONE RIPS YOUR HEAD OFF B***H!!

They’re not. They know he won’t now.

SHUT UP LADY!!

HEY!!! STOP IT!!! LEAVE HIM ALONE!!!

TAKE HER DOWN JACK!!!

He IS family!

...ummm...what??

GOD DA**IT!!

...my mom literally just said “told you so” about the poisoning. ...which also explains why she walked away to make another smoothie, because she WANTED him to find the video, says my mom. And yes, my mom was right, AND I HATE IT!! SCREW YOU LADY!! LEAVE MY BABY ALONE!!

It IS safe you B**CH!!

HE’S NOT A MONSTER!!! :’( :’( :’(

DA**IT!! DEAN PLEASE DO SOMETHING!!

Ha! He’s so excited about the sandwich and it’s adorable.

But also save your son!!

...wait what?

She’s...she’s really just gonna out herself like that?

Ha! YES!

Aww...Dean’s so disappointed. :(

BUT! He’s sticking up for his son! Because even if he’s mad at him for everything that happened to Mary (but also get over it, because she sucked anyways, Dean XD), of course he’ll still protect him.

Ha! The way he just takes it away…

Aww...poor baby. :(

He’s so disappointed. He deserves better. I feel bad for him. :(

HE IS NOT! SHUSH!

Aww...looking at the sandwich, but making the right call.

AWW! He’s trying. Best of both worlds.

Take the deal, lady.

DA**IT!!!

SERIOUSLY?!

SERIOUSLY???!!!

Screw you, lady.

HEY! NOT FAIR!

He is NOTHING like his father, thank you very much!

Well...now what??

Oh thank god, Sam’s home. He’s smart. He’ll find a way to get them out.

Her calling him Samuel is both hilarious and annoying, somehow. I think it’s only annoying now because I hate her with what she just did to my boys. XD

OOOOF.

She gonna out herself again?

Sam’s face when she said that about good news and bad news. XD

I suppose the benefit of having a bad guy who thinks they’re doing the right thing is that she’s not trying to hide it. So hopefully, if she outs herself again, Sam can deal with it a little better than Dean did, knowing Dean was not very successful lol. Dean let his love of her food get in the way. XD

She DID out herself!

Ha! “You were always the smart one.”

YES! Good job, Sam. Starting off strong. <3

YES! GOOD JOB SAM!! Nice manipulation.

Ha!

Can’t believe she’s asking about the date.

Actually yes I can. XD

Wait, why don’t WE get to hear about the date? I WANNA HEAR ABOUT THE DATE DA**IT!

Well, DUH, Sam, you think they don’t know that?

Dean OMG!! XD XD

SUPPORTIVE BIG BRO!! XD XD

In Dean’s defense, he knew she’d wait for Sam, so...it’s not like they were REALLY in danger.

Do NOT try shooting her. Are you kidding me right now?

...really Sam? REALLY?! You’re going to try to SHOOT her?? You’ve seen what she can do, and you’re going to try to SHOOT her? She got the jump on JACK. POWERED UP Jack. Really? Call me crazy, but I feel like that’s not gonna work.

Yes. Yes he is. ...so much for Sam being the smart one.

I want to be mad at them for getting distracted by the holidays, but also I can’t exactly blame them given their childhoods, so…

Ha! The way they both react to the Boxing Day breakfast. Such brothers. XD

There ya go. Good plan. MUCH better than shooting her. Thank you boys.

WAIT WAIT WAIT!! Is this where we’re gonna get the “you sure this is gonna work” “let’s say yes” scene from the promo?? I THINK IT IS!! (Okay, so I MAY have watched that particular five second scene a million and one times because it had my boys in it, but I love them okay?? Sue me.)

Hey. Chill, Dean. Don’t yell at him.

Aww baby. :( :( :(

He doesn’t think you’re a monster. He’s just upset. :(

...uh oh. This convo is gonna be bad, isn’t it? :( :(

:’( :’( :’( :’( :’(

WAIT! “For a while” YES! THAT’S A GOOD THING!!

Oh wait. “Still am a little bit.”

“Evil Mary Poppins” XD XD

AWWW!! SEE JACK?! He DOES love you!! <3 <3 <3 <3

OKAY NEVER MIND THAT CONVO WAS ACTUALLY REALLY GOOD!!! I need to break that down for a second.

That convo was short and subtle and to the point, but it says SO much about Dean and Jack’s relationship.

First of all, the fact that Dean decided to be honest with Jack instead of continuing to pretend everything’s fine shows how much he really does care about Jack and how much he still trusts him and loves him. He doesn’t open up often, and I’m glad he finally did.

Second of all, he may have been blunt, but there was so much affection hidden in the way he addressed all of that. I mean, he tells Jack that he used to be really mad, and he still kind of is, but then he reminds him that just because they’re in a rough patch right now doesn’t mean he wants to lose him. Yes, Jack made a mistake, and yeah, Dean’s finding it hard to get over it, but Jack’s family through and through, and that means that, no matter what, Dean’s going to look out for him. It’s the same way he treats Cas and, more notably, the same way he treats Sam. He’s giving Jack the family treatment. And THAT is a BEAUTIFUL thing.

All of that said, between all of the OG Team Free Will, Dean’s relationship with Jack will always be my favorite (probably mostly because they’re my two favorite characters, but also because they’re amazing together), so this convo makes me so freaking happy. <3 <3 <3 <3

Sam you are being not very sneaky.

SERIOUSLY SAM??!!

I take that back. Sam is not being smart about this. *eye roll*

UGGGGHHHHH.

WHERE IS CAS WHEN YOU NEED HIM?!

Actually quick side note, one that I’m adding now that I’ve finished the episode: not having Cas around TOTALLY makes sense. Explanation included in the review.

“Because you are my favorite.” XD XD XD

She shouldn’t still be making me laugh, but dangat she’s too funny. XD

Wait noooo. No torture allowed.

I KNEW IT!! I TOLD YOU!! I CALLED IT!! SCENE FROM THE PROMO!! XD XD <3 <3 <3

I LOVE DEAN AND JACK SO MUCH!! <3 <3 <3

Ha! Fixing his hands.

YIKES!

...but did the cuffs break at least?

HA! She actually converted him to not swear.

I love how Dean makes a point of swearing extra loud after he realizes what he did. I love him. XD XD <3

Oh frick, that didn’t break the cuffs? Are you kidding me? Stupid powerful magic…

OOH! Dean’s got an idea!

THOSE LITTLE SMILES I LOVE THEM!! <3 <3 <3 <3

OH SHUT UP LADY! Are you still talking??

...okay so...trauma.

Please listen to Sam.

YES HE IS SHUSH!

Just because he has blood on his hands doesn’t mean he’s not a kid. Just saying.

Okay so I kind of feel bad for her knowing what she’s been through, but also that does not excuse her behavior. However, I will take back what I said about someone ripping her head off. I suppose that isn’t really necessary.

That said, someone please do something. :( :(

WOULD YOU QUIT IT WITH THE FINGERNAILS SUPERNATURAL??!! I STILL HAVEN’T GOTTEN OVER IT FROM THE CHRISTMAS EPISODE IN SEASON 3!!!

My mom and I are both turning away owwwwwww.

STOOOOOOOOOOP!!!

Jesus Christ lady!!

“Pain is just weakness leaving the body.” Dean what?! XD XD

HEY! Smart! Way to go you two!! <3 <3

And still helping his son up YES! <3 <3 <3

Okay that could not have been a more in character moment between Dean and Jack right there. Between the “not so bad” and the helping him up and the helping him walk down the hall and Jack just following him along and I just...I LOVE THEM OKAY!! <3 <3 <3

AHHH!! SHE TOOK OFF SO MANY FINGERNAILS JESUS!!

SHUT UP LADY!!

YES!

...Dean honey that was the reset button…

There’s no way that did the job. Too easy.

Problem not solved!! Problem DEFINITELY not solved!!

Creepy green eyes!!

Oh she looks maaaaad. That’s not good.

HEY!!! What happened to not hurting family??!!

LEAVE THEM ALONE!!

Which family??!! Cause YOU’RE the one destroying them!

No he won’t.

“You hurt him, you hurt us.” GREAT line!! YES SAM!! <3 <3 <3

Oooh!! He’s getting to her!! <3 <3

Oop. There’s our backstory. Mr. Cuthbert wouldn’t let her go back. Not that I’m surprised, given what he did to Dean all those years ago.

Yes. Yes he did.

YAY! Dean jumping in to save his son. <3

NICE! Good call, Dean! <3

THAT FACE!! Jack’s face!! <3 <3

YES!!!! YES!!! GOOD JOB BOYS!! <3 <3 <3

Awww….poor Mrs. Butters…

Okay now I feel really bad for her. And a little guilty that I called her a b***h. I’m still kind of mad at her, but...her motives make sense.

Hey yay! She healed him!

Wow, this nymph is POWERFUL. Now that she’s nice again, can we, like, actually keep her? Cause that’d be an awesome ally to have.

Aww...Jack being the one to voice their forgiveness. So pure, especially since she was after him all that time. <3

Awww….Dean wants her to stay. He’s so upset. XD

But he also gets it. :) <3

OMG!! That shot with all three of them looking at her and those sweet little smiles they give her as she’s talking about home. There was just so much...genuineness in that! I loved it! <3 <3

Jack being the voice again. <3

Okay, she looks hecka cute in that outfit.

Oof. That makes sense lol. It would be way too easy if it didn’t revert back.

...inter what now?

Oh shoot...that just proves Chuck destroyed all the worlds...lovely….

Awww!! <3 <3

Ha! Her little words of wisdom to them! To reiterate: SUCH. A. MOM. XD XD <3 <3

Sam and Dean’s smirks at each other when she tells them to do the same things they’ve been telling each other to do for years--eat your vegetables and cut your hair. XD

Awww….that little extra nose crinkle and smile at Jack when she tells him to save the world. <3

I also just realized that this breaks my theory that anyone who meets Jack instantly falls in love with him because of how adorable he is. Though, I guess she’s a little different given that extra little motivation to protect her family in the only way she knows how. Plus, trauma.

Oof. Bye bye extra magic.

Aww...this convo between Jack and Sam. <3 <3

Aww Jack… :( :(

You weren’t stupid, baby. You all fell for it. :(

Aww….he’s looking for faith from Sam.

And Sam just gave it to him. <3

I know the line seems desperate, and in a way, it is, but the way that Sam gave him a little smile shows that it’s more than that. They are desperate, and Jack is their only hope, but also, Sam knows Jack can handle it, because he does have faith in him. It’s a short convo, but it says so much.

That tin has a birthday cake for Jack, made by Dean. Calling it right now.

“He loves that apron.” XD <3 <3

I KNEW IT AND I LOVE IT OMG!!! <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

THAT’S SO ADORABLE!!! And that is ONE HUNDRED PERCENT Dean’s way of telling Jack that he still loves him, and that he forgives him. <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

THEIR LITTLE SMILES!! <3 <3 <3

I’M SCREAMING!!! ALL OF THEIR SMILES AT EACH OTHER I FREAKING LOVE THIS FAMILY!!! <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

I SERIOUSLY LOST ALL FUNCTIONALITY JUST NOW TO THE POINT WHERE I’M ADDING THIS COMMENT LATER BECAUSE AHHHH!!! <3 <3 <3 <3

AWESOME ending shot. It’s a great way to end a much more light-hearted episode while also setting us up perfectly for knowing that things are about to get heavy and serious. I bet whatever Jack wished for, it has something to do with taking on God.

Okay, so...those reactions were a lot longer than I was anticipating, and I want to apologize, but also, I did warn you. XD That said, review time!

I loved this episode! It was absolutely hilarious, but also sweet and touching. It mixed some crazy and fun moments with some of the most subtly emotional ones, both negative and positive. I absolutely loved all the Easter Eggs, and I loved watching the boys have a chance to celebrate holidays in a way that they never have before, especially with Jack. The facial expressions in this episode killed me. Between all of the little smiles and dorky excitement, I was laughing and smiling right along with the characters. Some stand-out moments/things for me:

That convo between Dean and Jack. I already broke it down above, but seriously, I love how they did that. As a huge fan of Dean and Jack and their relationship, the way that those two interacted this episode was beautiful and really sets up the fact that they’re going to need to lean on each other for support as a whole family in the coming fight, and I loved that. <3

Sam going on a date with Eileen! <3 Initially, I had a theory that Sam and Eileen would end up together at the end of all of this, but when she left a few episodes ago, I threw that idea out the window and it made me sad. So the fact that they went on a date and got to see each other again--even if we didn’t get to see it--makes me so happy and brings back my hope that they’ll end up being together. <3 That said, I am 100% going to write a fanfiction of that date, since Supernatural chose to keep it from us. XD

The acting really stood out to me in this one. Maybe it’s just because it’s been so long since I’ve seen them doing something new, but I honestly feel like J2 and Alex nailed it even more than usual. I mean, their facial expressions were seriously so amazing in this episode. Between the really dorky moments and the subtle emotional moments, I felt like their faces were always saying so much and I loved it. <3

One thing I want to address is the lack of Cas. I know a lot of people were upset that he wasn’t in it, especially since the boys were celebrating so many holidays with Jack, and while I agree that it would’ve been beautiful to have him there, it makes perfect sense that he wasn’t there based on the trajectory of the episode and everything that happened. For starters, if Cas had been there, the wood nymph business would’ve been solved INSTANTLY. Cas is always extra suspicious of people, so if she didn’t trust him because he was an angel, the odds of her getting the jump on him would’ve been slim. And yes, she did poison Jack with the smoothies, but, as this episode continued to point out, Jack is still a kid, so he’s still much more naive and gullible. Plus, he’s upset and guilty and confused and just generally vulnerable now that his soul is back, so it was easy for him to trust and be manipulated. But if Mrs. Butters had tried to do the same thing to Cas, (and I’m picturing that one scene with the milkshake in Peace of Mind here) there’s no way he would’ve fallen for it. More importantly, with how worried he is about Jack, he would’ve been really vigilant about the way she was talking to him and everything, and he probably would’ve caught the poisoning long before it could really hurt him. And you can argue that Sam and Dean probably should’ve picked up on it, which is true, however, even they admit that they get distracted in the fun of it all. While it would’ve been great to see Cas in on the festivities, he wouldn’t have been quite as distracted by it as the boys were, and with his vigilance, there’s no way any of them would ever have gotten hurt. He’d be watching Mrs. Butters like a hawk, and the second she did something suspicious, she’d be gone. That said, I can understand if people want to say that’s dumb, because if they didn’t want Cas to defeat the villain so easily, they shouldn’t have had a villain that could be so easily defeated by Cas, and I’m sure some people feel like that’s a stupid excuse. To which I also offer this. After seeing those convos between Dean and Jack and Sam and Jack, and knowing that the episode ends with the three of them celebrating Jack’s birthday, Cas’s absence makes even more sense: this episode wasn’t about him. I love Cas, but it didn’t need him. See, Cas already has an undying love for Jack. While Cas definitely saw Mary as family, he never had the same emotional connection to her that Sam and Dean did--for obvious reasons. But he definitely had--and still has--a very strong emotional connection to Jack. He’s always been the most involved in being Jack’s father--again, for obvious reasons. But even after the Mary incident, it was Cas who went to find him, who tried to help him, and who wanted to protect him. Cas always loved him and always trusted him, and he always will. But Sam and Dean lost a lot of trust for Jack after what happened to Mary...and this episode fixed that. Because Cas wasn’t around, it gave Jack a chance to prove himself to Sam and Dean again. Sam had already pretty much forgiven him, but Dean was definitely on the fence. He even says it. But the fact that Dean had that conversation with him and said everything he did proves that Dean still loves him, and it gave Jack the reassurance he needed that, while Dean is still mad, he doesn’t hate him, and he doesn’t think he’s a monster. And while Sam and Jack were on pretty good terms, Jack was still worried that Sam couldn’t trust him--that Sam didn’t have faith in him anymore. But when Sam tells him that he knows he can defeat God, Jack gets confirmation that Sam does still have faith in him. And after all of that, after celebrating all of those holidays together, and having both of those conversations, to then end that with Sam and Dean celebrating Jack’s birthday? That’s what this episode was about. Sure, it was a silly monster of the week episode. Sure, we got some adorable and hilarious moments. And sure, we got to see them celebrate things that they never got to celebrate in a real way before. But underlying all of that, we got to see Jack become part of Sam and Dean’s family again. We got to see them bond. And knowing that this is right before they all prepare to take on God--Jack needed that. The boys needed that. They needed to all trust each other again. And the fact that they celebrated his birthday at the end proves that they do. They’re a family again. They have each other’s backs. They trust each other. And they love each other. And as much as I love Cas, and as much as I would’ve loved to have seen him be a part of their holidays, he didn’t need to be. But those three did. And that’s why Cas wasn’t in the episode. So, frankly, full points to the writers for making that happen. While they gave us a fun episode, and they may have left out a fan favorite character, it created an underlying theme that’s really going to matter as we get into the big stuff of Season 15. And that’s awesome.

All in all, I thought this was a great episode, and I’m so glad that this is how we get to jump back into the season. Not only was this episode hilarious and fun, but it was also a great set-up for the coming battle and for all the hard and serious things that are bound to come in the next several episodes.

Rumor has it that this was the last “silly” episode of the show, and while that’s a sad thought to think about, it totally makes sense with what they did with the episode, and frankly, I think it’s a beautiful silly one to have ended on and a great way to lead into everything that’s coming next.

My Rating: 10/10

#spn #supernatural #spn season 15 #spn spoilers #spn season 15 spoilers #15x14 #last holiday #reactions #reviews #personal

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spnreactions · 4 years

Text

Alright! Let’s get started!

This is actually copied and pasted from my main blog, where I posted this last night. From here on out, though, I’ll be posting them on here first and then re-blogging them on my main blog, because I can.

And, fair warning, I get very excited and very into this show, so the reactions list will probably be pretty long. XD

And now, without further ado, let’s watch 15x14: Last Holiday. <3 <3

Oh we’re starting!

...did I miss the “then” title card?

Oh wait there it is.

Dude we’re going FAR back on this “then”. I wonder what that means?

My poor baby crying again. :(

DEAN’S APRON OH MY GOD I’M DEAD! XD XD <3 <3

“It was. In the 50s.” Point taken.

My poor baby. :( :( :( :(

Oh so killing Amara is officially a plan? Okay then.

“I’ve killed Hitler.” I can’t believe he’s still talking about that! XD

Actually I can believe he’s still talking about it, I take that back.

DEAN WITH THE MARIO BROTHERS OMG!!

Have you tried turning it back off and turning it on again? Hit reset.

HE READ MY MIND!

MEAT MAN!! XD XD

Ummm...okay then.

Also SCOOBY-DOO UNDIES!!! DEAN YOU DORK!! XD XD <3

In case you haven’t figured it out yet, Jack is my favorite and Dean is my second-favorite.

“Language!” “That’s it I’m getting my gun.” XD XD

I can already tell that so many of my reactions are probably just gonna be me quoting and then laughing. XD

They don’t seem very concerned? Shouldn’t random people not be able to get in?

This lady is such a mom omg.

Mrs. Butters? XD

Wood nymph. Got it.

“Shouldn’t you be in the woods somewhere? Nymphing?” XD XD (P.S. That was my mom’s favorite line in this episode. XD)

You what now?

Necessities of life?

Hmmm….I like her, but she weirds me out. Something is off.

Dean’s “oof that’s awkward” face. XD

“2020.” Hearing that year said out loud just feels...oof. Just oof.

Poor nymph…

Wait, haven’t we seen those symbols before? Maybe I’m making that up.

HA! “It’s kind of been one apocalypse after the other.” He’s not kidding.

OOOOH!! HERE COME THE HOLIDAYS!!!

WAIT WHAT IS THAT TELESCOPE THING?

WAIT WAIT WAIT WHAT??!! A MONSTER radar??!! Dude WHAT?! Man, they’ve needed something like that for YEARS!

Wait wait wait...relatively nearby….it’s not gonna ping because of Jack is it?? SHE’S NOT GONNA HURT JACK IS SHE??!!

Oh okay nevermind. Just a vamp nest.

Say what now?

We can...that just...umm...okay then??

“Heck...heck yeah.” XD XD XD

Yeah I’m with Sam on this one. She seems innocent, but, like…

Dean does have a point though.

But also things like this never last. It’s too good to be true.

MY BABY!!!

“She’s probably harmless, but just in case, watch yourself”?? Dean that was a terrible way to do that but okay.

Snickerdoodles. XD

My poor baby looks so lost. :(

I mean...Dean makes a good point there. But also the son of Satan is adorable and she’s suspicious. But anyways.

“Ignoring your trauma doesn’t make you healthy.” SOMEONE FINALLY SAID IT OMG!!! XD XD XD <3 <3 <3 <3

...Jack is hiding something? IS JACK HIDING SOMETHING?!

...do we know what Jack is hiding??

IS JACK HIDING SOMETHING??!!

Jesus christ this is gonna bother me…

Okay but when has that ever actually worked, Dean?

Awww….

Vamps watching a movie with vamps. Classy. XD

...ew…

At least they’re drinking from bags instead of from humans I guess?

Nice slicing at the same time, boys.

Huh. Well. That was easy. Too easy?

CHRISTMAS! XD <3

THE TRAIN OMG!! XD XD <3 <3

Their faces. XD

HER DANCE!

Okay she’s kind of adorable not gonna lie.

“We are so keeping her.” XD XD

DEAN’S LITTLE EXCITED HANDS ON THE RAILING OMG I’M DEAD!! XD XD <3 <3 <3

If I can’t get adorable Jack right now, I’m okay with adorable Dean. XD <3 <3

Sam is still suspicious, but Dean is totally into it.

“Enjoy the world you’re fighting for.” That was really quick and so subtle, but d*mn that’s a good line.

MY BABY!!!!

HIIIII JACK!!! I MIIIIISSSSSED YOOOOOUUU!!! <3 <3 <3

Uh-oh. I don’t like the way she said “what are you”. DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH MY BABY!!!

“He’s a millennial.” XD XD

DEAN IN THAT NIGHTGOWN OMG!!! I know it was in the promo photos, but seeing it in the context of the episode is even funnier. XD

Sam’s gagging at his bro’s “down there” bits lol.

Oof. She is VERY absentminded by Jack and whatever he is. No likey.

...hmm. I still don’t trust her with Jack.

“Poppycock”???

HA!! “I’m worried about your cholesterol.”

And Sam and Jack’s little smiles at that omg. <3 <3 <3

“We got one!” IS THAT A HILLYWOOD PARODY REFERENCE/GHOSTBUSTER REFERENCE??!! Because IT FEELS LIKE ONE!!!

The way they’re running to their rooms to get ready omg.

And that cut to them being dressed and going.

LUNCHES!! XD

Their faces! XD

The cinematography in this episode is AWESOME. Go Serge Ladouceur (and yes, I looked that name up. XD)

No crusts. Blessed knives. “I just waxed it.” She IS a mom!

Wait no. Take Jack with you. I don’t trust her with him.

“What shall we do with you.” LEAVE HIM ALONE IS WHAT!

Oh. They’re doing dishes.

WAIT DON’T TELL HER THAT JACK!

...I don’t like the way she’s talking to him.

Oof. Mary. *gags*

Jack you’re adorable and I love you but please stop being so gullible and stop sharing so much personal information.

WAIT NO! I know you feel guilty, but DON’T TELL HER YOU KILLED HER!

...dangat.

...oh. That was actually super sweet, and honestly the EXACT thing Jack needed to hear. ...maybe she’s not so bad?

...wait what? She just...pulls those out of thin air?

Ha! Another hunt

THEIR FACES WITH THE LUNCHES! ESPECIALLY DEAN’S!! XD

Aww! Thanksgiving! <3

Where is Cas during all this? Talking to his angel friends I guess?

That finger gun at Sam omg.

It’s so EASY for them wow.

Halloween! Fitting given our current season.

Their little smiles awww!!

THE BEERS TOGETHER HOLY FRICK!!! IT’S JUST LIKE WHAT TEAM FREE WILL 2.0 DID WHEN JACK CAME BACK! AND what the boys and Mary and John did in Lebanon! NEVER GETS OLD!! I LOVE THIS FAMILY!! <3 <3

...I still don’t necessarily trust Mrs. Butters. BUT I LOVE SAM AND DEAN AND JACK!

Those faces for the lunches just get better and better.

GRENADE LAUNCHER!!

MJOLNIR OMG NO WAY!!! I CAN’T BELIEVE HE STILL HAS IT!!! THIS EPISODE HAS SO MANY EASTER EGGS OMG!!! <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Also that is an AWESOME shot.

BIRTHDAY!! Awww… <3 <3

OOF. Poor Dean. XD

Jack’s laugh and then immediately being like “oop” and bringing his head down but still chuckling when Dean glares at him I CAN’T. XD XD

I LOVE THIS FAMILY!! <3 <3 <3

AWW!! She made extra for him!

Okay, I like her. But I’m still cautious.

Oh. THERE it is.

What’s she doing??

Jack’s got you lady.

Get her, Jack. My smart boi. <3 <3

My Mom: “You better hurry it up there, Jack.”

Oh it’s evil Men of Letters dude. NOW I get why we went that far back.

Oh! AND the Thule. NOW I get why Dean mentioned killing Hitler again. Wow. Nice connections on this episode all around. Go writers.

...she did what now?

WTF??!!

HOLY FRICK!!!

HOLY S*** HOLY S*** HOLY S***!!!

Do NOT ask about tea or cookies after you just pulled sh** like that.

Also Jack please go tell your dads what you found.

Okay so during the commercial break, my mom and I looked up wood nymphs and had this big discussion and here’s kind of what we came up with:

Okay. Back to the episode now.

Ahhhhhhhh noooooo. Where are the boys when we need them?

Wait, DATE?? EILEEN??!!

No. He isn’t. Go away.

Sam look at yoooooooouuuu. <3

But also please take a moment to notice how uncomfortable your son is and ask him what’s wrong please and thank you. (And yes, I will keep saying son thank you very much.)

Ha! She wants him to get a haircut just like Dean does. The joke’s about Sam’s (and, by extension, Jared’s) hair will never not be funny.

Ha! “Language.”

YES!! EILEEN!!!

YES SAM!! GO GET YOUR GIRL!!

DEAN! XD

Okay the Sam and Eileen thing is adorable, and Sam and Dean’s banter is hilarious, but guys...look at your son please and thank you. :(

I’m so torn between wanting Sam to just be happy and enjoy himself and wanting him to help Jack ahhhhhh.

Sam can go on his date. I’m sure Dean can handle it.

Roses! Nice touch.

Ha! Dean with the supportive big bro action.

Such. A. Mom.

“Boys.”

Wait nooooooo.

Also that little “sh*t” or “da**it” or whatever it was that he mouthed? Somehow so cute and makes me so worried at the same time.

“The Dean Cave”?? XD XD

Dean I am BEGGING YOU, please take a cursory glance at your son.

...da**it...

The subtitles say “suspenseful music plays” XD XD

Wait Jack noooo. Don’t go after her alone! Chase Dean instead!!

NOOO!! NOT IN THERE!!!

She’s totally gonna trap him in there.

...what?

She’s being so condescending shut the fudge up.

What? No.

Does he still not have a soul? Is that what he’s hiding? That wouldn’t make sense.

Oh wait. I get it now.

HE IS NOT!!! SHUT THE FUDGE UP LADY!!

LADY STOOOOOP! HE DOESN’T NEED YOUR SH**!! HE ALREADY FEELS GUILTY WOULD YOU QUIT IT??!! :’( :’( :’( :’(

HEY! NOT COOL!

I HOPE SOMEONE RIPS YOUR HEAD OFF B***H!!

They’re not. They know he won’t now.

SHUT UP LADY!!

HEY!!! STOP IT!!! LEAVE HIM ALONE!!!

TAKE HER DOWN JACK!!!

He IS family!

...ummm...what??

GOD DA**IT!!

It IS safe you B**CH!!

HE’S NOT A MONSTER!!! :’( :’( :’(

DA**IT!! DEAN PLEASE DO SOMETHING!!

Ha! He’s so excited about the sandwich and it’s adorable.

But also save your son!!

...wait what?

She’s...she’s really just gonna out herself like that?

Ha! YES!

Aww...Dean’s so disappointed. :(

Ha! The way he just takes it away…

Aww...poor baby. :(

He’s so disappointed. He deserves better. I feel bad for him. :(

HE IS NOT! SHUSH!

Aww...looking at the sandwich, but making the right call.

AWW! He’s trying. Best of both worlds.

Take the deal, lady.

DA**IT!!!

SERIOUSLY?!

SERIOUSLY???!!!

Screw you, lady.

HEY! NOT FAIR!

He is NOTHING like his father, thank you very much!

Well...now what??

Oh thank god, Sam’s home. He’s smart. He’ll find a way to get them out.

Her calling him Samuel is both hilarious and annoying, somehow. I think it’s only annoying now because I hate her with what she just did to my boys. XD

OOOOF.

She gonna out herself again?

Sam’s face when she said that about good news and bad news. XD

She DID out herself!

Ha! “You were always the smart one.”

YES! Good job, Sam. Starting off strong. <3

YES! GOOD JOB SAM!! Nice manipulation.

Ha!

Can’t believe she’s asking about the date.

Actually yes I can. XD

Wait, why don’t WE get to hear about the date? I WANNA HEAR ABOUT THE DATE DA**IT!

Well, DUH, Sam, you think they don’t know that?

Dean OMG!! XD XD

SUPPORTIVE BIG BRO!! XD XD

In Dean’s defense, he knew she’d wait for Sam, so...it’s not like they were REALLY in danger.

Do NOT try shooting her. Are you kidding me right now?

Yes. Yes he is. ...so much for Sam being the smart one.

I want to be mad at them for getting distracted by the holidays, but also I can’t exactly blame them given their childhoods, so…

Ha! The way they both react to the Boxing Day breakfast. Such brothers. XD

There ya go. Good plan. MUCH better than shooting her. Thank you boys.

Hey. Chill, Dean. Don’t yell at him.

Aww baby. :( :( :(

He doesn’t think you’re a monster. He’s just upset. :(

...uh oh. This convo is gonna be bad, isn’t it? :( :(

:’( :’( :’( :’( :’(

WAIT! “For a while” YES! THAT’S A GOOD THING!!

Oh wait. “Still am a little bit.”

“Evil Mary Poppins” XD XD

AWWW!! SEE JACK?! He DOES love you!! <3 <3 <3 <3

OKAY NEVER MIND THAT CONVO WAS ACTUALLY REALLY GOOD!!! I need to break that down for a second.

That convo was short and subtle and to the point, but it says SO much about Dean and Jack’s relationship.

Sam you are being not very sneaky.

SERIOUSLY SAM??!!

I take that back. Sam is not being smart about this. *eye roll*

UGGGGHHHHH.

WHERE IS CAS WHEN YOU NEED HIM?!

Actually quick side note, one that I’m adding now that I’ve finished the episode: not having Cas around TOTALLY makes sense. Explanation included in the review.

“Because you are my favorite.” XD XD XD

She shouldn’t still be making me laugh, but dangat she’s too funny. XD

Wait noooo. No torture allowed.

I KNEW IT!! I TOLD YOU!! I CALLED IT!! SCENE FROM THE PROMO!! XD XD <3 <3 <3

I LOVE DEAN AND JACK SO MUCH!! <3 <3 <3

Ha! Fixing his hands.

YIKES!

...but did the cuffs break at least?

HA! She actually converted him to not swear.

I love how Dean makes a point of swearing extra loud after he realizes what he did. I love him. XD XD <3

Oh frick, that didn’t break the cuffs? Are you kidding me? Stupid powerful magic…

OOH! Dean’s got an idea!

THOSE LITTLE SMILES I LOVE THEM!! <3 <3 <3 <3

OH SHUT UP LADY! Are you still talking??

...okay so...trauma.

Please listen to Sam.

YES HE IS SHUSH!

Just because he has blood on his hands doesn’t mean he’s not a kid. Just saying.

That said, someone please do something. :( :(

WOULD YOU QUIT IT WITH THE FINGERNAILS SUPERNATURAL??!! I STILL HAVEN’T GOTTEN OVER IT FROM THE CHRISTMAS EPISODE IN SEASON 3!!!

My mom and I are both turning away owwwwwww.

STOOOOOOOOOOP!!!

Jesus Christ lady!!

“Pain is just weakness leaving the body.” Dean what?! XD XD

HEY! Smart! Way to go you two!! <3 <3

And still helping his son up YES! <3 <3 <3

AHHH!! SHE TOOK OFF SO MANY FINGERNAILS JESUS!!

SHUT UP LADY!!

YES!

...Dean honey that was the reset button…

There’s no way that did the job. Too easy.

Problem not solved!! Problem DEFINITELY not solved!!

Creepy green eyes!!

Oh she looks maaaaad. That’s not good.

HEY!!! What happened to not hurting family??!!

LEAVE THEM ALONE!!

Which family??!! Cause YOU’RE the one destroying them!

No he won’t.

“You hurt him, you hurt us.” GREAT line!! YES SAM!! <3 <3 <3

Oooh!! He’s getting to her!! <3 <3

Oop. There’s our backstory. Mr. Cuthbert wouldn’t let her go back. Not that I’m surprised, given what he did to Dean all those years ago.

Yes. Yes he did.

YAY! Dean jumping in to save his son. <3

NICE! Good call, Dean! <3

THAT FACE!! Jack’s face!! <3 <3

YES!!!! YES!!! GOOD JOB BOYS!! <3 <3 <3

Awww….poor Mrs. Butters…

Okay now I feel really bad for her. And a little guilty that I called her a b***h. I’m still kind of mad at her, but...her motives make sense.

Hey yay! She healed him!

Wow, this nymph is POWERFUL. Now that she’s nice again, can we, like, actually keep her? Cause that’d be an awesome ally to have.

Aww...Jack being the one to voice their forgiveness. So pure, especially since she was after him all that time. <3

Awww….Dean wants her to stay. He’s so upset. XD

But he also gets it. :) <3

OMG!! That shot with all three of them looking at her and those sweet little smiles they give her as she’s talking about home. There was just so much...genuineness in that! I loved it! <3 <3

Jack being the voice again. <3

Okay, she looks hecka cute in that outfit.

Oof. That makes sense lol. It would be way too easy if it didn’t revert back.

...inter what now?

Oh shoot...that just proves Chuck destroyed all the worlds...lovely….

Awww!! <3 <3

Ha! Her little words of wisdom to them! To reiterate: SUCH. A. MOM. XD XD <3 <3

Sam and Dean’s smirks at each other when she tells them to do the same things they’ve been telling each other to do for years--eat your vegetables and cut your hair. XD

Awww….that little extra nose crinkle and smile at Jack when she tells him to save the world. <3

Oof. Bye bye extra magic.

Aww...this convo between Jack and Sam. <3 <3

Aww Jack… :( :(

You weren’t stupid, baby. You all fell for it. :(

Aww….he’s looking for faith from Sam.

And Sam just gave it to him. <3

That tin has a birthday cake for Jack, made by Dean. Calling it right now.

“He loves that apron.” XD <3 <3

I KNEW IT AND I LOVE IT OMG!!! <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

THAT’S SO ADORABLE!!! And that is ONE HUNDRED PERCENT Dean’s way of telling Jack that he still loves him, and that he forgives him. <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

THEIR LITTLE SMILES!! <3 <3 <3

I’M SCREAMING!!! ALL OF THEIR SMILES AT EACH OTHER I FREAKING LOVE THIS FAMILY!!! <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

I SERIOUSLY LOST ALL FUNCTIONALITY JUST NOW TO THE POINT WHERE I’M ADDING THIS COMMENT LATER BECAUSE AHHHH!!! <3 <3 <3 <3

Okay, so...those reactions were a lot longer than I was anticipating, and I want to apologize, but also, I did warn you. XD That said, review time!

My Rating: 10/10

#spn #spn season 15 #supernatural #supernatural spoilers #15x14 #last holiday #supernatural season 15 #spn spoilers #season 15 #spn reviews #spn reactions #my opinion

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therainroguefanfiction · 4 years

Text

🔥 ℝise Ⱥbove I̾t ◈ Chapter 036 [Hero Law]

📑 Table of Contents | ◂Backward

Word Count: 2,840

⊱ ────── {⋅. 🔥 .⋅} ────── ⊰

〈“There are ten million souls who are feeling like you. And ten million more who are finding the truth. Then it feels like you’re right where you belong, when ten million voices are one.” Shaman’s Harvest, “Ten Million Voices”〉

⊱ ────── {⋅. 🔥 .⋅} ────── ⊰

“Mwah~! I healed you enough that you should be able to walk, but be careful,” Gran told Izuku softly, who was breathing heavily and looked exhausted.

“Thank you very much, ma’am.” His green eyes fell on his scarred right hand.

“That’s what you get for overusing your quirk in a short time frame.” She scolded him. “Consider your crooked right hand as a warning from now on. And just so you know, I will not heal injuries like these anymore.” She sent a stern look to Toshi. “You must find a new way for him to use his power. There has to be an option that’s not so self-destructive.”

I glanced at Toshi before clearing my throat. “Come on, Zuku.” I helped him off the bed, keeping my arm across his back as he limped out of the room. Toshi followed, walking on his other side.

“A new way of using your quirk…” Toshi mused.

“Hey, All Might.”

“Huh?”

“Remember when you told me why you came to U.A. in the first place? To find a worthy successor to inherit One for All…”

“Yeah.”

Izuku stopped walking, his back to us. “I put everything I had into the sports festival… but still, there were other competitors who fought for the victory harder than I did. So… maybe…” He sounds so sad, so broken. My heart squeezed painfully as I pulled him closer to me.

“You’re thinking it might be better for someone else to be my successor. Yes?”

“…yes.”

“You speak the truth. This place is full of incredible potential heroes. One for All is a crystallization of power, it bolsters quirks. For example, if young Todoroki were to inherit it, the strength added to his own quirk would probably make him an unbeatable superhero.”

I glared at the blonde. That may be true but damn, don’t kick ’em when he’s down, bro. And I thought I was bad at fucking comforting people, jeez.

“Then…”

“But you know, I was quirkless, too, as a kid.”

His eyes widened and he turned around to face him. “Quirkless? Seriously?”

Toshi smiled. “Back then, it wasn’t as rare of a thing, but it was still out of the ordinary. Even though I didn’t have a power of my own, I had someone who believed in my potential. My master gave me One for All and raised me to become a hero.”

“You never told me that!”

“It’s not my fault you never asked,” he shrugged. “Which is honestly surprising!”

I scoffed, sending him a grin. “That’s such a childish response.”

“I just can’t believe the number one hero was quirkless…”

“It’s true. When we first met, I saw a little bit of the old me in you, but kid, you’ve gone beyond my expectations time and time again. One day, you’re gonna do incredible things with One for All. That’s something I truly believe.”

Tears filled his eyes, voice strangled as he tried to hold them back. “I’ll do my best…”

I chuckled, pulling him into my arms, careful of the wounds he had. “I trust Toshi a hundred percent. He believed in you enough to choose you to inherit his power, Zuku, that’s not a decision he would take lightly. Of course, it ain’t gonna be easy, it never is. You’re gonna face a lot of setbacks with that over-powered quirk within you, but you gotta remember that you’re not fighting alone. We’ve got your back and we both believe in you, so have some faith in yourself, kid.”

He nodded and I felt my neck grow wet. I chuckled, running my hand through his hair.

Toshi smiled at me, nodding his head in thanks. “Anyway, the sports festival isn’t over yet. Get out there, you don’t want to miss the end.”

“Right,” Zuku pulled away, wiping at his eyes. “Your next match is up soon, right, Jen?”

“Yeah, about that…” I sweatdropped, scratching my cheek. “I was disqualified from going forward.” They both stared at me for a moment, processing the information, before their eyes grew wide.

“D-Disqualified?!”

“What did you do, young Jen?!”

“That brat Monoma from 1-B was talkin’ shit about our class. I warned him to shut up but he kept running his mouth so I shut it for him. I guess he ran and told on me and I was forced to forfeit my next match.”

“I’m surprised they didn’t remove you entirely!” Toshi sighed deeply, rubbing the back of his head. “I can’t believe you did that…”

“Really?” I raised a brow and he sweatdropped.

“You’re right, I can definitely believe it…”

I chuckled, glancing at Zuku. “Katsuki’s gonna be so~ pissed when he finds out.”

Zuku gave me a nervous smile. “Definitely…”

“Anyway, let’s get back. The others are probably dying of worry over you, kiddo.” I ruffled his hair and he nodded, heading down the hall.

“Jen.”

I paused, glancing back at Toshi with a raised brow.

“Did they say that it was Monoma that turned you in?”

“No?”

He nodded thoughtfully. “Stay out of trouble.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

⊱ ────── {⋅. 🔥 .⋅} ────── ⊰

When we finally made it back to the arena, the match between Kiri and Bakugo was underway. We stopped by the railing at the top of one of the seating areas, not wanting to miss the match.

“Kirishima and Kacchan,” Zuku mused. “So that would mean Ashido and Tokoyami finished their match already…”

I patted his head. “You can always watch the video when you get home.”

“I know,” he pouted. “But it’s not the same as seeing it live.”

“Bakugo is having a heck of a time dodging Kirishima’s fierce attacks!”

“Woah, Kacchan’s on the defensive? I guess Kirishima’s quirk seems simple on the surface, but it’s still effective.”

“Midoriya!” Iida came up from the hallway behind us, his smile dropping a bit when he saw me. “Winchester.”

I grunted, turning back to the match. I leaned over, resting my arms on the railing.

He cleared his throat. “I take it that your surgery must have gone well. I’m glad!”

“Yeah, thank you. Is Ingenium excited that you made it so far? He must be so proud of his little brother.”

“Hm, I’m not sure. I tried calling him earlier, but he was working.”

“Oh, sorry.”

“No, it’s for the best. To be quite frank, I’m worried that he might be disappointed that I lost.” He glanced at me again, which I ignored.

“Waha! Bakugo is countering again! But what’s this?! It seems to be working this time!”

Waha? Is Mic channeling his inner Waluigi? I hummed, propping my cheek against my palm. “Looks like Kiri’s finally running out of stamina,”

“The finishing blow!” Bakugo yelled. “Die!!”

I sighed deeply, hanging my head. That dumbass. The audience is already on the fence about how villainous he may be, he shouldn’t be making it worse.

“Kirishima has been knocked out! Bakugo is the winner!” Midnight announced.

“With that vicious knockout, Bakugo advances to the fourth round! Ladies and gentlemen, our final four! Wait, what? There are only three students on the screen!”

Midnight raised her voice. “Due to a… technicality, Jen Winchester will not be participating in round four! Todoroki automatically advances!”

“A technicality?! Who could have predicted this upset, folks?!”

“I did,” Aizawa grunted, making me sweatdrop. “Idiot.”

Thanks for the comforting words, Dadzawa. Means a lot, bro.

Iida’s brow furrowed. “A technicality?”

I sent him a blank look. “I punched a kid from class B.”

He straightened his back, an annoyed look on his face. “Why would you do something like that? You and Bakugo are always acting so selfishly! How do you think that makes class A look?!”

“Hah?” I stood up straight. He only had about half-an-inch on me height-wise. “News flash, elite, I don’t live my life around other people. I don’t base my choices on your sensitive ass feelings. You don’t like how I act? Tough shit. No skin off my bones, bro.”

“You’re so rude and disrespectful! How did you even get into this school? From what I’ve seen, you have zero drive to even be a hero!” His fists clenched. “All of us are working so hard to become heroes, even Bakugo, though I don’t approve of his actions, but you clearly don’t care. You’re taking up a valuable spot that someone else could be using! Not only that but during the USJ incident, that villain knew your name. No one hardly knows anything about you!”

“I-Iida, Jen, please calm down.” Zuku looked between the two of us, swallowing nervously.

I grinned, taking a step closer. “And just who the fuck are you to decide that, hmm? We’re on the same fucking level here. You’re not above me or anyone else for that matter. Why I’m here is my business, not yours. How I act is my fucking business, not yours. And my motivations? You guessed it, my business, not yours. So get fucked, prep, and get the fuck out my face before you end up like Monoma.”

“Guys, please…”

I hummed, glancing at him. “Zuku, go sit with the rest of the class. I need some space.”

“O-Okay…”

I sent Iida one last grin before walking away, my shoulder bumping his as I did so. God, that fucker gets on my last fucking nerve. He always knows just what buttons to press to get me riled up. I shoulda punched his ass harder when I had the fucking chance. With a sigh, I headed for the side door, passing the guard that had been posted there to prevent people from getting inside. The door opened up to a small grassy area.

I leaned back against the tree, sliding down until my ass hit the ground, my head lent back to stare at the azure sky through the gaps in the leaves. A small part of me couldn’t help but wonder if Iida is right to some degree. Do I deserve to be here? Am I ruining the chance for some other kid that dreams of being a hero? Being a hero doesn’t interest me at all. I wonder, if the class knew that, would they change their view of me? Their opinion is already pretty fucked when it comes to me. It’s not like I came here of my own free will, ya know. I was forced to come to this school, but…

I don’t regret coming here. Even if these kids hate me, I’ve developed a soft spot for them. More than anything, I just want them to be happy and safe. I guess… in a way… my dream is to see them achieve their dreams. When I first came here, I never planned on caring for any of them, but now that I do, I don’t want them to end up like Gramps.

I held my hand out, watching the flames dance across my palm. I molded and shaped them until they formed a red robin, tilting its head curiously. Iida’s right, I don’t want to be a hero, but I still have something that drives me. I’ll use this power within me to protect class A and make life easier for Toshi and Aizawa.

My stomach started to growl angrily and I huffed, pulling myself to my feet. I walked around the outside of the stadium until I came to the front where the food stalls were. Most of the customers were inside watching the matches, so the entrance was nearly deserted. I headed straight for the taco stand, but Ojin was gone and a little sign had been taped to the front that simply read ‘closed :)’. My head fell down onto the wood. Goddamn it, I guess I’m not getting my third helping of tacos today. What a cruel fucking world this is.

My stomach growled again. Yeah, I fucking heard you the first fucking time, take a pill. My eyes scanned the other food stalls. Most of them were empty, the owners having packed up and returned home since the festival would soon end, or inside the building watching the last of the matches. I spotted the Woodsman patrolling nearby and headed toward him. “Oi.”

He turned around. “Oh, hello! Shimatsu-san asked me to tell you thanks if I saw you again.”

“Thanks? For what?”

He pointed to my head. Oh right, I forgot about the headband. I had put it back on after the cavalry battle ended. “After the first half of the festival, his stand got a lot of attention from customers because of your advertisement. He sold out of product fairly quick.”

I grinned. “Ho~ Looks like I did somethin’ useful today. By the way, I wanted to thank you for finding Riku’s brother.”

He nodded and it felt as if he were smiling, but I couldn’t be sure with the mask covering his mouth. “Of course, that’s part of a hero’s job. I caught some of your match against Iida. You’re pretty strong, but you lack resolve.”

I groaned, throwing my head back. “Yeah, I fucking know.”

He patted my shoulder. “It was obvious to me that you were holding back quite a bit. I’m not sure if it’s because you lack something driving you forward, or if there’s an underlying issue that prevented you from using your strength at its full potential but don’t lose heart. Tell me, why do you desire to be a hero?”

“I don’t,” I responded blankly. His eyes widened in surprise. “You don’t have to say it, I know it’s weird as fuck and I don’t belong at U.A., but it don’t matter. I’ll become stronger and I’ll protect my family. I don’t need the title of hero to do that, right?”

He shook his head. “If you didn’t belong here, you wouldn’t be here. Don’t be so hard on yourself, you’re still young. And you’re not wrong, you don’t have to have the title of hero to protect the people you love, but it can complicate things.”

“How so?” I raised a brow and he seemed confused for a moment.

“You don’t know about hero laws?”

Uhh… I scratched my cheek, closing my eyes as I wracked my brain. Hero laws… didn’t Toshi teach a class about that? Or was it Cementoss…

“She’s totally not gonna make it as a pro if she can’t even remember the hero laws,” came an annoying female voice, popping a ball of Takoyaki into her mouth.

“Mt. Lady, I’m trying to cheer her up!” He scolded.

“Hmph, no point in lying to her, Kamui.”

“I wasn’t lying!”

“Listen kid,” she pointed the empty toothpick at my face. “It doesn’t matter why you want to be a hero, all that matters is that you have some sort of reason! You may not like the title of hero, but if you want to use that quirk of yours, you don’t have a choice.”

I scowled. “Okay fine, let’s say I was absent for that class. Gimme a TL;DR for the laws.”

“TL;DR?” She tilted her head, her finger on her chin. “What in the world is that?”

I clicked my tongue. “I knew you were old.”

“What did you just say you brat?! I’ll have you know I’m only twenty-two!”

“Sure you are.”

“Why you -”

Kamui sighed, resting his hand over his face. “Basically, quirks can not be used by any non-licensed hero, unless used for self-defense purposes, but this is quite a blurred line and most times, you can get into trouble even if it is self-defense. Because of this, it’s impossible to protect people without becoming a hero unless you choose to break the law and become a vigilante, which I highly encourage you not do.”

“A vigilante, huh?” I hummed, holding my chin. “So like Batman.”

“Batman? Who is that?” Mt. Lady questioned. “And do not call me old again!”

Kamui panicked, waving his hands frantically. “Forget I said anything! Vigilante’s are as bad as villains!” He sighed deeply. “Tell me, Winchester, what is it you want right now?”

“A taco.”

“Not to eat! What do you want out of being here at U.A.?”

“To get stronger.”

“For what purpose?”

“To protect the people I love.”

He nodded, grabbing both of my shoulders. “Then that is your drive for becoming a hero. You may not like the title or everything that comes along with the job, but it’s the best way to ensure the safety of those you hold dear.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“You’ll be a great hero one day, Winchester.”

“Not a vigilante?”

“No!”

“Fine~” I grinned. “Thanks for the advice, bro.”

“Yeah, she’s not cute at all.” Mt. Lady commented. “You’ll get so much farther if you flaunt what you got, girl.”

The two of us just looked at her blankly as she approached a Yakitori stand and started to flirt with the owner to get free food.

“Winchester?”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t be a hero like her, please.”

“Not a fucking chance in hell.”

“And Winchester?”

“Yup.”

“Is there really a vigilante named Batman?”

“Fictional character.”

Kamui let out a sigh of relief.

⊱ ────── {⋅. 🔥 .⋅} ────── ⊰

▸ Forward

📜 Read more by checking out my masterlist 📜

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princejaron · 4 years

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It’s Not Easy For Gen Z

"They are perhaps the most brand-critical, bullshit-repellent, questioning group around and will call out any behavior they dislike on social media.”

- Lucie Greene

Born between the years 1997 and 2012, Generation Z is described as being more racially and ethnically diverse than any previous generation. Moreover, it is said that they are on track to be the most well-educated generation yet. I believe that this is proven true with the following statistics:

77% of registered U.S voters ages 18-23 do not approve of Donald Trump’s presidency. Gen Z is not afraid to speak up about a corrupt government that does selfish political acts. Similarly here in the Philippines, a huge percentage of the Gen Z population do not approve of Duterte’s presidency, especially with how he handles the present pandemic. I’m proud to be a part of that huge percentage as I do not like to be politically ignorant with how the Philippine government is acting despite the drastic increase in COVID19 cases quotidian. Implementing the Anti-Terrorism Bill, shutting down ABS-CBN, allowing foreign nationals to enter the country starting August 1, and not implementing mass testing still are only few of the actions that prove his incompetency as president. #OustDuterte

Gen Z are less likely to drop out of high school and more likely to enroll in college. Despite the implementation of the K-12 program, Gen Z are still pursuant of their education. Even presently, despite the pandemic, they are doing online learning (if they have the resources they need to be able to do so) just so they can continue attaining their education. I am among the students who are currently doing online learning despite its newfangledness.

Gen Z are more likely to say blacks are treated less fairly than whites. Police brutality and racially-motivated violence was and is happening in the U.S. Racial discrimination is an issue that we still face up to this day, and many members of Gen Z are fighting in support of black lives. I personally am an advocate of #BlackLivesMatter as well, so I’m included in this fight against racism. ✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿

Roughly half of Gen Z approve of same-sex marriage. Moreover, they think that society is not accepting enough of those who do not identify as a man or a woman. Gen Z fights for the equal rights of members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and does not tolerate the injustices that the community face quotidian. I’m included in this fight for #LGBTQrights as well, especially that I am a member of the community itself. 🌈

These are only a few, but you can deduce from these statistics that Generation Z is not just smart, but truly a “woke” generation as well.

For myself, I’ve observed that the aforementioned characteristics of Gen Z are all applicable to me. By knowing the social issues that I stand for, it helps me to understand my strengths and weaknesses. What are relevant social issues that I’m unaware of or simply ignorant about? This allows me to be more socially aware of my surroundings and of the world, because I believe that today, we have this sort of innate responsibility to help others and fight for equality and justice.

However, despite all of this, Generation Z is facing a lot of challenges in today’s world. In fact, they have it hard and truly, it is not easy for Gen Z.

The COVID-19 caused a huge decline in employment rate among Gen Zers. It is said that the group’s eldest members are graduating into a labor market that has been devastated by the global pandemic; there are fewer jobs and internships available for them. Resolution Foundation suggested that the pandemic could affect young people’s pay and job prospects in the long-term. Moreover, from another research, they also said that those who leave education for work during recessions suffer from lower employment rate and pay for years even after the event. All of this could mean that Gen Zers are highly prone to experiencing financial instability today and in the future. If this is the case, Gen Z will have to take alternative courses of action in order to survive in the expensive real world. They may resort to freelancing, or even doing business themselves. Nowadays, there are businesses that require little to no capital to operate, thus it is an option that members of Gen Z can take into consideration as their livelihood.

Resources, especially housing, are only growing more limited and scarcer everyday. Economics says that resources are scarce, thus it should be used optimally. In our case, we can’t even truly optimally use those resources because they are hard to obtain. This fact is made a laughingstock by Monopoly when they made the “Monopoly for Millennials” with a tagline that says “Forget real estate. You can’t afford it anyway.” If millennials are experiencing this problem, what more for the younger generation, and the other generations to come? Our population is only growing every second, and cost of living is following suit. This is our reality now, but nevertheless we have to make do with what we have been given. Measly as though it may be, Gen Z will just have to be very resourceful.

Generation Z has to live on Earth in its current state - warm, polluted, and destructed by human activity. Did you know that in 2016, the World Health Organization said that 92% of the world’s population is breathing contaminated air? This is a scary situation to be in for the younger generation. It makes you wonder: what kind of Earth is in store for them? Will there even be an Earth for them and the next generations in the future? It is alarming, truly, that the younger generation is peering into an uncertain future because of how we are sucking the life out of Mother Earth for our own selfish gains. 🥀All of us should work together to conserve the planet that we live in. Even simple things will have a snowball effect, such as reducing our plastic usage and maintaining the cleanliness of our surroundings. Heck, not using plastic straws is still essentially a big help. #SaveTheTurtles 🐢

Generation Z receives a lot of discrimination from older generations because of the differences in opinions. Generation Z are often told that they are still too young to be vocal about rampant and prevailing social issues, and that they are still inexperienced to say and feel certain things. Despite having already proven ourselves to others, our potential and capabilities are still being limited and underestimated by the older generations just because of our young age. But age is just a number, and it mostly does not prove anything at all. Moreover, Gen Z shouldn’t be trifled with. We have the passion to ameliorate the world, and to make a better life for everyone in the future. We are going to continue proving others wrong. We will show that we are a generation of hope.

Lastly, because of their very technology-based lifestyle, it is mostly Generation Z that has to face the negative effects that social media brings. It is indubitable that social media is practically a part of their life; it is an important platform for them. However, social media can also be used as a medium for spreading misinformation, cyberbullying, harassing, etc. And these can cause damages to the life of a person that may even be permanent. That is why we have to be very careful with the things we say online, and never encourage and tolerate nefarious acts like those aforementioned. Let us try to make social media a safe online platform for everyone.

So what are my five key takeaways from these challenges? It is that the call to action is imperative; the time to act is now, and we need to take responsibility for effecting changes in the things that need to be changed. We have to make a better world materialize, and it is up to us to actualize it.

1. Consider diving into the world of entrepreneurship. If we cannot find a job, let us be the one to provide jobs through operating a business. More businesses means more workforce needed.

2. Be resourceful, and look for substitute goods if possible. Moreover, never forget to use the resources that we have optimally and not wastefully. We are a very innovative generation. Let us use our brilliant minds to come up with ways to reduce the scarcity of resources.

3. Participate in environmental advocacies, and help take care of Mother Earth even if it is just through simple things. Mother Earth can survive without us, but we cannot survive without her. That is why it is important that we do not take her for granted before things are too late. Let us preserve the place that we call home for the future generations to come.

4. Do not mind the discrimination that we receive from older generations, and focus on what we can bring to the table instead. We are on track to be the most well-educated generation yet, and the older generations can’t ever dispute that fact. We have a lot to offer to the world, and we can be a beacon of hope for the future. We don’t have to keep living up to their standards, because sooner or later, we will be the standard.

5. Social media will never not be a part of our lives. It is pretty much a need now because of its versatility and functionality in helping us with almost anything and everything. So we can use social media unsparingly, but let us never forget that we also have to use it wisely.

But ultimately, I think that the most important takeaway from this is that although life is not easy for us Gen Z, we have to embrace the hardships of it all and use it as a weapon of hope to fight against inequality, injustice, and hatred. As Lucie Greene described us, let us be “the most brand-critical, bullshit-repellent, questioning group” the world has ever seen.

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rainywritingsx · 4 years

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Torn • BNHA OC X reader • Chapter 6

words: 3.2K

warnings: none?

look who finally updated her fanfic :D I promise yall I’ve been working on it, writer’s block had just hit yet again which was why I struggled to update more frequently. I’ll hopefully post more often from now on, I’m doing my best. I hope you enjoy this chapter of Torn!

Part of me just wanted to laugh at myself. How pathetic… Why was I so worked up about this? I had signed up for this with the sole thought that I was just going to try it out, not that I really wanted to get into UA… But then again, I’d most likely never get the chance to ever do anything hero-like again so if I looked at it that way, doing my best actually was important. This was a once in a lifetime experience and the only way I could make it more fun was by putting effort into passing this exam and showing everyone what I was capable of, even if I would most likely never see them again.

A loud crash caused me to flinch and whip my head around. The same robot that I had been trying to beat the whole time was coming closer to me. At this point I was annoyed, to be honest. When was it just going to leave me alone? I was so tired of it. However, giving up wasn’t an option either. That wouldn’t get me anywhere at all so the least I could do was attempt to beat it.

As I instinctively bit my lip, my eyes scanned over the ground. There was still some water left, which meant that I could still use my quirk for a while. The only issue now was that I didn’t have a plan. I could feel that my heartbeat had sped up at this point. It was like something or someone kept on banging the inside of my chest and it made thinking clearly almost impossible for me. How was I going to get those points? I didn’t have much time left and my mind was completely blank when it came to finding a plan.

A soft sigh escaped my mouth. If I couldn’t even come up with a plan during an exam, how could I ever be good enough to participate in an actual battle? Exactly, I couldn’t. I sighed to myself, ready to give up. I didn’t have much time anyways and I’d never be accepted just by a high score for the theoretical exam.

“Hey you! Stand up straight, won’t you? You’re a hero, not a sloth.” I looked up to find the source of the voice and was incredibly surprised to see the not-so-nice guy I bumped into earlier today. Did he say that to me? I looked behind me only to find nobody else. Wait, why was he saying this to me? Why didn’t he beat the robot himself?

“You’ve got five minutes left to beat that thing over there. Use that quirk of yours and show everyone what you can do!” and before I could say a thing he was gone. To say I was confused was an understatement. He was an interesting character… I didn’t really analyse him earlier today, but he really seemed like a regular guy, whereas his personality was far from that. His words though… Somehow they managed to motivate me a little. Honestly, as of right now I was definitely far from a hero.. But i did want to become one. I wanted to save people, to be a source of happiness for others when they’re sad. Even if it seemed impossible to become a hero with my background, the least I wanted to do was try.

Suddenly this whole day actually mattered to me. I wanted to do my best. I wanted to show my abilities. I wanted to get into this school. I wanted to become a hero. I wanted to win.

But why the heck did I have to realise all of this five minutes before the exam ended?

Anyway, I had to focus on beating that thing instead of pondering about me being a slowpoke. I slowly breathed in, trying to regain strength and pay attention to what was right in front of me. It was now or never. As if on cue little ideas popped up in my head. What if I slammed it to the ground while it was in a bubble? I could do that... Or what if I tried hitting it with water like arms? I’d never practiced that before, though. Playing safe was a better option right now, so I decided to go with the first idea.

I extended my arms and slowly raised them until they were at the height of my chest before gaining focus. I almost managed to put all of the bits of water together when the robot took another huge step towards me which caused the ground beneath me to shake. I let out a frustrated sigh when I realised that I had lost control of my quirk. I couldn’t give into my emotions, though. Letting my feelings get in the way was not going to get me anywhere, so I just had to keep going and concentrate even harder.

As an attempt to calm myself down, I closed my eyed and breathed in slowly. I held my breath for a little and then slowly breathed out. My eyes opened and I realised I was already much more relaxed than before, which truly was a relief. Paying attention would be a lot easier now that I was calm.

I repeated my actions from before, except this time I tried to be more attentive. Still, I couldn’t help but feel slightly nervous. I quickly shook my head as a way to push all of those insecure thoughts aside and focused back on trying to defeat that robot. I needed to hurry up, or I wouldn’t get those points at all!

After what felt like eternity (but really it was 10 seconds) I managed to form a bubble which was the perfect size for the robot. Now I just had to try and hope that this plan was actually was going to work out. An overwhelming amount of anxiety slowly filled my body, which made concentrating even harder for me. My hands were shaky as I tried to move the bubble to the robot steadily and I almost leapt through the air when I did it. However, I knew it wasn’t the time to celebrate yet. I had to defeat this robot and get those points and if that was a success, I could celebrate.

With my gaze focused on the robot, I tried slowly lifting it up. That was until a voice suddenly called out.

“Thirty seconds left.” As if they had a mind of their own, my hands almost caused the bubble to drop to the ground. No, I couldn’t throw the robot yet. It wasn’t high enough for the impact of the fall to really knock out the robot, which meant that I wouldn’t get those points at all. At the same time, my heart was pounding, yelling at me to drop the bubble at this instant, while my brain was saying I had to keep going. For once I listened to my mind instead of my heart. As each second passed, I could feel my breathing becoming heavier from how uneasy I was feeling.

“Twenty seconds left.” Would it be possible to run and get the points within ten seconds? It was risky... But it wasn’t high enough yet, so I was certain that I would definitely get nothing if I dropped it now. Come on Janie, just a little more... Just a little longer and when the time was right I was going to use all of the strength within me to smash it to the ground. Stay focused, stay calm. I could do this.

“Ten seconds.” Now! I took a deep breath before raising my arms and pulling them down as quickly and powerfully as I could. My eyes gazed in anticipation, as my hands instinctively went up, preparing for the impact of the drop.

A loud crash was heard.

Then silence.

The realisation that my hands were covering my eyes had only hit when I put them away. My gaze immediately went to the robot and upon seeing that it wasn’t getting up anymore, determination filled my body.

“Five seconds.”

It felt so weird... it seemed as if everything went in slow motion at this instant, as if everything and everyone had stopped. But I had no time to think, as my only goal now was to get those points. My hand quickly reached out and touched the golden coloured ‘S’. Not even a second later, a loud bell was heard which indicated that the exam was over. I chuckled to myself, panting heavily as everything slowly sank in. Did that just happen? A wave of happiness soared through my body, and at this point I started to wonder if I had a second quirk because I felt like I could fly into the sky.

“I did it!” I yelled out as I threw up my hands and let my body rest against the fallen robot. My chest was heaving up and down and my legs were shaking, but I felt like the happiest girl in the universe. I did that! I participated in UA’s entrance exam and I managed to defeat this robot with my quirk. This felt so unreal... Was I dreaming?

“Nope, you’re not, water girl.” A voice said before I felt someone flick my forehead. I whined and looked up to see the guy from earlier. Confusion was pretty evident on my face I think, because he just scoffed before looking away.

“You were talking out loud. Now get up, we have to gather back at the cafeteria.” I couldn’t help but sigh. Really? I was so tired because of all this that I really wasn’t in the mood to walk anywhere.

“Come on, lazy ass. You wanna be a hero, don’t ya? If you can’t even walk, will you even become one?” while he was right, there was still a question lingering in my mind. I slowly got up, ignoring my burning legs as I followed the boy.

“Uh, why did you say that earlier?” I asked, feeling a bit shy as I didn’t really know this guy.

“You would’ve gotten in trouble if you ended up asle-“

“No. I mean, when I was trying to defeat that robot. You encouraged me.” He didn’t say a word. Why was he acting so strange? Wait... he didn’t know who I was, right? Oh my goodness, what if my parents found out about all this and sent him to keep an eye on me? Or he was someone from the villain school that saw me walking towards UA? What if he was a serial killer that lured in young girls and-

“Hey, Yagami, you were awesome out there, dude.” Out of curiosity my head turned to see a guy walking up to us. So this boy next to me was named Yagami? The unfamiliar guy walked up to ‘Yagami’ before high fiving and hugging him. That was the moment that he noticed me standing there.

“Ooh~ who is this lovely lady here?” He asked teasingly as he took a few steps closer to me. It was impossible to hide the faint blush on my cheeks, but could you blame me? I was not used to getting attention from boys in any way, except for conversations and annoying teasing from my brothers. The boy standing in front of me was tall, had orange eyes which had sparkles that radiated mischief. A big smile was plastered on his face and his navy blue hair was tied in a small ponytail, but a few strands were hanging loose. Compared to his friend, who just had brown eyes and a black haired bowl cut, he was really standing out.

“Wait a sec, is this your girlfriend?” the unknown boy smirked as he wiggled his eyebrows, which only made me blush deeper.

“No, no! We just met today...” I trailed off and desperately looked at Yagami to support me. In this situation he was the person I trusted most and I had no idea how to deal with this guy.

“Your jokes aren’t funny, Suzuki-san.”

“Ah, how many times do I need to tell you, no need to be so formal with me? We’ve been friends for years, man!”

“You constantly following me like a lost puppy since kindergarten don’t make us friends.” Ouch... Poor guy, I felt bad for him. What surprised me though, was that ‘Suzuki’ was completely unfazed as his happy mood didn’t drop at all.

“Don’t worry, he’ll realise it one day.” He whispered to me. “I’m amazing, he can’t resist me.” I guess he was right... I mean he didn’t cut off contact with him so that’s a good sign?

“So, why don’t you introduce me to this lady?”Suzuki asked Yagami, who just stared back at him, emotion completely absent in his gaze.

“I have no idea what her name is.” Suzuki’s mouth formed an “O” shape before his gaze went back to me.

“I’m K-“wait, using my real name was a bad idea. That made me remember, I used a fake last name when I signed up for this entrance exam. Using that was best for now since you never knew who did and didn’t know certain things. My first name wasn’t that common, but it raised less suspicion than my last name.

“Kagura Janie, it’s nice to meet you Suzuki-san and Yagami-san.” I said and made a small formal bow. Suzuki chuckled and spoke up.

“Ah, please drop the honorifics. We’re the same age and you’re basically our friend now!” he said before wrapping arm around my shoulder and pulling me against him. I’m their friend? Really?

“Suzuki, friendship doesn’t work that way. It is built on-“

“What do you mean, man? Isn’t it fun to start a friendship like this? I can’t wait to get to know you, Kagura!” I couldn’t help but smile at his words. His friendly attitude managed to lift up the whole mood, despite Yagami’s pessimistic remarks.

“Let’s just go. We need to leave, the exam is over.” Yagami spoke before starting to walk without looking back. Suzuki sighed and looked back at me.

“Sorry about him, Yagami is a strange guy. He’s a really cool friend and laidback once you get to know him, but this whole entrance exam has him all uptight and stressed.” Trying to imagine Yagami all happy and smiley was hard... But since I wasn’t the one that had known him for years, I decided to believe Suzuki and nodded.

“Anyway, maybe we should go indeed?” I suggested, to which he nodded.

“Gosh my body is dying! I want to go home and just watch cartoons and sleep.” A giggle left my mouth at his dramatic tone before we both started walking. I like these guys...

As we walked, my mind started to wander. Did Suzuki mean it when he said they were my friends now? I’d love to have friends, of course... But did they really want to? And how does friendship even work? What if I’m a horrible friend? What if they find out who I really am? They’re students who want to become pro-heroes so of course they wouldn’t react well to a villain. Maybe I shouldn’t get close to them; it would only end up in pain... And while I would love to have friends, I knew that it wasn’t worth it if it meant they ended up hurt. Explaining it all was unnecessary, though. Chances of seeing them again were really small anyway.

As we got closer to the cafeteria, I saw more and more people who were talking about the entrance exam. A small smile played on my lips as little parts of their conversation were heard. Maybe the fact that I never was close to anyone was the reason that I found people in general so interesting. Observing them and seeing everyone’s uniqueness was just something so precious. Humans are such interesting creatures and we don’t even realise it. Just like animals, we have eyes, noses, lips, hairs, I could go on. But unlike animals, humans are still all visibly different.

“That was so fun!”

“Oh my, I totally screwed up! There’s no way that I’ll get into UA...”

“According to my calculations, chances of me getting into UA are about 1.64%... Eh, I can live with that.”

“Did you see the guys here? They’re so hot... I have to get into this school!”

As my gaze went to the clock, I realised it was getting pretty late already. It was 2:20pm; would any sane person stay at the gym for that long? My parents would definitely not buy that.

“Hey Suzu-” I turned around only to see that Suzuki wasn’t there. Instead, Yagami was standing next to me. I immediately closed my mouth and turned away from him. He was kind of intimidating... His gaze was just piercing through me.

“If you’re wondering when you can leave; you can go home now, just notify one of the teachers.” My head tilted in confusion as my eyebrows furrowed. How did he know I was going to ask that?

“Uh... T-thank you...” I managed to say, before awkwardly saying goodbye and leaving. Part of me wanted to look for Suzuki to say goodbye, but then I remembered I wasn’t supposed to get close to him or Yagami at all. I mean; maybe I wouldn’t even be accepted into UA. The practical exam seemed to have gone well, whereas the theoretical part was incredibly difficult.

Wait...

Weren’t the scores up in the sky during the exam? Did I forget to see how many points I received by beating that robot? I stopped in my tracks and face palmed me. Why was I so stupid? Now I had to wait until I received the results and lord knows when that will happen.

Before I knew it, I was back home, away from all of the pro-heroes, away from the future students that gave their all to be the best, away from the fantastic atmosphere, away from what already felt like home.

Arriving at my real ‘home’ felt incredibly odd. My parents weren’t home and I honestly didn’t even want to know what they were up to. My brothers were just gaming, not moving in the slightest when I entered the living room. I decided to let them be, as it wasn’t like we ever really talked any way.

It really felt like I was in two different dimensions today. One felt warm, familiar, cosy and lovely meanwhile the other one was cold, strange, lonely and silent. Part of me already felt homesick which clearly proved where I really wanted to be.

Without saying a word I went up to mine and my twin brother’s room, tossing my bag on my bed before throwing myself on it as well, landing on my stomach. Today was tiring to say the least, but it definitely was an experience I’d never forget. Even if I didn’t get in, which I was pretty sure of, being a part of the exam itself already felt like an immense honour to me.

As I drowned in my thoughts, I could feel sleep slowly but surely taking over me. Before I knew it, I ended up in a deep slumber, finally closing today’s chapter and feeling incredibly excited to see what tomorrow had to offer.

#bnha x oc #bnha OC #OC #mha x oc #mha OC #bnha fic #bnha fanfiction #mha fanfiction #mha fic

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wonderfulworldofmichaelford · 5 years

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Michael in the Mainstream - Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

In 2003, one of the strangest films ever made was released. It was a live-action PG-13 Disney movie… about pirates, which were notorious box office poison… based off of a theme park ride. There was no way in Hell that this could ever work out, right? Well as we all know, it did, it worked out even though all of the odds were stacked against it. And even after all these years, even after all of the sequel escalation and more insane plots and setpieces, even with the overexposure of Jack Sparrow as the face of the franchise… this first film still rocks. And it rocks even though you can see the seeds of all the problems that would plague later entries of the franchise taking root in this film.

The major issue that later films had was how much Jack we were given, with the straight men characters that grounded him progressively being relegated to the background so Jack could be fun and wacky. In this film it is true that Jack is a scene-stealing master, with him commanding the attention of the audience from his wonderful establishing character moment where he appears to be sailing gracefully into Port Royal only for it to be quickly revealed he’s in a sad, waterlogged, quickly sinking boat that he not only manages to make it to the dock with but does it without losing a single bit of his awesome, swaggering, charming mystique, but he’s also balanced out by… just about every other major character, particularly Will and Elizabeth, who act as wonderful foils to Jack’s salty sea dog antics that he pulls at every turn.

It really must be said that Johnny Depp created a fantastic character here, turning what could have been a generically cool pirate captain into a swaggering, crazy pirate rock star. Captain Jack deserves to go down as one of the greatest characters in cinematic history, especially for this film, where everything he does oozes cool, even when he fails miserably and winds up in a pickle – Jack makes being made a fool of look cool. The thing is, and the later films forget this, his antics are only as funny as the reactions of the people around him, who are all more straight-laced pirates or seafarers. Will, Elizabeth, and even Barbossa, while certainly no strangers to hamminess or flowery dialogue, still act as grounding, lightning rods that keep Jack from electrifying the whole film, a problem that really plagued the fourth and especially the fifth films. In the first film, while Jack definitely hogs a fair bit of the spotlight, he never feels overdone, and he’s just so enjoyable to watch as he mucks about in the story you don’t care.

Another element that the next two films were criticized for is the love story between Will and Elizabeth. The romance in the first film is actually downplayed; Will doesn’t even tell Elizabeth he loves her until the last ten minutes of the movie. The next films would go out of their way to make a spectacle of the love triangle, but here I feel the romance works best, where it is downplayed and used as Will’s driving motivation to rescue Elizabeth from the pirates as opposed to just causing conflict and leading to love triangles. The comedy, too, is downplayed compared to later films which would go a bit too far in their slapstick elements. There IS plenty of slapstick and wacky moments, but they aren’t as in-your-face as some of the later entries would get.

Really, the greatest strength of this film is that it tells a rather simple, mostly grounded story with some nautical supernatural elements for flavor. Cursed gold that turns pirates into the undead? It’s all just there to add a little spice to the major plot, which is to rescue Elizabeth from the pirates. It’s simple, effective, and leads to some seriously creative fights and scenes, especially during the big climactic battle. The sequels would go for flashier, grandiose high fantasy, what with sea gods, mermaids, and Davy Jones (AKA the best villain in the franchise), but I feel that what made Curse of the Black Pearl so great is that it didn’t really try to bloat the film with flashy, crazy fantasy elements and mostly just let the film stand on the strength of the characters and the writing and the action.

I think out of the ensemble cast Geoffery Rush’s Barbossa is easily the standout aside from Jack. He’s actually one of the things that the sequels, or at least the first two anyway, did very well: rich, complex antagonists. Barbossa is a cruel, bitter, vindictive pirate, but it’s clear he does have some semblance of honor this early on, and when you find out the extent of what the curse did to him, it does elicit some sympathy. If you were forced to spend the past ten years unable to feel any sensations at all, would you not be a bit bitter and angry yourself? Of course, he definitely takes it too far, so you’ll obviously be rooting for Will and Jack and Elizabeth to defeat him, but he does leave enough room for sympathy that it’s not a big surprise the sequels saw fit to bring him back, one of the best elements about them.

Overall, Curse of the Black Pearl is just an exciting, fun swashbuckling romp that is so much better than it has any right to be. I wouldn’t even hesitate to call this one of the finest films ever made; it perfectly balances the cheesiness and the thrills, it sneaks in plenty of references to the ride, it features fantastic performances from its actors, and oh god I almost finished this review without mentioning the score. THE SCORE! The music in this film is nothing short of legendary; the iconic theme tune is in a class of its own, but the rest of the music is no slouch. Just all around, this is a fun, fantastic movie, and while of course it has some flaws here and there, it’s such a fun time you have to be one heck of a curmudgeon to complain.

Curse of the Black Pearl is a film I’d definitely recommend to anyone who enjoys fun action/adventure films, as well as anyone who loves Johnny Depp – Jack Sparrow is one of, if not the best performance of his career, which is really saying something. It is a shame the sequels could generally not keep up with the pace, though I certainly think the second one is close. And it’s not even like I hate the sequels by any means (save for the fifth movie), it’s just that when you’re stuck in the shadow of a film this good, it’s kind of hard to really stand out. Curse of the Black Pearl was really lightning in a bottle, a one-time moment where low fantasy and pirates intermingled and gave the world something awesome. It’s not much of a shock they could never do it again.

At least, not with low fantasy. HIGH fantasy, on the other hand...

#Michael in the Mainstream #Review #Movie review #Pirates of the Caribbean #The Curse of the Black Pearl #Johnny Depp #Jack Sparrow #Geoffery Rush #pirates #Disney #pirate movie

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queenofcarrots · 6 years

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Rey, Finn, and Kylo Ren in The Force Awakens (a meta)

This is a meta about Rey, Finn and Kylo Ren and their interactions in The Force Awakens. I don’t write much meta and this isn’t intended to be a work of scholarship, I just want to investigate the relationships that these three characters have with each other. One million thanks to @red-applesith and @thisgarbagepicker for talking through this with me and being so encouraging.

There are lots of great meta about Rey and Kylo Ren, particularly coming out of the Reylo fandom. There are also good meta about Finn, but several of those I’ve seen come from an anti-Kylo direction. There does seem to be a general preference in the fandom to keep the dynamics between those characters neatly split between "Finn and Rey" vs. "Rey and Kylo". I haven’t seen an extended meta that focused on these three characters equally, so that’s the space I want to fill with this meta. I’m interested in considering these characters together, not setting them up against one another.

Rey, Finn, and Kylo Ren / Ben Solo have strong connections with each other as pairs and as a group of three, culminating in the showdown scene in the forest on Starkiller at the end of The Force Awakens. This scene and the one that immediately precedes it (the bridge scene, in which Kylo kills Han Solo), along with the kidnapping scene on Takodana, are the only scenes in either of the two sequel movies in which these three characters appear together on screen. But these scenes are only the culmination, so let’s start by looking at the scenes where these characters either appear together or refer to each other.

Rather than break the scenes down by character pairing or grouping (Kylo/Finn, Finn/Rey, Rey/Kylo, or Kylo/Finn/Rey) I’ll move through the film chronologically, marking each scene which includes a pairing as KF, FR, RK, or KFR. This way we can see how these relationships move through the movie, and in some cases how they affect transitions between scenes, or how groupings change within scenes. I’ll mark the scenes with minute marks, mostly in order to make sure to keep things in order, but also to make it easier for people to check on this if they want.

There’s not only the grouping, there’s also the running theme of Family: Kylo’s issues with his family, particularly his father, and the Skywalker legacy lightsaber, Rey’s mysterious background, and Finn’s utter lack of a known family. I think family is so important for these three, and this theme also has an impact on their relations with one another. So I want to bring this out in the meta as well.

The first several scenes we’ll look at are KF scenes, apart from one. Kylo and Finn are the first of these characters to meet, in the first extended scene of the film, and this meeting has serious implications for the film moving forward (arguably it’s the catalyst for the rest of the movie - nothing would have happened as it did if Kylo hadn’t let Finn go on Jakku). I think it’s relevant that the first scene takes place on Jakku, where we find out later that Rey is living only miles away from the current action. So although she isn’t physically present in these scenes, and we won’t even know she’s there until later in the film, her presence is arguably relevant to this scene. (Heck, one could argue that even this early scene is a KFR scene, because of that.)

Minutes after landing on Jakku (5:47), Finn is marked by the blood of his fellow stormtrooper, after which he has a bit of a breakdown. (I can’t help but think of a baptism by blood when I watch this scene.) As @secretreylostan pointed out to me in a recent ask, it’s only after this bloody handprint that Finn has his breakdown; up to this point he appears to be doing what all the other Stormtroopers are doing.

Kylo shows up immediately after.

He does these things in short order, each of which tells us something about him as a man or what he wants to do:

Demands the map to Luke Skywalker (his objective) (7:10)

Kills Lor San Tekka after being challenged about his Family (his sore spot) (7:30)

Freezes the blaster bolt (his strength in the Force) (7:35)

Orders Poe to be taken in for questioning (his objective, his ruthlessness) (8:19)

Orders all the villagers to be killed (his ruthlessness) (8:31)

Senses Finn disobeying a direct order, doesn’t do a dang thing about it (his compassion) (8:54)

He’s just been built up over two minutes as being absolutely strong, deadly, ruthless, and then his introduction ends with Finn. There’s no reason for him not to strike down Finn right then and there. But he doesn’t.

He does release the blaster bolt that he’d frozen earlier, which could be interpreted as a warning shot to Finn (and I’ve seen it interpreted that way in other meta). But it’s clearly not meant to touch Finn or hurt him physically.

At this point we interrupt our KF fest to meet Rey (10:43). Her entire introductory scene is Rey by herself, but we do get the theme of Family here too - that is, it is apparent she doesn’t have one. She works by herself, lives by herself, depends on scavenging for her food, and she counts the days by carving notches in the wall of her home. Hundreds and hundreds of them that we can see.

The next scene that I would call a KF scene is blink-and-you-miss-it (19:25): When Finn goes into the chamber to get Poe, he tells the stormtroopers guarding him, “Ren wants the prisoner.” The other stormtroopers let him take Poe away. Does this imply that Finn had worked directly with Kylo before? Or perhaps as suggested by @red-applesith (and as the novel confirms) it simply demonstrates that Kylo is indeed a high-ranking member of the FO, known by the stormtroopers, a person of enough importance that his name alone conveys authority. In any case, the guard doesn't question Finn's motives or request any kind of proof.

The next KF scene is when the FO discovers that Poe has escaped, and Kylo knows immediately that it was FN-2187 who helped him (22:24). He says, “The one from the village. FN-2187.” I think he’s being reminded of his act of compassion on Jakku, and of the consequences of such compassion. Note that he doesn’t indicate to Hux how or why he noticed FN-2187 on Jakku. Perhaps because he considers it a weakness. [Going out of order for a moment, on p. 237 of the TFA novel, Snoke takes Kylo to task over his compassion for Rey, berating him with: “It isn't her strength that is making you fail. It's your weakness.” - his weakness being the same compassion he showed to Finn at the very beginning of our story.]

The next scene I want to mention is technically about Finn only (and he’s not even in it), but it includes that theme of Family so I want to be sure to mention it, because it ties in with Rey’s earlier introduction (23:42) - perhaps this is an FR scene after all. This scene happens directly after Finn and Poe are shot down over Jakku, when Phasma and Hux are talking about FN-2187. We learn he was sent to reconditioning after Tuanul, and that he had no prior signs of non-conformity. We also see a picture of wee Finn in the lower left of this shot - our first indication of his childhood.

The next scene is a KF scene and begins with an interesting transition: From Finn looking down on Niima Outpost to Hux and Kylo talking about getting the droid (26:12). I think it’s interesting because it brings us into the scene with Finn on our minds - much as Finn is apparently on Kylo’s mind. At this point Kylo is still focused 100% on BB-8-and the map, but he also wants to talk about the capability of Hux’s soldiers. He doesn’t trust them now, and makes clear references to FN-2187 committing treason, although he doesn’t call him by name. In this scene Kylo is thinking of two things: getting the droid (and thus the map to Luke Skywalker), and the treachery of FN-2187. Regarding the theme of Family, it’s in this scene we learn that the stormtroopers under Hux’s command are “programmed from birth,” so we can make further assumptions about Finn’s childhood, and his lack of a family (similar to Rey).

Finally, our first FR scene, when Finn and Rey meet meet on Jakku (28:00). Once the FO come calling they escape from Jakku on... the Millennium Falcon, aka Kylo’s dad’s ship (31:42). Can we call this Family? Can we really stretch and call this scene KFR?

Finn and Rey have met, so now it’s time for Kylo to learn about Rey. I think this scene is particularly interesting because it begins with assumptions of what’s important up to this point: update on the droid, oh no there’s FN-2187 messing things up again. But then we have “The Girl” and things get really interesting. (I think of this as a KF scene that shifts to KFR).

After Rey and Finn escape from Jakku, poor Mitaka is sent to give the news to Kylo. He tells him three things:

The Droid escaped on a stolen Corellian YT Model freighter

FN-2187 may have helped

They were accompanied by A Girl

Kylo’s reaction to each piece of news is really interesting. Hearing about the escape on the freighter, he makes a joke (The droid… stole a freighter?) - although surely he is reminded of his father, even if he doesn’t believe this is his father’s ship? So I’m also tempted to tag this scene with Family.

Hearing about FN-2187 helping the droid escape sets Kylo off; he lights up his saber and destroys the console. He is angry - not only has this trooper escaped but he’s actively thwarting him in his quest to track down Luke Skywalker.

But hearing about The Girl changes his demeanor. He still seems angry, but it’s a focused anger rather than the violent anger of a moment before: Dragging Mitaka across the floor, holding him up by the neck: What Girl?

This is the beginning of the change in Kylo’s objective, set in his very first scene, from finding Luke Skywalker to finding The Girl.

In the very next scene of the film (37:45), Finn and Rey run straight into Han Solo - Kylo’s dad - pulling him into the story - pulling Kylo’s Family into the story. They help him escape, in the Falcon, along with BB-8 (don’t forget BB-8, he still has the map to Luke Skywalker!)

The next scene is with Kylo, Hux and Snoke on Starkiller (49:27). This scene does three important things: first, it reminds us that the objective is still to find Luke Skywalker. We can’t forget that this is still supposed to be Kylo’s main mission! Second, in this scene we discover that both Snoke and Kylo are aware of an awakening (perhaps having to do with Rey, making this a RK scene), but but also, third, Snoke informs Kylo that BB-8 is on the Millennium Falcon, along with Han Solo (and, we can presume that Kylo himself connects the dots at this point: The droid was with FN-2187 and a girl in a stolen freighter on Jakku, now it’s with Han Solo on the Falcon, ergo FN-2187 and a girl are with them now). One might argue this makes this a KRF scene, and also there’s that Family again, getting more and more wrapped up with everything else.

In the next scene (51:19) we have Rey, Finn, and Han. First, Rey helps Han stabilize the Falcon, then we have Rey and Finn learning for the first time about Luke’s wayward apprentice, although neither of them realize who exactly he is. (Note that the camera is solidly focused on Rey as Han says (53:02), “One boy, an apprentice, turned against him, destroyed it all”, and my Reylo heart sings a little song). The entirety of this scene brings Rey closer to Han (Family), and I label it KFR because it includes Finn and Rey, but Kylo is there in spirit.

The next stop for this group is arriving at Takodana (54:48), and meeting Maz.

There are important conversations between Han and Finn and Han and Rey in the scenes right after they land, and they serve to bring both of the younger characters closer to Kylo’s dad. I choose to tag all of these both with FR and with Family:

Han arms first Finn (55:00), then Rey (55:32)

Han knows Finn is lying about who he is (I’m talking specifically about his admonition: “Women always find out. Always.”) I have heard that Han recognized his boots as stormtrooper boots, but I have no reference for this.

Han offers Rey a job

They all go in and meet Maz (57:39), and then the very next scene is Kylo’s scene with Darth Vader’s mask (58:52). I think these two scenes are interesting contrasts, the first with Finn and Rey, along with Kylo’s dad (FR, Family), hoping Maz can help them; the second Kylo alone, begging for his grandfather (Family) to help him.

Takodana is where Finn and Rey finally separate: first Finn decides to run away to the Outer Rim, and then Rey is kidnapped by Kylo Ren. This first part of the Takodana story is FR with a dollop of Family.

Finn, who has at this point been on board with helping to get BB-8 back to the Resistance, picks back up on his plan to run away when he learns the FO is probably on its way, asking her to go with him (1:02;15); he also finally tells Rey the truth about his background, and we as an audience learn that he was - like all of the stormtroopers - taken from his family, and he never knew them.

As Finn leaves the building, Rey has the first hints of her Force vision, hearing her own voice as a child calling out from the basement (1:04:00). Recall that at this point although the FO is preparing Starkiller they are also planning to attack Takodana, so as Rey has her vision, Finn is preparing to leave and Kylo is preparing for his arrival.

The force vision is the first time we have RK scenes from Rey’s point of view. This is when Rey first sees Kylo Ren: in the rain (saving her?) (1:06:07), then in the forest (1:06:29). Both times he is masked.

At the moment Starkiller fires (which is visible from Takodana for reasons unexplained by science, but I’ll allow it) (1:09:47):

Kylo Ren is watching from the Finalizer. He does not appear to approve. (1:10:07)

Finn is packing to leave, but pauses to watch with the others. (1:10:19)

Rey is running through the forest, away from the lightsaber, but ends up being followed by BB-8. (1:11:06)

While Rey is running away, she has her first in-person experience with Kylo, RK, when she sees his ship from the forest (1:11:39). It’s after she sees his ship that she runs back to the castle, accompanied by BB-8.

Immediately after this, Maz gives the Skywalker lightsaber to Finn to give to Rey, effectively forcing them back together (1:12:09). She could have given it to Han, but she didn’t. He really can’t leave now; FR are back together again (with a Family connection to Kylo provided by the lightsaber)

While Finn and Han fight stormtroopers, Rey comes back to the castle with BB-8 (still concerned over that map to Luke Skywalker! Don't forget!) but is presented with stormtroopers - which she shoots (1:12:45). She’s just found out that Finn was a stormtrooper. Does she think about him at this time? If she does, it doesn’t stop her from shooting. Does this count as FR?

Kylo comes off the ship and heads to the fight, but when he’s told that the droid was seen with a Girl he immediately heads into the forest (1:13:06). Is it because of the mention of the droid, or the mention of the girl? I’m pretty sure it’s the girl, but either way, solid RK scene.

Finn takes the lightsaber as his weapon and fights with it for several minutes (beginning at 1:13:54). I’m going to count these scenes as KFR because at this point the Skywalker lightsaber is so caught up with Kylo, and Rey, and Kylo’s Family.

The next relevant set of scenes are Kylo and Rey meeting in the forest (beginning at 1:17:13). There has been so much written about these scenes so I’m not going to say much here, except that it’s so very clear that his objective for getting the droid (and thus the map) has been completely overtaken by his objective to (literally) get the girl. Up until this point it hasn’t been clear but his actions here make it absolutely so. Kylo uses the fact that Rey’s seen the map as an excuse to take her and leave. We know from previous scenes that Snoke doesn’t want the map in the hands of the Resistance, so even if he takes Rey he really should still take the droid! But he doesn’t, because he’s in awe. Our first extended, in-person RK scene.

Finn and Han are distraught watching Rey carried away by Kylo (1:18:45): KRF with a big helping of Family. This is the first time that Han has seen his son in our story. The circle of Rey, Finn, Kylo, and Kylo’s family is beginning to grow tighter.

Then we have more Family: Leia, Kylo’s mother, arrives with the Resistance (1:19:47). Poe brings Finn to Leia, and Finn has now met both of Kylo’s parents (1:22:24).

There is a brief scene where Han and Leia talk about their son (1:24:10), a good Family scene, which segues directly into the Interrogation scene.

As with the Takodana forest scene there’s been so much good Reylo meta written about the RK Interrogation scene (beginning 1:25:38), so I won’t dwell on it too much. For the purposes of this meta I will say that Kylo’s line “Murderers, traitors, and thieves” is clearly a reference to Finn (he’d referred to his treason in his earlier conversation with Hux), but also (per @thisgarbagepicker and @red-applesith) ‘thieves’ could be a reference to Han Solo and/or Maz (who had the lightsaber, perhaps stolen at some earlier point from Kylo), and ‘murderers’ could refer to Han Solo as well; in any case we have both KF and Family. I’m also interested in his unmasking (at 1:26:15) vs. Finn’s unmasking. Rey has only met an unmasked Finn; how might she have felt if she had met him masked? Is she thinking about Finn when Kylo takes his mask off and she first sees his all-too-human face?

Much of what Kylo says to Rey in this scene is projecting, but I want to note especially his line “so lonely, so afraid to leave.” (1:27:06) I’d like to think that this is not only him reading her mind and thinking about his own loneliness, but that it’s also a callback to his interaction with Finn on Jakku: KF. That was a man who was not afraid to leave, and who in fact left.

After digging around in Rey’s mind (including touching on his own father, Han Solo, although it’s not clear that Rey knows their connection - Family again) Kylo finally gets around to looking for the map (at 1:27:52), at which point Rey turns the tables on him because she’s a fucking badass, and he never gets the details of the map after all. He’s so far from where he started, his objectives are so thrown off, and it’s all because of that dang stormtrooper.

womp womp

Kylo immediately goes to Snoke (1:29:10), but he just wants to talk about The Girl (it’s an RK scene); it’s not until Hux comes in that they talk about the droid and the map (remember, his objective?). Hux wants to use Starkiller to destroy the Resistance, but Kylo asks for more time, and “guidance” to get the map from The Girl (it is unclear what kind of guidance he thinks Snoke may be able to provide). At this point Snoke seems more interested in destruction, but he does ask for The Girl to be brought to him.

RK scene: Kylo returns to the room to discover that Rey’s escaped, presumably on her own and using her Force powers, and has a tantrum (1:31:27).

Meanwhile Finn is reporting to the Resistance about Starkiller base, in a pretty solid FR scene (plus Family, since both of Kylo’s parents are present) (1:32:12). They figure out how to destroy Starkiller, but Finn is insistent that he must be there on the planet to disable the shields. I really love this scene because Finn is being quite devious. He wants to get to Starkiller to rescue Rey from Kylo (he admits this to Han later), and he uses his knowledge of the base as leverage to get them to send him there. Finn is joining with the Resistance in order to 1) take care of Rey; 2) escape (he still hasn’t forgotten his own objective, but he won’t leave until he knows Rey is safe).

As Rey attempts to make her way out of the base (beginning 1:35:04), both Finn (with Han and Chewie) and Kylo are searching for her, Finn having come with Han on the Millennium Falcon. After they land Finn finally admits that he’s only there for Rey, although he does help get the shields shut down. These are several scenes that fit together, KR, FR, Family.

Once the shields are down, Finn and Han first come up with a plan to get Rey, who they still think is being held captive, then find her wandering the ship (1:40:59). Note that Rey can’t tell Finn how she escaped: “How did you get away?” “I can’t explain it, and you wouldn’t believe it.” - she can’t tell him. This is between her and Kylo. A FR scene with K in the corner.

Then we get to the bridge scene (beginning 1:44:36), which is where the shit really hits the fan. It’s the first time since Takodana that we have Rey, Kylo, and Finn (KFR) together in the same physical location (although Finn and Rey are at a distance, according to the script for TFA they can see and hear what is happening on the bridge, and Kylo can see them).

Other metas have mentioned Kylo’s unwillingness to challenge Han, and the appearance that he’s actually trying to run away from him as he crosses the bridge. I want to think about this scene considering those two things, and everything in this meta up to this point, particularly Kylo’s interactions with Finn:

First was Kylo’s willingness to look the other way when when he sensed FN-2187′s disobedience on Jakku, which led directly to:

FN-2187 escaping from the FO, with their Resistance prisoner

FN-2187 saving the droid and somehow ending up with Han Solo on the Falcon (Family)

FN-2187 bringing Han Solo to Starkiller, where Kylo has basically just been forced to kill him

After killing Han, Kylo looks up to see Rey and Finn (1:50:13). The camera focuses a close-up on Finn. At this moment, Kylo Ren has just killed his father. We know from TLJ and from the script and the novel that 1) Kylo didn’t hate Han, and 2) he immediately feels that the killing has weakened him, not made him stronger. No wonder he’s so angry at Finn! Look at how much he’s lost from that one, single act of compassion.

Now we come to the Starkiller forest (beginning 1:51:00), which, again, there has been a whole lot of Reylo-focused meta written about. This scene moves from KFR to KF (after Rey is knocked out) then to RK (when Finn is knocked out) then finally to FR (when Kylo is knocked out). That seems really poetic when I write it out like that.

The opening conversation is very focused on Family. I’m not certain about Kylo’s opening “We’re not done yet,” (is he talking to Rey, referring to what happened during the interrogation, or to Finn, referring all the way back to their interaction on Jakku, or is he speaking more generally about what just happened?) but his next lines, “It’s just us now. Han Solo can’t save you,” seems to me to be both a threat to them, and a reminder to himself that he’s just killed his dad.

Kylo knocks Rey against the tree first, presumably to keep her out of the way while he dispatches Finn (KF). Finn takes the lightsaber (Family) and the fight proceeds. Kylo doesn’t kill him immediately, instead he prances around, taking his time. He wants to cause Finn pain - this is personal for him. He burns Finn’s shoulder just because he can. Once Finn actually gets a hit in Kylo knocks the lightsaber out of his hand, punches him around, and cuts up his back. Oddly enough he doesn’t spear him though or cut off a limb, which he could have done easily. Interesting, right? Is he dealing out compassion for Finn even now? (Or, as @thisgarbagepicker and @red-applesith suggest, it this Kylo being an arrogant twat, considering the murder of Finn a waste of time, considering that the planet is about to explode? A cat playing with a mouse, up until the mouse bites back? I kind of like this idea too.)

Next is all Rey and Kylo (RK). After she is able to call the Skywalker lightsaber (an example of Kylo being denied his own Family), he fights her very differently than he fought Finn. He isn’t trying to hurt her (in the novel he states "I could kill you right now. But there is another way."), and he even offers to be her teacher in the Force. Then she kicks his ass and takes Finn to safety (FR).

She does take a moment to look at him over her shoulder, Skywalker lightsaber in her hand (Family), as she follows Chewie and Finn onto the Falcon (FR, RK). (I find this an interesting parallel with the end of TLJ.)

But the movie’s not over!

The final relevant scenes are all FR and Family. First, Chewie, Finn and Rey arrive at the base (2:00:09), and Rey meets Kylo’s mom (Family) - another nice hug for Rey.

The last FR scene in the film is Rey saying goodbye to Finn in the hospital (2:02:32).

Leia (Kylo’s mom, remember) and Rey say goodbye, too (at about 2:03:10) - Family.

Then, finally, our last bit of Family, Rey (with the Skywalker lightsaber) meets Luke on Ahch-To (2:05:55).

Coming after the climax in the forest these small scenes are a bit of a letdown, but they set Rey on her way for her next journey, and push her deeper into Kylo's family/story - setting her up for her next chapter in The Force Awakens.

In conclusion, we can see that the characters of Rey, Finn and Kylo Ren are tied together in various groupings throughout The Force Awakens, particularly around Kylo's family, especially his father, Han Solo, his father's ship The Millennium Falcon, and the legacy Skywalker Lightsaber. Additionally, @thisgarbagepicker pointed out that throughout TFA, Finn, Rey, and Kylo are all given the chance to leave something destructive behind. Finn succeeds at Tuanul, leaving the First Order; Rey succeeds in leaving Jakku (although she’s forced into it, a bit, and it’s not until her conversation with Maz that we’re sure she’s not going to go back), and Kylo fails - and he’s still working towards it at the end of The Last Jedi.

I started extending this meta into The Last Jedi, but it became clear pretty quickly that the addition of the Force bond and the characters of Luke Skywalker and Rose Tico change things, especially around the concept of Family, so eventually I’ll do a second meta looking at the same themes in TLJ.

#rey #finn #kylo ren #han solo #meta

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ana-annotated · 6 years

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128 THINGS I LOVED ABOUT CROOKED KINGDOM (WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!!!!) Part 1

1. It has WYLAN’S POV

2. Jesper is one of his biggest reasons for committing to being a member of the Dregs and he knows it

3. Kaz breaks into the house of a wealthy and probably dangerous lawyer in the middle of the night but first things first, he’s gotta give the guard dogs belly rubs before robbing their owner.

4. Nina is still facing the consequences of ingesting parem and yet here she is undercover, charming this lawyer out of his whistle.

5. Wylan’s dark side just gets darker

6. Kaz having a rare soft moment and telling Wylan where his mother is buried cause he knows what it’s like to lose someone suddenly and not get to say goodbye

7. Matthias trying to understand Kaz’s sleight of hand and still failing to see how he does it

8. Matthias wishing Wylan or Kuwei would wear a hat so he could tell them apart

9. Wylan blushing at Jesper’s touch

10. Wylan Van Sunshine

11. Leave my grandmother out of this

12. Jesper’s dad is so innocent and precious and must be protected at all costs

13. Are you all students? Of a sort

14. Matthias has a little sister

15. Matthias comforting Alys cause she reminds him of his mother when she was pregnant

16. Nina whining over Matthias sacrificing her biscuits to keep Alys quiet

17. Matthias jealous of Jesper making Nina smile

18. Inej laughing in Van Eck’s face for thinking he outwitted Kaz

19. Nina expecting Matthias to rub her feet from now on whenever she wants him to

20. Matthias longing for a domestic life with Nina

21. Nina longing for the comfort of family relationships like the one Jesper has with his father

22. Jesper as a kid

23. Jesper’s mom was the sweetest most badass person ever and taught him everything he knows at such a young age

24. The WYLAN’S MOM CURVEBALL WHO THE HECK DOES THAT TO A PERSON MY POOR BABY HOW DARE JAN DO THAT TO HIM AND HER?!

25. Wylan’s motivation to get revenge

26. Kaz giving Wylan a pep talk about strength when facing a weakness

27. Matthias’s relationship with his wolf

28. Matthias pretending to be a happy go lucky Fjerdan

29. Nina having to explain every single dirty joke to him and convince him they’re not insults

30. Nina and Matthias’s first kiss being straight out of a Disney movie 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍

31. Everyone points guns at each other in Ketterdam it’s basically a handshake

32. Matthias going into full military general mode and leads a two-man Grisha army in a victorious mini war against the Dime Lions

33. Kaz literally CRASHING Van Eck’s dinner party

34. Dunyasha: “I am Dunyasha, a white human blade, a ruthless assassin princess, and my sole purpose is destroying you. Prepare to feel my ninja stars.”

Inej: “New phone who dis?”

35. Colm Fahey adopting his teen gang member son’s five gang member friends

36. Nina finally getting her waffles

37. Only to realize Matthias Helvar is possible better than waffles (just barely, but still)

38. Matthias believing waffles is Nina’s one true love instead of him

39. What’s new? Nm, Nina can raise the dead to do her bidding, Inej plummeted 20 stories and nearly died at the ninja stars of some assassin chick with a huge ego, and there’s a huge gaping hole in Jan Van Eck’s dining room ceiling. Hbu? Who wants waffles?

40. They’re all crazy but Wylan realizes there’s nobody he’d rather have by his side cause the Dregs are HIS CREW

41. Kaz Ankle Breaker Brekker sliding past a pair of Van Eck’s guards and knocking them off their feet at once with his cane

42. The Crows trying to outdo each other with the highest rewards offered for their execution or capture.

43. Kaz winning that contest in a landslide

44. Nina flipping off their Wanted posters

45. Nina changing out of her Fjerdan costume with Matthias’s “help.”

46. Jesper and Kuwei’s haunting the Dime Lions

47. Little Inej stopping hearts and scaring her family to death on the high wire but wanting to keep going back on no matter what

48. Inej only falling when a net is underneath her

49. Wylan’s first impression of Jesper

50. Jesper’s flair for neon fashion

51. “Mother, father pay the rent! I can’t my dear the money’s spent!”

52. “On a dare I ate a literal trough full of waffles doused in apple syrup and almost went back for seconds.”

53. Kaz treating Jesper like a brother, even yelling at him and calling him Jordie because he’s so protective of Jesper and wants to keep him from making a mistake too big because of his gambling addiction. Seeing Jesper get carried away with his best worries him and he just wants him to be smart and not make the same costly mistakes Jordie did.

54. Kaz and Jesper arguing like brothers and then proceeding to fight like brothers while Inej, Nina, and Matthias sit around bored, waiting for them to snap out of it cause they’re definitely not going to kill each other with their bare hands, and there are bigger things to worry about.

55. Jesper’s dad breaking up the fight with a single threat

56. Jesper Llewelyn Fahey

57. I KISSED THE WRONG BOY

58. Inej and Jesper’s friendship

59. Matthias being very okay with PDA with Nina

60. Colm’s presence making the Dregs feel like kids worn out from a rowdy birthday party

61. Kuwei being a straight up savage and lying about his language barrier

62. KANEJ WOUND BANDAGING SCENE DESTROYED ME EVERYTHING ABOUT IT I HAVE NO COMPLAINTS NOR DID I EXPECT HIM TO EVEN GET HALF AS CLOSE TO HER AS HE DID

63. Kaz trying so so hard to push away all memories of his trauma to be in the moment and touch Inej and just show her how much she means to him

64. She followed him anyway

65. Kaz reclaiming his rightfully EARNED Dregs throne

66. Inej watching him kick out Haskell and kick traitor Dregs ass with pride

67. “I suggest a cane”

68. “What’s wrong with him?”

“Same thing that’s always wrong with him, he’s Kaz Brekker.”

66. Nina constantly trying to get Kaz to warm up a little, whether by joining a group hug or letting someone help bandage him up post-fight for his life

67. Colm willing to do anything to help the gang without question

68. Wylan’s cute anger at Jesper for mistaking Kuwei for him (let’s be real tho he was pretty mad at himself too for not being more upfront with his feelings since he had no Tailor to fix him)

69. Wylan getting mad at Nina for failing to mention she found a refugee Tailor that could change him back

70. Colm feeding into Nina’s waffle/food in general addiction

71. The politics in the story are so intricate and it just continues to be built upon in Crooked Kingdom. It’s detailed enough that honestly, Leigh could probably write a whole Grishaverse history textbook. It’s pretty interesting to read from everything we get from the Dregs discussing their home nations, their histories, traditions, and relations with other countries. Leigh put in so much effort to build not just an authentic country in Kerch, but an entire alternate world. Really fun to read about.

72. Wylan’s offense for Jesper not being able to tell him and Kuwei apart in that moment

73. Jesper stealing a portrait Wylan’s mother painted of him to help them reconnect once Wylan’s features are returned

74. “I told you, I like your stupid face.”

75. Jesper helping Genya tailor Wylan’s “stupid” face because he remembers it quite well

76. Jesper nearly losing it when he returns to find the boy he had fallen for at first sight has returned to his original appearance

77. JESPER KISSING THE RIGHT BOY

78. “I really hope we don’t die”

79. Colm giving an award worthy performance in front of Van Eck to rope him and the Council into falling for Kuwei’s fake indenture auction

80. Nina’s underlining threat to Van Eck for messing with Kaz, only a fool would try to scheme against Brekker

81. Colm telling Wylan that he’d be good for Jesper ☺️

82. Wylan taking an actual beating from other Dregs to make Jan Van Eck believe the Dime Lions were going to kill his son for him

83. Wylan’s on point acting making everybody in the chapel believe his father was a conniving scumbag all along

84. THE FACT THAT JESPER CAN ACTUALLY USE HIS POWERS TO AIM HIS BULLETS

85. Kaz lying like nobody’s business to the Merchant Council and everyone bidding on Kuwei to throw Van Eck under the bus

86. Kaz freaking BLOWING UP THE MENAGERIE IF THAT’S NOT A DECLARATION OF HIS LOVE TO INEJ IDK WHAT IS

87. Kaz and Inej hand holding

88. Nina pretending to be pregnant

89. Matthias believing Kaz could fake a birth

90. Genya teaming up with Kaz and Nina to fake Kuwei’s death

91. I haven’t even read the Shadow and Bone trilogy yet but I love King Nikolai and his alter ego and I can’t wait to read more of him in the series and in King of Scars!!!!!

#kaz brekker #six of crows #crooked kingdom #inej ghafa #kaz x inej #nina x inej #grishaverse #ketterdam #leigh bardugo #dregs #also matthias is still alive and no one can convince me otherwise #matthias helvar #nina zenik #jesper fahey #wylan van eck #jesper and wylan #wylan van sunshine #kuwei yul bo #kuwei

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shooter-nobunagun · 6 years

Text

Orphanage of the Cosmos [Bloodborne AU]

//Covers lore and events from Upper Cathedral Ward through the Orphanage; usual spoiler warning.

“Tell me something; why are you really here?” The hunter acted as if he hadn’t heard the other man, only continuing to etch the rune patterns along his skin but Adam knew he was listening. “You Executioners only care about the Vilebloods, and you certainly don’t need our strength.” There was no response still, and Adam felt his eyelid twitch.

“What is it you’re really after?”

The pick was laid down with a soft “clink”, Tell methodically bandaging up the scars until the etchings healed and the rune’s power would take effect. “Adam Muirhead. That is a question I could ask you myself; Your strength is impressive and your hunts, even moreso. Why you would take such an interest in a newcomer I do not know, but it’s not just for her skills.”

Though Tell didn’t say anything explicitly, Adam felt his pulse increase. Just how obvious was their relationship becoming... Even though he was sure they were taking enough precautions around each other, and hell it wasn’t as if anything more happened after the kiss in the gardens (and there had been nobody else around, he’d made sure of it). Regardless, if Tell was subtly hinting he was aware of this bond between them, then anything was game.

“...This hunt, it’s different than the past ones, somehow...I know you can sense it,” he replied, though avidly looking away. “It ain’t my first, and I’m not stupid enough t’ turn away help for the sake of pride.”

“Different, you say...?” Tell’s voice carried only a hint of further knowledge, but it wasn’t enough for Adam to make a judgement of whether or not to push for more. “In any case, it’s none of my business; as you so rightly said, I am merely with your band for the time being because I find it an interesting change of pace. I do not need your strength to survive.”

“Then keep yer bloody nose outta this,” Adam muttered, wondering if Tell really was a threat or simply a hunter who’d been on too many hunts, and now merely found ways to keep himself amused during the never-ending nights. “Call us interesting if yeh want, just don’t stir up unnecessary trouble.”

Tell hummed a questioning note, before finally strolling over and eyeing Adam face-to-face. “Unnecessary trouble...I have a feeling it’s not me who’s at risk.” It was unnerving, both the double entendre and also how close Tell was standing to him, those dark eyes piercing his own.

It felt like forever before he blinked and stepped away, Adam letting out the breath he didn’t even know he’d been holding. Shit; Tell was definitely onto them but unlike Mirza, it didn’t seem to be malice so much as curiosity, or perhaps even caution.

“Just remember, Muirhead; anything more than the occasional midnight visit will come back to bite you, sooner or later.” Adam nearly dropped the tool he’d been holding while embedding a blood gem into his gun. There was a chance Tell was simply poking fun in jest, but after all that, he had a feeling the Executioner knew.

About his true feelings for the huntress.

“Adam...? Is everything okay?” Speak of the devil. His head turned and there she was, eyes large and questioning as she handed him the turnscrew he’d dropped. “Did Tell do something?”

“...It’s nothing.” He took the tool and turned back to the workbench, Sio looking a bit hurt at his abrupt attitude but he couldn’t risk revealing anymore than they already had. If only he could find some way to be sure they could get some privacy, he could tell her... “Oy, Sio—”

But when he turned around again she’d already disappeared. ---- “Tha’s a mighty long face ye’ve got thar, lass. Sumthin’ the matter?” The surgeon gave her a friendly pat on the head but Sio’s expression remained unchanged, only focused on tuning her blunderbuss. “Och, somethin’s got yur goat; did that Muirhead do sumthin’ again?”

Sio barked out a laugh. “Ha! More like not do anything...” she muttered, hands going through the motions of oiling the locks and switches along the gun’s shaft. “Even now, I feel like he’s so hard to get a read on...one minute he’s being all nice, the next he ignores me like I’m a brat,” she growled, tossing the dirty rag into the supply trunk. “If you’re just using me for your own pleasures, then why the hell did you say all that in the gardens...”

Hunter raised an eyebrow at the insinuations Sio’s words carried, but kept it to himself. “Well, tha’s how he’s always been, fer as long as I’ve known ‘im. Hell, I’d say he’s actually gotten a lot better, since we’ve started traveling wit’ ye. Take it easy lass, it’ll take ‘im some time t’ get used to...uh, well,” Hunter cast her a sheepish glance, not sure if he should reveal the fact he already knew about their relationship. “A-Anywho, I’m sure he’s got his reasons; ‘f there’s one thing I can assure you, it’s that he isnae th’ type of man t’ act carelessly. Well, least I dinnae think so...”

“Well, if you say so...” Sio grumbled, not entirely convinced. Then again, what did she know about love and relationships? This was her first one, and with a veteran hunter from Yharnam, to boot. Maybe displays of affection were rare among their kind? Or maybe she was thinking too far in him giving her anything beyond the occasional compliment or even kiss. ‘Seriously Sio, you couldn’t have fallen for a more normal guy?’

A tap on her shoulder nearly sent her jumping out of her skin again, but to her relief she managed to control it—even moreso after she realized who it was that wanted her attention. “Oh! Uh, William Tell...right? Is there...something you need?”

“I was discussing the state of things with Vidocq earlier; he mentioned you and Muirhead were able to communicate with a Great One—Rom?”

A familiar shiver crawled down her spine at the mention of that topic. Surely Tell wasn’t suspicious as well...she hadn’t sensed anything foreboding from him, but he could very well have an ulterior motive, like so many of their fellow hunters.

“U-Uh, y, yeah...I-I mean, I wouldn’t really call it...communicating, but more like...” She twisted a lock of her hair nervously, wonder how wise it was to reveal everything. On one hand, if Tell already spoke to Vidocq then there wasn’t a point in hiding it. But on the other...who knew what he wanted this information for. “Um—can, can I ask...why are you interested in this anyway? It’s not like Rom’s around anymore...and to be honest, I’m not sure what more I can tell you that Vidocq already hasn’t; if anything, he could probably tell you more, considering his research...”

To her surprise Tell shook his head. “Actually, I am asking because I know someone who might be helpful in figuring this out.” She stared at him blankly, not sure what to make of this. “Sio Ogura, are you interested in learning more about why you are able to hear those thoughts? With creatures beyond any imagining, and what they mean?”

“H-Huh?” Now she was really confused. “W, Wait, what do you mean...Tell, do you know what a Great One is? Can you also hear their voices?”

“...Not really. Well, I suspect not as well as you can. However, an acquaintance of mine recently wrote to me about a great discovery that may shed more light on this...phenomenon. He is an elite member of the Healing Church; the Choir, if you’ve heard of them.”

Sio shook her head slowly, still trying to grasp everything. “O-Oh, I...see.” Though she wasn’t truly interested in figuring out a mystical entity that was probably best left alone, a part of her curiosity couldn’t help but be piqued. Perhaps this would yield a way to break that strange connection somehow, or at least explain it. The blood sickness was bad enough, she didn’t want another potentially fatal condition to deal with. Besides, these Great Ones and the beasts they fought had to be connected somehow...right? Though Sio didn’t know how exactly, instinct told her they co-existed for a reason. “Where is this friend of yours?”

Tell was about to speak when another voice cut in. “Oy, what’re you two doing...” The look Adam was casting him could only be described as daggers, but the other hunter didn’t seem to mind at all.

“Ah, Muirhead. Nothing much, was merely asking Miss Ogura if she would be interested in heading to the Orphanage at the top of the Upper Cathedral Ward.”

“An orphanage? Whatever for...” Adam’s eyes narrowed at that comment. He’d never heard of anything at the top of the Cathedral...though it was true, there were rumors of a locked gate leading to a secret place where only the most skilled and wise hunters were able to venture. “This isn’t the time to be taking any grand detours—”

“—You are not interested in why you could hear her? Rom, the Great One?” Adam tensed at the mention of that battle. “From what I’ve learned during my travels, not every hunter hears them, you know. The Great Ones...and to be able to understand more than just feelings and images...”

“...What are you insinuating?” A cold sweat ran down his spine. “I—yeh, sure, it would be nice to know, but I don’t think it’s anymore important than finishing the hunt—”

“—Is it?” Both Adam and Sio could only stare at Tell, unsure of what to do. “You have never wondered, how these beasts came to be in the first place, why this night continues so?” He was walking in circles around them, pose non-threatening as usual but Adam slowly gripped the handle of his pistol underneath his coat.

“The Orphanage. At the very top of Upper Cathedral Ward." He held up an elaborate, rusty key. “I will see you at the headstones if you wish to accompany me, and seek the truth.”

And then Tell left, coattails swirling behind as the girl collapsed on her knees while he continued staring, and wondering.

“Oh man...that was intense,” Sio shuddered, slowly picking herself back up. “What the heck was all that...”

“I don’t know; this Tell figure, I don’t get what he’s doing...bloody hard to figure out,” Adam muttered. “Sio, you alright? He didn’t do or say anything, did he?”

“N-No, it was kinda the same as he told you...he asked, if I wanted to know why I, I can hear those...things,” she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to erase those horrible memories. “I-I mean, I know you’re right and we don’t have much time, b-but I can’t help but wonder...what if he has a point? He said he has a friend or something there...a part of the Choir?”

A member of the Healing Church? Adam raised an eyebrow, but didn’t dismiss Sio’s words. The Church was definitely not his favorite group of people, but at least they were better than the Vilebloods. Marginally. “It’s true, I’d rather not take anymore unnecessary detours...but I am curious as well. And especially for you...”

Sio blushed with embarrassment and guilt. “A-Ah, I’m sorry—seriously, it’s not like Tell is forcing me to go, he just asked; honestly, we probably should just get on with the hunt—”

She stilled as he leaned over her, a somber expression on his face. “If you really want to Sio, then it’s your right and your choice. You don’t need my approval for everything; least of all something that so deeply affects you.” There it was again, this weird change in attitude he only showed sporadically. Still Sio couldn’t tell if really cared about her, or just put on a front to make her feel better.

“Erm, yeah sure...by the way, this isn’t related to anything, but...what’s with you?” She gave him a pointed stare. “I don’t want you to coddle me or anything, but I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t just dismiss me at the drop of a hat.”

Adam winced internally at that stare. Of course, Sio never let anything slip her by, not even when he brusquely brushed her off. “Ah, look, about that earlier...I apologise, I didn’t mean to. It’s just...” He glanced around, before nodding his head towards the more secluded part of the woods just beyond the gate. “There’s a reason I don’t want others t’ catch on about...us. Anymore than they already are.”

“O-Oh...makes sense.” Suddenly she felt guilty, thinking back to all the possible moments she might’ve let slip that they were involved now as more than just allies. “Sorry...you’re right, I should be more careful myself...I’m pretty sure Hunter’s already put two-and-two together by now—”

“—Hunter we can trust, and yeh, like you said he...pretty much already figured it out,” Adam muttered bashfully. “I’m talkin’ more about the others. Not just folks like Tell...but also Geronimo...and Mirza.” His eyes narrowed at the thought of those two. More than once already, they’d each hinted at how Sio was special somehow, not just as a hunter but to him, personally. “Especially those two; hate to admit it, but I’m startin’ to regret keeping them around...”

Sio felt a shiver of fear at Adam’s words. Just from working together with them, she’d learned the two were not to be trifled with; things were uneasy enough with her blood sickness, but if Adam was starting to become concerned, then there could only be consequences down the road if they weren’t careful. To be sure, Geronimo was always polite towards her, but her intentions towards infected hunters were painfully clear. And Mahesh Mirza...

“U-Uhm, Adam?” He gave her a curious look, but didn’t interrupt. “A, About Mirza...I, I don’t know, if this means anything--ah hell, maybe I was just imaging it—”

“—What is it Sio? Did he try anything with you?” She was surprised by how alarmed Adam seemed at the mere mention of the man, his expression changing and quickly he strode over to her. “What’s wrong?”

“U-Um, well...it’s just, you know how I was sleeping...in your lap, right after we came back from Cainhurst Castle, right?” A nod. “W, Well, this was right when I woke up, b-before you were awake...I, I noticed him just...staring at me...” Adam’s hand gently laid itself on her shoulder, the weight comforting her even as Sio felt her stomach twist at the memory. “I...I-I mean, I didn’t see him directly...it was only because, of the angle and where I was lying...I could see his face in the Stakedriver’s reflection...I-I don’t know if he could see back at me, o-or what, but...”

His grip on her shoulder tightened slightly but Adam didn’t say a word. So, his suspicions were correct...Mirza was indeed after the huntress, and not just on a flirtatious level. ‘This must have something to do with her blood sickness...and perhaps the ability to hear the Great Ones...’

“A, Adam... I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about this earlier, but...” He shook his head, gently patting her on the back as she tried not to cry. “I, I was just so shocked by it, a-and then we were getting ready to all go to Yahar’gul, I-I didn’t want to cause unnecessary trouble at a time like that...!”

“It’s all right Sio; I understand.” Adam sighed heavily before sitting down next to her. “Honestly, it’s my fault; I should’ve kept a closer eye on ‘im myself...and also not made it seem like things would be fine as long as I was around.” He should’ve known Mirza would find a way to get what he wanted, even with him and Hunter practically standing guard around Sio. “Thanks for telling me that, Ogura. And next time, trust your instincts. Hell, I’d trust yours more than I’d trust mine at this point...”

Sio nodded, burrowing her head slightly against his arm and was rewarded with a small embrace. “Thanks, Adam...but I’m just curious; how come you and Hunter always talk about Mirza like he’s some sort of...well, vagabond? Yet he’s part of our group?”

“Oh boy...now that’s a story.” Rubbing his temples, Adam wondered how much he should tell or where to even begin. “I guess the best way t’ put it is, he’s a bit of an...enigma. Born into a rich family, stable life and all that—then for some reason he throws it all away and goes about acting like a hunter and ends up gettin’ disowned by his parents...guess he’s got some skills, but it’s just...” Adam gave an aggravated sigh as he leaned back against the stone pillar. “It’s just, something about him doesn’t add up; he claims he just wants to ‘see the glory’ of being a hunter, and yeh he ain’t half-bad on the field, but still...he’s hiding something, that much I can sense. There’s just something about his actions and intentions that don’t make sense. He’s a hunter, but not for the reasons he says... And that’s not even counting his womanising behaviour. So yeh, tha’s why me an’ Hunter are wary of him...but I figured, it was better than lettin’ him wander away where I can’t keep an eye on him.”

“I see...” Sio contemplated Adam’s words with her own musings. Her suspicions weren’t far off either, the sense that Mirza was definitely after something, yet he acted with just enough charm that made it difficult for them to pin any sort of accusations of underhanded doings. ‘The type of person who knows how to get what they want, how to play the game without getting caught...’ The man reminded her of a snake, lying patiently in wait until the prey was close enough for a single, deadly strike. “In any case, I’ll be sure to watch myself around him...”

Adam nodded in agreement. “Yeh, I’ll mention to Hunter as well tha’ Mirza’s likely to try something if he thinks he can get away with it...hopefully two people might dissuade him from doing anything stupid...”

“Have you worked together with him in the past before? With Mirza?”

“Hmm? Well...wouldn’t exactly call it working together. After you’ve been in this business for a while, you tend to know who’s around and who’s likely to not get killed. We’ve teamed up once or twice to take on some particularly nasty beasts but that’s about it—went our separate ways pretty quickly afterwards, no need to stick around.” Adam shrugged. “Back then, my policy was t’ mind my own business, even if those I worked with weren’t exactly...trustworthy.”

The huntress hugged her knees and thought about Mirza’s behavior, and now Tell’s mysterious words. “So...do you, wanna go to the Orphanage, then? With Tell? I-I mean, I...personally, I kind of want to...if only I can finally understand why... Plus, I feel he at least has more morals than Mirza.”

Adam stood up at her words, lending a hand to the smaller girl. “Hell, why not. Hopefully won’t be a long detour...and I am kind of curious myself. Plus, there’s no way in hell I’m lettin’ ya go by yerself, ‘specially now,” he gave her a slightly roguish grin to which Sio blushed, “Tell himself asked me if I was curious as well...which makes me think this phenomenon concerns more than just you.”

The two strode in a comfortable silence to the headstones where the stoic Executioner awaited, eyebrow slightly raised but otherwise un-surprised to see them. The trio knelt at the headstones as the fog encompassed them, unaware of a fourth who then knelt down right behind them. ----- “This...can’t really be an orphanage...can it?” The foreboding atmosphere, thick fog and onerous shrieks that greeted them the second they arrived...and that wasn’t even counting the steps leading into the Upper Cathedral Ward, which were littered with countless grotesque, larval-like creatures that tried to spit acid on them with every step. “Ouch—damn this acid—!” The pain in her foot burned, but even worse was the familiar feeling of losing herself, her control slipping away and giving in to that frenzied bloodlust... Growling low in her throat, she transformed the Rifle Spear, charging it up towards those stupid larvae—

“Oy Sio, careful! Here, drink this,” and before Sio could push him away a dark, pungent liquid pushed past her lips, the girl swallowing clumsily and coughing as she choked on the thick sedative. “There...feeling all right now? Have some water as well.”

“Ugh...ooh, what the...” Still coughing, Sio wiped her bloody mouth with her sleeve, flinching as she noticed the crimson color. “What th—wh, what did you just give me?”

“A sedative; concocted at Byrgenwerth, it helps calms those whose nerves are easily frayed...such as yourself, Miss Ogura.” She turned to the voice of William Tell, who was picking off the creatures with several molotovs. “I noticed it when you were fighting in Cainhurst, and again in Yahar’gul...but you have an affliction towards frenzy...do you not?”

Sio could only nod helplessly, upset and frightened this hunter had figured her out so easily. Not just that...but what he could do with such knowledge... Even with Hunter and Adam’s support, it wouldn’t be wise to strain things anymore within the group. “Y, Yeah...I guess it’s pretty obvious by now...but, wait a minute, you called it frenzy, and this...sedative, you knew...this place, the Choir...” Tell was looking at her with an almost amused gaze, as if he enjoyed watching the huntress putting the pieces together at last. “You...know about this condition. And it’s related to the Great Ones...and how I can hear them...isn’t it?”

As she finished her hypothesis Sio knew she was correct, judging from the rare smile Tell was giving her. “Again, you astound me with your insight and knowledge, young huntress. You are correct; the reason you tend to go into a frenzy, is because your mind is particularly vulnerable to the whisperings of those Great Ones...so whenever you come in contact with them or one of their kin, you are at risk to lose your mind to whatever madness they try to tell you.”

“B-But then, that means...a-are you saying I’ll eventually go insane? And why the hell are they trying to talk to me?” Sio felt herself go numb with dread, wondering how much her sanity was already gone.

“That’s what the sedative is for. It will help to counteract and strengthen your mind against such probings,” Tell answered, “though as with any form of blood ministration it should be used sparingly, so it’s best to avoid coming in too-close contact with any of them. As for what and why...well, perhaps my colleague will be able to answer it better than any of my own delusions.”

Sio nodded mutely, still distraught over her own realizations and the fact that she’d just swallowed an entire bottle of human blood. As if having to inject blood vials wasn’t bad enough...but if she wanted to protect herself from any more madness, what choice did she have?

“This place...it’s so dependent on blood—no, they’re obsessed,” she muttered to herself as they proceeded inside the dilapidated hall. Adam and Tell took the lead as they scouted ahead cautiously, while Sio waited until a signal for her to either charge forward or else stay back as they handled the numerous brain suckers, werewolves and other horrors present inside the cathedral. A terrible shriek and shattering of broken glass startled her out of her thoughts, as a pair of monstrous werewolves crashed through the thin frame and into the crowded corridor where she waited. Shaking off the glass, she didn’t even wait for the two men to catch up before her Rifle Spear pierced deep into one of them, shooting the second to fend it off while she finished the first. The floor was slick with blood and entrails by the time Adam and Tell returned from dealing with the third, Sio already wiping up her weapons while two massive corpses lay at her feet. Though he didn’t say anything, Tell gave her an even glance, before the three of them continued up through the center of the mansion.

Even as a group of three, and her increased experience, still Sio felt the constant dread of fear, hanging just out of reach to prevent it from overwhelming her completely, yet enough unease remained to keep her pulse high and all senses hyper-focused for any potential threat. Despite its innocuous name, Upper Cathedral Ward was anything but mundane; beyond the numerous threats of werewolves and brainsuckers was the building itself, rotting and dark with stairs that creaked ominously and evidence of hideous experiments strewn about.

As they reached the top Sio’s eyes slid over to a curious statue, posed with arms outstretched in peculiar manner. If it weren’t for the gravity of the situation, she might’ve even laughed. Still, when Adam and Tell were taking a breather, Sio couldn’t help but raise her arms as well, mimicking the strange pose and then it seemed as if she’d...gained something, although nothing physical happened.

“That’s an interesting gesture you’re doing, Ogura.” She yelped in embarrassment as the two men came rounding the corner, Tell raising an eyebrow and Adam giving her just the slightest of winks, as she mumbled something about ‘just stretching’, before following the two in an awkward silence. When would she be able to act like a real, grown-up hunter instead of a bumbling newbie?

The anxiety eased slightly as they finally reached the tall doors, which Tell handily opened with the key. The actual orphanage didn’t seem to be much better, though the outside air was an improvement compared to the stale and fetid damp that stuck to her nostrils no matter how much she breathed. They were now in some sort of garden, filled with large flowers she didn’t recognize that faintly glowed whenever she approached them.

“What are these flowers? I’ve never seen them before...” She was tempted to reach out and touch one, their soft light lulling her into a bit of a trance-like state.

“Lumenflowers; for some reason, they’re quite common in this area. To the best of my knowledge they’re not dangerous, but one does wonder why they glow like that...”

Sio quickly withdrew her fingers after that comment. Better to be safe than sorry, especially in a place like this. Still, the garden was much needed after fighting the dark for so long; Sio didn’t even notice how tight her grip was until they paused for a break, having to pry her fingers from the dirty bandages that wrapped around the Rifle Spear’s shaft.

“Oy, how’re you holdin’ up?” It took every fiber of her being to not jump suddenly as his voiced pierced her ear, even as she welcomed his presence. “A bit jumpy, huh...don’t blame yeh; been gettin’ weird vibes this entire time...and it’s not just the unwelcome company.” Adam gave a slight glance around the area. “I just hope this friend we’re supposedly meeting ain’t gonna be another lunatic we need to worry abou...” His voice trailed off and Sio felt a sudden quiver of unease run through her, the very air itself becoming charged with a kind of energy that set all the hairs on her neck straight up.

“Wh-what’s, what’s going on...there’s, something...”

“...It seems we’ve company to deal with first, before meeting up with Nostradamus...wonderful.” Sio barely caught the name of their contact before strange, little blue pygmys streamed into the room, their bulbous heads aglow with an ominous light as they ran on spindly little legs that somehow did not snap under their own weight. They did not growl like the usual monsters, only gibberish as they ran around the hunters, the circle growing increasingly tight as Sio felt the suffocating frenzy building up again...ignoring her own disgust, she forced another bottle of sedative down, resisting the urge to heave. No matter how repulsive she found the blood to be, there was no denying it did help to keep her calm, to focus on the task at hand instead of blindly charging forward.

“What the hell are these things?” Adam’s Stakedriver was working full-time in knocking out the seemingly endless wave. “They’re not beasts, are they?”

“No; from what I’ve gathered, and Nostradamus’ notes, these creatures were once human, but did not turn into beasts. Rather, they’re something else entirely...” Tell’s arrows fired effortlessly into the distance, picking off the stumbling blue blobs one-by-one. “Tch...there’s no end to these things...”

“There must be a leader of some sorts...I’m sure if we can find and take it out, the underlings will lose their direction and be easy enough to pick off.” Sio tried to scan the creatures to discern which one could be different, but they all looked the same. But their behavior...her eyes narrowed as she noticed a particular creature standing around, not running or attacking. ‘Wait a minute, why’s that one not doing anything...? Maybe...!’ Without another word she shoved herself through the fray, ignoring the bumbling blue hands that tried to hold her back and their arcane magic that left painful burns through her clothes. Those could be healed up, but not if they couldn’t stem the flow...

“Tell! Adam! I think I’ve got it!” The two men turned towards her shouts, as Sio’s spear sank into the blue creature. “Over here!” Although this particular creature hadn’t been attacking, now that she was effectively ripping it to shreds, it too started to become hostile. The more she struck, the larger it seemed to grow; until suddenly there was a burst of light and the creature instantly swelled in size, now with additional tentacles sprouting from its head. “Uh oh!”

“Sio!” Adam tackled the girl down just in time before both of them got hit with an arcane blast. “You hurt? Damn, th’ thing’s huge now!”

“True, but at least we finally have a target!” Her face was pulled back in a wide-eyed grin, Adam feeling a little uneasy about her battle lust but at least she seemed to be resisting their frenzy. “Come on, let’s take it out!” And without even waiting for a response she tore back into the alien, firing a shot to disable the tentacles as she tore out its guts in another visceral attack as Adam attacked its flank.

With their combined efforts and Tell’s arrows, soon enough the creature toppled over, the smaller underlings vanishing in an instant and all was silent in the gardens again. Adam took a quick glance over at Sio, who was panting with exhaustion but otherwise seemed none worse for wear. The dangerous grin she wore during battle had faded, replaced with a tired grimace. “Oy, you all right? Here, we should patch up your burns...”

“Oh, it’s not a big deal—yeeoow!” Sio couldn’t help but jump from the pain as Adam swabbed her burned skin with an antiseptic, all the while giving her a look. “O-Okay, maybe I should take care of these...ow, don’t press so hard!” She winced as he went over a particularly deep wound.

“Sorry, my bad...” He was no Hunter when it came to the gentle dexterity needed to not unintentionally hurt patients, but sometimes the basics had to be enough. “Apologies; this better now?”

“Y-Yeah...thanks.” He nodded and then stood up, using his body as a curtain to give her some privacy while she quickly changed into a spare shirt, the breeze chilling against her bare skin.

“So what, is this friend of yours ever goin’ to show his face? Or was this all for nothing?” Adam eyed Tell with a wary glance as the archer came trotting up. “Unless there’s more...”

Adam didn’t even finish his sentence before they all heard the slow clap, clap, clap, footsteps now approaching the trio from seemingly nowhere. He was a young man, with orange-red hair and slightly shorter in stature compared to Tell, dressed in the classic uniform of The Choir: billowing white robes, long black glove and their signature blindfold cap, signaling their desire to commune with the heavens and their debt to Master Willem.

“My, my...you did not inform me you were bringing guests, dear friend? Let’s see...two additional hunters, one male and one female...one who is on the verge of succumbing to the blood sickness, and both...ah, I understand now, Tell. I understand all too well, why it is they came with you...”

“Muirhead, Ogura. My contact from The Choir, Michel de Nostradamus.” Tell nodded towards the man, who bowed slightly in return. “Do not be afraid; I can promise he does not mean any harm towards you.”

Sio found his words hard to believe, instead shrinking back towards Adam who subtly wound a hand around her shoulder in a protective manner. Despite the blindfold, Nostradamus had identified them with an astonishing degree of accuracy; not only who they were, but her affliction, which she didn’t even think Tell knew.

“Oh dear, perhaps I’ve frightened them?” Nostradamus gave a tinkling laugh. “Come come, there’s no need to stand around like strangers. Please, come this way, and I shall explain everything. He continued beckoning them towards the other building, able to navigate the hallways as if he didn’t have a blindfold at all.

Part of her wanted to just forget about this wild goose chase and return to the dream, but another part was burning with curiosity. That, and the fact they’d already fought their way through this entire Cathedral and then the gardens, meant they might as well go through with whatever secrets this Nostradamus held. There was an encouraging pat on her shoulder and she turned to see Adam giving her a small smile, Sio nodding silently as both of them followed the other two inside.

#documentation #hunt or be hunted #//wow i am in update mode #//kind of #//more like a bunch of chapters were hanging for a long time until finally figured out how to continue #//my bad #//feels bad for taking so long...i know folks were waiting on this one

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irandrura · 3 years

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Western Skyrim plot

More ESO bingeing! I also played through the Western Skyrim storyline. I felt that was also pretty strong. I rank it above Morrowind but below Summerset. Details below the cut:

As with Summerset, I think one of its strengths was establishing a small group of adventurers to work alongside the player. You have some friends, they work alongside you actively during the investigation, and drama happens to them. So we have the return of Lyris Titanborn, as impatient, blunt, and strong as ever; Fennorian the vampire scholar from House Ravenwatch, an adorable little guy who's a bit woobie-ish and does science to try to save the world; and Svana, the princess of Solitude, who has spent her youth getting drunk and trying to avoid responsibility, but has to rise to the challenge when her father refuses to act. In MMOs - and for that matter TES games - the player tends to be a blank slate, with very little dialogue, so it's a great idea to have prominent NPCs who can react to things, discuss what's going on, and experience character development over the course of a story. The three heroes here were all likeable enough and I was happy to save the world with them. The world itself is... middling, I think. It has the challenge that we've all explored this area before in Skyrim. At least for the Vvardenfell chapter, Morrowind was so long ago that a lot of ESO players will not have played it. For Western Skyrim, well, everyone has played Skyrim. Everyone. So they had to find a middle course, neither making it too familiar or too foreign. They mostly did all right? Solitude felt basically the same as in Skyrim, even if all the shops had different names. The major difference was the addition of an entire additional hold to Skyrim, Karthald. Karthald in ESO occupies the area that in Skyrim is mostly western Whiterun, plus maybe a few bits carved out of Hjaalmarch and the Reach. It's ruled from the town of Karthwatch, and is a militarised area that serves as the fortress and bulwark of Skyrim against the independent kingdom of the Reach. (Someone on Reddit overlaid the Skyrim map on the ESO one, which makes it clear that Karthald is a big circle between Rorikstead, Karthwasten, and Dragon Bridge - Karthwatch itself is around what will become Broken Tower Redoubt.) I think this was interesting: to see an entire hold that seems to have a good reason to exist now, and fits right into Skyrim, but will cease to be later on. Unfortunately we didn't get as good a look at it as I would have liked - Karthwatch is a lot like Kvatch in Oblivion, in that it was attacked and mostly destroyed by invaders just before you arrive, and while you help save a lot of survivors, they do comment that perhaps they will never be able to fully rebuild Karthald. So I think you have to assume that Karthald was never restored after this and eventually got carved up by Whiterun, Hjaalmarch, and the Reach. Other than that, though, they were definitely trying to avoid making the plot feel like Skyrim again. Unfortunately they might have done that by making it feel like the Dawnguard DLC. The plot is about a secret conspiracy of vampires, werewolves, and Reach witches trying to resurrect an ancient army of vampires and werewolves and associated monsters. This is where House Ravenwatch came in: I'm glad that I've played the Rivenspire zone, because I think a lot of the zone would have made less sense without that context. Still, I could feel that they were trying very hard to avoid mentioning anything related to dragons. Similarly, you spend a lot of the DLC in Blackreach (a place I mostly ignored in Skyrim, because, uh, it's quite boring), and I felt they were conpicuously trying to avoid doing anything that involves the Falmer or Dwemer ruins. Instead it's all about the aforementioned army of undead and witches building their secret base down there for their evil plot to destroy Western Skyrim. The biggest weakness of the region, in my opinion, was the villains, and their role in the plot. So, this will get spoilery, but it’s an old zone, I doubt anyone cares, and I don’t believe in spoilers. You’ve been warned. ;) As far as I can tell there are three basic villainous factions in Western Skyrim, working uneasily together. Firstly you have the Grey Host, this resurrected army of ancient vampires and werewolves working for a fellow called Rada al-Saran. Their goal seems to be to return all their former members to life and then... it's not entirely clear, but presumably conquer the world or something. Secondly you have the Icereach Coven, a faction of Reach witches. Their motives are just to continue their long rivalry with the Nords; they seem to be just taking an advantage of an opportunity to get one up on their hated opponents and crush Skyrim. Thirdly, and this is the spoilery part, High King Svargrim has betrayed his people and made an alliance with the Grey Host. He has become a vampire and his goal seems to be to make Western Skyrim safe and independent forever, no more under threat from its neighbours in the east or in the Reach, and for him to rule it forever as immortal king. So Svargrim's plan involves getting power from the Grey Host and then dropping a necromantic nuke on Solitude, turning everyone into undead monsters that he can control with his vampiric powers, and then he will rule his kingdom of the night forever. Okay, fair enough. This is a plot twist about two-thirds of the way through the zone: you initially come to Solitude in order to warn Svargrim (on behalf of his hatred enemy Jorunn in the east) that the Icereach Coven and the Grey Host have their designs on Western Skyrim. Svargrim initially seems to distrust you (not unreasonably, since you are sent by his enemy), and you spend the first while trying to convince him to take the threat seriously. This is how you end up meeting his daughter Svana, who agrees to help you convince her father after her mother, Svargrim's wife, is assassinated by a vampire. So for most the story, Svargrim is trying to prevent the Solitude guard and the jarls of the region from doing anything effective to stop the Host/Coven while also keeping his cover: at first this means claiming that you're lying conspirators from the east, and then grudgingly doing things to fight the threat, but those things actually being wholly ineffective. Then near the end you discover the truth, he drops the mask and goes, "It's me, Svana! It was me, Svana! It was me all along, Svana! You all bought it! Even my immediate family bought it!" (I don't know anything about wrestling, and I’m really hoping that reference was funny.) That's all fine. The problem I have with it is that we don't really see enough of Svargrim to understand why he's doing this, what his motives are, or how he feels. We talk to Svana a lot and discover a lot of how she feels about her estrangement from her father and then her father turning into an evil vampire monster thing, but we don't fully understand his actions. When compared to the way that Summerset provided us lots of opportunities to talk to people like Leythen or Veya Releth and understand why they chose to join an evil demon cult and blow up the world, it's rather disappointing. So, for instance, it's not actually clear why Svargrim drops the facade at the moment he does. We come to him with a magic potion that can protect people from the magic that turns them into his undead pawns. Obviously what he needs to do at this point is get us to go away while also preventing us from manufacturing more of the potion or spreading it more widely. There doesn't seem to be a need for this to happen: High King Svargrim: "Well, get to it. Tell me about Svana's miraculous elixir before I have the lot of you tossed out." PC: "The elixir works. Svana tested it herself and withstood a harrowstorm." High King Svargrim: "You represent my most hated enemy and expect me to believe a word you say? Even if you speak true, worms have found purchase in the wood and seek to rot my kingdom from within. I will not let Solitude and the western holds fall." PC: "If you can't trust us, at least trust your daughter." High King Svargrim: "Trust Svana? Perhaps …. No. No! Your honeyed words are but echoes of my most obstinate foes. You offer a miracle with one hand while holding a poisoned dagger in the other!" PC: "We only want to help." High King Svargrim: "Help? I need no help from the likes of you." <Svana holds out the bottle of elixir.> Svana: "Don't be a fool, father! This elixir will save our people!" <Svargrim turns around.> High King Svargrim: "I didn't think you had it in you, daughter. You have actually surpassed my expectations. More's the pity." <Svargrim snatches the bottle out of her hand.> High King Svargrim: "And I'll hear no more talk of this miracle elixir." <A flash of red covers Svargrim's body and his complexion and eyes show him to be a vampire. Svana is thrown back and Svargrim breaks the bottle.> Svana: "Father, no!" High King Svargrim: "The Gray Host is my true ally! Once the harrowstorm engulfs Solitude, my kingdom will endure for all eternity!" <Svargrim turns into a cloud of bats and disappears.> Fennorian: "I should have sensed it … Svargrim's a vampire!" There was no reason for him to go, "Aha, I'm a vampire!" His court still believed him, and so far it would be entirely in-character for him to continue to automatically reject the aid of people he thinks are spies sent by Jorunn. All he needed to do was delay everyone for a day or two more while the Grey Host completed the ritual to nuke Solitude. Instead he flips out, turns into a vampire, barricades himself inside Castle Dour, and then with the game up the heroes realise that the Grey Host must have tunnelled into the castle from Blackreach, go down there, fight their way, and kill vampire-Svargrim. But why? He was at most a day or two and probably mere hours away from victory! Heck, if he'd just said "Good job, give me the potion and I'll have my alchemists get to work replicating it right away" and then poured the potion down the privy the moment we leave the room, he'd have won. I'm also a bit unsure as to what's going on with his characterisation. For instance, he seems to genuinely hesitate when you bring up trusting his daughter. What's going on with him? Does he still love her, or does he harbour doubts about his evil plan? It would have been nice if we'd seen more details of what was going on on his side of things. The Grey Host sent a vampire to assassinate his wife, Queen Gerhyld, when she approved of our investigations to stop them. The orders to kill Gerhyld came from Rada al-Saran. Did Svargrim approve of that? If Svargrim is evil and cold-blooded enough to murder his own wife, you'd think he'd also be evil enough to send people to murder his daughter when she was getting closer - and he had plenty of chances to do so. Alternatively, I can imagine a more interesting rewrite where we make Svargrim a tragic villain. Perhaps he bargained with Rada al-Saran for the power to defend Western Skyrim - he's clearly got a suspicious, even paranoid frame of mind, and is worried about Western Skyrim being sandwiched between the Ebonheart Pact and the Reach, so it would be in-character - and didn't fully realise the cost. It would be plausible that he bargained for necromantic power to secure Western Skyrim's borders in secret, perhaps rationalising that the deaths of a small number of peasants to power the Host's rituals would be worth it. Then as time goes by the 'small number' gets larger and larger, and he gets drawn in deeper. Then when his wife starts to investigate the threat, Rada al-Saran has her murdered, without Svargrim's knowledge, and he furiously confronts the vampire. Maybe Rada turns Svargrim into a vampire in order to better control him, but Svargrim retains enough strength of will to veto any attempt by the Host to murder Svana as well. Meanwhile the Host and Coven's plans expand to the point where Svargrim realises they're going to slaughter all the people of Western Skyrim (or at least some huge number), but he can't turn on them without them exposing that he's a vampire, or use blood magic to control him. So he would become a tortured character, alternately trying to protect his surviving family while also being a reluctant-ally-turned-slave of the Grey Host. In the end to save Solitude we would have to defeat the monster that he's become in that final confrontation on Castle Dour. I don't know, I just feel like that would be more interesting than Svana just going "Oops, my dad's been an evil vampire the whole time, better kill him". I'm actually a bit disappointed that he just turned out to be evil, because his case against trusting you at the start is not unreasonable. Lyris is sent by Jorunn, and he has good reasons to distrust him. Even leaving aside the part where Eastern Skyrim and Western Skyrim hate each other, in recent years Jorunn has joined the Ebonheart Pact and built a giant army with which he invaded Cyrodiil and tried to make himself emperor of Tamriel by force - that sounds like the behaviour of the kind of person who would totally invade Western Skyrim if he thought he could get away with it. Distrusting anything out of the east is reasonable. (In an ideal world there might have been alternative introductions to the Western Skyrim quests that don't require you to be working for Jorunn, because it's kind of weird for Covenant or Dominion characters to do. All the reasons for distrusting Jorunn also apply to Emeric, who also has a border with Western Skyrim and wants to make himself emperor, and as for Ayrenn, well, she also wants to be emperor and she's an elf. Nords hate elves. I guess Lyris should always be working for Jorunn - I don't remember her ever having any loyalty to him in vanilla, but I guess she's from Eastern Skyrim? - but it would have been nice to have a way for the player to not be working for a rival faction leader. But ESO seem to have completely ceased to give a damn about the faction war, so...) Anyway, so, the next zone for me to do is Markarth and the Reach, which will hopefully conclude the Grey Host storyline and let me defeat Rada al-Saran for good. I do hope the Reach will be interesting. As noted, it is currently an independent kingdom run by a fellow called Ard Caddach. (Ard? I guess the Reachmen are Scottish now? 'Ard' is a Gaelic word for 'chief'.) They don't seem to be all evil, and it would be nice to do some questing with the Reachmen where they're not all cartoon villains. PC: "But the Reachfolk are barbarians, aren't they?" Count Verandis Ravenwatch: "No, of course not. I won't mince words. The Reachmen are a stubborn and unruly people. They resort to violence at the least provocation. But despite the opinion of most of civilized Tamriel, they aren't frothing barbarians." PC: "They're not?" Count Verandis Ravenwatch: "The Reachfolk possess a distinct culture that you'll see during your time here. They also enjoy the same capacity for virtue and evil as Bretons, Nords, and the other peoples of Tamriel. Animal skins don't make one a barbarian. Actions do." So that seems really good, especially since prior depictions of Reachmen, in both Skyrim and ESO, have really hammered home the idea that they're all evil monsters without exception. Let's see where they take it...

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mindynichole · 6 years

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My theory explaining the Reylo connection. Part #3

This is part #3 of a three part series I wrote regarding my theory about the Reylo connection.

Part #1 can be found here:

https://mindynichole.tumblr.com/post/169449962686/my-theory-explaining-the-reylo-connection-part-1

Part #2 can be found here:

https://mindynichole.tumblr.com/post/169451203646/my-theory-explaining-the-reylo-connection-part

I highly recommend reading these first.

This meta includes spoilers from TLJ so DO NOT read further until you have watched the movie.

So I think I can anticipate what many people must be thinking!

But Kylo Ren is not a nice dude and has to be the "Big Bad," right? I mean he killed that kind old man, an entire village, and even committed the Star Wars cardinal sin of murdering his father! Even Darth Vader wouldn't have been capable of that! Not to mention he threw Rey against a tree, almost killed Fin, and tortured Poe, right?

Well to Kylo - who very much admitted to Rey in TLJ he did not hate his father - killing Hans was something he felt there was no choice over.

I think Kylo probably already knows Hans is right about Snoke but that is neither here or there to what Kylo is trying to do in this moment. Kylo says, "I am being torn apart. I want to free of this pain. I know what I have to do but I don't know if I have the strength to do it. Will you help me?" Kylo does not want to necessarily kill Hans but only wants some kind of peace from what he's been battling his entire life. This is his reaction to what's going on. He is still under the assumption that he can't be whole unless somehow he can completely descend into the darkness and believes the very act of choosing the Dark Side over his own father will do it. Killing Hans was supposed to be his ultimate "test," remember? It's his is way of completely letting go of the past. Kylo Ren is only being motivated to do these things to just feel right. Albeit, he's going about it in some very horrible ways but it shows just how affected and determine Kylo is to find whatever it is he is seeking.

But curiously, it STILL didn't really work.

I think this is why immediately after Hans dies, we see Kylo just standing there distracted in disbelief long enough for Chewy to actually hit him with his bow. As others have pointed out, TFA novels go into his grief about this situation a little more than the movie did. Since they are connected, Rey's reaction very well could have also included some of what he was also feeling at the moment. I feel this way because I believe the symbolism of Rey and Hans' relationship has a lot to do with what she shares with Ben Solo inside her - but I'm not getting into all that right now.

I also believe this is why he doesn't try it again with his mother in TLJ. Instead, he not only seems to allows himself a moment to grieve Leia, but I believe Kylo appeared momentarily shocked when the pilot behind him does what he just can't do and blows up the bridge.

I mean one would think if any event was going to turn Kylo completely dark and take away this conflict inside him, it would have happened after TFA. It's not too unreasonable to believe after murdering his own father, getting defeated by Rey, and going back to Snoke for more training in the darkness - anger should have overcame Kylo Ren the same way it did Anakin Skywalker. Red eyes and all, you would think!

Yet, surprisingly we don't see this at all in TLJ, do we?

Instead, to the surprise of many fans in my theater, we are immediately shown our new dark lord is still very much conflicted and also very much still infatuated with Rey. Very little about him has changed at all. So much so that Snoke's frustration is in overdrive. Though taunted about it by his master, Kylo don't even seem to care he has a large scar going down the side of his face. In fact, quite surprisingly, it was Kylo who initially reacted better when the whole telepathic thing starts to happen out of nowhere. Rey's first reaction is to kill him - not that anyone could really blame her - but one would have thought Kylo would have been out for revenge but instead he clearly is still just very intrigued - even if also somewhat perplexed. Kylo Ren still very much feels the need to keep Rey despite everything that had transpired between them during TFA.

There is so much going on in those space skype sessions but they have been adequately explained already by so many people in the Reylo community and quite frankly, even elsewhere. I don't feel the need to rehash it all again here.

However, I do want to point out a couple of things that seem to back up my theory in this all-so-important interaction.

First, I believe regardless of who was orchestrating the connection (I believe Snoke had a part in manipulating it - but not as much of a part as others tend to think), the ideal of what was happening even being possible shows us as far as the force is concerned - no distance will keep these two halves apart. The magnetic pull of their force to be whole is greater than anything one person could ever completely manipulate.

Even in their heyday, Jedi were not simply telepathically communicating over great distances. They needed actual technology to do that. Snoke was even using some sort of projection machinery to conspire with Hex and Kylo. In the Star Wars universe, it seems you need to be one and the same in order to do something like this. Heck, even Luke and Leia is said to have a very unique connection and they still are not running around talking to each other from remote parts of the galaxy. If that was the case, Leia would have never needed to send Rey to find Luke in the first place! In fact, projecting the way he did is presumably what actually KILLED Luke - but somehow Kylo and Rey did it so effortlessly?

Second, by taking away the distraction of outside influences around these two, not only were they merely able to bond emotionally, but I believe the two halves of their force was finally able to completely fuse. Everyone points to the scene in which they touch hands and both experience their visions as the big "sexual-like" moment in their relationship. While I completely agree, I also think that scene has way more meaning than simply finally "getting" each other. I think this is the exact moment when the fusion of the two parts happened and the very act of it doing so is what caused the visions much like the greater force awakening from the first movie caused Rey's initial vision and Kylo's influx of light. This is why the scene is shot so sexual. BTW, I believe they both seen the same thing but their perceptions of it were influenced by their much different reactions to not being whole to start with. Again, more on that another time.

One piece of evidence that points to this happening is what Snoke tells Kylo while trying to convince him to kill Rey in the red throne room. The evil master says "“My worthy apprentice, son of Darkness, heir apparent to Lord Vader – where there was conflict, I now sense resolve. Where there was weakness, strength." Snoke is sensing this because Kylo is now no longer a fractured part (albeit both were a strong fractured part individually) of the even bigger force between them. He is fully united with his other half (who is also in the room with him as well) and in that moment is finally completely whole and full of his true strength.

Another demonstration of their new wholeness in the force is evident to me by the ensuing battle with the Preatorian Guard. Not only are they battling these guys literally as one, but there is something else noticeably different about this fight.

In the Behind-the-Scenes video of Kylo and Rey's TFA duel in the snowy forest, JJ gives us some pretty interesting insight into what they were going for in the tone of that battle. He explains that in the original trilogy, the Jedi use their sabers much more clumsy than in the Prequels. The reasoning he gives is because in the Prequels, it was set in the heyday of Jedi strength and lightsabers were used in battle all the time. They were simply better trained and more comfortable in using them. However, by the time of Luke, the Jedi were gone so nobody was really going around using sabers anymore. Because of this, they were not as skilled with them as the old Jedi had been simply because they didn't use them as much. JJ also goes on to explain that they felt it would have been the same way with Kylo Ren and especially Rey as it had been in the original trilogies. So they shot it the same exact way George originally did in order to show us this.

However, there was absolutely nothing clumsy about the throne room fight. It was noticeably just as epic and flawless as the battles in the prequels. So much so, that even the most disgruntled fanboys and fangirls will often cite the scene as maybe the only thing good about the entire movie. I believe it was intentionally filmed that way to show us the magnitude of their combined power.

Interestingly enough, Kylo seems to go back to the more clumsy form of lightsaber use while he's trying to duel Luke. Perhaps because he's nowhere near as strong as he was in the red room with Rey by his side?

By the end of the red room battle, Kylo knows Rey completes him. There is not whatsoever any doubt in my mind and he absolutely can't imagine being Supreme Leader without her. And even though Kylo knows she comes from nothing (something he seen in her own mind btw, so it might have been just a matter of what she personally knows about), he no longer even cares because she isn't just nothing to him. She is quite frankly everything.

Rey also knows he completes her as well and doesn’t hesitate to try to take him with her to save the Resistance.

However, they are at very different places mentally in the process of coming to terms with all this new information at this point. The most ironic thing ever is Kylo accusing Rey of not being able to just let go of the past. Many people view this as manipulation on his part but instead I see it as a classic case of projection.

It's Kylo who can't completely let go of the dark side in order to fulfil his true destiny.

Rey has let go of everything. She knows the truth (maybe the somewhat truth) about her parents. She no longer wishes to go back to Jakku to wait. She is at peace with these powers she knows she has and believes in the same cause of her resistance friends. Rey is completely renewed and all good at this point.

Kylo is only partially there because it’s much harder for him to let go.

And everybody seems to view what happened in this moment as Rey failing at redeeming Kylo Ren - despite their great connection. I view it much differently.

Because I believe they are connected in this special way, I will forever maintain the best thing Rey could have ever done for Ben Solo was refuse to turn to the darkness - no matter what the outcome ends up being. If she would have stayed with him, they both ran the risk of the entire force they share falling to the dark side. If that would have happened, there would have never been any hope for The Resistance, the redemption of Ben Solo, or the prophecy ever coming to pass. Simply because Rey prefers the light, there will always be conflict in Kylo Ren. Many people don't realize it - but I believe by leaving - Rey gave Ben a fighting chance to eventually come around. She has unconsciously already saved him in a sense.

Now that the two halves are equally whole, that conflict within Kylo Ren might even be greater than what we previously seen before. That last little shot of their force bond showed us their force is indeed still fused - despite Kylo's little hissy fit. It also showed us that the telepathic communication was not all Snoke. Finally, it showed us Kylo Ren is still desperate without her as it was obvious he was not in a good place in that moment. TLJ did not posses as much finality as everyone seems to think.

Since this is the case, I don't look for Kylo to be capable of being a good Supreme Leader. Don't even get me started on how much he messed up that entire last battle because like many other topics I've touched on, that's for another time! Just know that he couldn't have made worse decisions even if he tried! Of course, that's because each one was made by his emotions and not his head. No wonder Hux gets so aggravated with him!

And all this is what Luke figured out in the end. This one line during his and Kylo's duel told me everything I needed to know about Episode 9: "Everything you just said was wrong!" Literally everything Kylo tried to say was as ridiculous as Rey saying the force was nothing more than being able to move things and stuff. I happen to believe Luke was probably right.

So now that you understand how I look at this force bond between Kylo Ren and Rey, I feel I can post other observations and theories I have about the trilogy in the future.

But for now, those must all be continued...

May the Force be with you!

#Reylo #reylo theory #reylo thoughts #reylo tlj

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dabibliophile · 7 years

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Are KO and TKO really the same person?

Is TKO a part of KO’s subconscious/a manifestation of his anger through anime rules/etc., or is he a separate entity in a Naruto/Ninetails type situation? We don’t have a lot of solid information yet, but what the characters say about him offers clues.

First up: Shadowy Figure

He clearly knows the most about TKO/the ominous purple goop. Here’s what he had to say to KO about it in his debut episode:

“I see something in you that no one else sees… the great power that already courses through your veins. Locked up tight within you is more strength than all of your little friends combined.”

“The secret to unlocking your true power is your anger.”

“[The goop] is your anger, the key to your power.”

“Everyone holds you back because they’re afraid of your raw, natural ability. They want you… blissfully unaware of your true potential.”

“Make [your anger] stronger! Strong enough to unleash your true power!”

“It’s time for your friends to see how powerful you’ve always been.”

In all but the first quote, Shadowy Figure uses terms like “your power” and “your potential” to make it seem like the goop is naturally a part of KO, like Rad having telekinesis or Potato being an anthropomorphic rabbit. SF is obviously manipulating KO with his “mentor” angle, but he could also be manipulating him by choosing his words carefully to influence KO’s perception of the goop. He’s way more transparent in “Let’s Have a Stakeout!”, where he’s dropped the mentor act and is straight-up hostile towards KO, which is reflected in both the beatdown and his wording.

“I could have never gotten through that pesky door without that… power of yours.” At face value, SF is referring to KO’s power fist, which he pulled off without any apparent help from the goop, but let’s be real here. That specific phrasing would definitely remind KO of his Plaza-destroying tantrum. Not to mention that claiming it’s KO’s fault he got in there is a blatant lie. A distraught six-to-eleven-year-old child might not be able to see through it, but we the viewers can. SF is saying he couldn’t open the door himself, but was able to easily trounce the kid who could? Bull. It’s absurdly easy to get weapons in this universe, SF could have dug around in the junkyard at the back of the Bodega for five minutes and found some leftover Boxmore part with a laser or saw or something to open the door. He’s just saying it’s KO’s fault to get him to bust out TKO again.

“You can’t even begin to comprehend the incredible power that lies within.” It sounds like SF is talking about the glorbs here, but his actions say otherwise. He didn’t make much of an effort to collect them, and wasn’t upset when he had to leave them behind. He even said “my work here is done” while falling into that pit, meaning the glorb objective was simply a cover for what he’s really after- the “incredible power” that is the purple goop. To make matters worse, both KO and Mr. Gar bought the fake glorb motive, which will throw them off when they try to stop SF.

“You’re pathetic and your only saving grace is the delicious dormant power that courses through your veins.” The creepiness of this line (“Delicious”? Seriously?) and his angry tone make it stand out from the “ohohoho I’m a cool suave mastermind who has everything going according to keikaku” attitude he had previously. This contrast suggests the line is significant, especially since it’s the second time SF hasn’t referred to the power as inherent to KO.

After our near miss with TKO, SF is ticked that he can’t access the power (as opposed to him not caring when he loses the glorbs) and says “That won’t do at all. We can’t have you ruining all of my hard work.” Stalking a child for a bit, giving a little speech about anger, climbing onto a roof, being a dweeb on camera for a few nights, traipsing through the sewers, and beating up a child doesn’t really add up to “hard work”. This suggests SF has put more effort into getting his hands on this power than we’ve seen onscreen so far. How does he know about this power? Was he involved in its creation or discovery? Did he seal this power inside KO? If so, why would he do that? If not, then who or what did? Since the “mentor” option is out the window, how does he plan on getting, controlling, and using it? As of right now, we don’t have an answer that’s more specific than “evil stuff” and it’s driving me crazy.

SF’s apparent insider knowledge gives us most of our information, but looking at what other characters don’t know about the situation can also help us.

Carol, KO’s own mother, didn’t seem to recognize Shadowy Figure from his card, or find TKO’s power set familiar. Most people can’t convincingly lie or conceal info under stress. While such a skill could be useful in her former superhero job, it begs the question: why would she conceal this information? At this point, KO being in the dark about this power is a danger to both himself and others, so either Carol has an extremely good reason for keeping it under wraps, or she’s just as clueless as everyone else. This possibility makes the whole situation even more scary for KO- his warm, loving, powerful mother can theoretically protect him from creeps in capes, but can’t protect him (or anyone else) from himself.

KO seems to have the most experience with TKO/the goop after SF since he’s probably been Traumatized by all of this, but his “knowledge” is all impressions and guesswork rather than the facts SF presumably has. In “Face Your Fears”, his reasoning that you need a powerful villain to defeat a powerful hero is what makes him summon our first look at the goop. We don’t see KO’s previous playthroughs of the fear game (though a flashback of something other than that darn sandwich would be nice), but it’s clear he views it as evil. His statement that “It came from inside [him]” as opposed to something like “It’s my shadow self” suggests that, KO-shaped as it was, he still saw it as a separate thing.

After he cools down in “TKO”, KO describes the titular character as a “kid who looked just like [him].” Once again, he considers TKO/the goop a separate entity, though this could just be a way of emotionally distancing himself from the destruction he caused.

In “Let’s Have a Stakeout!” KO states Shadowy Figure “tricked [him] into unleashing TKO and making [him] so mad that [he] wrecked the Plaza". It still sounds like he considers TKO separate, but he also holds himself responsible for the Plaza’s destruction. That’s good if TKO is a part of him since it reduces the chance of blowups in the future, but if they’re separate then he’d be blaming himself for someone else’s actions.

TKO calls KO a “faker” during their fight, so even he seems to consider them as separate entities.

Finally, (and maybe I’m just a sap here) TKO’s “any last words?” to Carol make me want to think he’s a separate entity because we’ve seen KO have nothing but positive interactions with his mom. Even in Evil Tantrum Mode™ I don’t think he’d attempt to murder her.

Let’s set theories aside for a moment and assume that TKO is a separate entity from KO like Naruto/Ninetails. If that’s the case, how would he benefit from pretending to be KO to the point of resembling him in the mindscape? Having KO as his host is a good strategy. If KO thinks TKO is a part of him, then trying to get rid of him is futile. But if KO thinks of TKO as separate from him, then he can theoretically be removed or destroyed. TKO’s assertion that KO needs him cements this. For one reason or another, he does not want to be separated from KO. If TKO can get everyone to think he and KO are one and the same, then the only way to kill him would be to kill KO too, and anyone who tries that is going to get their ass kicked by everyone in the Plaza.

Shadowy Figure’s wording suggests he also believes they are separate, while wanting everyone else to think otherwise. It’s highly doubtful he’s got altruistic leanings, so the “hard work” he’s put into the situation must benefit him somehow. As it stands, he got KO (and the goop) alone with him twice, one of those times being after KO recognized him as a serious threat. He might even know where KO lives at this point. Right now he theoretically has easy access to the goop. If it’s destroyed then his plans for it go kaput, if it’s removed it’s going somewhere more difficult to access, which makes getting it harder for him. Trying to get KO to keep the goop inside of him makes his job much easier.

Heck, let’s go for the amnesia plot and say even TKO thinks he’s KO. If he thinks he’s KO then he’s not about to leave KO’s body to take on a hypothetical “true form”, because he thinks it’s his body. It’s a lot harder to take over the world when you think you’re a six-to-eleven-year-old boy instead of, say, some ancient malevolent power that once trashed Konoha village. What’s an edgy anime rival without an identity crisis?

TLDR: KO might be straight-up posessed.

I welcome any additions/corrections/questions/etc!

#ok ko let's be heroes #ok ko #ko #tko #shadowy figure #ok ko carol #ok ko theory

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maltedmilkchocolate · 6 years

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Because I clearly don’t love myself, I made Voltron Hogwarts Headcanons, & ideas. This is a long post.

Lance is a Slytherin and ya’ll can fight me on that one.

Resourcefulness

Cunning

Ambition

Determination

Self-Preservation

Fraternity

Cleverness

He’s suuuuper ambitious, he’s constantly been vying to one-up Keith early on in the series (though it simmers down to a mutual respect), and Lance is nothing, if not resourceful: The way he pilots, the modes of his bayard, the way he handles people in general. All of this fuelled by a huge determination to do better, to win, to protect his space family (value in fraternity), and it’s motivated by a personal need to go home, but also a personal need to win. Lance likes coming out on top. He also might not be Pidge or Hunk levels of clever, but he’s clever in other rights, again with his piloting skills, and weapon proficiency. He has innate instincts that fuel self preservation, and that of the people he cares about. His motivation to protect comes not really from saving others because it’s the right thing to do, but it comes from protecting the people (and morals) he personally values. He does however, share a good handful of Hufflepuff traits: loyalty, kindness, dedication, hard work. It might have caused some amount of indecision with the hat. But ultimately I believe the Slytherin traits would have won out.

Keith is a textbook Gryffindor

Bravery

Nerve

Chivalry

Courage

Daring

He rushes headlong in to battle on the principle that it’s the right thing to do, that this is the quickest way to save people/fix a problem. Keith rarely acts selfishly, but the motivation behind most of his actions are that this is going to defeat a problem that threatens the people he cares about: finding shiro, getting angry when pidge wants to ditch, getting mad at people not taking things seriously. But still rarely (but slowly) learning from his own brash impulsiveness. He values the safety of others ABOVE himself. There’s 0 self-preservation there at all, like to a fault.

Hunk is a textbook Hufflepuff if I ever saw one. BUT SO IS SHIRO.

Dedication

Hard Work

Fair play

Patience

Kindness

Tolerance

Unafraid of toil

Loyalty

Tell me that doesn’t have them down to a T (excluding whoever that Shiro is they rescued recently who has 0 sense of patience or tolerance -squint-)

Like this traits make up the backbone of these characters. Shiro doesn’t jump into action on impulse like Keith. He has a strong sense of doing things because it’s the right thing to do, but the underlying thing behind that is an outright sense of kindness. That people deserve better. The difference between a Gryffindor and Hufflepuffs sense is like H - I’m doing this because people deserve to be safe. G - I’m doing this because I feel it’s the right thing to do.

Beyond that, Shiro’s role as a leader demands from him patience, tolerance, toil. It’s ingrained in him, it’s what he teaches to others: Patience yields focus. And Shiro is also loyal to a fault. Perhaps not to a person, but definitely to a cause. Whilst I said Hunk is a textbook Hufflepuff (he is), he also has a good handful of traits for Ravenclaw. But ultimately I think he would ask the hat to side with Hufflepuff. It’s a better fit for Hunk overall.

Pidge is.... difficult. She has the traits for Ravenclaw AND Slytherin.

Intelligence

Wit

Wisdom

Creativity

Originality

Individuality

Acceptance

That’s really fitting of Pidge, but she also fits all of the Slytherin traits. She’s very self motivated, her family ties came first, even if she had a change of heart and stayed with Voltron, it still is/was her primary concern. She’s resourceful, ambitious, clever. And really god damn cunning. This girl is a Slytherin in all that she does. But she LOVES learning. She has a huge passion for learning more about technology and the new worlds around her. That passion is there in spades. So Pidge is a really hard choice, and I honestly think the hat would outright struggle to place her in one house or another. I think it would come down to Pidge having to make that final choice in preference (and I’ll leave that up to you to decide. Cause honestly I can’t pick. It’s a good 50/50 split.)

Coran is another one that’s hard to decide. Between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor, Coran ticks a lot of boxes for the both of them. Ultimately I’d go with Ravenclaw. Whilst Coran has a lot of chivalrous moments, and impulsive daring (questionable ideas). He ultimately comes through for everyone with his wisdom and acceptance. His originality and creativity holds the backbone behind a lot his problem solving and diplomacy. Also, Coran is like a walking encyclopedia of information. Let’s be real here.

Allura is a Gryffindor, hands down. She’s too headstrong to be a Slytherin, lacks completely and utterly the patience of a Hufflepuff. She’s quite impulsive and will latch on to an idea as ‘the right course of action’ before she actually listens to anyone. She’s very similar to Keith in that they both have a lot to learn about leadership, even though she’s technically trained. What Keith lacks in chivarly, Allura makes up for her in a social skills and diplomacy as a royal figurehead. But she is very much full of a courageous heart, and a will to do what’s right to save the universe. Her values line up most with Gryffindor, though she shares traits of other houses, they aren’t enough to really tip the scales.

(I know there’s a huge tendency to put heroic characters into Gryffindor, and ‘dark’ or ‘evil’ characters into Slytherin. But that’s not how Hogwarts works. Like at all. And there’s a huge canon history of cowards in Gryffindor, traitors in Gryffindor, heroes in Slytherin. Like think about what actually fits the characters, and /why/ it fits. Also remember. All of those traits? They can be a FLAW in a character, as much as they can be a strength.)

Story Time:

> w > And hey, Hufflepuffs and Slytherins are canonically (at least film-wise) pretty darn close, and always hanging out together in every god damn shot. So Hunk and Lance would still have a tight as heck friendship.

Hufflepuff Shiro is an excellent mentor to an impulsive Keith, teaching him the values of patience and hard work, rather than rushing ahead. A Head Boy? A teacher? A brother? He can look up to.

Gryffindor vs Slytherin rivalry, also excellent foil for Lance and Keith’s stupidity, and developing respect for each other. Quidditch battles much??? (Until Keith gets kicked out.) “The only reason you’re the current score leader is because Kogane got kicked out.” (or some shit like that)

Can’t stay in the same dorms as each other??? Sleepovers in the Room of Requirement.

Want Keith’s angsty dual heritage? Muggle and a Pureblood parent who happened to come from a family that had ties with Deatheaters. (Maybe his mother was a run-away who wanted nothing to do with it and joined a resistance. But ultimately still shares blood with a family that sided with evil.)

Maybe Shiro was a Head Boy for Hufflepuff. On the right track to becoming an Auror or something after graduating. Telling Keith to keep up his hard work and training. “Finish your education.” Because Shiro wont be there to guide him due to his new role after graduating Hogwarts.

Keith spends summers & christmas with Shiro outside of Hogwarts. But one year no one comes to pick him up. The news drops that Shiro has gone missing/died. A Hogwarts prodigy, alongside a co-worker, and a mentor (the Holt’s) all ‘vanish’ presumed dead due to a magical error.

It was never an error. The ministry just wanted to cover up the fact the Deatheaters had returned. (or something worse had risen to take its place)

Keith knew Katie through Matt knowing Shiro. They weren’t close but too much of Katie’s snooping, and Keith’s anger got them both kicked out of Hogwarts as a result of the Ministry. But Katie snuck back in as Pidge, placing herself a few classes higher. She needed to learn more, and the only way to do it was through Hogwarts. And hey, she’s a genius. She found a way to continue, and maybe she got some help from a couple of supportive teachers... like Allura, and Coran.

Ofc when Lance and Hunk see Pidge sneaking through the halls, they aren’t about to let this kid go snooping. They’re in their final year of school, and this kid who looks a few years younger but apparently takes their classes??? is snooping around??? when exams are coming??? 1) That’s not cool. 2) Curiosity Killed The Cat. 3) Hey... exams are coming. One last adventure before we all die under quills and paper?? Let’s go!

So they snoop on Pidge. Which leads all three of them to learning about the ‘Galra’ a faction of Deatheaters (or maybe they’re something else entirely. Something new. Something darker.)

But they’ve snuck out the castle now. They’re no longer in the safe confines of the walls, this is the forbidden forest, or maybe somewhere else, maybe Pidge used some way of teleporting and had to concede to having Lance and Hunk along.

Only they find Keith. Lance’d recognise that mullet anywhere. And Keith fills in some details Pidge didn’t have. His own findings from his own searches to find Shiro.

(Also |D Radical idea but like.......... Why are they at Hogwarts... and not Ilvermorny in the states lol?)

Also more head canons:

Keith is half-blood but thought he was muggle-born, never knew mother or too much information about the magical world.

Lance is a muggle-born wizard. But had 0 knowledge of magic or the magical world prior to it manifesting.

Hunk is a pure-blood.

Pidge & Matt are muggle-born who grew up knowing about the magical world. Pidge is half sceptical over magic, and half ready to rip it apart and form it into inventions

Shiro is a pure-blood. His prosthetic arm is imbued with dark magic as a result of the Galra.

Allura and Coran are pure-blood’s from like some ridiculously important family that has ties to the original founders. (Or something on par with royalty.)

So what did I end up with? Lance - Slytherin - Muggle-born (Student: 7th Year) Keith - Gryffindor - Half-blood (Student: 7th Year - Expelled) Pidge - Ravenclaw/Slytherin - Muggle-born (Student: 7th Year. Formerly 4th/5th Year) Hunk - Hufflepuff - Pure-blood (Student: 7th Year) Shiro - Hufflepuff - Pure-blood (Graduated. Auror) Matt - Ravenclaw - Muggle-born (?????) Allura - Gryffindor - Pure-blood (Teacher??) Coran - Ravenclaw - Pure-blood (Teacher) This can probably be set wayyyyyyyyyyyyy after the Harry Potter generation though. Let a new evil rise up to need defeating.

#voltron #hogwarts #harry potter #voltron AU #wow I got carried away

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