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little-pondhead · 1 year

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Thinking about if Dani ever gets added to the Villain Everlasting Trio au, like how would she fit in? Obviously the JL would have to figure out she's a clone and try and figure out why she exists ("maybe fenton is just that narcissistic?" flash asks, meanwhile batman is already texts agent a to get ready another room in addition to the three already prepared). Maybe she acts like the innocent kid in danger until heroes get close? batfamily trying to pspspsps her away from fenton? The trio collectively calling her their daughter?

I love this au so much, even if I still don't fully forgive you for making Tucker hot.

The way I SPRINTED to my computer.

Disclaimer: This particular AU has nothing to do with Fun Sized and Feral by @nutcase8691 or my Dani Fenton redesign from a while ago. This isn’t really important, but I thought the plot of this au might be straying the tiniest bit too close to the Feral AU (which I love btw) and I just didn’t want to cause confusion.

TLDR: Dani had to mature too quickly in their home world, so when she arrived in the DC universe, she finally got to slow down and be a kid. :)

Okay okay. Give me a moment. Since everyone is acting like the opposite of their usual self when they're playing villains, your question was, how would she fit in? To backtrack to this earlier post, I said that each of the trio's specific gimmicks somehow ties into their everyday lives. They looked at their immediate friends, family and acquaintances, picked out the traits they saw as 'villainous,' and then applied that to themselves.

Danny became a mad scientist because even though his parents love him through and through, they still hurt him the most. The threat of capture and dissection from the GIW didn't help, either. He wears a suit similar to his parents, pushes his hair up so he can see better, and his white lab coat looks a little like the GIW's suits. The suit is also red, which is the opposite of green, distancing himself further from his hero life as Phantom and connecting him more to his civilian self, where red is present on his shirt. He refuses to use his powers, as well.

Sam looks like an angel, which seems odd given her completely goth look and slightly pessimistic attitude. And if she uses her plant powers (shut up, she totally has them) as part of Team Phantom, then that rules out using them as a villain. They want to completely separate these alter-egos from each other. Well, one of the most significant sources of strife in Sam's personal life is her parents. In the show, they're seen constantly fighting with Sam, trying to mold her into their perfect daughter, when Sam is very obviously happy with how she is right now. So as a silent fuck you to her parents, Sam gets a hold of a Realm artifact, the halo, which gives her a pair of ghostly wings and the ability of flight. Now, she's the one in the air, and Sam is still doing what she does best, even as an angel. She tries to show the world that not all angels are perfect, and in fact, they can be downright monstrous. (This is where her more aggressive and destructive attitude comes in.)

As far as I'm aware, Tucker doesn't have any trauma related to his parents. (The lucky bastard.) He is the tech-nerd stereotype, however. And since he's from a cartoon from 2004, that means he gets bullied. A lot. The show focuses mainly on Danny, but you cannot tell me Tucker wasn't bullied like that, either. For the sake of the au, let's say Danny was taking all the beatings for Tucker. Maybe he was in canon; I can't remember. But not only is Tucker being physically bullied but so is his best friend. (Eventually lover!) And imagine his feelings when Team Phantom shows up to a ghost fight, and Tucker is absolutely useless the entire time. He just can't help at all. Danny and Sam are on the front lines, redirecting hits and doing damage control, and here he is, waiting for the Wi-Fi to catch up on his PDA. It eats him up. He wants to be helpful in more ways than one, and that's what the DC universe gives him. He takes another Realm artifact; this time, it's actually his by birthright, and the artifact drastically increases his physical power, just like he's always wanted. He learns Egyptian magic and dresses in a way that gives homage to his time in Egypt-which was traumatizing by itself, but hey, he has sweet beetle magic now.

Basically, Fenton, Manson, and Foley are all the results of the trio's frustrations and fears. They become the things they stress about the most to help cope with their everyday lives. The DC universe is their outlet.

So where does Dani fit in?

Well, Dani is a clone, as we know. Her creation and introduction to the world were rather sudden if you compare her to a typical baby. And that's what she is; a baby. Unless you jumped the timeline far into the future, Dani is barely a year old in canon (I think.) And after her team-up with Danny to defeat Vlad, she makes the decision to leave Amity and travels the world. She has to navigate an entire world independently, even if Danny wants to help her. So now, plop her in the DC verse. What's the opposite of an independent clone who's had to fend for herself from a very young age and has had almost no real familial bonds?

A kid. A scared, touched-starved child who's had no one to look after her for who knows how long. (Vlad doesn't count here.) Dani gets to the DC verse and cries because she and Danny can finally bond like she always wanted to. She doesn't have to put up a strong front because the trio is there to protect her. Dani is extremely young, and now she can finally be a kid. It's not mental age regression; instead, Dani no longer has to hold herself back from doing childish things or crying. Both are things that could be a danger when you're living on the streets. She spends almost all her time here now.

The Everlasting Trio had already missed her before, but they had just fully adopted her in this new world. Dani is their baby. Their little girl. She didn't ask to be born-she shouldn't have to suffer because it was unsafe at home. Well, they can make a new one, just for her, here in this universe. And look! There’s more clones for her to bond with! The GZ is more accessible than ever, and their commute between universes really isn’t that bad. They like it here! And the heroes and villains will never take her away, no matter how hard they try. Sure, Dani can have playdates with some of them, but she will wail and scream if anyone so much as suggests she stay the night without her parent's permission.

Oh, and she never stops being a little shit. If anyone doubts that Fenton and Dani are related, they are simply ushered online to see that one viral clip of Dani latching on to King Shark with her teeth and not letting go in the middle of a shopping plaza. The camera pans to the left a moment later, and the audience spots Fenton doing the exact same thing to John Constantine.

The first time the Justice League meets Dani, it's right after she got lost during a spacewalk with Danny and Sam. She enters the first place she sees, the Watchtower, and breaks down in front of Wonder Woman about how she can't find her parents and doesn't know how to get home. The heroes are baffled and try to comfort her until Danny comes barging in five minutes later, panicking over his baby girl missing. They reunite, the heroes are reeling, and Superman mentions he didn't think Fenton was old enough to have a kid.

Fenton looks up from his bear hug and goes: "Huh? Oh, no. I'm only seventeen. (work with me here) Dani is technically my clone, but we adopted her properly as soon as possible."

And now the League has two issues. Their most annoying enemy is only seventeen. And he has a clone.

What the f u c k.

Extra analysis: Dani's outfit is cleaner and a little fancier than what she wore in the show. She ties her hair up like Tucker and pins her bangs back like Sam. She already looks identical to Danny but likes to wear his sweaters, especially in cold weather. The oversized clothes remind her of her time with Danny in Amity Park, and helps hide her physique better, so it's hard to tell how old she is. She wears leggings to show that she no longer has to fight for her life every day on the streets. Now that the trio adopted her, she can relax and let someone else take the hits for a while. (We all know how fast leggings and tights can be ruined when doing literally anything.) Fright Knight gifts her a cursed doll that helps protect her in stressful situations and functions like an SOS beacon. JLD hates the bear. (She named it Strawbeary.)

She acts on her impulses more often, which the trio sees as a good thing. Even if that impulsive desire gets her in trouble, it gives everyone a chance to learn and grow as a family. Dani also refrains from going ghost at first, following her dad's wishes. Right now, she's just giving herself a break from her previous nomadic lifestyle. After a bit, she and Danny will bond over their halfa status, and she'll grow into her own unique core and powerset. The heroes dread the day the littlest Fenton decides to join her parents in their shenanigans.

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blueskittlesart · 7 months

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Do you have any theories/thoughts on why the last dragon tear is on the Rist Peninsula? Like..lore reason wise? Or did they just pick that spot cause it has a fancy spiral? This thought hasn't left my brain for weeks.

this question got me thinking, because there are quite a few spots on the totk map that are significant lore-wise in that they mention locations in other games and/or were significant in botw, but rist penninsula isn't one of them. of the locations that the geoglyphs and tears fall on, a few of their names appear to reference characters and locations in other games, which is a common theme among minor location names on the botw/totk map. aside from the naming conventions, though, none of these places share distinguishing features with any map locations in other games. there ARE certain locations on the botw/totk map that are very clearly meant to correspond to the maps of other games/cycles, but those locations will almost always have both a specific name referencing the other map's location AND distinguishing features which mirror the features of the other map very closely if not identically. the geoglyph locations pretty clearly aren't that, so the names are likely just easter eggs. these locations also don't have any significance on the BOTW map from what I can tell, aside from the occasional shrine location, which is less important to the point i'm trying to make here but this is already full of useless information bc i did the research so i might as well give you all of it. the important point here is that none of the dragon tear locations are present in any other map of hyrule aside from the botw/totk iteration.

why is this significant? because it means that botw/totk era-hyrule is the ONLY hyrule in which these locations exist. this fact, combined with the fact that certain locations seem almost designed with their respective geoglyphs in mind (the most prominent example is cape cresia's shape being perfectly fitted to the scimitar glyph, but to a lesser extent the tabantha snowfield ganondorf glyph and the NW eldin mountains master sword glyph both finding large, flat spaces suited to their respective shapes, and, of course, the final tear dropping perfectly in the center of rist penninsula's spiral, suggests that these geoglyphs and these memories were tied specifically to the version of hyrule that we see in botw/totk. Whether this has greater implications as to how the timeline of totk plays out or if it's just an indication that zelda was holding on to her memories of the version of hyrule she grew up in is up to you.

that's all i've got in terms of concrete lore, but on a more artistic level i think there is definitely a reason the last tear falls in the center of that spiral. totk continuously uses an ouroboros motif--a snakelike dragon eating itself in a continuous circle. the four dragons circle the map in continuous loops, repeating the same route endlessly, likely for thousands upon thousands of years. the spiral of rist is somewhat reminiscent of that repetition to me, but with one key difference--it ends. there is a concrete end point at the center of the spiral. once you go around it a certain number of times, the circular motion stops. you're free of the cycle. the final tear, in which zelda begs link to come to her, to find her, to SAVE her, falls at the center of that spiral, at the end of a repeating pattern of circular motions. zelda, like the other dragons, has been trapped in an ouroboros cycle for thousands of years. unable to speak, unable to remember, unable to do anything but follow her same circular path through the sky. but zelda's fate is not actually so bleak and unchangable--she's not in an ouroboros, she's in a SPIRAL. all she has to do is make it to the "center"--to wait it out until link can find her and save her, and she will be human again, and that circular motion will finally stop, and she'll be free to live her life again, to truly move forward. the act of journeying to the center of the spiral to get the last tear is forcing the player to adopt that same circular motion that zelda has been experiencing all these years, and to find the relief at the end--a microdose of the bigger battle zelda has been fighting, and which they will soon have to fight, to get her back once and for all.

#asks #i did so much actual research into the names and map features of other games to make sure this was correct. anyways did you guys know that #talus plateau in botw is NOT named after the enemy in that game called the stone talus but is in fact named after a location from oracle of #fucking ages. because somehow in translation the word 'toroiwa' for the oracle location and the word 'iwarokku' for the monster #BOTH ENDED UP BEING TALUS. incredible translation guys no notes #anyway. hope this helps #zelda analysis

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bonefall · 9 months

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Since the ask box commands to vote Bumble in that tourament (which I did, cuz she was SCREWED over to the extreme) could you talk a whole lot about BB!Bumble's dyspraxia? Since we are talking about the *everything in canon* she got for the High Crime of being a fat foreigner woman and abuse victm in warrior cats, let's talk about the universe where we add disabled to her list of High Crimes but she isnt done dirty as balls(sorry if all this is worded weird)

Plus, I'm personally having issues writing a dyspraxic character (mostly because i kinda suck at absorbing information about things like disability when not using characters as exemples) and you've really helped me in the past with making characters with BPD, so it would be personally useful in character making

(Sorry if I'm rude, I deeply respect your work and it greatly inspires me, especially Clanmew)

All righty! BB!Bumble's dyspraxia!

First off, for newcomers;

WHY I ADDED DYSPRAXIA TO BUMBLE

In canon, Bumble is called a fat, useless kittypet, before being dragged back to her domestic abuser. She then dies while trying to survive on her own, starved to the point of emaciation before Clear Sky murders her.

A very common fandom response to this is essentially, "shes NOT useless! She could hunt/fight if you taught her!" And a lot of AUs will have her survive, learning how to be Truly Useful with all the same skills as everyone else.

I won't lie; I think that's very disappointing.

You're not refuting the rotten heart of this ideology, you're just doing what DOTC already does with Jagged Peak. You're AGREEING. You're saying she WOULD be useless if she couldn't hunt or fight like a wild cat, giving her Coolgirl Badass moments to haha embarass her bigots, and Actually the only problem here is that they didn't give her a chance.

What if they GAVE her that chance, and she COULDN'T hunt or fight like them? Would it be okay to send the battered housewife back to her domestic abuser? Hopefully fucking not!

Let's be frank; None of the groups in DOTC are starving. Not even after the prey sickness pandemic.

"Starvation Rhetoric" is an excuse, only ever rolled out by monsters like Clear Sky as justification for stealing land, murder, and throwing out cats the groups deem unworthy of life.

Yet, this gets rolled out for Bumble specifically, by the MOOR CATS, who are supposed to be opposing his ideology.

And that's where I'm starting from.

Okay. What if she couldn't perform physically like other cats?

What if she was part of a group that DID have real concerns about not having enough food?

How does Bumble herself cope with her feelings, and her desire to help her friends and contribute to a group that loves her?

Let's go through all that, and attack the heart of the idea. In fact, we're going to be doing a lot of it, with a significant portion of early ThunderClan being disabled cats.

(Thunder Storm has three legs. Bright Storm has asthma. Sunlit Frost loses the use of both front paws and ends up with chronic pain.)

Bumble's Dyspraxia

The first thing to know about dyspraxia (or DCD, Developmental Coordination Disorder) is that it comes in a LOT of different forms. The next thing to know is that it's RIDICULOUSLY common. Some estimates say 5% of the population has it-- 1 in 20 people.

It's heavily associated with autism and ADHD. The "classic" symptoms are general clumsiness and motor control issues, like having a hard time tying shoes. But these are also symptoms of dyspraxia;

Short-term memory issues, but not long-term

Being constantly covered in bumps and bruises

Having a hard time telling lefts and rights

Difficulties holding pencils or writing in general

"Wobbliness" including tripping mid-step or tripping over your own feet

Issues in the acquisition of "muscle memories," being slow to acquire physical skills.

Stuttering and taking long pauses before responding to someone else speaking

Most dyspraxics won't have all of these, these are symptoms. Not a checklist.

My partner describes theirs as like "constantly working with cold hands through a layer of gloves." The stiffness of being in a freezer, paired with the general delay of having a cover over your skin.

Mine is more focused on the mental side, acquiring new skills is unnaturally difficult, my reaction time is delayed, and I stumble into things.

Every person with dyspraxia is different, but what links us is that we're uncoordinated. We can't help it, telling us to try harder or pay more attention doesn't work. We aren't being careless-- our brains don't send signals to our bodies properly.

I'm basing Bumble's off my own. Her mate, Turtle Heart, shows her over and over how to hunt. It never sticks. She tries to pick up battle moves from Thunder Storm to help defend herself from Clear Sky's goons. It doesn't work.

She's really trying, she really is. The Moor group quickly loses patience with her, and Bumble is well aware that she's only tolerated on Turtle Heart's vouch. Her worst fears come true when Tom steals their children, and her mate is killed trying to retreive them.

That messes with her, and makes her believe that she really is worthless and a burden.

ThunderClan was FOUNDED on Thunder Storm's fury, breaking off his supporters to retreive her from exile, and Bumble's struggle with self-worth begins in earnest.

There's one thing she's confident about, and really loves. Bumble is trilingual, outgoing, and confident in her ability to talk to others. That's what she can add, and what she wants to do.

ThunderClan is different. It works with every strength and weakness of its members, and values diplomacy to keep it afloat against the odds. Bumble really is needed, but eventually even her translation work becomes less special as more kits grow up bilingual. Eventually, this too feels taken from her.

And then it's back to square one. Her mate is gone, one of her kits betrayed her, Owl Eyes is a big strong man who doesn't need his mum anymore. She's left with her fumbling paws, taking more from the pile than she puts in.

One can only hope she realizes that ThunderClan was born out of love for her. That it was never about what she could add. She didn't have to confront it in the main story because so much was happening, but as peace settles over the forest, it's time for her to start to unpack that idea.

#better bones au #BB!DOTC #BB!Bumble

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codenamesazanka · 7 days

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being a hopeless spinaraki, but also not just spinaraki, because this applies to all of the League and Villains in general—

Is it possible to dig deeper into Shigaraki's "If Spinner is still alive" and its meaning/implications and like. cry over it?

If Spinner is still alive = We went into fight knowing we might not make it out alive. (Heroes get total victory. The Villains don't count as part of that.)

If Spinner is still alive = AFO gave him those extra quirks and I, while possessed, wasn't able to stop it. Maybe I wouldn't have stopped it, because Spinner chose it. It might have been the quirks which killed him.

If Spinner is still alive = But it's also entirely possible Heroes could've killed him. Spinner is just a weakling with a useless quirk and some swords, but still, maybe he's dead because Heroes killed him. Heroes killed Twice. Heroes have repeatedly tried to kill me; cannot save me from this death. Toga went into battle thinking it was life or death. Heroes kill, and we Villains all know this.

If Spinner is still alive = I wanted him to see my horizon, because he was looking forward to it. I wanted to be a Hero for the League. Now, I can't do that anymore. Because of that, tell him this, for me.

If Spinner is still alive = Maybe he lived. Out of everyone in the league, Spinner lives because he's weak, he's ignorable. He was only following me. He didn't have a death wish, his power is something Heroes could manage. He wouldn't be considered too dangerous to live.

If Spinner is still alive = Because I know that he might not be. Because I don't trust Heroes have to saved any of us, whether from AFO machinations, or from ourselves, or from the ravages of battle.

'If' implies uncertainty. There's significant meaning in that - that Shigaraki knows Heroes there's a good chance cannot/would not/did not want to save them. And the fact that it's Spinner who gets an 'if' - Spinner, weakest one in the League. How hard is it to stop Spinner? Even with the extra quirks. Maybe especially with the extra quirks - he'd be disoriented, unintelligible, clearly not doing well. He was assigned the task of invading a hospital and retrieving Kurogiri with 15,000 rioters, the relatively least dangerous task out of all other Villains. That's basically zero trust in Heroes to have stopped Spinner in a way that didn't kill him, to have helped him from his melting brain.

Like, Shigaraki has seen the aftermath of his own 'saving'. Deku might have had some intention to save him, but not enough to actually succeed preventing his death. If that was ever the goal. Maybe all that mattered was just ghost of The Crying Child.

If any of the League lives, it's luck. It's mercy.

One might argue, it's because rhe League was so dangerous, and they made the choices that got themselves killed.

But meta-wise, we had that whole Ending arc about Heroes Don't Kill or whatever; we kept getting hit over the head with 'Heroes Save People'; the narrative dangled in front of us 'Heroes Will Save The League'. During the war, background Heroes made gestures of pulling captured Villains away from fire, of capturing them alive.

Then again, Twice was killed and that's probably the escape clause - if the League became dangerous enough, saving them can stop being the goal, despite the narrative supposedly having made it its goal.

Heroes fought the Villains and Shigaraki knew was there was no guarantee Heroes would save them or keep them alive. Despite being Heroes. Because they're Villains, they're unforgivable, they got too broken, they don't get that promise of being saved. Never had - not from abusive homes, not from societal apathy, not from the cruelty of conformity, not from their 'one bad day'; never will.

It reminds me of when Toga sought out Ochako. Twice was killed, and Toga desperately wanted to know, if she ever needed it, if it came down to it, Heroes would save her. Heroes would treat her like a person who deserves being saved, because she's a human being and should be afforded at least that. The League already knew Heroes would not save them. But Toga kept hope. She wanted to believe that Heroes wouldn't put her down like a mad dog. She was disappointed. She gave up hope. Ochako rekindled that hope, but just Ochako. And then the narrative seemed to have refused Toga getting saved anyways.

(Unless, of course, being saved is only about the heart being saved. Then yeah, I guess they can just die.)

#nalslastworkingbraincell #Shouto is the only one who went into battle with a specific and actionable plan of capturing Touya alive #and also as other people have pointed out #all the 'unsaved' Villains with the exception of AFO gets to live #Overhaul; Compress; Geten; Muscular; MLA #being saved by Heroes is lethal #weird contrast #I know it could all be a fake out #but why fake it out like this if the goal is to celebrate Heroes for saving people and being Heroes

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wackapedia · 1 year

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The Lady Of Devon

Sihtric x Reader, Finan x Reader Summary: You are a daughter of the ealdorman of Devon, you bothered Uhtred to let you join his band of merry fighters, and you live the best months of your life. Warnings: none, sad times Wordcount: 1,382

“Think about it, Sihtric, you don’t have to pay a girl if she truly loves you, eh?” You gave the Dane a raised eyebrow when he asked to borrow a few coins from you. He looks down at his ale and sighs, not wanting to hear your reprimands. “If you’re refusing me, then just say it! I don’t need to hear your sermon.” He slams his tankard against the table, startling you and Finan, sitting side by side. It is clear to the both of you that Sihtric has had enough drinks for tonight, evident in his slurred tone and rude approach.

“Maybe we should sober up a bit…” Finan reaches over to retrieve the Dane’s ale, swapping it with a mug of water, “.. before we say something we regret, aye?” “No!” Sihtric keeps his ale close to his chest. “What is she even doing here?” He glares at you, tucked in a corner of the booth. “Daughter of an ealdorman who’s done nothing significant, so now you’re pretending to be a warrior so you could be lady of Devon, when all you do is flirt with me and give me unsolicited advice?!” Sihtric raises his voice, loud enough to silence half the alehouse and turn their eyes on your booth. Finan clamps the dane’s mouth under his palm, but the damage has been done. He has said what he wanted to say. “Excuse me…” You mutter under your breath as you make your way out of the crowded room while Uhtred walks in with a couple more drinks in his hand. “Check your manners, boy.” Finan points an accusing finger at the younger Dane before leaving him with his lord as the Irishman follows you out. “I’m sorry about Sihtric, he’s just drunk and frustrated…” Finan knocks at your door, hoping to comfort you. “It’s not your doing.” You try to keep your voice stable, hiding the fact that you are crying. “What he said was true anyway…” The door creaks open, and you see the Irishman’s kind eyes searching your watery ones. “Oh, y/n..” His heart breaks as he steps in, taking in your appearance. No man should ever let you cry. “What he said was mean..” “But it’s true.” You sob into his broad chest, allowing yourself to drown in his warmth. “I’ve proven myself useless to my people; I ran away from my responsibilities; and I’ve embarrassed myself in front of him!” Everything Sihtric has accused you of is true. When your younger brother was named heir, Uhtred and his men happened to be passing by your hometown. The morning after the witan, you ran away and followed (more like bothered) Uthred until he accepted. Over the course of eight months, the exiled lord of Bebbanburg and his men treated you like family. In those months, between battles, shield walls, and Coccham, you found yourself gravitating toward Sihtric, that kind and mysterious Dane who was so fierce in battle, yet so nice, gentle, and funny when he was hanging out. You were certain he has noticed how often you prefer to sit next to him, set your bed roll next to his when you’re camping, and check on him during battles. Finan thinks Sihtric should be grateful to have your attention. It’s not everyday you have a beautiful, young, and gentle lady care for you. Unfortunately, the young Dane sets his sights on that one woman from the brothel who was very obviously ripping him off all his coin, even getting into bar fights because of her. You cry yourself to sleep that night, and Finan ever so kindly stays with you, sitting on the floor and resting his head at the edge of the bed. In the morning, Finan groans at the pain shooting up his neck from sleeping in an awkward position. Sunlight beams through the open windows of the lodge, brightly illuminating the room and the empty bed. His eyes immediately darted through where your belongings were supposed to be, only to find them void of your riding boots and your bag. The Irishman rushes out of the lodge, clocking Sihtric, who was on the way up to your room. “Is she awake?” He asks, bringing a bunch of flowers, probably for you. Finan was still too angry to give him an answer, and he was in a hurry to check the stables. This time he comes across his lord Uhtred, hastily marching back to the inn. “Where is y/n?” He bellows as Finan approaches. “Her horse is gone!” Finan snaps into action and mounts his horse, beckoning it to ride fast to catch you on your way back home. The sound of distant hoofbeats startles you on your way home. You prayed that whoever was on the way would not bring danger. “Y/n!” Finan yells as soon as he sees you miles ahead in an open field. You pull your horse to a stop as the Irishman catches up. “Y/n, If I have offended you, I apologize…” Finan sighs, still catching his breath. “You have not offended me, dear Finan.” You gave him a sad smile. “I have wasted enough of my time rebelling against my family. "It’s time for me to go home.” Finan is at a loss for words. “Please extend my gratitude to Lord Uhtred,” You begin to tear up. “And to every man and woman in Coccham. I’ve never felt so at home during my brief stay there,” You try to hold down a sob. Finan wishes to unmount his horse and take you in his arms, to tell you how loved you are, and to express all the love he’s ready to give you. “I thank you, Finan. For everything.” There was pain in your eyes as you said your thanks. You forced a smile for him, and somehow it felt like a goodbye. The Irishman watches you fade east, toward your home. Maybe your father would reconsider and appoint you as heir to Devon, or maybe he’ll arrange an advantageous marriage for you, and you’ll live the rest of your days learning to love someone. He hopes you find the happiness you deserve. The happiness he was ready to give, if only you felt the same way for him. A year has passed since your departure from Coccham. Things have become awkward between two of Uhtred’s best fighters. Finan and Sihtric would often have a random lull in their conversation, as if stopping themselves from mentioning a certain ealdorman’s daughter whenever something reminded them of her. Nonetheless, both still treat each other with respect, having each other’s backs on the battlefield and looking after each other as if they were blood brothers. Uhtred watches them and figures he should just avoid asking about her in fear of sparking something distasteful in their mending relationship. The lord of Bebbanburg now feels anxious to deliver the news to his men of King Alfred’s instruction for them to visit Devon and see how the new ealdorman is managing the land. “Where ‘east’, lord?” Sihtric asks as they journey on the road. Uhtred figures he’ll wait until one of them figures out on the way, “East.” He answers. Finan already suspects where they are headed as they move closer to Devon. The gates of the stronghold creak open as their band of ten men arrive. “Welcome to Devon, Lord!” A young man descends the stairs and greets Uhtred. The young man’s eyes shift, looking into every single man’s eyes as if looking for something or someone. Uhtred dismounts from his horse and gives the young ealdorman a firm handshake. And for the first time in almost a year, someone directly refers to you. “Did my sister choose not to come with you?” Your younger brother, now the ealdorman, inquires. Uhtred, in his surprise, twists around his band of men, carefully making eye contact with Finan and then Sihtric, who were both equally giving him an unreadable look. “Isn’t she here, lord?” Sihtric questions, remembering to show respect. “Why would she be? She left to join you a year ago…” The young ealdorman raises a curious eyebrow at the king’s men. “She left us a year ago; we thought she came home!” Finan exclaims, forgetting to show respect. There was an uneasy silence in Devon’s courtyard.

#sihtric kjartansson x reader #sihtric x reader #finan x reader #Sihtric of Dunholm #sihtric #sihtric kjartansson #finan #finan the agile #uhtred #Uhtred Ragnarsson #uhtred of bebbanburg #the last kingdom #tlk #the last kingdom x reader

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cherrymoonvol6 · 10 months

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i honestly don't mean to dogpile on ASIAS more than i've already done BUT. lately i've been thinking about this pointed visual parallel near the end of ASIAS and hollow mind:

even beyond the visual similarities, one can understand both of these moments as hunter's parental figure about to decisively harm the battered-down hunter's female companion of that episode. so obviously it's interesting to see that both of these moments end very differently.

in hollow mind, hunter uses magic to straight up stop this attack by figuring out how the glyphs works by himself. the focus is, then, on luz's reaction and surprise as she sees hunter is the only reason why she's still alive.

this is completely different in ASIAS: hunter instead puts himself in harm's way, banking on darius stopping the attack because of his physical presence. he doesn't attack nor use magic.

it's also very fascinating to me that hunter is doing the same gesture as willow here. mainly because their reasons are wildly different: willow will do everything to protect her team because of her being a good leader. but narratively, hunter's intentionality has the need to protect his team in the background, because another reason is on the foreground. there's a reason hunter stays in harm's way here and not with belos: because the emotional core of this moment is on hunter and darius's connection.

(and i'm 100% reaching here but the posture of their hands is so telling too. willow's hands are facing the team, using every inch of her body to cover them as much as she's able to; yet hunter's hands are twisted in a gesture that screams "time-out")

and this is why the focus of this moment is on darius, instead.

which, you know, checks out. this was established at the beginning of the episode, and after this darius mentions that he's now worthy of his ancestry, yadda yadda.

willow's bearing in this is that hunter asks his leader for some agency and he finally gets it. which, you know, it's a step up for hunter, but this doesn't mean anything for willow, who leaves the scene in near-tears and refusing to mention hunter by his real name.

(and that's why the episode ending with willow and hunter chatting via message is just SO dumb lol. they just want their dumb crackship to be cutesy so badly.)

on the other hand, hunter's guardian is completely sidelined in hollow mind because the emotional core of this moment is in hunter's relationship with luz. hunter chooses to use luz's magic against his uncle to protect her.

i also really love the imagery of hunter creating a wall separating both luz and belos, while he stays in luz's side - exacerbating the fact that hunter's initial gesture is mostly significant for strengthening his connection with luz. and my personal favorite difference between this moment in both episodes: whereas willow sadly continues to refer to hunter by "caleb", this is the first time hunter calls luz by her name (because i am useless lunter trash).

this marks the third time hunter goes against his uncle's wishes (first time was also influenced by luz; second time was him keeping flapjack a secret), the first time hunter has ever used magic against belos, and also the shift when belos realizes that yet another golden guard has chosen to betray him...

...by being led away by a wild witch. what the fuck is up with this episode my god.

(this image is burned into my eyelids i want to escape from this pain)

you know, for all the negative stuff i spout against h/ntlow in this episode, here's the thing: i believe this is sufficiently good of a setup to build on hunter and willow's dynamic. after all, having an episode focused on hunter's bond with darius is very important for his character. the problem is that in the next episode where hunter and willow get to interact with each other, TOH decides to build hunter's dynamic with GUS.

and i think about all the time about how the premise of labyrinth runners (gus' powers going haywire when he's on very stressing situations) is such a willow thing. this episode could've easily gone the same route FTF did by having willow's powers get out of hand and force her to put up with hunter's company for a while. this means willow and hunter get to build their dynamic by being vulnerable to each other, willow gets to know the real hunter, hunter goes through a little redemption arc for what he did to willow, yadda yadda. it sounds perfect in theory. but instead, willow gets the B plot with amity and she's just supposed to be cool with hunter now because gus is. and then we don't see either of them until COTH where again, hunter has strengthened his bond with gus and he and willow just don't talk to each other ever. why would you do this TOH. you had a perfectly okay setup to have a B- couple in this show and you still managed to mess it up.

#toh critical #anti huntlow #lunter #it's insane how perfect the canon material works to boost up the wrong couple #oh well

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runwayrunway · 9 months

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No. 50 - All Nippon Airways Airbus A380 "Flying Honu" Livery

Happy 50th Runway Runway post! I had a bit of a hard time deciding what to do for it - after all, it's a pretty significant number. I already sort of know what I want to do for the 100th post, but I hadn't put much thought into the 50th, and I had to scuttle any plans for something long and interesting after a rather stressful week. Instead I decided to do something both fun and requested!

source: ANA Stories

One (well, three!) of the most beloved special liveries out there, All Nippon Airways' turtle-themed "Flying Honu" Airbus A380. These three friendly giants fly from Japan to Honolulu, delighting anyone lucky enough to see them.

Actually, I love the Flying Honu so much I have one myself.

I would describe myself as a bit of a magpie. I collect useless things, be they historical ephemera, horror movie memorabilia, old books, pretty rocks, or way too many fountain pen inks given I mostly use them to take notes. I even have a bunch of my old teeth in a pillbox. Surprisingly, though, the things my talons have lodged in don't include many model airplanes. I have...a few. I've actually, though serendipity, gotten two more since I started this blog, expanding my collection to a startling five. Maybe seven if you count my Starscream and Brainstorm figures, but I don't think I even remember how to put either of them in their alt modes. The fact is that while they aren't a fortune or anything plane figures are expensive enough that it's a commitment to buy one, and I usually only do when I stumble on a good deal for a model I really want. And one of the few times I've actually decided that I just needed a model of a specific livery was the "Flying Honu" A380. Specifically, the one I have is the airframe registered JA382A, Kai. (She's the 1:500 JC Wings diecast model and is around the size of my hand.)

I just needed to be able to gently tap her nose in person, okay? She can't fit up on the shelf with a lot of my other miscellaneous trinkets so she sits on my desk and sometimes I explain things to her while trying to figure them out, like a coding rubber duck. She makes me happy.

All Nippon Airways (全日本空輸) is a major Japanese airline. In fact, in terms of both fleet size and number of destinations they're bigger than flag carrier JAL. They're consistently described as being among the best airlines in the world for the discerning well-to-do business traveler, and let's just say that's not me, but what I am is a reviewer of airline liveries, and ANA sure has those! In addition to their standard Triton Blue livery they do all sorts of special designs, particularly crossovers with properties like Pokémon and Star Wars. All of these are something I would like to someday feature, but none of them matter at all to me when compared to the Flying Honu, introduced with the A380 fleet in 2019.

A couple of times when I've told people I know about this livery they asked me if 'honu' is Japanese for 'turtle'. That's a reasonable question, but the Japanese word for turtle is 'kame'. 'Honu' is the word for turtle, though - in Hawaiian.

image: ANA

In fact, Honolulu is the A380s' only destination. ANA didn't really want A380s to begin with, but ended up stuck with them while acquiring another airline. The thing about the A380, and the reason it failed commercially and so few were ever built, is that the use-case for a massive plane is pretty limited. It goes as such: you have a passengerbase of people who have to travel from one giant hub that can land an A380 to another frequently enough that you can actually make money on a plane with four entire engines.

Okay, so the use-case is that you're Emirates. ANA might be expensive, but they don't really have the central location or sheer amount of regular business travelers that Dubai does. 'Three' also isn't really that many A380s, which creates a bit of a question of reliability. So instead they fixed the problem in a way that's honestly pretty genius: they made it turtles.

image: ANA

ANA seems to be generally invested in Hawaii, with a fair amount of partnerships with local organizations. A lot of Hawaiian real estate is owned by Japanese companies, and those of Japanese descent are the second-larget ethnic group in Hawaii at 16.7%, so it makes sense that a lot of people would want to travel there. Tokyo to Honolulu is a nice 9-hour flight with no possibility for a stopover of any kind (unless they invent civilian aircraft carriers for A380s), so it's the perfect route for precisely three really huge planes.

images: ANA

They can fit 520 passengers across four classes on one flight, seated across both decks of the massive planes. There is also a section of seats which convert to couches, marketed for families. Those who fly this route get to enjoy rainbow lighting and the ability to buy a duty-free 1:500 model of the plane (not the same model I have, though, I'm pretty sure) or a set of Flying Honu plushes.

Ra looks like she's plotting something. Lani looks like she's never had a single thought in her life.

And they do make money off this, because people absolutely love these planes. People have apparently had their weddings on these planes, and I would too! They make ten weekly flights right now, but in December that will be increasing to fourteen weekly, or two daily.

Okay, so, the actual liveries.

Here's Kai in full-size! The light in my room make her look way cooler toned in the photographs, but in real life she's this color. It's frequently described as 'green' or 'emerald green', but I think it's definitely turquoise and would go so far as to call it blue. Whatever the case, it's meant to represent the color of the sea near Hawaii. Kai is also distinct from the others because of her eyes, which are closed as she smiles from ear to ear. That's why she's my favorite - she just looks so happy!

...a bit weirder looking from upfront, but look how even the ventral fairing is painted! That's part of the flippers where they curl around, tucked into the shell. Unlike the Transocean Air Jinbei Jets, the cockpit windows blend in with the 'scales' of the Flying Honu, looking rather natural.

'Ra' is a beautiful orange, meant to represent the Hawaiian sunset. She has a bit of a peach undertone if you look closely, but her details are done in an extremely vivid reddish orange. Her distinguishing feature are those gigantic eyelashes, similar to Sakura Jinbei's. The actual mouth shape on all three planes appears to be the same, but I find that the eyes still give them distinct 'personalities'. Ra has always looked very thoughtful to me.

Just look at her in flight! I've never understood why people call the 747 stately or graceful, and same for the A380 - double-decker planes are just inherently goofy-looking, and that's great, but ANA managed to make one look pretty elegant. I think it's because turtles are already regarded as large and slow creatures, so fitting like for like just makes it seem as natural for this absolutely gigantic aircraft to be flying as it is for a turtle to swim.

Finally, Lani, the turtle everyone agrees to be blue, represents the Hawaiian sky during its brightest color in daylight. If you look closely, you can see her blue 'eyeshadow', which I've always thought made her look relaxed.

This picture gives a good angle of my only real critique of the Flying Honu, which is that the shells and heads don't entirely look aligned, as if the head is in the process of being retracted. That said, I think that's just a fact of working with the shape of an airplane. There's just no more space below to fit any more shell.

Rather than being just one turtle, though, each "Flying Honu" has two fully rendered baby turtles following behind their 'mother'.

I think this is adorable, and beyond that it solves a crucial problem - the tail. Turtles do have those, but not in a way that maps onto a standard empennage. Instead, ANA makes the smart choice to end the shell at a certain point and add these two extra turtles make-way-for-ducklings-ing their way across the fuselage for more visual interest, leaving the tail empty for an ANA logo without making it jarring. This is a huge improvement over the Jinbei Jets, which again serve as a point of comparison as the other major Japanese marine life planes. (Amakusa Airlines is way smaller and thus not going to get caught up in this.)

I mean, it's hard to find too much to say about these that isn't just "oh my gosh, look at them". The Flying Honu are vividly colored, with clever shapes used to make them immediately recognizable as turtles. I smile every time I see one, including the little one on my desk!

And in case you weren't already delighted, there's two extra bonus turtles!

I think it's pretty obvious I'm giving these an A+. Come on, just...just look at them. The fact that ANA bothered to make three distinct ones with their own names and faces is just icing on the cake for me, but I do love that they did.

I can't believe I didn't find a way to fit this in earlier into the post, but I really love turtles. If you have an aquarium near you, and that aquarium has turtles, I really recommend stopping by to see them. My local New England Aquarium has had Myrtle for more than 50 years. As they describe her, 'the 550-lb Queen of the Giant Ocean Tank is large, in charge, and ready to receive your adoration'.

youtube

True to form, although a lot larger and dealing in a different type of fluid dynamics, the Flying Honu jets get plenty of my adoration too.

#tarmac fashion week #grade: a+#era: 2010s #era: 2020s #all nippon airways #aquairium #region: east asia #region: japan

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carica-ficus · 3 months

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Review: Harrow the Ninth

Author: Tamsyn Muir

Date: 24/02/2024

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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My February has been very hectic (to say the least), but at least I finally managed to get my hands on "Harrow the Ninth" thanks to my wonderful boyfriend who ordered it for me. <3 And just in time too because I was in a mood to get back to The Locked Tomb. This series completely won me over.

"Harrow the Ninth" picks up sometime after the ending of "Gideon the Ninth", and follows Harrow as she tries to adapt to her new life as a Lyctor. Her powers are immeasurably stronger, but in comparison to the older Lyctors she is seen as feeble and incompetent. Even worse, she is seen as a liability to the Emperor. She needs to learn to defend herself and prove to be a valuable soldier to her God, but this all seems a menial task in comparison to more dire matters - the indescribable grief and significant vulnerability which render her useless.

The first thing that stands out in this book is the switch in narration. "Harrow the Ninth" is mostly narrated through a 2nd person singular and is only switched to 3rd person singular when referring to the events which happen at the Canaan house. It's certainly an interesting writing choice which might prove to be slightly confusing at first, but Muir's beautiful style and fantastic storytelling quickly compel the reader to simply accept the fact that this is how "Harrow the Ninth" will be told. If something, Muir has proven numerous times that her writing decisions are always made with a specific intention, so it's best to just accept them and enjoy her work as it is presented.

Even though the story is a bit convoluted at first, things slowly start falling into place. New characters are introduced and old characters are given enough space to grow and expand. Muir incredibly utilizes her universe and the story in order to create a completely new experience of the series, but also provides many scenes where it pays homage to the first book and its events. "Harrow the Ninth" is truly an upgrade from "Gideon the Ninth" in tension, emotion, depth and story.

On the other hand, I'd argue that its pace is slower than that of "Gideon the Ninth". Harrow is actively preparing for the most difficult fight of her life, but the process of it is relatively passive. There's a lot of things happening at the same time, but it feels like the plot isn't moving forward at all. This book focuses more on other elements, than on its story, up until the very end where it builds up to a thrilling finale. Taking into consideration the aforementioned switch in narration and unresolved questions, it is easy to understand why some readers find it all difficult to grasp. However, "Harrow the Ninth" is absolutely worth the time.

There's a lot of things to adore about this sequel, but the portrayal of Harrow's grief, feeling of inadequacy, and utter helplessness take the crown. "Harrow the Ninth" is a story about loss and about love, it's about desperately clinging to that which doesn't exist anymore - a home she cannot go back to and which will never be the same, a person who gave their life for hers, and to a version of herself that she no longer is. It is about change and the inability to finally accept it.

"Harrow the Ninth" is a worthy sequel to a riveting book such as "Gideon the Ninth" and provides a compelling foundation for the rest of the series. Although the novel might seem a little slow and complicated, my honest advice is to just leave all your expectations behind, keep reading, and accept everything as it is written. The book is highly rewarding and offers something new and different. Reading through it has been a beautiful experience and I cannot wait to continue with the series and to, one day, reread it and appreciate it even more.

#harrow the ninth #harrowhark nonagesimus #tamsyn muir #the locked tomb #locked tomb #reading #book #recenzija #moja recenzija #čitanje #science fiction #horror

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inkblackorchid · 22 days

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I know the 4kids dub is terrible, but what do you think of each main cast English voices in general do you think they fit for who they are?

Just for you, I went back and got a quick refresher on the English voices, because it has actually been so long since I saw any significant portion of the dub that I genuinely forgot how some of them sounded. For reasons of the dub episode listing being a mess due to cut episodes, meaning that I have no idea where to reliably hear which character talk and thus had to pick a couple episodes at random, I'll just go over the signers if that's okay.

So, first off, Yusei. Honestly, purely from a voice acting standpoint, I think Greg Abbey is perfectly fine. The fact that his dub Yusei voice is one of the voices that stuck with me is a testament to that fact, I think. I'm not too hot on how they changed Yusei's personality in the dub, but that's on the writing, not on Greg's performance. And for what it's worth, I think he does a decent, more sarcastic Yusei. That said, in emotional scenes, I do think he lacks some of the oomph that I adore Yuya Miyashita for in the sub. That guy has a pair of lungs on him, whew. But Greg gets a solid 8/10 from me.

Then, we have Jack. Jack, to me, has arguably the best dub voice. Not only does the over-the-top accent Ted Lewis does make him sound suitably arrogant and haughty, there's also a really cool headcanon I've seen floating around again recently that I think goes perfectly with it—namely, that Jack has a Cockney accent (commonly regarded as a lower-class British accent) which he picked up because he wanted to sound posh, whilst not realising that what he's speaking still outs him as a former lower-class citizen. (If somebody could point me to the op of that headcanon again I'd be grateful, tumblr search is being as useless as ever.) The only criticism I could offer is that I do think Takanori Hoshino's even deeper voice in the sub fits Jack just a smidgen better than Ted's. But for these two, honestly both work for me. 10/10 for the posh accent, cheers.

Next up, Aki. I don't necessarily think Erica Schroeder does a terrible Aki voice, but tbh, between her and Ayumi Kinoshita, I prefer the latter by far. It's mostly because of the vocal range, though, which in fact recently came up with a tumblr mutual of mine. Ayumi simply manages to reach deeper registers, which works especially well towards the first half of the show, when Aki's still occasionally making threats as the Black Rose Witch. Erica's performance by comparison isn't terrible, but it's on the whole a little more higher-pitched and soft, almost, whereas I feel like Ayumi gives Aki more depth with her performance, because especially during the Fortune Cup and Dark Signers arc, Aki isn't just the girly female lead, so it fits that she wouldn't sound like it, either. Also, I feel like it was a bit of a missed opportunity that they didn't give her a slightly more posh accent in the dub, too, given that she comes from a very well-off family. So 4/10 for Erica.

As for Crow. With him, I have the opposite problem. The performances Clay Adams and Tom Wayland give are fine character-wise, but their voices honestly sound a little too deep to fit the character well for me. Shintaro Asanuma, by comparison, sometimes breaks out into these higher-pitched squawks in moments of outrage, which I think fit Crow perfectly. It also contrasts his voice better with those of Yusei and Jack. That said, I find it funny how all three of them seemed to share the idea that Crow would have a slightly scratchy voice, as befits his namesake. Also somewhere around 4, maybe 5/10.

Then we've got Ruka/Luna. She's probably the one I have the weakest opinion about. Cassandra Morris and Eileen Stevens both do a decent job with her, though I have to admit I have a bit of a weakness for the specific softness Yuka Terasaki gives her in the sub. But both (or rather, all three) work decently here, I think. 7/10, not bad, not stand-out.

And finally, Rua/Leo. I'll admit, I don't like the performances Morris and Stevens give here (again) nearly as much as Ai Horanai's Rua. I think it's because Horanai's Rua sounds like a much more believable, excited young boy to me. She captures his exuberance and occasional embarrassment in a way that feels less performative than the two English VAs do to me. That said, Leo's personality still tracks perfectly, so 6/10 for the English VAs.

(Let me tell you one thing, though: It was weird hearing the dub voices again after I've stuck to sub watching for so long now. Both in a good way (they're so funny) and a bad way (Crow, are you hoarse?).)

#yugioh 5ds #yusei fudo #jack atlas #aki izayoi #akiza izinski #crow hogan #rua (5ds)#ruka (5ds)#ask the orchid #geez how long has it been since I've last seen the dub #at least six years I think #oof that makes me feel older than I am #anyway hope this satisfies your curiosity and thanks for the ask!#orchid rambles #also unrelated but yes I absolutely had to look up all the VA names #all of them did a good job and deserve to be credited

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itsclydebitches · 1 year

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Re: RWBY outfits in v9: Hey wow it's strange that Jaune gets a completely new helmet and hairstyle and altered face AND his armor is significantly retextured to the point of looking completely out of place with the flat-colored outfits the girls have in shots where they're together. I'm sure this has nothing to do with where the narrative focus of the Volume actually was. But it's fine if we don't at least partially take the girls out of their cold weather gear???

This!

Also, people frequently fail to acknowledge how much this snowballs.

RWDE: Why did Jaune get the new texture and hairstyle? Push-back: Duh, because he's the one who's been living in the Ever After for decades. RWDE: Yeah... and why did he get to do that again? Push-back: Because he killed Penny and the story needed him to have a significant arc in response to that. RWDE: Uh huh, and why did he get to do that? Push-back: Because Jaune is the one with the super important healing skill that beautifully contrasts their violent career! RWDE: ... are we not sensing a pattern yet?

Putting aside the fact that Ruby could beautifully fit any of these emotional beats with a bit of tweaking (she falls early, finds the time tree, the emphasis is on the contrast of Penny's first friend having to kill her, silver eyes are somehow significant to that moment, etc.) I think too often fans get caught up in not only the supposed necessity of any one scene —treating the RWBY gang as real people bound by the whims of fate, rather than characters 100% controlled by the writers — but also the ways in which, yes, past work does have an influence on what occurs later. If you make Jaune a team leader equal to Ruby, if you give him a big arc at the very start of the show, if you make him OP in regards to energy, if you give him the most useful skill in the entire group (given that they're fighting humans more than grimm nowadays, silver eyes are all but useless in most fights. ESPECIALLY when Ruby will randomly not use them against Cinder), if you make him the emotional focus of Pyrrha's death, if you give him the revenge quest, if you have him kill Penny... yeah, you're setting up future scenarios where he "has" to remain in the narrative spotlight. That's the problem: not only that RWBY refuses to pull back from Jaune's position in the story, but that it started that trend so early that now they have built-in excuses for why it "has" to continue. We knew going into Volume 9 that Jaune would be a problem because Volume 8 had already introduced the problems of a) having him kill Penny and b) having him fall with the title team. We're going in circles and continually winding up in scenes like, "Well, Jaune has to have an emotional breakdown that detracts from Ruby's because he's the one who has suffered for decades and he's the one who just lost an entire village to deliberate drowning. Not giving him that focus would be bad writing." Yeah, I know it would, hence the frustration that RWBY keeps backing itself into that corner!

The design issues are a like a mini-example of that. You're right, it would be ridiculous to have Jaune living in the Ever After for most of his life and somehow coming out of it looking exactly the same... but if you're going to continue capitalizing on the focus he got all the way back in Volume 1, at least give the girls equal treatment. I don't like that Jaune had a breakdown that undermined Ruby's, but given that I also would have disliked the story ignoring his clearly traumatic experiences lately, I'm glad they at least gave Ruby her breakdown alongside his (even if, as stated elsewhere, there are additional problems with how it was framed). The clothing does the opposite where Jaune gets his logical change AND the story does nothing to try and bring Team RWBY up to speed with him.

Chucking onto that pile: the fact that so many were expecting/hoping for Ruby to come out visually changed from her time in the tree, but she simply reverts back to where she was a few episodes ago with her rose pendant. Jaune, meanwhile, leaves the Ever After as the only one with a visual cue that he's undergone any growth.

#rwde #rwby #mymetas #honestly this is why it's so frustrating #when others are like 'RWDE is just obsessed with Jaune'#they want the story to be all about him because he's a man #no #RWDE (which is not a monolith!) generally wants consistency #which requires acknowledging when the show has to follow up on the conflicts Jaune has been given #something we generally dislike because we WANT the focus to be on the girls #but they're already not the focus so often that we're at least aiming for some logical follow-ups #seriously though Penny's death would have been SO EASY to give to Ruby #and not having Jaune fall would have likewise been a piece of cake #when the show is already setup having only developed one relationship for Penny (with Ruby)#and already structured this trip to be solely about the main team (Team RWBY falls)#you have to *work* to cram Jaune in there at the last possible second #there was a conscious choice on their part #not something that “had” to happen

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ghoul-foolery · 9 days

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Dirty Windows | 3 | Female!SoSu x Hancock

A Soulmate AU

Hancock never thought he would find his soulmate. Once a common occurrence, soulmates turned into a bit of a rarity after the bombs dropped. It was to be expected when there was an influx of people getting shot in the face on a daily basis. So when Hancock discovered that he had a soulmate he was ecstatic; all of the people in the Commonwealth, and he was one of the lucky few.

Too bad his soulmate didn't want anything to do with him.

[ 1 ] [ 2 ] - [ 4 ] [ 5 ]

When the connection with his soulmate severed, Hancock couldn’t help but assume that she was dead. It was a brief, split-second worry but it still managed to outweigh every ounce of panic he had felt in his miserable fucking life. It was there and mostly gone in a flash. It went to reason that she wasn’t dead, and yet he knew that he would go scorched-fucking-earth if she had. “By the people, for the people” to “fuck the people” in zero seconds flat. Thankfully it didn’t come to that. Not tonight, anyway.

Hancock spent the rest of the night pacing. He didn’t need any chems to stay awake, and he didn’t feel inclined to take them. He nursed a couple of cigarettes, but instead of savoring the gentle buzz of nicotine, he used the little stick of tobacco to occupy his shaking hands. He almost lost his soulmate, and there had been absolutely nothing he could do about it. It was terrifying. During the ordeal, Hancock was able to feel his soulmate’s fear, the frantic beat of her heart next to his, and the searing pain of the bullet tearing through her skin. Though none of the injuries made their way to his own person, his shoulder still throbbed as if they had.

Eventually he sank into his couch with a couple fingers of whiskey; just a little something to soothe the curling edges of his nerves. The drink helped; the cigarette helped. Something in the way of falling into his typical habits helped bring on a bit of calm, and the feeling of control. There had never been a time in his life that Hancock had felt more helpless than he did in that moment. The last time he felt this useless he ended up staging a fucking coup. Now all he could do was sip on his drink, and wait.

For a long time, he tried to pick out bits of the scenery he had seen during his soulmate’s ordeal but there was nothing he could recall. It had been some falling apart two story thing out in the middle of nowhere. It looked like every other piece of shit house in the Commonwealth. Then there was a fact that she had made a mad dash through the goddamn dark, which was dangerous in its own right but he really couldn’t see shit. It was a shame, really, because he was more than willing to march out into the wasteland and drag his soulmate back to Goodneighbor with him. She could kick and scream and curse him the whole way if she wanted. He just wanted to make sure his woman was safe.

…

The sound of shattering glass caused Hancock’s entire body to lurch forward into wakefulness. On instinct, he had his knife in his hand, ready to stab whoever thought that they could catch him off guard. It took only a moment for him to realize that there was no threat. The glass that broke had fallen out of his hand. He was still reclined on the couch in his office. The ghoul slouched, knife hand flopping down beside him; when did he fall asleep?

Righting himself on the couch, he tossed the blade to the coffee table. He rubbed at his eyes, had himself a little stretch. He was just reaching for the bottle of whiskey when he remembered.

Accessing the bond between him and his soulmate was becoming second nature. After the first night it was established, Hancock had spent a significant amount of time figuring out how it worked. It was a phenomenon that should have come with instructions; a pamphlet or a handbook or something. The first handful of successful attempts required deep concentration, and dead silence. Then, suddenly, it was as easy as raising a hand, as second nature as lighting a cigarette.

A mere thought of the tether that connected his soul to his woman’s and the view of his office changed. His vision wavered, and he was staring into the eye of a curved needle. Deft fingers thread the needle with a length of fishing line. Images of wasteland rubble superimposed itself over his office. The more Hancock focused, the clearer the image of his woman’s shaking hands became.

Fresh pain blossomed and bloomed in his shoulder, and he could feel her unease as she lifted an ancient bottle of vodka into her hand.

The phantom burn of alcohol coated his throat. It pooled all warm and pleasant in his belly. Hancock had all of a second to wonder if he could get second-hand drunk just before she doused her wounded shoulder with the vodka. Hancock grit his teeth, fingers clenching into the material of his pants.

Chest heaving, she turned and peered at a small chunk of mirror. It had been carefully propped up against the concrete rubble. It was maybe two hands wide, and maybe just as tall. She sat next to the mirror, her injured shoulder in plain view. He also caught the delicate expanse of her creamy throat, the lazy curl of fiery red hair. Hancock held his breath, watching. He wanted to instruct her on how to remove the bullet. He wanted to explain how she should go about stitching her arm closed. He wanted to ask her why she was wandering around without Stimpacks. Instead, kept quiet. Hancock didn’t want to spook her, and he thought that maybe if she thought that she was alone…

Maybe he would get to see her face. Maybe she would take a glance at her Pip-Boy and he would have an idea of where she was. Maybe, maybe. He could hope.

“Shit!” Came the strained whimper of her voice.

Hancock had heard her voice a number of times, though it was never directed at him. It was naturally soft, and raspy – real sexy. On this occasion, though, her voice was pitched with pain as she carefully pried the bullet from her shoulder.

Needles shot through the entirety of his arm. The sensation was so stark, so real, that he thought his fingers would go numb. The bullet was removed and he could hear it clatter against something that sounded like glass. More alcohol was poured over the wound – she muffled her screams. The needle came into view, and with shaking fingers the woman went about sewing the wound shut. It was sloppy, and the sutures were uneven but it got the job done. When she was finished, her vision – and his – wavered due to the tears that were cascading down her cheeks. She was sniffling as she put away her gear. Hancock’s heart ached, he wished he was there to help her. Wished he was there to hold her, and comfort her until her tears went away.

Instead, he resigned himself to watch as she poured brown water over her hands. She scrubbed at her hands, removing blood from under her nails and cuticles. After the vigorous hand scrubbing she chanced a look in the mirror. The poor woman’s face was dirty, smudged with blood and a bit of grime, with trails of tears highlighting the skin of her cheeks. Pained green eyes peered at him, framed with long auburn lashes. Pouty lips were dried and viciously chapped but despite it all, Hancock was in awe. This creature was his.

His vision was suddenly obscured when his soulmate tilted her head back and poured dirty water over her face. Hancock could feel the sudden chill of the liquid as it covered her face and streamed down her neck and chest. A moment later, she was looking back into the mirror. She looked cleaner, having just washed her face. Her bangs dripped water down her cheeks.

“Fuck. You’re so beautiful,” Hancock rasped. He said it helplessly. like some kind of prayer.

The pitiful sadness in her eyes changed into something steely and firm. The woman recoiled from the mirror. His vision was filled with the rubble and debris she had set up camp in.

“I mean it,” he insisted. “Yer a knockout. Look at you.”

She said nothing, but she eventually looked back to the mirror. Hancock took her in, committing every single detail to memory. The little marching freckles across the bridge of her nose. The barely-there scar on the edge of her chin. The way her mouth pursed as she nibbled the inside of her bottom lip. She was allowing him to see her, and that was some damn good progress.

“What’s yer name?”

No answer, of course.

“Honey, you gotta give me something to hold on to.”

The hardness returned to her eyes revealing a stony-eyed hatred that actually hurt. She looked away from the mirror and went about packing up her supplies. Hancock felt his hands grip his knees in a moment of desperation.

“Please,” he begged. “Please, just give me something…”

She gave him nothing.

#Fallout #Fallout 4 #Female Sole Survivor x Hancock #Female!SoSu x Hancock #Human x Ghoul #Soulmate AU #Fallout Fanifction #Fanfiction #Ao3 Fanfic #Angst #Romance #Soulmates #Dirty Windows #devilry-revelry sideblog #Hancock #Fallout Hancock

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turtle-paced · 1 year

Text

Revisiting Chapters: Cersei VII, AFFC

Nobody can say this chapter isn’t memorable.

The story so far…

Cersei’s working on isolating and conquering her enemies, most of all the Tyrells. Sometimes other problems pop up too. It’s probably the Tyrells’ fault again.

This chapter contains discussion of rape and a rape scene.

Whoever Wins…

The narrative picks up as news of what’s been happening in the Ironborn subplot hits King’s Landing. Specifically, a thousand ships have rocked up and started wreaking havoc on the Shield Islands. Margaery’s saying as much.

Well. Cersei knows what’s serious business.

Must, she thought. She dares say “must” to me. She itched to slap the Tyrell girl across the face.

Cersei’s counsellors immediately start saying that the thousand-ship count cannot possibly be correct. That’s just too many ships!

The reason for the general unpolished look of everyone here is explained as Cersei narrates how everyone was woken up in the middle of the night by Margaery’s messengers. Margaery’s described as looking “as though she had just come from some man’s embrace” which is some great projection there from Cersei. More worryingly to her, Cersei’s feeling as though the walls are closing in on her.

My enemies are everywhere, and my friends are useless.

Who appointed these friends to the Small Council, you ask? Let’s not dwell on technicalities.

Anyway, back to the thousand ships. Aurane Waters points out that even if there are only half as many ships, that’s still a lot of ships, and the fleet he’s constructing isn’t ready yet. And even if it was, he reckons that the Iron Fleet still has ships to match most of those the Iron Throne and they have way better sailors than anything the Iron Throne can match. Can’t just stick a bunch of randoms on a boat and expect them to be able to sail it, after all. Cersei’s takeaway from this is that Robert should have killed more Ironborn.

That was what her father would have done, but Robert never had the stomach that a king requires if he hopes to keep peace in the realm.

Maybe Tywin would have killed more Ironborn, and maybe Robert’s approach to the Ironborn was fatally flawed (I suspect it was flawed more in terms of follow-up after the decisive defeat of the Ironborn in the Greyjoy Rebellion), but that doesn’t do much about the thousand or so ships currently menacing the Reach.

The details here are concerning. Aside from just a thousand ships. The sheer scope indicates that this is an invasion, not a raid. The fact that the Ironborn set up replacement lords for the ones they killed indicates that this is an invasion, not a raid. They had the capacity to avoid the coasts, heading for the open sea, before swooping back in. It’s bad news. It’s really bad news.

The other thing that rapidly becomes apparent here is the extent to which Margaery is on the ball. They’re her messengers. Willas sent news to her. And we can see why. She’s across the major noble casualties and their significance, the Ironborn response, the tactics Willas reported to her, what Willas plans to do in response, and the action she needs from the Crown. Margaery might be young and relatively inexperienced, but this entire scene shows that her competence isn’t limited to just political imagery. Margaery could actually be a very good queen in her own right.

By contrast, Cersei needs a drink. Her alcoholism progresses. On a political level, it’s not much better. She also blames Willas (with a delightful frisson of ableism), because he’s a Tyrell and clearly incompetent. She immediately attributes this to Stannis.

Pycelle frowned. “What would Lord Stannis gain by…”

While Orton Merryweather tells Cersei that she’s so clever, Pycelle has more questions. Specifically, he notes that cooperating with the Ironborn would hamstring Stannis’s efforts with the Northerners. Cersei rebuts this by saying that clearly Stannis has thrown in the towel on winning over the North and changing his tactics to recruiting enemies of the North, but if that’s so…what are the Ironborn doing raiding the Reach, while still maintaining their halfassed Northern actions? There’s no way to slice it so this makes sense.

When Margaery says that they must recall Mace Tyrell and lift the siege of Storm’s End, it gets worse:

“I have no doubt that Lord Stannis would be pleased by that. Have you been listening, my lady? If he can draw our eyes away from Dragonstone and Storm’s End to these rocks…”

This is where Margaery’s composure breaks slightly.

“Rocks?” gasped Margaery. “Did Your Grace say rocks?”

Loras can’t restrain his sarcasm as he manages a slightly fuller explanation, being that taking the Shield Islands gives the Ironborn a base to menace the Oldtown, the Arbor, and even Highgarden.

Cersei’s response is to tell Loras that this sounds like a you problem. She further suggests that maybe Willas could ferry any troops he raises across to the Shield Islands with skiffs and barges and fishing boats. If you think this is a stupid idea, well.

“And when the longships of the ironborn descend upon our ragtag fleet as it is making its way across this ‘little stretch of water,’ what would Your Grace have us do then?”

Drown, thought Cersei.

So does Cersei. An intentionally stupid idea intended to get as many people of the Reach killed as possible. Alternatively, the Tyrells can spend big on sellsails. With a thousand (or five hundred) ships bearing down on Cersei’s realm, four strategically important islands captured, Cersei’s aim here is to get some of her only allies killed. Without a plan for, you know, repelling the invasion of her shores.

Now, both Tyrell siblings present are utterly appalled, because they wanted Cersei to command Paxter Redwyne to send his ships to do something about the Iron Fleet, even if that means breaking the siege of Dragonstone. As well they might be appalled. As Cersei flatly denies this request and brings the audience to an end, Pycelle too seems like he was stunned into silence, as Cersei mentions him snapping back to attentiveness.

Appalled or not, Loras now takes unreasonable action in order to appease someone who has proved to be unreasonable. He takes a step towards Cersei - the nerve of him! Cersei is ready to yell for Osmund Kettleblack to defend her from Loras’s vicious walking - but everyone can relax, it’s a false alarm. Loras is, in fact, begging on bended knee to mount a suicidal assault on Dragonstone. He swears that Dragonstone will be Cersei’s within two weeks. And if that siege is ended, then Cersei can freely do something about the massive invasion force bearing down on one of the realm’s breadbaskets as they head into winter.

No one had given Cersei such a lovely gift since Sansa Stark had run to her to divulge Lord Eddard’s plans.

Successfully tricking an eleven year old might not objectively be the flex Cersei thinks it is, but it is however about the right level of flex for the clownery Cersei’s currently indulging in. Hooray! Cersei has successfully rid herself of one of Tommen’s very few competent bodyguards, arranged for allied forces to cut themselves down on a castle they don’t need to fall right this instant, further alienated her political allies and advisors, and ignored a full scale invasion.

Pycelle’s not getting it though. As Cersei monologues to herself about how clever she is to have arranged to blow up her own side, to the point of full blown cartoon villain laughter once she’s out of Tyrell earshot, he’s trying to keep pace with her.

“Your Grace?” Grand Maester Pycelle blinked, his mouth sagging open. “Why…why would you laugh?”

For good measure, Cersei also tosses in the fact that Pycelle got the stunned mullet act on when she notified him of her not at all going to end in disaster arrangement with the High Septon. Imagine that. She’s thinking about replacing Pycelle, too, because someone whose response to Cersei’s decisions in this opening scene was ‘huh - what - why???’ is clearly not keeping up with Cersei and her cunning plans.

Side Projects

Cersei’s night is still not over. Qyburn’s talking replacements for Loras. He has one in mind. It may or may not be zombie Gregor Clegane.

“What he lacks in gallantry he will give you tenfold in devotion. He will protect your son, kill your enemies, and keep your secrets, and no living man will be able to withstand him.”

Sold! Cersei’s already ordered the plate from the armourer. They’re another over-cautious fool who’s saying things like “but physics! Human anatomy! They don’t work like that!”

After reporting in to Taena Merryweather, Cersei’s not quite ready to go back to sleep when guardsmen knock on Cersei’s door again. Cersei tries to say that it’s freaking late here and she needs to sleep, but the guard says that Falyse is “not in a good way.” So Cersei gets dressed and goes to meet with Falyse Stokeworth.

Sure enough, Falyse is indeed not in a good way. She’s crying, bruised, and her dress is torn, and the only thing she can say until Cersei gets a flagon of wine in her is “he killed him.” It turns out that this refers to Bronn, who killed Falyse’s husband Balman. Balman had the genius idea of challenging Bronn to single combat.

“He said it would be s-s-simple. The lance is a knight’s weapon, he said, and Bronn was no true knight.”

Classism here has done Balman in. Cersei immediately spots that Bronn’s not a knight, no, but someone who is very good at killing other people in a range of circumstances. Knights included. Bronn simply killed Balman’s horse (the poor horse!) and let the horse crush Balman. He then forced Balman to confess before finishing him off, hitting Falyse across the face, and ordering her to leave Stokeworth. Falyse’s guards told her that she should do as Lord Stokeworth said. So now Falyse is here, asking for Cersei’s help to retake Stokeworth. Cersei is less than pleased with the blithering idiots she called upon to quietly assassinate Bronn.

Who asked these particular blithering idiots to quietly assassinate Bronn, you ask? Let’s not dwell on those technicalities either.

The upshot of all this is that Cersei’s lost Stokeworth. She can’t send people to retake it, because she can’t risk fighting right outside King’s Landing under the circumstances. Instead she just has to take the L and work on damage control. Damage control here meaning that she just hands Falyse over to Qyburn. Truly, there are no other ways Cersei could obtain Falyse’s silence.

Alone again, Cersei repeats the sentiment that she’s surrounded by idiots. Even Jaime. She needs another drink to cope.

Thus fortified, Cersei’s narration heads back into self-justification. Bronn’s no more than an annoyance (then why assassinate him? Just because he pissed Cersei off? Sure, that’s reasonable) and she’ll swat him like a fly when she only has the chance. A bit of revenge fantasy, and then she decides she’s done thinking about Stokeworth.

So that’s definitely fixed then.

Taena had drifted back to sleep by the time the queen returned to the bedchamber, her head spinning. Too much wine and too little sleep, she told herself. It was not every night that she was awakened twice with such desperate tidings. At least I could awaken. Robert would have been too drunk to rise, let alone rule. It would have fallen to Jon Arryn to deal with all of this. It pleased her to think that she made a better king than Robert.

And thus ends a successful night of ruling for Cersei. But she’s not done with being king yet.

The King’s Rights

This chapter takes place in the course of a single night, and Cersei wants nothing more than to go back to bed. So we do learn a bit about Cersei’s sleeping habits and preferenes. She outright says that she doesn’t like sleeping alone, but on the flip side, she also hates other women just that much.

None [of Cersei’s bedmaids] had pleased her, and few lasted very long. Little sneaks, the lot of them. Vapid, weepy creatures, always telling tales and trying to worm their way between me and Jaime.

Chalk another one up for Cersei referring to women as non-humans. In this case, ‘creatures’. Anyway. Cersei hates her bedroom, because Robert would occasionally visit her in it, and notes that in terms of temperature Taena’s much the same as Robert with the bonus of no rape! Isn’t that nice. There is, however, another side to this:

Of late, [Taena] had shared the queen’s bed more often than Lord Merryweather’s. Orton did not seem to mind…or if he did, he knew better than to say so.

Not Cersei’s bed, the queen’s bed. The use of rank reminds the reader of the power differential. Cersei wants Taena there for her own comfort, and so Taena goes. In this case, it’s also a reminder of when and how a woman can overrule a man.

On the political intrigue front, the narrative also recounts just what Cersei tells Taena about what was said in that council. Oh, sure, Cersei tells Taena not to betray her trust, with a reminder that she can and will hand Taena over to Qyburn. Taena responds with a not suspicious at all declaration that the only reward for her service she wants is Cersei’s affection. “It pleases me to please you,” Taena says.

This is when Cersei starts thinking about Taena’s body. Note that a good chunk of this description is all in reference to Cersei’s own body - Taena’s breasts are larger than Cersei’s, Taena herself is younger than Cersei. It’s a sexual description, but remarkably free of attraction. What Cersei’s wondering is this:

She wondered what it would feel like to suckle on those breasts, to lay the Myrish woman on her back and push her legs apart and use her like a man would use her, the way Robert would use her when the drink was in him…

This prompts Cersei to think back to her sexual relationship with Robert, by which I mean his repeated rapes of her. She doesn’t use the word rape, but it’s nevertheless clear that this was what it was. Cersei did everything she could do avoid penetrative sex with Robert, instead trying to bring him to orgasm in other ways, knowing he’d fall asleep soon afterwards. She thinks of herself as helpless during the instances of penetrative sex, and what she recalls is that afterwards she was sore and that she’d only been aroused by him the one time in the course of their fifteen-year marriage.

Cersei raised this with Robert, and his response shows the depths of his moral cowardice:

“It was not me, my lady,” he said, in a sulky sullen tone, like a child caught stealing apple cakes from the kitchen. “It was the wine. I drink too much wine.” To wash down his admission, he reached for his horn of ale.

[…]

He did remember what he did to her at night, she was convinced of that. She could see it in his eyes. He only pretended to forget; it was easier to do that than to face his shame. Deep down, Robert Baratheon was a coward.

Cersei is dead right about that much.

There’s a brief interruption while Cersei deals with her second late-night meeting. When she comes back she picks up where she left off - thinking about rape. Then committing it, outright re-enacting what Robert did to her. She starts by pinching and twisting Taena’s breasts, something Cersei recounted that Robert did to her, and when Taena protests, Cersei says that it was the wine. So she continues hurting Taena,

“I am the queen. I mean to claim my rights.”

This is rape. The point in what Cersei’s doing was to rape Taena. She deliberately did not ask before initiating sexual content. She deliberately ignored Taena’s stated discomfort. She deliberately invoked her status as queen while continuing to touch Taena. While Taena might have been expecting Cersei to make sexual advances on her at some point, and while she might be aroused, neither of those things is consent to this scene. This was entirely Cersei’s point. She negated the possibility that Taena might consent, because she doesn’t want Taena’s consent.

Earlier in the chapter, Cersei thought ‘Ser Loras lusts for glory as real men lust for women.’ Which is classic toxic masculinity, complete with the homophobia inherent to that toxic masculinity. So here we see Cersei trying to be that ‘real man’ in raping Taena, as she herself was raped.

She gets no sexual pleasure from it, nor any peace. Cersei continues comparing herself to Robert, searching for whatever pleasure he got in violating her, hoping to understand why. All she finds is further contempt for Robert. The sex scene in the present is mixed with Cersei’s memories of the past - specifically in how Cersei cleaned up afterwards, imagining it as “eating Robert’s heirs.” Not even the most violent of Cersei’s fantasies can do anything for her sexually in this situation.

In the end, Cersei thinks that sex had only ever been good for her with Jaime (whose absence is understated but noticeable throughout the chapter, depriving Cersei of both the political and sexual partner she imagined). She does not allow Taena to touch her, rolls over, and goes back to sleep denying that this had ever happened.

Drunkenly raping her bedmate and deliberately forgetting/not-forgetting that it happened. Truly Cersei is a far better king than Robert.

Chapter Function

As far as who’s going where in places we don’t have PoVs but do have armed conflict, in this chapter we see the Ironborn advance Euron’s plans while the sieges of Storm’s End and Dragonstone are progressed. Narratively progressed, if not otherwise. We also get a major jump in Bronn’s subplot/running joke at Cersei’s expense, and further progress on Qyburn’s experiments.

Dealing with all these issues means that this is a hugely important chapter in depicting Cersei as a ruler. Her myopia, preconceived notions (fitting the facts to her theories, rather than allowing a theory to arise from facts), paranoia, cruelty, self-satisfaction and self-delusion combine here to create a freaking disaster. Several freaking disasters. Aside from, you know, an invasion, Cersei’s actions here continue her vendetta against the Tyrells, seriously compromising a coalition she needs in order to rule. And also loses her Stokeworth.

But most dramatically, we see how Cersei’s past affects her present. As much as she hates Robert, she also emulates him and seeks to exceed him specifically. Deliberately, in the case of her rape of Taena, in a search to understand her own trauma. Less deliberately in the case of the alcoholism. Other chapters in AFFC show how Cersei’s internalised the very worst of her father, reproducing all his flaws with very few of Tywin’s already-few virtues. This chapter shows how Cersei’s done the exact same with Robert.

There are few chapters in AFFC that show this comprehensively just how unfit Cersei is to rule, on every conceiveable level. This chapter hits just about every possible reason. It’s not without sympathy for her as a person, but it doesn’t change the fundamental point the narrative’s out to demonstrate. Cersei’s a terrible king and she shows no signs of ever getting any better. She cannot imagine how to be any better. She’s actively trying to be worse.

Miscellany

Just keeping track of what Cersei calls other people - note that she calls Margaery “my lady”. Margaery is the queen.

Of late, Cersei heard soft sounds, even in her own apartments. Mice in the walls, she would tell herself, no more than that.

I don’t know what’s going on with this, but there are a few possible explanations. One, paranoia. Two, they really are out to get her. Specifically Varys is out to get her, with his comprehensive knowledge of the Red Keep and desire to stoke Cersei’s paranoia as high as it will go.

Qyburn’s phrasing that the puppeteers Cersei gave to his custody are “quite used up” is fucking chilling.

Clothing Porn

None.

Food Porn

Bread, cheese, meat pie, and apples make a simple pre-torture meal for Falyse Stokeworth.

Next Three Chapters

Catelyn VI, ASoS - Bran II, ASoS - Tyrion V, ACoK

#ASoIaF #valyrianscrolls #revisiting chapters #cw: rape #cw: violence #cersei lannister #a feast for crows

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vihattu-thethoroughbredofsin · 5 months

Text

EarthSpark: When the script is not your strong suit. Part 1.

Part 1. Part 2. Part 3.

I will say in advance that I do not hate this series, but I have a lot of questions and complaints about some plot points. These posts are also an invitation to discussion, but first I recommend reading to the end (if someone is interested, of course).

let's get started. It's going to be a long song.…

1. The unevenness of the narrative, forgotten moments, strange plot twists.

Many people, including me, have already talked about this, there are many moments in the series when events develop too quickly and occur without prior construction and prerequisites. This is especially noticeable in the filler series, which had no consequences for the narrative, despite the fact that events predisposed to this. For example, the episodes "Traditions", "Bear Necessities", "Decoy", "Friends and Family". In the first of these episodes, Alex recognized the signs of his colleague's inventions. Has anyone remembered this and tried to find out where Arachnamechs came from? No.

The mutant bear didn't surprise anyone at all. Why did the GHOST throw waste in the forest at all? There's no point in doing it so openly, and if there was a goal, what was it? We never found out. This is an extremely cheap way to show how much the GHOST is an evil organization that spoils nature. This is a militarized organization, where do they get hazardous waste, in principle, if specifically they are not part of military production and their base is obviously not some kind of factory? If this is waste from scientific research, then again, from where? It was not shown that the GHOST was studying or inventing anything until Meridian returned to them. And even if that's the case, what's the point of Croft throwing away evidence of some dark business of the organization where they can be found by the person whom Croft herself lured here to work? The only thing that helped the whole situation was that Dot and everyone else just forgot about this meeting with the mutant bear and did not start an investigation. And anyway, how long has this been going on? It would be a good move to show at the end of the episode "Traditions" a hint of these mutants, which the locals mistook for cryptids. By the way, is Dot a good ranger if she's not interested in what happened to that bear in the woods?

What about "Prime Time"? Apart from all the oddities, no one tried to figure out what kind of ship it was, is it really in orbit, what happened at all? Where did the Meridian go? Isn't anyone interested? Okay. By the way, it turns out that Robby alone could be enough to create Twitch and Thrash? Why? By what logic does the creation of Terrans work at all?! What's going on in this episode, help!

The entire episode of "Decoy" turned out to be useless because the beginning of the episode " Warzone" was cut out. And how would it be, how did it happen that the creators of the series cut out the plot outcome of another episode? At least they would have said that everything that happened was the work of Soundwave and Ravage.

Or an episode of "Friends and Family"? Did Bumblebee forget about the inscription and the drawing, did the whole family forget to get a supply of this water? Considering that this resource eventually disappeared! What did the Terrans eat after the episode "What Dwells Within"?! And if they had to hide for a long time, wouldn't it be worth having a supply of this water?

I'll just leave it without comment that for a long time the children did not even think about telling how the Terrans were born.

And that's not even the whole list. I do not know how it was possible to overlook such inconsistencies and nonsense.

2. Parents do not receive attention in the plot and because of this they look negligent.

The series, which began and is mainly positioned as focusing on the family, decided very early to sideline the parents, Dot and Alex, reducing their role and significance, but most importantly, the logic of the plot. That is, attentive and caring parents do not try to protect their children from getting into various fights and dangerous situations? I understand that the plot should be happening, but they could have expressed their fears, tried unsuccessfully to stop the children or talk to the Cybertronians about it, at least with Arcee, who instead of looking after the children went with them to fight with Soundwave! Are parents satisfied with such "babysitters"? Fine.

How considerate is Dot as a mother if, knowing that a free-roaming Decepticon has appeared in the area, which has already attacked people in the city, she did not think to call home and warn her family about it? This is "House Rules", and we remember how it could have ended for Mo and Thrash.

How considerate are Dot and Alex if, knowing that one of their children may be constantly connected to the Internet, they don't do anything about it? No attempt to control what exactly the Hashtag can see there? No explanation of the rules of behavior on the Internet and possible dangers? This is a show for kids, it could make a good educational episode or part of it, but so, are they waiting for this to become a problem to solve it next season?

One of your children has built a whole bunker out of materials that came from nowhere and constructs often dangerous inventions. What should parents do about it? Probably nothing, they don't need to ask questions, they don't need to control and supervise the safety of this child and the rest of the children, they don't need to look for a teacher, at least a Wheeljack. Why, because in "Bear Necessities" we were not shown the consequences.

Alex is our historian, but it doesn't affect anything beyond the first episode. Did he discover the similarity of Arachnamechs to his colleague's inventions? No, it's not worth investigating. Any historical information is told by one of the transformers, but not by him, although he could tell both his children and us some historical facts important to the plot. Information about Primes and artifacts? No, he didn't tell it, although he could have started with the basics, and the Cybertronians would have completed it. The battle at the space bridge? No, Megatron told about it. What's the point of making a character a historian if you don't give him the opportunity to use his knowledge?

Besides, Alex, by hints, had some kind of connection with the Meridian. This can be understood from the remarks from both Alex and Meridian, which were supported by the acting of the voice actors. But what did it lead to? How did this fact affect their meeting? How did it help to defeat Meridian? Did this give a backstory to either of them? The answer to all questions is no. Then why was this connection added?

Because of all this, Dot and Alex seem to be very neglectful parents who either don't understand what's going on or don't consider it serious. And this is very strange, because they were not originally written like that, and all these situations could have been solved by a couple of lines in the script, but the authors did not think of it.

3. Dads-2 don't make sense.

Well, the main theme of the series is family. And it seems like it is. And then, starting from the second part of the first season, the authors began to conveniently push the parents to the second and third plan, as mentioned in the paragraph above.

But the family doesn't end only with Malto, because this also applies to Cybertronians, who are mentors for Terrans or, as the fandom prefers to call them, dads-2. And it seems like the idea is clear, the Terrans are a bridge between humanity and the cybertronians, they have a human family and there must be someone who will provide connection with the Cybertronians. In addition, the show should show as many recognizable characters as possible in order to attract viewers familiar with the franchise, this is understandable. So how does the plot handle this?

Twitch and Wheeljack. Okay, he created a drone that she scanned and showed her which set of weapons she had. And after that, he disappeared from the plot, although he had several opportunities to help the Terrans, especially Nightshade. If it's expensive to invite a voice actor and add model to an episode, then authors could at least mention him.

Nightshade and Tarantulas. Okay, Tarantulas didn't teach Nightshade anything, because Nightshade already knows everything, he didn't teach any moral lesson, he was going to hurt Dot and Alex. A great dad-2, but apparently the fandom knows better. Nightshade even acquired an altmod in response to the danger posed by the Tarantulas, and this cannot be called a help, if you replace it with any other threat, nothing will change. Well, yes, an excellent dad-2 of a possible war criminal scientist, but more on that later.

Hashtag and Starscream. This is more of a fandom declaring Starscream the dad-2 for the Hashtag, but still. Everything is simple here, Hashtag serves as a plot justificator for Starscream's behavior, which will be discussed later, and no more.

Jawbreaker and Grimlock. It's not that bad here, and Grimlock has a lot to teach Jawbreaker. But do parents not care about the fact that one of their children will be taught by someone with serious PTSD and a problem with anger control?

And for some reason, the fandom appoints Swindle as the dad-2 for Trash. Should I remind you that Swindle used Trash and Mo and later threatened them, maybe even could have killed them? Is everything okay, a good role model?

In the end, this is another thing that the authors wrote into the plot and did not develop.

4. Terrans lose their features and look just like young cybertronians.

The question arises that we are constantly being pointed out that Terrans are important for the future of transformers, that they are unique in their nature. But how is it shown, what does it mean and what does it affect? They are techno-organic, but what exactly distinguishes them from Cybertronians? Do they drink some kind of unusual water instead of energon and can scan fossilized bones? Seriously, what else? Did they appear in an unusual way? And how do we know how ordinary Cybertronians appear, maybe in the same way, but with the help of another artifact and another water. Why would add a technoorganicity characteristic and not really do anything about it? Everything the Cybertronians teach them works, although we should have expected some differences in their functioning and the work of their bodies.

I don't think the situation will change in the second season, but we'll see.

5. The development of Robby and Mo is not consistent.

Why did such a remark from Mo appear in a conversation with Jawbreaker about the fact that no one takes her seriously because she is a girl? This never happened in the series, no one told her that, on the contrary, she was always on a par with Robby. Besides, her mom is a former soldier, how could there be such conversations in such a family? And everything is simple, it was added at the last moment for the sake of something unclear.

In general, their whole development is strange, the viewer seems to be told that both Robbie and Mo are important for some kind of "prophecy", but is it implied that Mo is more important, especially with his healing powers? What does that even mean? Why was the prophecy introduced? For some reason, the authors completely abandoned Robby's arch that he wants to be a defender of his family and is trying to be a leader? He should have had this arch on a par with Twitch, but Twitch took over the whole role. In addition, the final phrase of the parents in the episode "Prime Time" looks very strange when they say that Mo is special. They have a recently dying son sitting next to them! Which, as the episode showed, is also special on a par with Mo! Why was this phrase only about Mo, if it contradicts the whole morality of the episode?

Part 1. Part 2. Part 3.

#transformers #Transformers Earthspark #tf earthspark #Earthspark #tfe #tfes #Earthspark analysis #I'm not going to apologize for anything I said

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emotionallychargedtowel · 1 year

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Utsukushii Kare S2E1 thoughts

I’ve never watched a BL that was still on the air, unless it was almost finished when I started. I just hate waiting between episodes, especially in a genre where episodes are often super short. But I can’t wait four weeks to see Utsukushii Kare season two (anyway, I’d get so many spoilers on here, it would be useless). I’ve also never posted about a BL episode by episode, since I never watched one that way. But I’m going to try doing it this time.

There is such a marked difference between season 2 and season 1. Season 1 was so packed with voice-over narration, but didn’t have that much dialogue. There’s still quite a bit of voice-over stuff in season 2 but the dialogue has increased by leaps and bounds. Since I was fascinated by the ways in which Hira’s and Kiyoi’s weirdnesses interacted with one another in the first season, all of this direct interaction gave me so much more to work with in my conceptualization of the characters. Not to mention so much more being communicated nonverbally.

There’s a sense in which the viewer gets to have their cake and eat it too with season 2, and that is that in many respects we get to enjoy Hira and Kiyoi finally being together, but they’re also still struggling with a lot of the same issues they did in season 1, so that engine that drove the story is still in operation. So far, if this season was a fanfic, it would be labeled as both “angst” and “fluff.” And fluffy angst is really enjoyable! From another angle, this combination is the worst of both worlds. Every sweet moment between these characters is suspended from this tenuous thread of their relationship. Both of them fear losing that relationship so intensely, despite the other wanting so badly to hold on, but it’s that very insecurity that threatens it the most. And it’s always in the background, undercutting all of cute stuff that would feel like rank fan service otherwise (heaven forbid!).

There were a few particular highlights for me.

1) Kiyoi’s new habit of giving Hira a significant look while opening his mouth, which is Hira’s cue to feed him. The fact that this happened on two different occasions in just one short episode? What a weird combination of demanding and endearing.

2) The scene where Kiyoi walks in on Hira being hit on by a girl. I particularly enjoyed this as a kabedon appreciator. She backs him into a door with one arm out in a very kabedon-like way (she doesn’t whack it, though), and then when Kiyoi arrives he does a full kabedon on Hira out of jealousy (but without the usual confession and/or kiss). There’s also an interesting role reversal happening here. And it’s a great illustration of how naive and dense Hira really is.

3) The exchange about “doing it.” This, to me, is a really good illustration of the lovable weirdness of these characters. Well, lovable to some of us. I expect that some people might find it off-putting or icky. It’s definitely not entirely healthy. It seems like the way things go in this scene is typical for them. Basically, intimacy happens when Kiyoi decides it will, and it’s just assumed that of course Hira will be down for it. It isn’t even presented as a question, more as an announcement: “we’re going to do it today.” Which isn’t the best consent practice ever, but it seemingly works because apparently (in a way that’s very consistent for the character), Hira really is always interested in “doing it” with Kiyoi. The fact that this only happens when Kiyoi chooses is also very consistent with his guardedness. But a more surprising aspect is Kiyoi’s shyness. He’s tentative, even bashful here. Not that he was ever portrayed as particularly assertive sexually, far from it, but he’s so assertive, even domineering, in other areas of his life, particularly with Hira, that this almost demure quality is really striking. In the end it seems these two deeply weird people have come up with a system that basically works for them and, particularly after all of the pining in season 1, it’s kind of adorable seeing them navigate it.

4) The acknowledgement that Hira is actually pretty attractive. One jarring thing about season 1 is that it’s often treated as a foregone conclusion that Hira is repulsive (possibly because we spend so much time inside his head) but Hagiwara Riku is, of course, quite nice-looking (even with Hira’s unflattering hairdo). It also doesn’t add up that Kiyoi would be so attracted to Hira if he was really as unappealing as he thinks. So it was nice to have that acknowledged and played around with in an interesting way.

Second seasons of BLs are inherently risky. And it’s still rather early to assume this one will avoid the potential risks. But so far I think it shows a lot of potential to be as worthwhile as the first season. Honestly, I could imagine liking it even more. I guess we’ll see.

#utsukushii kare #utsukushii kare season 2 #yagi yusei #hagiwara riku #my beautiful man #my beautiful man season 2 #utsukare

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