#but for real how do i keep that and not make Karl like Super obvious lmao | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

lucy90712 · 3 years

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Wearing his clothes/merch (hc)

George:

George had just got some of his new merch in the mail so naturally you decided to steal it and wear it before he can plus its super comfy so why not. Since you put it on you hadn't seen George because he had been busy but when he was done doing whatever it was that he was doing he came into the living room to see you working away on your laptop.

He was kind of tired but as soon as he looked at you a huge smile formed on his face, he loves when you wear his merch or his clothes in general because you just look so cute in his things especially when they are too big for you. His absolute favourite thing is when the sleeves of hoodies are too long and your fingers just barely poke out the end he just finds it so adorable when you are constantly pulling the sleeves up to grab things.

Your laptop is shut when George walks over sitting next to you and pressing multiple kisses all over your face. He did open your laptop back up mainly so you didn't get annoyed with him but you put it down anyway relishing in the attention he was giving you because you often have widely different schedules.

"You look so cute in my merch" he says

"You aren't mad that I took it then" you say

"Not at all it looks better on you anyway" he says

You may have had a little too much fun with him taking pictures of you in his merch as if you were modelling but those pictures would never be used for anything just for him to look back at and possibly tease the merch on stream.

Dream:

Some days it's just so hot that you have to steal one of Clay's t-shirts because it's big on you so it doesn't stick to you in any way. Clay loves those days because he loves seeing you in his shirts because they look better on you than him anyway. Today was even better because you were wearing one of his merch shirts which he wore a few days ago so it smelled like him which is why you were wearing it.

He has had his hands on you all day because he just loves to have you close to him even though it's like 40 degrees outside (this is in Celsius because I don't understand Fahrenheit). The both of you sit outside in the sun taking in its vitamins and with Clay playing with your hair as you lie on his chest, the whole time his eyes are on you just looking at you lying there wearing his shirt being as beautiful as ever without making any effort whatsoever.

Clay for sure takes pictures of you in all of his merch and even posts some of them if he has told the viewers about you because they love you and it means he can gush about you while promoting his merch. Some of his favourite pictures of you are in his merch when you both had an impromptu photo shoot when the new merch arrived, it was such a fun day because he kept telling you to stand in different ways and in different places.

Sapnap:

You often spend the day with sapnap and then more often that not you stay the night but every time you never bring anything to sleep in but sapnap is more than happy with that because then he can give you his clothes to wear. Seeing you in his hoodie or t-shirt makes him so happy because it shows that your his and he's very protective so anything to show that your his is great.

One night you did bring things to sleep in but you didn't wear them because Sapnap wouldn't let you wear them because some of his favourite times with you are cuddled up in bed when you are wearing his clothes so there was no way he was going to miss out on that just because you remembered to bring clothes with you.

He gives you one of his shirts and a pair of his sweatpants which are way too big on you but they are comfy and he says they look cute so that's why you wear them. As you walk round with them on he will come over and put his hands in the pockets of the sweatpants or in the pouch of the hoodie and just have his arms around you taking in the fact that you're all his.

When you two actually go to bed he will lie half on top of you making sure you are fully protect form whatever he thinks will happen during the night. It can be kind of uncomfortable but its nice having him there to cuddle with and keep you warm during the winter because that man is like a heater at all times.

Quackity:

When he's not streaming his beanies are yours and there is no argument about it, you often hate the way your hair looks and his beanies are the best thing to cover it. Sometimes you two argue about who is going to wear his beanie because he usually wears one incase he gets recognised but you always win the argument because ultimately he likes looking at you in his beanie so you get to wear it while he wears a hat.

Sometimes you go out both wearing beanies and even matching ones being the cute couple that you really aren't if anything you two are a bit more chaotic but that is about the only moment you two are cute. The viewers love your vibes together because there is literally no difference as to how you act on stream or in real life when people meet you.

You two stream together quite a bit even before you told the viewers because you act the exact same as a couple as you did as friends but when you do stream together you both wear a beanie, each stream comes with about a million clips and screenshots of the both of you matching. It never occurs to you or Alex that people like when you match because it happens a lot just in everyday life so you think nothing of it but you are always reminded when you don't have a beanie on and people are shocked.

Karl:

All of his clothes are yours too, he loves seeing you wear his clothes just on an everyday basis. Sometimes you will wear one of his t-shirts or his button ups over something to make an outfit and he just loves that because you always look so good and sometimes even better. On occasion you two will wear similar outfits and then Karl has to bring you out so that people can appreciate how amazing you look. He would just have to post pictures either on Instagram or on his second twitter of you both just being amazing because who wouldn't.

Of all the times you wear his clothes chill days where you have on one of his hoodies are his favourites. He always thinks you look so cute and comfortable in his hoodie which may be too big but who can complain when you have the hood up and it over your hands and you look so snug. He likes to cuddle with you because even if he isn't wearing comfy clothes he feels so much more comfortable just laying with you and snuggling his head into your chest.

Wilbur:

He practically gives you his clothes if he wants you to wear them but he does it subtly by leaving them in a place that's convenient for you or quite literally putting them in your wardrobe. He has been known to carry a hoodie around with him just incase you get cold so he can give it to you. You always laugh to yourself when you notice these things because you find it sweet that he would do all of this to get you to wear his clothes and of course you do it because you got to reward his efforts.

When you do wear his clothes he gets all shy and blushy even though he is the one that instigated it but it also makes him super happy that you will go out in his things without a care in the world. It’s even better when he gets to be with you because then its even more obvious that you have his clothes on and he likes that although people give you looks they know they don’t have a chance because you’re his.

In the winter you both share his beanies as well because why buy your own when he has so many. Beanies is the one thing he will tease you about wearing and will move them around on your head even pulling them down over your eyes just for fun but he really does it because he can’t handle the cuteness of you wearing his beanie all the time.

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auramindedd · 3 years

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I Like You - SMAU*

Part 10

CorpseHusband x FemReader - Y/N

warnings: cussing

notes: uhhh,, idk where to take this series, but ima just go w the flow igs 😭 also,, i completely give up on adding the small details like the likes, comments, replies, and the times on tweets so i’m super sorry if it bothers you lmao

it’s also pretty long,, mostly writing rather than the smau, butttt i really like this one 🥺

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“When’s Rae gonna be home?” Corpse asks, playing with his hands.

“She’ll be home tonight, I just don’t know at what time. Why?”

“Uh... I- I just... I don’t know? I’m kind of nervous?”

“Corpse, Rae is your friend. But if you don’t feel comfortable, I can get a hotel room for you not too far away from here?” You suggest, 100% willing to pay for a hotel room for him if he wouldn’t feel comfortable being here with Rae here.

“I wanna stay here- with you... If that’s okay with you, of course.” There’s a slight blush on his face, it makes you smile a bit.

“Yes, I want you to stay here, too. You can take my bed, I’ll sleep on the couch.” You grab his plate, stacking his on top of yours, taking them to the sink.

“No, no. I can be on the couch tonight, I don’t sleep anyway.”

“Corpse, I’m not gonna have you sleep on that uncomfortable ass couch. Come on, we’ll figure something out. Wanna watch a movie?” He nods his head. You grab his hand, or more so his fingers, leading him to your room.

You turn the lights off, turning your fairy lights on instead. You tell Corpse to get comfortable, fluffing pillows for him, letting him lay back.

You know Corpse would be a bit anxious and nervous, not something you’d ever blame him for. You’re surprised you’re not being awkward or nervous. You’ve been trying your best to keep Corpse comfortable here, making sure he isn’t getting too nervous.

“Can we watch High School Musical? I have the stupid ass songs stuck in my head, childish me is coming...” You ask, not wanting to torture him with such a movie. Well, it’s not a bad movie, but you’d understand if anyone’d want to shoot themselves in the head while watching.

“Of course, baby.” You can’t help the butterflies that erupt in your stomach from the nickname. You sit closer to the TV, wanting Corpse to be comfortable rather than you.

Suddenly, you feel a hand around your waist. Corpse pulls you to him, letting you lay next to him. He looks at you, smiling. You smile back.

“Corpse, can I ask you a question?” He hums, indicating for you to go on. “That one time, you didn’t answer me for two days... You told me it had been because I was too ‘pretty.’ I didn’t believe you, and I still don’t. Why didn’t you answer me, like for real?” You don’t ask this in a bad way either, you’re just genuinely curious.

“I- uh... I’m going to be 100% honest, Y/N, but I don’t wanna scare you away.” He says cautiously, hesitating to go on.

“Corpse, you could never. I’m too attached already.” He chuckles, letting out a sigh.

“I like you. Like, like like you... I liked you before even seeing your face, but after, wow.” Silence. Deafening silence. But honestly, you can hear your fucking smile. You don’t think you’ve ever smiled so hard in your life. “Y/N, baby, say something, please.”

“Corpse,” You look up at him, probably scaring him with your smile. “I like you, too. Like, like like you.” He chuckles, but it’s more of a chuckle of relief. If that’s a thing?

He pulls you close to him, letting your head rest on his chest. You listen to his heartbeat, his breathing, trying to match yours with his. You slowly drift off, your eyelids getting too heavy to keep open.

———

You wake up in Corpse’s arms. He’s gently stroking your side, looking down at you with a small smile.

“Good morning,” His voice is raspier and deeper than it already is. You didn’t know that was possible.

“Good morning,” You say, yawning softly. You bury your face deeper into his chest, snuggling closer to him.

“So fucking cute.” He mumbles, softly chuckling.

After a while of just laying there in Corpse’s arms, you decide to check social media and your messages. Already, Twitter is going crazy, assuming quickly that you and Corpse are dating. It’s not anything you didn’t expect, but it’d be nice if people didn’t jump to conclusions.

You decide to tweet a good morning, feeling good about today. And sadly, very unfortunately, you decide to text back the group chat - something you’ve been dreading to do.

Corpse is there, reading the messages, but you don’t mind.

You kind of, accidentally, and very stupidly put yourself out, but it’s all good, nobody said anything besides Brooke. You all have a drunk Among Us lobby to get to.

After getting ready, Corpse getting his laptop and mic ready in another room, you join the Discord call. Corpse joins quickly after. Surprisingly, nobody says anything about you two being in the same apartment while greeting each other. You don’t doubt that someone will say something soon.

“Let’s all take a drink - to Corpse and Y/N holding hands!” Alex exclaims, clinking his glass on his mic. The rest cheer, pretending to clink their glasses as well. You sigh and laugh a bit, but nonetheless, you’re gulping down a glass of champagne.

“Alex,” You say, catching his attention.

“Yeah?”

“Fuck you!”

“Hey, hey, hey. No fucking.” Karl says, and you can hear him slap his hand to his mouth after realizing what he just said. The lobby bursts into fits of laughter, but the one you’re trying to listen for, Corpse’s. It’s silent on his end.

“Karl, how much have you had to drink?” Dream asks, slurring his words. Didn’t this game just start?

“I had like 3 beers?”

“You fucking lightweight.” You tease. “Dream, you’ve been drinking too...”

“Yeah, we might’ve pregamed an Among Us game.” He admits shamefully.

“Didn’t expect less from you two,” Rae says, adding a disappointing tone to her voice for effect. She starts the game, despite the sad protests from Karl and Dream.

Crewmate.

You pout, wanting so badly to be Imposter. You’re a good liar to say the least, and people easily fall for your sweet, innocent voice. It’s funny, pathetic even, which is why you want at least one good Imposter round.

“Whaddup, baby,” Corpse greets you in Nav. Dream follows behind him, Karl coming in shortly after.

“Hey, my beautiful alcoholics!” You greet cheerfully, earning groans from them both. Oh, how fun it’s going to be teasing them.

“At least she called us beautiful.” Karl says, walking out of Nav with Dream, leaving you and Corpse alone again. You get back to doing your task, connecting the ship with the dotted lines and whatnot.

“Am I beautiful?” You can hear the pout in his voice, it’s cute.

“Gorgeous, stunning even.” You say before walking out of Nav, smiling to yourself.

This round is pretty uneventful, along with the next few. But after about five rounds, you’re all incredibly drunk after playing some drinking games.

“No balls,” Rae dares. You’re Imposter this round, and Rae’s made you her personal hitman. She’s telling you to kill Karl, but he’s innocently doing his tasks.

“I have three actually.” You defend yourself, not making any sense at all.

“Three what?” Sykkuno comes in.

“Three balls,” Rae answers.

“Okayyy then...” Sykkuno drawls, leaving you two alone. Corpse comes along, the second Imposter. Oh, how convenient.

“Hey, Corpseee,” You greet, making it so fucking obvious.

“Oh my God!” Rae exclaims. You sigh, facepalming yourself. “Corpse kill Karl, Y/N kill Sykkuno.”

“Woah, since when did we become your hitmen?” Corpse backs his astronaut up.

“I’m not killing Syk!” You whisper-yell.

“Okay, then you kill Karl and Corpse can kill Sykkuno.” You can hear her shrugging as if it’s no big deal, but literally, Karl and Sykkuno are the sweetest people to you.

“No, I’m not doing it, Rae...” Corpse still hasn’t said anything. He’s watching you and Rae go back and forth, whisper-yelling even though anyone would be able to hear you.

“I’ll call you two out.”

“You’d never,”

“The emergency meeting button is looking real sexy right now.” Ugh, fuck the stupid smirk you can just hear in her voice.

“Fine, we’ll do it.” Corpse says. He goes and kills Sykkuno. You hesitate killing Karl, but he already watched Corpse kill Sykkuno so, unfortunately, you have to.

You and Corpse run away, leaving Rae to report the bodies.

After you and Corpse vouching for each other the whole round, nobody putting sus on you two because well, you sound so innocent and sweet even while being shitface drunk, you two win, earning groans from everyone in the lobby except from Rae.

“To be fucking fair, Rae had me and Corpse be her hitmen sooo, you can blame her if you died.” The lobby starts yelling playfully at Rae.

———

After finally finishing streaming, Corpse comes into your room, plopping down onto your bed.

“Gosh, I’m gonna have the worst fucking hangover tomorrow.” He murmurs into your pillow, hugging it close to him. You jump onto the bed, sitting next to him, playing with his hair. He doesn’t mind, or you don’t think he does.

“It was fun,” You say, smiling to yourself. You love spending time with your friends. You can’t imagine how much fun it’d be if all of you got together in real life.

“It was,” Corpse yawns, looking up at you, smiling as you keep playing with his hair. He gets up, settling himself into your bed again, pulling you into him, letting you rest your head on his chest. You wrap an arm around him, snuggling yourself closer to him.

“We should probably eat something... And get ourselves some water.” You say, knowing that tomorrow’s hangover is going to be a bitch.

“I don’t wanna let go of you.” Corpse whines. You try getting up, but he almost throws a fucking tantrum. Quickly, you get out of his arms, running out of your room, giggling like a fucking maniac.

“Y/N! Please!” He shouts softly, trying not to wake Rae. He runs after you, following you into the kitchen. You run to the other side of the counter. He goes left, you go right - vice versa.

“Corpse, we need food and water.” You say, trying to grab pans out of the cupboards while he’s trying to get you. You can’t help yourself from giggling. Rae will kill you if you two wake her up.

“I wanna hold you,” Corpse pouts. Gosh, he’s going to be the death of you.

“In a sec, I can make us something real quick.” Drunk Corpse obviously equals Clingy Corpse.

“Fine,” He sighs dramatically, sitting on a stool. You grab pans from underneath the cupboards, pulling out some bread and cheese. Grilled cheese is easiest and it’ll take the least amount of time.

As you’re plopping bread into the toaster, Corpse snakes his arms around your waist, snuggling his face into your neck. There’s the slightest stubble, making you giggle.

“Corpse, I can’t cook with you on me.”

“Yes you can, I’ll help.” So stubborn...

You take the bread out of the toaster before it gets too toasted, putting it on the buttered pan.

It was a mission to finish the food to say the least. Corpse demands you eat in your room that way he can hold you. You put on The Promised Neverland, watching the TV as Corpse watches you. But honestly, you don’t mind.

You two fall asleep in each other’s arms again. And you don’t think you’d ever be able to fall asleep without being in his arms again.

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Taglist - comment or message me to be added.

Sorry for not updating, I have to go through a bunch of posts. I’ll update in the next post.

* if you’re name is in bold, i couldn’t tag you. *

@letsloveimagines @liljennyx3 @youretheonlyonewhomakesme @blackheartemojivibes @lo-manburg @walkingonchairs @strawberrydonkey @tayloryorkscurls @bluepancakemix @prettylittlealiengirl @yeetmymood @victoria-a567 @loraleiix @moonlightsimp @jades-bullshit @teenloves @greenie-of-shield @fanworrior @thefvckvp @bigdaddysatan @mirahg @rosy-feels @arossebyanyothername @kitsamii @lollipop0605 @happyyyandcrazyyy @maraudingmarauder @stickystrawberrysyrup @majasophieanna @ilovejjmaybank @starstruckllamapuppy @owl-llie @thurstyforholland @thatsouthernblondewiththeass @in-fucking-deed @a-dot-dev @rjsmochii @boiled-onionrings @neenieweenie @vvenusblue @bellomi-clarke @smiithys @londonskies @16marie @leah-0207 @officiallyunofficialperson @wineandionysus @fanficlover99

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Tags - ignore::

#corpse #corpse fic #corpse husband #corpse husband fic #corpse x reader #corpse x y/n #corpse husband smau #corpse husband social media au #corpse husband imagine #corpse husband scenarios #smau #social media au #imagine #among us #cute

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julijuliwrites · 3 years

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Hi, I recently saw you did headcanons for quackity having a crush with someone who is oblivious to their feeling, do you think you could do the same but with Karl. Thank you 💕

Hi!! I can do that for you <3 thank you for your request and I hope you enjoy it!

Karl’s oblivious crush

Genre: fluff and little bit of angst

Warning: a little bit of crying and I think that’s it

Paring: Karl x reader

☆彡ミ☆

Karl (in game)

I would think Karl doesn’t make it obvious like how Quackity does

But what really makes it obvious are his words of encouragement and the way he looks at you

That’s why Karl thinks you’re so oblivious

Because when you walk in the room his eyes are immediately on you

Like you’re pulling him by a string and he just has to follow you

I would think he likes you so much that he tells you everything

Even about his time traveling

Which causes him to spill his emotions to you a lot

Sometimes it’ll happen in the middle of the night

Like he’ll knock on your door at 3am with tears in his eyes

“Y/N?” “I’m.. I’m so sorry, it’s so hard. It feels like I keep forgetting more and more.” He says crying in your arms

You feel so bad, understanding it musts be so hard for him

“It’s alright Karl, things will lighten up. I promise, and hey at least you always remember me when you’re back.” You speak softly playing with his hair

Karl’s face is just flushed red

He’s wondering if you know he likes you

I mean you have to right?? After what you just said

Karl is silent for a moment

But in the spur of the moment he spits his feelings out

“Y/N, I don’t know what I’d do without you. I like you a lot, I like you so much it drives me crazy.”

“Whenever I’m gone I get scared I won’t remember you, I never want to forget you.” He says

You’re taken aback

You can feel your cheeks heat up and go quiet

You hum in agreement but you know in your head it’s not real

It’s just the spur of the moment you know that, you should know that

He doesn’t really mean it

But Karl does

The next day it’s a little awkward

Especially when you tell Karl

“No I understand, it was just happened in the moment, okay? I know you didn’t mean it.”

When I tell you his heart broke

He was so sad when you didn’t believe him

So he made it his mission for you to realize his feelings

If he ever saw pretty flowers or anything he thinks you’d like while he’s time traveling he gets it for you

And the way he brings it to you is super cute

He leaves it on your doorstep with a little note

Is constantly talking about you to everyone!!

He’s a pretty talkative person but he isn’t that open towards everyone if that makes sense??

He’s talkative but he’s not open that much to others

Like to make sure if you’re in a group with people that you’re talking

Doesn’t like seeing you sad

I don’t think Karl is a person who gets mad a lot

But when he gets mad about you it’s scary

Lets say one day Technoblade explodes something or burns something

And Karl noticed you had a scar from it

He instantly freezes

“What happened Y/N?” He then asks

“This?” “Just technoblade.” You say back

For once you see hatred in his eyes

The eyes that were so full of life and color now look dark

He swears he’ll get revenge

Tries to time travel back to fix the situation

If you’re having a bad day he’s always there for you!

Comes over with some tea and snacks

Tells you that he understands it’s hard

“Hey, I know it’s hard but you’ve done hard things before! I know you can do this, I believe in you.”

He’ll give you a big kiss on your forehead

You’re frozen LOL

Loves to do little acts of service !

Always has his hand on your shoulder or hand <3

And I see him as someone whose love language is words of affirmation

So expect many nice things to be said <33

Loves to play with your hair

Likes being given flower crowns by you<3

Always comes to you for advice if he’s in trouble

Falls in love with your smile

Calls you gorgeous or cute a lot

☆彡ミ☆

Sorry for how long this took😓😓 I hope you enjoy I tried my hardest!!<33 send more if you’d like c:

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thefanficmonster · 3 years

Text

Finally, You’re Back

Part 1: ‘There You Are’

Karl Heisenberg (Resident Evil 8: Village) x Reader (Gender Neutral)

Warnings: Mentions of Injury and Human Experimentation, Insecurity, Swearing, Spoilers for RE8

Genre: Angst, Romance, Some Humor and Fluff too

Summary: And there they are, back in that village half a decade later to retrieve what’s theirs but unaware of what they’ll find in place of what they remember.

Requested by one Anon and the idea was modified by another Anon, so thank you both so much for sharing your creativity with me, it’s really been a huge honor to write a fic inspired by such a beautiful idea. Love you both! 💕

If again is what he hoped and prayed for, why is he damning it now Why does he resent himself for having hope When he previously wished nothing but to have it Why does their presence hurt When it used to heal him Why do they remind him of how much of a monster he is When previously they were the only one making him human Why is he worthy of their presence When he’s only become worse They upheld their promise But the person they are coming back to is no longer alive He’s taken his place and he hates himself for it He’d kill himself to get him back He’d do just about anything Just to prevent those eyes from seeing them differently Just so he can greet them with open arms and say:

“Finally, you’re back“

But as of now all he can say is:

“You’re back, but the one you’re searching for will never return“

He was made aware of their presence the day of their arrival in the village. He knew all about their venture, going around the village asking for him to be looked at with terror by the villagers they came across. He watched as all the people refused to tell them his whereabouts, claiming they didn’t know or they couldn’t tell. No matter what bribery or convincing method Y/N tried to use, the villagers refused to stand down from their determined ground.

They refused to give up though, going against his prayers that they would. They might have felt discouraged but they never, not even for a second, thought to give it up. Never did they even consider forgetting him as an option. It’s been half a decade and they still remember him, they still have the will to look for him despite all the time that has passed, despite the odds that aren’t in their favor, despite the lack of help from anyone.

They keep going, keep trying. They keep driving the sword deeper into his chest, piercing his heart.

If only they could accept me like this. If only they could look at a monster the same way they looked at that boy they met five years ago...

His mistake, although blatantly obvious even to him, is not something he’s willing to correct. He doesn’t want to give them a chance. And the answer to the question many - even he himself - would ask ‘why’, that answer he doesn’t want revealed.

Because he knows it and would do anything in his power to keep it from swimming to the surface.

The answer? - It’s because he’s afraid. Terrified really.

What of? That’s the part he’s not sure about. Is he afraid of them being scared, disgusted and repulsed by him? Or is he afraid of the complete opposite - that they won’t bat an eye at the change he’s undergone. That latter option leaves him with a bitter taste in his mouth, his stomach turning. He doesn’t believe he deserves that reaction, after all he’s done, after becoming the monster he is now, he’s done his best to not even think about them - attempts that have failed miserably. Not a day has gone by that they haven’t been on his mind. He thought getting rid of the dog tag necklace - the promise - would cleanse his system of their memory that’s etched itself so deeply within his mind and soul but his hands refused to cooperate when his brain kept telling them to lift that necklace off his neck. He couldn’t do it, and he hated himself because of it for a while, but if he’s being honest he felt more relieved than anything else. He doesn’t want the only real memory, the only pleasant memory of his human days gone. He doesn’t want to wipe Y/N from his mind, they’re the only thought that still sends his heartbeat speeding in a positive way. He knows he’s a coward for what he does, hiding in the shadows and watching them waste their time with the villagers who think they are downright insane for going around looking for Karl Heisenberg whom the entire village knows as Lord Heisenberg. Not using his title each time they ask never fails to bring a smile to his face. It’s a relief that they at least have a nice picture of him that has stuck with them. And if it’s up to him, that’s the picture that will remain, they won’t see him like this, this new him won’t replace the old him in their mind. He’d do anything to make sure of it.

That being said, you can imagine the massive shock and mini heart attack he experienced one day when his motion detectors picked up on someone entering the factory in broad daylight. Rushing to the camera display, the briefest glimpse was enough to make out who this foolish person looking for their death was.

Goddammit, Y/N!

It was no longer a danger to his sanity, their presence at the factory was an even worse danger for them. His creations wouldn’t think twice about slicing their tiny frame in half with their implemented chainsaws, designed to do exactly what he’s hoping they won’t get the chance to do this time. Running to the elevator, all he can do is silently pray he reaches them before they come across one of his minions.

What he’s going to say to them? How he’s gonna greet them? He hasn’t got the slightest clue, all he knows is that he has to get to them asap.

Running out of the elevator once it settles on the ground floor, he almost crashes directly into them, eyes wide with shock as the adrenaline is still pumping throughout his body despite the immense amount of relief he feels wash over him. He doesn’t notice at first, but when he does his heart sinks: their gaze is empty and their face unreadable. He can’t bear to have them looking at him like that, it hurts more than physically hitting him. Hell, it hurts more than the experiments Miranda did to him.

“How’d you find me?“ He decides to end the silence for his sanity’s sake, his heart heavy and aching in his chest.

They shrug, “Wasn’t easy, I’ll have to admit, you’ve trained the villagers well, none of em wanted to give me even a clue.“ They give him a small smile before looking around at the factory walls and everything lining them, “And then I put it together on my own. It was a bit of a stretch...“ they trail off, their eyes scanning him from head to toe, “...but I see it was a lucky one.“

He can’t help but huff, more out of disgust for himself than anything else, “If you call this lucky you’ve gotta have a few screws loose.”

Much to his surprise, this remark earns him a genuine, wholehearted laugh from Y/N, “Oh Karl, didn’t you pick up on my loose screws back when we first met? That’s odd, people usually take one look and can already tell.”

He scoffs, letting a small smile slip onto his face before he chases it away, forcing himself to maintain the seriousness, “I can’t believe how foolish you are. Didn’t you, even for a second, think there was maybe a good reason why people didn’t want to give you my whereabouts?”

“Oh I didn’t need to think about it!“ They say, lifting a pointer finger in the air as if to emphasize their point, “They were pretty clear when they were calling you stuff like ‘monster’ and ‘cruel Lord’ or whatever.“

Heisenberg’s eyes widen in an instant, “So you knew? You knew I was...I wouldn’t be the same as you remember me?” He asks, his jaw almost reaching the floor.

They nod nonchalantly, “I mean, I was sure of that part, it’s been half a decade, after all. Of course, I didn’t expect such a drastic change but it changes nothing. The villagers made it all sound super scary and dramatic...”

Karl doesn’t get confused often. However, right now, they’ve got him completely flabbergasted. “You were told about me...about me being what I am and you still showed up and walked into this place everyone fears like you own it? Where the fuck is your self-preservation instinct?!”

With an eye-roll, Y/N pushes past him, entering the elevator and walks over to the buttons to choose a floor, “Up your ass, Heisenberg. Right next to the stick that’s got you in such a foul mood. Is this how you welcome back an old friend?” Though the words themselves were harsh, they spoke them in such a way and with a sincere look in their eyes that they had the complete opposite effect of what they’d usually have. Hell, he wants to laugh at the vocabulary on its own, it’s so refreshing to hear someone use those terms and speak so freely around him, unfazed by his powers. To be fair, they’re probably not even aware he has any.

Looking at them now, their intense gaze telling him loud and clear that they’re completely unfazed, has him going soft. They’re still his connection to the humanity he’s lost, he’s still clinging onto it thanks to them. And while he still believes he doesn’t deserve to preserve any last piece of it, he’s glad that he’s not the judge of that. The punishment is not his to decide. It’s theirs. And who knows, allowing him to keep a tiny fragment of his humanity may be the ultimate punishment but he doesn’t know it yet. Regardless, he’s happy with it as long as it means he has them by his side to carry said punishment out.

When all they get in response to their words is a laugh they too let a smile lighten up their features, “There you go, knock some humor into you.” They turn to look at the buttons briefly before locking their gaze onto him once again, “I like what you did with the place. Care to show me around?”

He shakes his head as his laughter dies down, “You won’t like it.”

Y/N rolls their eyes yet again, “Leave that up for me to decide, old man.”

A frown comes across Heisenberg’s face, “Old man? How dare you?”

The sound of their laughter almost manages to wipe the frown off his face. Almost. “Old man who can pull off even a century old dog tag necklace.” They say, sizing up the necklace resting over his chest which he automatically reaches out to touch as a result of her remark. “You can keep it, by the way. I don’t need it back. I’ll be sticking around for some time after all.”

Before he can even process what they said, they’ve pulled him into the elevator and pressed the button for the top floor, looking out of the open side of it to be able to see the inside of the factory as the metal box keeps climbing, carrying them with it. Their back is turned to him so he can’t see the look on their face but he can only hope it’s not one of horror or disgust. If he were to receive that look from them his heart would shatter on the spot. So he’d rather they don’t turn around - both for him not to be able to see them grimacing and so they can’t see him staring at them with that look in his eyes.

Look of adoration he’s never given anyone before nor will he ever give to anyone else. And so, all the pieces of his soul have found their proper spots.

Thanks to Y/N.

Finally, you’re back.

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fitztragedy · 3 years

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Things I Want Changed in Fate S02

Better Costumes

Like, seriously, wth happened there? They were dressed awfully, and that's not news. The costumes were like straight out of a 90's teens movies, it was so obvious there was an adult trying do find out what teens used and maybe saw that 90s fashion was trending and thought that was the hype. Costume designer Catherine Adair has been a costume designer in 29 projects, none of them was a teen TV show (except her most recent project, after Fate, which is a disney kids mystery series) and 16 of wich were in the 90s. She has dressed TV shows before Fate but things like Desperate Housewives and The Man in the High Castle- Definitely not even close to the vibe Fate has. Hopefully she'll either do more research or they'll hire another costume designer since she's aparently working on this new Disney series. IMDb says we have a new Art Director in S02 (Justin Warburton-Brown, who apparently done The Witcher S02!!) so my hopes are very high!

New locations and sets!

I loved Alfea and the Winx Suite but I feel like we need more sets. That's not the fault of the art direction or set decoration (which were done by Karl Clifford -who isn't credited for anything but Fate- and Jil Turner who has a very good resume, having worked on Vikings and a lot of other fantasy movies and tv shows), I feel like they did a pretty good job with what they were given. Having the entire season be basically that got very repetitive and because of the number of views I'm hoping they have a bigger budged in S02 to be able to have different sets. I wanna see Magix! The cartoon did a wonderful job with the city near Alrea, it was super cool to see the futuristic town in a fairy show, which was a contrast to what me, as a kid, imagines what a magical town would look like. I don't think they'll to this for Fate but it'd be cool to see like magic being used in day to day lives. Also if Alfea is in the middle of nowhere where do the girls get like stuff? Where do they buy tampons if they need it? I MUST know!! Also it'd be pretty cool to see Solaria sometime. IMDb also told me we got a new set decorator in S02 and he's been the set decorator of Shadow and Bone (Kevin Downey) so I'M EXCITED.

More plot and Backstory for the characters

Let's skip Bloom and Sky because I think @lilshitwayne would do a better job talking about them and then focus on the others.

Aisha

WHERE IS AISHA'S PLOT??? They done my girl wrong, so wrong. Seriously, what is her backstory? What are her goals and dreams? What are her insecurities and challenges? What is her personal arc? What is her role in the series arc? I wish I could answer all these questions but I just can't. I saw @lilshitwayne and @rivusa dms about her yesterday and I want to give them the floor to talk about it so I'm not gonna say what they said, but I do want more from Aisha's character next season and I want her role to not be as suporting as she was in S01. I do think that the fact that she's a poc character had to do with her lack of development and I will HATE it if they make her also LGBTQ+ and continue with Netflix's trend of shoving all the minorities into one character. Hopefully because of the backlash they'll listen. Precious is a beautiful and great actress and she deservers better.

Musa

Musa had a pretty big part in S02 I'd say. She was basically the second most important character after Bloom, BUT she did not have a plot, let's be real. Her whole arch was basically "I hate my powers, they are useless and just make me suffer and I try to ignore them" and then she met Sam and was like "Oh he basically feels nothing so it's nice to spend time with him" and then she found out Sam was Terra's brother and wanted to keep their relationship a secret, then she told Terra and there was like too much drama for a non-dramatic revelation. Then she had to face her powers when Sam was dying but then he lived so she went back to being the same as she was but with a boring boyfriend now (I know people like Sam and that's okay because people have different tastes but I just don't see the appeal, okay? he's boring in my opinion). So like her whole development and plot was based around a guy. No internet struggle solved, no character development. Yes Musa is my favorite character but I still don't like her "plot".

Stella and Terra

idk what I'd say about them. I think one of the other girls in the fate fandom might have takes and stuff. Terra had the self-steem and body issues that basically went no where and Stella has mommy issues and issues in general that are probably gonna get more developed already so I'm not too worries about them.

I know people didn't like that they made Stella have a very different personality than the cartoons and (hot take) I kinda like it. Don't @ me. Stella was hella annoying in the cartoons and I like this very messed up Stella we got, yes she's a bitch but she's got layers and I can't wait to see them Explored.

Terra was not a cartoon character and I have no fucking idea why they didn't just put Flora. Flora in the cartoon had also a very different personality so maybe they thought she didn't fit, but then why not keep her and just change the personality like they did with Stella? Also if they had made Terra latina it wouldn't have changed anything in Terra's plot. Idk what happened behind the scenes but that's what we got. I do want Flora to appear and be this cute cinnamon roll but also badass (and latina) so *fingers crossed*

Riven

ah, Riven... He has so much potential and I can't wait to see his character development throughout the series. I can see a lot of troubles at home and internalized homophobia and fuck he's just so god damn Bi. Hopefully that little interaction with Dane about just liking whoever depending on the gender will make Riven be okay with his sexuality and I really like this plot okay?

Also, yes, as a Rivusa shipper I want that to happen and I've already done two huge post about Riven and Rivusa in Fate so if u wanna read more go and do it (here and here).

The rest idgaf about them (I do but i'm too lazy to type)

Future characters

I wanna see Brandon. They call even make Stella bi and change Brandon to like Brenda or something, I've done that in fics and I think that'd be interesting.

Flora, of course, as said above.

Helia if they bring Flora along. They should pair him with Terra, he's Flora's.

I don't wanna see Tecna and Timmy tbh, might be a controversial opinion but I didn't really care for them in the OG and with all the normal technology in Fate I don't really see a reason for them. Unless they change Tecna's powers like they did with Musa, but we don't need another white basic bitch character.

I think that's it!

If yall want to answer and discuss Fate feel free to reblog! I'd love to talk about how we could improve the show!

#fate #ftws #fate winx #fate the winx saga #winxsource

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dreamsclock · 3 years

Note

I'm not really good at like theorizing but the emoticons make me think they're like signatures maybe?

XD - Dream ExDee

:) - Dream

:] - Quackity??? (Idk tbh ngl)

Drista could claim one at some point I guess, but uh I think that ExDee is the one for the in between cause lime is like all of their thing except for big Q and the smile emoticon is wrong for it to actually be dream?

that would actually be super cool !!! it would awesome if dream XD was made canon ,, i’m p sure a few weeks ago dream mentioned ooc that he wasn’t, but at this point i am taking what i want from canon and leaving the rest /j

i think it being dream might be too obvious ?? if it was, i don’t think he would have used the :] or any smile at all ,, it feels like too much of a giveaway and we know, like you said, his signature of sorts is the :) face !! but GOD do i want it to be dream ,, if the dreamon possession is canon, it’s possible that it’s the REAL dream trying to communicate with karl and warn him, while the dreamon tries to keep karl in the in-between,,

QUACKITY MY BELOVED <333 THIS WOULD BE SO COOL PLS oh my god idk how it possibly could but you’ve given me such brainrot over this i’m ,,

#ty for the ask :DD #> my asks !!#-> my theories !!#tftsmp

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elf-hollow · 3 years

Text

okay, so, because I won’t be able to stop thinking about it and also because I want to make a post that’ll age like milk no matter what I say, I’m gonna make some predictions about canon deaths.

I don’t think it’s a surprise to anyone that I am 100%, without a doubt, convinced that there is going to be an important canon death today.. like, all canon deaths are big and important, obviously, but I mean something really big. I think the most obvious suspect is dream, simply because it’s practically a win condition for l’manberg, but personally I’m.. not very convinced that dream will be dying today. probably not at all, but definitely not permanently.

I do not think there will be any permadeaths, though honestly I’m not very up on who has how many lives left. I only know that tommy, tubbo, and quackity only have one life left, so at the very least I don’t think any of them will die. this doesn’t really feel like the right time for any of them, but if any of them do, I think it would be tubbo. he has the fewest unresolved issues out of all of them, and is honestly (and unfortunately) one of the most likely candidates for a power-up death, given how much tommy (and pretty much everyone else) cares about him.

I think the most likely candidates for a canon death are techno, phil, ranboo, and sapnap.

techno is mostly just because it feels inevitable that someone so heavily involved in the plot without a single canon death will get one eventually, but especially after he’s only narrowly avoided one several times very recently. I do think he’s one of the least likely of the four, because it doesn’t really feel like the right time and also he feels unkillable in general. it could be a “proving mortality” moment, though, which I imagine would kick off a pretty emotionally charged arc for techno considering his whole thing is never dying, but I don’t really see it at this moment.

I am, like, convinced at this point that phil is going to die. because if he did it would be fucking devastating. I don’t think anyone (aside from dream), allied with him or not, would want to see phil die. there isn’t anyone who’s heart wouldn’t hurt, even slightly, upon seeing that death message. and a phil death would literally be the ultimate techno power-up, if phil dies then the person who killed him is beyond screwed. it might not happen this stream, but that person is getting a canon death. and I think that, if anyone does kill phil, it would be dream. maybe not directly, maybe he’d make it look like someone else’s fault, that’d be the smart thing to do after all. if dream kills phil and it’s obviously him, techno probably won’t stop his plan of blowing up l’manberg, but dream will not be winning in that situation. if he kills him and makes it look like someone else’s fault, it may be just what he needs to keep techno working with him for good. I think phil’s death would mean more to everyone than anyone else’s.

ranboo is in a similar situation to techno, where it’s just inevitable he will die based on how heavily he’s playing into the story without having had a canon death yet, but honestly I think ranboo is the least likely of the four. the main reason I think it could be him is because, no matter what, something big is happening with ranboo today - or soon, at least. a canon death is just one of the easiest “big” things to predict, though it honestly still feels too soon to when he joined the server, so I’m not altogether convinced that the big thing will be a death. I am.. very worried about him either way.

I am not certain where sapnap sits as far as canon deaths go, so if he’s only got one life left I don’t think he’ll lose it but.. if sapnap dies, it’ll be by dream’s hand. he keeps getting so close to finally leaving dream’s side for good, to realizing who he really is, but he never gets quite far enough away. if dream kills him, I think that’ll be it. I have been waiting for awhile for sapnap to finally get away from dream, to join tommy, or someone else, anyone else, and I think today could be it.

I also think it’s possible fundy could die but it really depends on how canon some of his most recent deaths were. I haven’t really felt like drowning in the river was canon since it felt like more of a comedic beat than anything and I’m not sure the story wouldn’t really change it you removed it, but his death to techno in the sewers felt way more real. of either of those are canon, I don’t think fundy will die, but if they aren’t, I think there is potential for him to.

I don’t think that niki, eret, karl, or george will die. karl and george are mostly just because I don’t think they’ll be there, but also because they’re some of the least into the roleplay. niki I could be swayed on, but that doesn’t feel like where her story is going right now. eret.. I mean I just kinda don’t think he’ll die ahslfhsaj I don’t have any deeper explaination for that one

I think it’s possible that puffy, ponk, ant, or sam could die, since they’re not super involved in the main story (at least from what I’ve seen) and it could serve to bring them into it a bit more

I’m on the fence about punz, bbh, or jack - I can’t really decide either way if they will, though I think I lean a bit more towards no death for all of them.

anyway can’t wait to look at this post again in a few hours and cry about it 👍

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queenofwordsandnerds · 3 years

Text

Quackity Analysis: “Hello My Old Heart”

Hello, my old heart How have you been? Are you still there inside my chest? I've been so worried, you've been so still Barely beating at all

Oh, don't leave me here alone Don't tell me that we've grown For having loved a little while Oh, I don't wanna be alone I wanna find a home And I wanna share it with you

Hello, my old heart It's been so long Since I've given you away And every day, I add another stone To the walls I built around you To keep you safe

Oh, don't leave me here alone Don't tell me that we've grown For having loved a little while Oh, I don't wanna be alone I wanna find a home And I wanna share it with you

Hello, my old heart How have you been? How is it being locked away? Don't you worry, in there you're safe And it's true, you'll never beat But you'll never break

Nothing lasts forever Some things aren't meant to be But you'll never find the answers Until you set your old heart free Until you set your old heart free

Hello, my old heart Hello, my old heart Hello, my old heart Hello, my old heart

-”Hello My Old Heart,” The Oh Hellos

When I listen to this song, one of my favorites (although all TOH music is SUPERB and y’all should go listen to their songs), c!Quackity immediately comes to mind. His character has a lot of heart associations, the most obvious one being that he ate Schlatt’s heart (and the theory that he is being possessed by Schlatt as a result). But c!Quackity has also been shown to keep his emotions at a safe distance, to value head over heart because the heart makes you weak. However, deep down I think that Quackity does value his emotions (Karl and Sapnap after all), he just doesn’t know how to acknowledge and/or honor them too much without getting hurt, a result of the trauma he retains from Schlatt.

“Are you still there inside my chest?”

Running off the theory that Schlatt is possessing Quackity through his heart, this line is very poignant. I imagine the real c!Quackity, uncorrupted by Schlatt, terrified, deep down, that he is losing himself and his humanity. His “old heart” may not even exist anymore. Or maybe it does. Who knows?

“Oh, don't leave me here alone Don't tell me that we've grown For having loved a little while”

c!Quackity is very much alone. He has his allies and enemies, of course, but in terms of intimate, emotional relationships he is both scarred and reluctant to keep those he loves closer than a safe distance. He is emotionally alone. Quackity distances himself from those he loves to keep them safe, but also (I think) because he’s scared of opening himself up and uncovering old wounds. Yet I believe that, deep down, he cries out to not be alone, to connect with others and heal from all the pain he has both suffered and inflicted on others. Quackity is also a realist, he doesn’t want platitudes or cliches. He doesn’t take others’ bullshit, he will do anything to achieve his own goals.

“Oh, I don't wanna be alone I wanna find a home And I wanna share it with you”

The search to find a home is one of the most key features of Quackity’s character. All his life in the SMP lore, he has searched for a home, for a place to belong and make his own. First it was (L’)Manberg, then Pogtopia, then New L’Manberg, then Mexican L’Manberg/El Rapids, Las Nevadas...you get the point. Looking for a home/building a home is one of c!Quackity’s core characteristics. And he wants to share his home with people. He dreams of Las Nevadas as a place to show Karl and Sapnap, he felt like he didn’t belong in Manberg for (among many other reasons) lack of any personal connection or sense of worth.

“And every day, I add another stone To the walls I built around you To keep you safe”

c!Quackity is paradoxically alone. Aloneness is part of his cunning plan to achieve his goals, and the ends justify the means for him no matter what. Yet he doesn’t want to be alone. He wants a place and people to belong. But he’s afraid of getting hurt again like he was with Schlatt. So he builds walls around his heart just as he builds his countries and his plans. Self-preservation is very high on his priority list. Yet these walls may cost him - in fact, they may have cost him already.

“And it's true, you'll never beat But you'll never break”

This line just breaks my own heart. It’s so poignant and sad yet reflects a deep human truth. We dehumanize ourselves, numb ourselves to emotional sensitivity believing that we will be safe this way, that we won’t suffer. This may be true, but we won’t be truly living. We will just be a shell of ourselves. This reminds me again of the Schlatt possession theory. Quackity may not even be his real self anymore, he could be driven by Schlatt’s spirit and not truly live as himself. This line could practically describe c!Quackity’s character to a T. I’ve already explained most of my reasons for why it reflects Quackity so well, but this line just sums it up in a beautiful, poetic way.

Some people think that Quackity’s heart is dead, physically (consumed by Schlatt) and emotionally (he seems to lack empathy and emotion as time passes). But I don’t think this is true. He is most definitely a morally grey character and/or an antihero. He keeps his softer side locked away out of necessity, but it is not dead. He still cares, he still has desires and I hope that (although Big Q may turn out to be the next big SMP “villain”) he learns to be soft again and gets his own redemption(?) arc, setting his own heart free.

I hope you liked this Quackity analysis! Thank you so much for reading if you made it this far, and please go check out The Oh Hellos, they are one of the best folk bands I’ve ever heard with genius lyrics that could fill a whole poetry book. I will definitely be using their songs in more DSMP analyses. I’m also super sorry if this sucked, Quackity is both my favorite DSMP character and my favorite streamer so I LOVE to analyze his character because he’s so beautifully complex but I’m so terrified of messing it up and not doing him justice lol

-Hamster <3

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iridescentides · 3 years

Note

hi again dia! happy first day of december ❤️💚 i wanted to ask you what, in your opinion, are the 5 most underrated dcoms? i remember you saying before that you've watched all of them so i'd love to hear your opinions 😊 - 🎅🎁🎄

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH secret santa you are so good! asking me all the best questions 💜

okay so i literally had to make a list of all the dcoms i consider underrated and then narrow down a top 5. theres lots of dcoms that i love, but that i think got the right amount of attention and care (like lemonade mouth and the teen beach movies, for example), so this list just focuses on ones that deserved more hype for their quality level.

5. The Cheetah Girls: One World (2008)

okay so even as i type this i feel like a hypocrite. i have only watched this movie one time. BUT i can acknowledge that its one of the most criminally underrated dcoms ever, tons of people didnt watch it simply because raven wasnt in it. thats why i avoided it as a child, and i didnt get around to watching it until i did my big dcom binge in 2016. and it was so good. theres a really long post floating somewhere around tumblr full of specifics on why its actually the best cheetah girls movie (my favorite is the second one purely out of nostalgia), so to paraphrase some points from that post:

its a solid example of cultural appreciation, rather than appropriation, as the girls go and learn about bollywood and indian culture together

the indian characters arent treated like props or unimportant sides, they get their own agency and storylines that are important

the songs are good!!!

basically this movie was overlooked and slept on even though in terms of role modeling and social value, and just like the first two cheetah girls movies it was important and impactful.

4. Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure (2011)

okay so as someone whos very neutral and occasionally negative-leaning towards the hsm franchise (mostly bc its overhyped and not really representative of all dcoms), i was pleasantly surprised by sharpays fabulous adventure. this is another one that i know lots of people skipped right over and dont hold with as much esteem as the main hsm franchise, and that doesnt sit right with me.

i do not agree with the “uwu sharpay was the real victim in hsm” arguments bc in their efforts to look galaxy brained the people who say that overlook the fact that she was a rich white woman who used her power and status to exercise control over opportunities that should have been fairly and freely available for all; they were not “making a mockery of her theater” in the first movie, they were literally just kids who wanted to try out a new school activity that everyone was supposed to be allowed to participate in; and despite allegedly learning her lesson and singing we’re all in this together with everyone at the end of the first movie, she literally showed no growth in the second movie as she fostered an openly hostile environment and favored troy so heavily that it literally cost him his friends, all as part of yet another jealous plan to take things away from people who already have less than her. she was NOT the victim in the main franchise, and she did not seem to exhibit any growth or introspection either.

and that!!! is why sharpays fabulous adventure was so important. in focusing on sharpay as the main character, they finally had to make her likeable. they did this by showing actual real growth and putting her outside of her sphere of influence and control. we saw true vulnerability from her, instead of the basic ass “mean girl is sad bc shes actually just super insecure” trope (cough cough radio rebel), and this opened us up to finally learn about and care about her character. throughout the movie we see her learn, from her love interests example, how to care for others and be considerate. she faces actual adversity and works through it, asking herself what she truly wants and what shes capable of. and in the end, when she finally has her big moment, we’re happy for her bc she worked hard to get there. she becomes a star through her own merit and determination, rather than through money and connections. this movie is not perfect by any means, but it is severely underrated for the amount of substance it adds to sharpays character.

3. The Swap (2016)

okay i know im gonna get shit for this but thats why its on this list!!! just like sharpays fabulous adventure, its not perfect and definitely misses the mark sometimes, but it deserves more attention and love for all the things it did get right!

the swap follows two kids who accidentally switch bodies because of their emotional attachment to their dead/absent parents’ phones. and while i normally HATE the tv/movie trope of a dead parent being the only thing that builds quick sympathy for a young character, they definitely expanded well enough to where we could root for these kids even without the tragedy aspect. we see them go through their daily struggles and get a feel for their motivations as characters pretty well. as a body switching movie, we expect it to be all goofy and wacky and lighthearted, but it moves beyond that in unexpected ways.

the reason the swap is on this list is for its surprisingly thoughtful commentary on gender roles. its by no means a feminist masterpiece, and its not going to radicalize kids who watch it, but it conveys a subtle, heartfelt message that deserves more appreciation. the characters struggle with the concept of gender in a very accurate way for their age, making off-base comments and feeling trapped by the weight of expectations they cant quite put their finger on. we watch them feel both at odds with and relieved by the gender roles they are expected and allowed to perform in each others bodies, and one of the most interesting parts of the movie to me is their interactions with the other kids around them. as a result of their feeling out of place in each others environments, the kids inadvertently change each others friendships for the better by introducing new communication styles and brave authenticity.

the value of this movie is the subtle, but genuine way it shows the characters growing through being given the space to act in conflicting ways to their expected norms. ellie realizes that relationships dont have to be complex, confusing, and painful, and that its okay to not live up to appearances and images. jack learns that emotional expression is good, healthy, and especially essential to the grieving process. one of the most powerful scenes in the movie comes at the end where, after ellie confronts jacks dad in his body, jack returns as himself to a very heartfelt apology from his father for being too hard on him; the explicit message (”boys can cry”) is paired with an open expression of love and appreciation for his kids that he didnt feel comfortable displaying until his son set an example through honest communication. this is such an empowering scene and overall an empowering movie for kids who may feel stuck in their expected roles, as it sets a positive example for having the courage to break the restrictive societal mold. for its overall message of the importance of introspection and emotional intelligence, the swap is extremely underrated.

2. Freaky Friday (2018)

this is my favorite dcom, and probably my favorite movie at this point. ive always assigned a lot of personal value to this movie (and i love every freaky friday in general), for the message of selfless familial love and understanding. i know i can get carried away talking about this topic; i got an anon ask MONTHS ago asking me about the freaky friday movies and i wrote a super super long detailed response that i never posted bc i didnt quite finish talking about the 2018 movie. and thats bc on a personal level, i cant adequately convey all the love i have for this movie. so i will try to keep this short.

first lets state the obvious: the reason people dont like this movie is bc its not the lindsay lohan version. and i get that, to an extent, bc i also love the 2003 version and its one of my ultimate comfort movies, and grew up watching it and ive seen it a billion times. i even watched it a couple days ago. but the nostalgia goggles that people have on from the early 2000s severely clouds their judgement of the wonderful 2018 remake.

yes, the 2018 version is dorky, overly simplistic plot wise, a bit stiff at times, and super cheesy like any dcom. the writing isnt 100% all the time. the narrative takes a couple confusing turns. the song biology probably shouldnt have been included. i understand this. but at the heart of it all, this movies value is love. and its edge over all the other freaky friday movies is the songs.

on a personal level, the movie speaks heavily to me. i cried very early into my first viewing of the movie bc i got to see dara renee, a dark-skinned, non-skinny actress, playing the mean popular girl on disney channel. that has never happened before. growing up, i saw the sharpays and all the other super thin white women get to be the “popular” girls on tv, and ultimately they were taken down in the end for being mean, but that doesnt change the fact that they were given power and status in the first place for being conventionally beautiful. so, watching dara renee strut around confidently and sing about being the queen bee at this high school got to me immediately. and in general, the supporting cast members of color really mean a lot to me in this movie. we get to see adam, an asian male love interest for the main character. we have a second interracial relationship in the movie with katherines marriage to mike. ellies best friend karl is hispanic. and we see these characters have depth and plot significance, we see them show love, care, and passion for the things they value. the brown faces in this movie are comforting to me personally. additionally, the loving, blended family dynamic is important to me as someone in a close-knit, affectionate step-family.

but on a more general level, this movie is underrated for its skillful musical storytelling and the way it conveys all kinds of love and appreciation. in true freaky friday fashion, we watch ellie and katherine stumble and misstep in their attempts to act like each other. its goofy and fun. but through it all, the music always captures the characters’ intimate thoughts and feelings. the opening song gives us a meaningful view into ellie and katherines relationship and the fundamental misunderstandings that play a role in straining their connection. ellie sings about how she thinks her mom wants her to be perfect, and her katherine sings about all the wonderful traits she sees in her daughter and how she wants her to be more open and self assured. this is meaningful bc even as theyre mad at each other, the love comes through. the songs continue to bring on the emotional weight of the story, as ellie sings to her little brother about her feelings of hurt and abandonment in her fathers absence. the song “go” and its accompanying hunt scene always make me cry bc of the childlike wonder and sense of adventure that it brings. for the kids, its a coming of age, introspective song. for katherine who gets to participate in ellies body, its a reminder of youth and the rich, full life her daughter has ahead of her. she is overcome with excitement, both from getting to be a teenager again for a day, and from the realization that her daughter has a support network and passions that are all her own. today and ev’ry day, the second to last song, is the culmination of the lessons learned throughout the movie, a mother and daughters tearful commitment to each other to love, protect, and understand one another. the line “if today is every day, i will hold you and protect you, i wont let this thing affect you” gets to me every time. even when things are hard and dont go according to plan, they still agree, in this moment, to be there for each other. and thats what all freaky friday stories are ultimately about.

freaky friday 2018 is a beautiful, inclusive, subversive display of familial love, sacrifice, and selflessness, and it is underrated and overlooked because of its more popular predecessor.

1. Let It Shine (2012)

this is another one of my favorite dcoms and movies in the whole world. unlike the other movies on this list, it is not the viewers themselves that contribute to the underrated-ness of this movie. disney severely under-promoted and under-hyped this movie in comparison to its other big musical franchises, and i will give you five guesses as to why, but youll only need one!

let it shine is the most beautifully, unapologetically black dcom in the whole collection. (i would put jump in! at a notable second in this category, but that one wasnt underrated). this movie was clearly crafted with care and consideration. little black kids got to see an entire dcom cast that represented them. the vernacular used in the script is still tailored mostly to white-favoring audiences, but with some relevant slang thrown in there. in short, the writers got away with the most blackness they were allowed to inject into a disney channel project.

the story centers on rap music and its underground community in atlanta, georgia. it portrays misconceptions surrounding rap, using a church setting as a catalyst for a very real debate surrounding a generational, mutlicultural conflict. this was not a “safe” movie for disney, given its emphasis on religious clashes with contemporary values. it lightly touches on issues of image policing within the black community (cyrus’s father talking about how “our boys” are running around with sagging pants and “our girls” are straying away from god), which is a very real and pressing problem for black kids who feel the pressure (from all sides) of representing their whole race with their actions. its a fun, adorable story about being yourself and staying true to your art, but also a skillful representation of struggles unique to black and brown kids and children from religious backgrounds.

on top of crafting a fun, wholesome, thoughtful narrative and likeable protagonists, let it shine brought us what is in my opinion the BEST dcom soundtrack of all time. every single song is a bop. theyre fast, fun, and lyrically engaging. “me and you” is my favorite disney channel song of all time due to its narrative significance; i will never forget my first time watching the movie and seeing that big reveal unfold onstage, as a conversation and a plot summary all wrapped into a song. the amount of thought and care that went into the music of this movie should have been rewarded with a level of attention on par with that of other musical dcoms.

if disney channel had simply cared about let it shine more, it couldve spanned franchises and sold songs the way that other musical dcoms have drawn in success. i would have loved for a sequel that explored and fleshed out cyrus’s neighborhood a little bit more, and maybe dipped into that underground scene they caught a glimpse of. i wanted a follow up on the changed church community once cyrus’s father started supporting his sons vision. i want so much more for these characters and this world than disney gave them in just one movie.

for its bold, unabashed representation of blackness and religion, subtle, nuanced presentation of race-specific issues, strong, likeable characters, and complex, thoughtful songs, let it shine is the most underrated dcom.

and because i made a full list before i started writing this post, here are some honorable mentions:

going to the mat (2004)

gotta kick it up! (2002)

tru confessions (2002)

dont look under the bed (1999)

invisible sister (2015)

#this took me embarassingly long to write #i cant help myself i literally think about this all the time #youre doing a great job with these questions secret santa!#dcoms #disney channel #answered asks #anons #gcwca secret santa #Anonymous

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wrestlingisfake · 4 years

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Bound for Glory preview

Eric Young vs. Rich Swann - Young is defending the Impact Wrestling world championship. This is only Swann’s second match since suffering a legit knee injury in January. He returned to the ring for a five-way title match at Slammiversary on July 18, where he eliminated Young. Eric “reinjured” Swann’s leg to cost him that match; when Swann was forced to “retire” on August 4, Young assaulted him again. Since then Young has gone on to win the world title, while Swann has been doing a whole “come out of retirement for revenge” storyline.

It’s funny to think about how these guys are headlining this show, considering that most fans would probably remember them best for being lost in the shuffle at WWE. But this is Impact’s level, and it has been for years. Just because these guys would be working a dark match on Smackdown doesn’t mean they can’t have a compelling main event here in a much smaller pond.

The basic “Rocky movie” approach to booking this feud would be to have Swann overcome adversity to conquer his most dangerous rival and finally win the big one. But Impact has a long history of trying to outthink that logic, and I have a long memory of them swerving away from big coronation moments. It was only a few months ago, in fact, that they were building up Ace Austin for an inevitable run on top, and then they just...didn’t do that. So Swann might win, or they might tell a story that he has a lot of ring rust to shake off before he beat Young. Nevertheless, my gut still says Swann wins the title here.

Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin vs. Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson vs. Ethan Page & Josh Alexander vs. Ace Austin & Madman Fulton - This is a four-way match for the Impact tag team title, currently held by the Motor City Machine Guns (Shelly and Sabin). Per standard four-way rules, the only way to win is by pinfall or submission, and the first man to score a fall on any opponent wins the match and the title for his team.

The North (Page and Alexander) held the title for just over a full year as various other teams broke up or drifted away from Impact, so they got to be able to say they cleaned out the division. Then Sabin and Shelley came in as the wily veterans to get a big push (which is sort of ironic when you consider their history with this company). Austin and Fulton came together earlier this year as a “rising top heel and his enforcer” act, but they ended up as a tag team when they began feuding with the Good Brothers (Gallows and Anderson). All along, there’s been a sense that the Machine Guns are just keeping the titles warm until they put over the Good Brothers.

I could see any of these teams getting the title, but it’s pretty clear Gallows and Anderson are top attractions in this company, so one way or another the title picture is going to revolve around them. One interesting wrinkle is that the Good Brothers plan to work for both Impact and New Japan, and New Japan has a tag team tournament coming up, leading into their biggest show of the year. If I’m Don Callis, I want to send Gallows and Anderson to Japan for a couple of months to soak up that exposure, and I’d want them do it while wearing Impact title belts. I’m probably getting ahead of myself with that speculation, but since I’ve got no other clear way to pick a winner, I’ll let that be why I’m going with Doc and Karl.

Deonna Purrazzo vs. Kylie Rae - Purrazzo is defending the Impact women’s title. Kylie earned this title shot by winning a battle royale on July 18, the same night Purrazzo won the championship. Since then Kylie has won the Warrior Wrestling women’s title, but that belt isn’t at stake here.

It was just about a year ago that Kylie debuted here, coming off a surprisingly abrupt exit from AEW. It’s always felt like Impact wanted to do a slow build to her as the face of the women’s division. And yet, Impact has also given Purrazzo a strong push since her debut in May. Each of them would be my pick to win against any other woman in the company right now. But against one another, it’s real tough to choose. Feels like almost every match on this card is a pick-’em, which is a good thing.

I’m gonna go with Kylie to win just because she makes me happy.

EC3 vs. Moose - Moose has spent most of the year as the self-proclaimed “TNA world champion,” but EC3 stole his belt and I’m not sure what happened to it and I’m not sure either guy still cares about it at this point. EC3 gained his widest exposure to fans in his NXT/WWE run, but Impact viewers know he really made his name in this promotion, back when it was called TNA. “EC3” literally stands for “Ethan Carter III,” from when his gimmick was that he was the (kayfabe) nephew of longtime TNA owner Dixie Carter.

The story is that after EC3 was laid off from WWE, he decided he had to exorcise his old failures, which I guess are symbolized by Moose carrying around the belt he once held. So EC3 started interfering in Moose matches and stalking him and playing cryptic videos for him and other weird stuff. This has been going on since July but EC3 has yet to wrestle for Impact in all that time. Aside from a couple of indie shows, and some ROH stuff that hasn’t aired yet, this will be his first match in 2020.

Back in July I assumed that EC3 would sign with Impact. Then when I heard he was doing stuff with ROH, I figured it was a side project before he fully committed to Impact. But after three months with no Impact matches, I’m starting to wonder if his Impact deal is a one-and-done. Actually, the fact I’m wondering that helps the match, since if I was sure he was sticking around, it’d be super obvious that he has to beat Moose. As it is, I’m still leaning toward EC3 winning, but that little doubt in my head will keep it interesting.

Eddie Edwards vs. Ken Shamrock - I lost the plot on this one, but as I recall Edwards had a vicious feud with Sami Callihan in 2018, and then Shamrock had a vicious feud with Callihan earlier this year, and now Shamrock and Callihan both hate Edwards for some reason. Incidentally Shamrock is being inducted into Impact’s hall of fame this weekend, so it’s kind of weird that they decided now is the time to turn him heel.

I think the easiest way to sum both of these guys up is that neither of them knows when to quit. They both look grizzled and stopped-giving-a-fuck, which makes them scary in the way that convicts in movies seem scary. Now that I think about it, I’m surprised it took so long for this match to happen.

The x-factor here is Callihan, who will undoubtedly be interfering on behalf of Shamrock. I don’t know who the hell Eddie can get to counteract that; usually when he needs backup it ends up being his wife Alisha, which works better than you might expect but still not all that well. I guess if Davey Richards was going to return, this would be a cool way to set it up. But failing that, I don’t think Eddie can win this match.

Rohit Raju vs. Chris Bey vs. TJP vs. Jordynne Grace vs. Trey Miguel vs. Willie Mack - Raju’s “X division” title is on the line. This is being billed as a “six-way scramble match.” I tend to think that’s just a cute name for a standard six-way match, where whoever scores the first fall on any opponent wins the match and the title. Of course, in WWE a “scramble match” was a specific stipulation where whoever scores the last fall in a specified time period is the winner. But I think if Impact was trying to bring those rules back, they’d have made a bigger deal about it, and I would have heard something about it by now.

The backstory here is that Bey was getting a big push and beat Mack for the title, and Raju started lobbying to be his henchman. This led to Bey vs. Raju vs. TJP, with the idea that Raju would help Bey against TJP, but Raju went into business for himself and won the title. So now everybody is gunning for Raju, including Trey for some reason I forget, and I think Grace just got thrown in there to make it more interesting. Basically, Raju was a prelim guy before any of this happened, and he’d be the underdog against any of these opponents, so you’re supposed to think he’s doomed in a match against all of them.

I’m a tad surprised Grace is involved, because it wasn’t all that long ago that it was Tessa Blanchard as the woman chasing the X title, and then the world title, and that didn’t work out so well. Then again, Tessa’s gender was hardly the reason that run fell apart, so maybe Impact is determined to do it again until they get it right. Thing is, if you want to seriously present a woman winning a men’s championship, you want the champion that puts her over to be stronger than Rohit Raju. So if they’re gonna do it, I’d say they should do it later, with Grace challenging one of the other guys for the title one-on-one.

Anyone could win this match, but it’s a real old trick to have the most hated heel be the biggest underdog, and then he steals a win after his opponents destroy each other. So I’m going with Rohit to retain.

20-person “Call Your Shot” gauntlet match - This is a timed interval gauntlet match, similar to WWE’s Royal Rumble. Two participants start the match, and each additional participant enters at regular intervals. (I don’t think they’ve said how long the intervals are, but I’m guessing 90 seconds or two minutes or something.) For most of the match, a competitor can only be eliminated by leaving the ring over the top rope and placing both feet on the floor; however, once all but two wrestlers are eliminated, the rules change so they can only lose by pinfall or submission. The last person left in the match is the winner and earns the right to a title match against the champion of their choice.

So far Impact has confirmed eleven participants, seven men and four women:

Acey Romero, of the XXXL tag team

Alisha Edwards, whose last singles victory in this company was in 2018 against AEW’s Rebel/Reba

Brian Myers, formerly known as Curt Hawkins in WWE

Havok, aka Jessicka Havok in the indies

Heath, formerly Heath Slater in WWE, with the gimmick that he hasn’t yet secured a contract to work for Impact

Hernandez, once a rising star in TNA, now some sleazy guy backstage with a giant wad of cash

Larry D, Romero’s partner in XXXL

Rhino, the former ECW/WWE star who’s been trying to help Heath get signed

Taya Valkyrie, probably best known from AAA and Lucha Underground

Tenille Dashwood, formerly Emma in NXT and WWE

Tommy Dreamer, the ECW legend, who has been feuding with Myers

The order of entry is supposed to be random, but the results of an October 20 match slotted Hernandez as the last entrant and Rhino as the first. The added stipulation for Rhino and Heath is that their jobs are on the line: If either of them wins, Rhino stays and Heath is signed, but if neither of them win, Rhino is fired and Heath can’t keep coming around asking for work.

It feels like this match has to end with Rhino or Heath winning, to pay off that storyline. In fact, I could easily see it being a deal where one appears to be eliminated, and hides off-camera until the other is thrown out, and then Josh Matthews can play Michael Cole being all shocked that there’s still hope. It feels so obvious that I’ve seen speculation that Heath needs to turn on Rhino right after one of them wins, to keep it interesting. But I think we’re all overlooking the alternative, where they’re both kicked out of the company but nevertheless keep appearing in comedy skits for weeks until they get some other chance to earn contracts. Personally, I’d just keep it simple and have Heath win leading to Heath and Rhino challenging for the tag title.

Dez & Wentz vs. Cody Deaner & Cousin Jake - This is being advertised for the pre-show. Dez (Desmond Xavier) and Wentz (Zachary Wentz) are, along with Trey Miguel, the stoner team of the Rascalz. Cody Deaner has been Impact’s resident redneck good-ol’ boy on and off for years. Jake is better known on the indie scene as Jake Something, the current Black Label Pro champion. Between the two teams, I think Impact is more committed to pushing the Rascalz, but this is another one where it could really go either way. This whole show has been really hard to predict. Let’s hope it still seems unpredictable after it’s over.

#impact wrestling #bound for glory #eric young #rich swann

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mobius-prime · 4 years

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144. Sonic the Hedgehog #79

The Discovery

Writer: Karl Bollers Pencils: FRY Colors: Frank Gagliardo

Welcome to the beginning of the Sonic Adventure adaption! Now, as you know, the world of the comics is very different from that of the games, which means right away we're faced with the task of finding a way to fit the story of the game into the world of the comic. We have three stories ahead, two of which do just that, and the third of which is the conclusion to the long-standing Tales of the Great War arc. Time to dive in!

Sonic awakens from his sleep early in the night to find Nate tapping away at his computer, explaining that he's trying to hack into Robotnik's computer network to spy on his current doings. At that moment he's successful, and finds a worrying message about invading the Mystic Ruins, prompting Sonic to immediately take Nate to warn the king about this situation. Apparently Nate is even more familiar with what's going on than he let on, telling the king that Robotnik appears to be invading the Hidden City of the Ancients.

Despite Sonic's worry, the king insists he's fine and merely tired, walking off to get some rest, which Sonic does as well. The next morning he awakens to find his house full of his friends, all working together to cook a huge breakfast, as they've all been chosen by the king to go to this city and act as official liaisons from the Kingdom of Knothole. Amy, being part of the group helping to cook breakfast, has a fairly reasonable request given the situation.

Now, can we just recall that Tails joined the Freedom Fighters at its inception when he was like, four? I get that the others tried to shelter him from dangerous missions and whatnot even back then, up until the events of his miniseries, but now Amy is asking, based on a precedent set by someone her age, if she can be allowed to prove herself as well, and immediately finds herself getting shot down. Honestly, I'm with her that they're being totally unreasonable here.

While everyone packs up for their trip, the king and Elias watch from a high up walkway among the trees, noting how happy and carefree Sally seems at this moment. The king is happy for her, wanting her to have a little bit more time to feel happy before he tells her about her mother's worsening illness, and is surprised when Elias already knows due to overhearing him and Dr. Quack talking about it previously. Elias then suddenly gets an epiphany, realizing there may be something he can do to help cure the illness, and rushes off as a suspiciously Overlander-looking group of girls fawn over him from the sidelines. (I know they're not Overlanders, but damn, they could have at least added extra fur or something to make it more obvious.)

Oh, boy…

The Chaos Factor

Writer: Ken Penders Pencils: Steven Butler Colors: Frank Gagliardo

Knuckles has found himself plagued with dreams lately - nightmares, more like - of a strange, watery being absorbing the Master Emerald, the Floating Island falling into the sea, and everyone he cares about on the island perishing because he failed in his duties to protect them. He wakes up with a jolt, still perturbed by what he saw in his sleep.

Well, that's probably not good. Man, Knuckles must be the heaviest sleeper of all time if he somehow slept through his entire island the size of Delaware plunging violently into the ocean from eight miles up. Back in his HQ, Robotnik is ecstatic at how well his plan has gone so far, conveniently recalling it all in detail for the benefit of us readers. Apparently, he found all his information on an obscure data file that his previous self overlooked, about a mystical being with immense power made of living water, locked within… yeah, you thought I was gonna say the Master Emerald, right? Nah, man, this is the comics! No one's in the Master Emerald except ol' Mammoth Mogul. The being is locked instead within a black emerald hidden in the Mysterious Cat Country, which if you'll recall all the way back to the map in Sonic Super Special #2 is located at the equivalent of South America's east coast. Robotnik had his roboticized slaves excavate the emerald for him and smashed it to let the being out…

Well, he let something out all right. He decided that looking for seven Power Emeralds was totally lame, and instead decided to fly to the Floating Island, where he found himself briefly surprised to see Echidnaopolis filled with, well, echidnas, since his data files indicated Knuckles was the only echidna on that island. Yeah, your files are a liiiiiittle outta date, buddy. He broke through the force field erected to keep intruders out of the Chaos Chamber with ease, and shattered the Master Emerald before anyone could retaliate, flying off with the pieces as the island fell from the sky. But remember who we just said was in the Master Emerald in this universe?

Once again, with feeling: oh, boy…

Tales of the Great War (The Conclusion): Life Under-Ground

Writer: Ken Penders Pencils: Chris Allan Colors: Frank Gagliardo

It's time to finally finish up this story, still being told by Jules and Bernie around the campfire to their eager listeners. When Uncle Chuck left to start up his chili dog stand, Bernie still tried to reason with him that he should try to find a cure for her husband's robotic state, but he was firm in his feelings of failure and refused to try anything for fear of making it even worse. Frustrated, Bernie tried to take matters into her own hands by heading to the lab, only to see Julian using her husband as a lab rat. She yelled at him for being so disrespectful, but Julian, true to form, had other plans.

That's honestly horrific. Chuck went looking for Bernie when she went missing, and found her as a robot within the lab, where Julian "helpfully" informed him that she tried to mess with the roboticizer but foolishly set it off while inside. Of course, this only ensured he was even more guilt-ridden than before, and now he faced the daunting task of trying to raise Jules and Bernie's infant son, trying to figure out how to explain to him when he was older what had happened to his parents. In the end, we already know that his explanation of them being "lost in the war" stuck with Sonic throughout his life, and that his uncle was roboticized as well before he got any real answers. When Chuck regained his free will, however, the first thing he did was take a power ring to a handful of other roboticized individuals within Robotnik's factories, including Jules, to help them regain their free will as well. He built a small secure base within the sewers of the city for his new spies, and soon freed Bernie's mind as well, leading to a tearful-in-spirit (because they're robots, remember) reunion between the two. They both told Chuck not to tell Sonic of their state, wanting him to remember them as they had been when he was young until the war was over, which as we know kind of ended up being a bad idea given how betrayed Sonic felt as a result. But hey, everything is all right now - well, I suppose not everything, since Chuck is a slave once more…

Two problems - first of all, y'all had months to dig into this zip disk when Chuck was still a free man, during the period of peace in between the two Robotniks. Why the hell didn't he help you decode it then? Second of all, this disk is never mentioned again in the comic. They just completely forgot about it and never brought it back. I suppose it was full of nothing but him talking about random goings-on within Robotropolis while he was a spy or something, since it ended up not being important at all. Ah well!

#nala reads archie sonic preboot #archie sonic #archie sonic preboot #sonic the hedgehog #sth 79 #writer: karl bollers #writer: ken penders #pencils: james fry #pencils: steven butler #pencils: chris allan #colors: frank gagliardo

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this-lioness · 5 years

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So like... it’s been a really weird fucking couple of days.

I thought about password protecting this, ‘cause not everybody needs to know everybody else’s shit, but I’ll try to summarize in a way that doesn’t incriminate anyone. Not that I think anybody cares. This is gonna be super fucking long, so hold onto your butts.

Husband and I belong to a smallish but close circle of friends. We all largely met one another through one another, if that makes sense. Like, Person A and Person B meet Persons C and D, then A and B meet E, who has a lot in common with D, and they become friends, and then C’s roommate F starts tagging along to stuff, and now we’re all bowling together or some shit like that. So when someone in the group meets someone new, and gets along with them, it’s a pretty sure thing that sooner or later they’re just going to be part of the group eventually.

This has worked out really well for us. But... there have been some exceptions.

Case in point, Husband and I met and became friends with a local dude who we thought would integrate well with the group, invited him to our local NYE party, and it seemed like he was starting to blend with everyone. But then the dude started flaking out, and the fact that at 30-something years old he was still floating from retail job to retail job, didn’t really bathe or keep himself groomed very well, was telling weird, vague lies about completely unnecessary stuff, and we were kinda like... yeah... maybe we don’t want him super involved after all.

But like, you don’t know until you try, right?

A few years ago Husband and I were tabling a local geeky convention of some kind, and we ran into this chick -- we’ll call her Selina -- who was cosplaying there with her best friend -- we’ll call him Logan. Logan and Selina, with me so far? They seemed nice enough, typically geeky folks that we had a good deal in common with. We became Facebook friends with them both.

Something to note about Selina: She was married. She was also an avid cosplayer and pretty talented makeup artist. She posted lots of pics of herself in costume on her IG.

Something to note about Logan: In spite of the fact that Selina was married, it was painfully, excruciatingly obvious that Logan was in love Selina. Like head-over-heels, constantly making “vaguebook” posts pining away for someone nameless who he yearned for deeply, etc. Like... nobody ever acknowledged that it was Selina that he was in love with, because she was married and she clearly had no feelings for him, but e v e r y b o d y knew. You couldn’t NOT know.

Not too long after we met them and connected with them on social media, one of our good, dear friends (let’s call him Jay) messaged me privately and said, “Hey, what do you know about Selina?”

Long story short, Selina was really into roleplaying. Jay mentioned he wanted to give it a shot, and wanted to check to make sure she wasn’t, like, crazypants. We still didn’t really know Selina all that well, but we told Jay that she seemed cool, and there was no reason to think she was crazypants.

Jay was like, “Cool,” and so Jay and Selina began roleplaying together.

Now, I myself am an avid roleplayer. I actually offered to roleplay with Selina, but Selina kind of... blew me off? It turned out I’m a much more long-form narrative roleplayer than she is, and -- if we’re being honest -- probably a better writer than her overall, and I think she wasn’t into that.

Since I’m being so honest, I think she also turned her nose up at the fact that I had a vagina.

Something we came to learn about Selina, the longer we knew her: She loooooooved attention from dudes. She was a not-particularly-fit-or-attractive chick who used cosplay as a means of surrounding herself with praise and male attention. Which, good for you, you do you, but that’s kind of a thing I don’t care to associate with.

So as time went on, Marc and I kind of... not distanced ourselves from her, but sort of side-stepped away from her into the “Nah, we’re cool” camp, if you know what I mean. Marc wasn’t one of her drooling admirers, so Selina kind of didn’t give a fuck about him.

In 2016, Marc and I announced that we wanted to do a group cosplay for Baltimore ComiCon. We wanted to do steampunk Marvel characters. I was going to be Scarlet Witch, Marc was going to be Colossus. Our friend Jay was going to be Cyclops, and his wife Julie (our other very good friend) was going to be Psylocke. Selina and Logan decided they wanted to join in as well, and we met them there in Baltimore, but we weren’t really there with them. We walked around with them in costume for part of the con, then we all went our separate ways.

Shortly before the convention, Jay’s wife Julie brought to our attention the fact that she and Jay were having some problems, and that Selina was at the center of them. Jay’s roleplaying with Selina, and the amount of time they spent talking one-on-one with one another, had become problematic.

I’m going to leave it at that, because I’m sure you can kinda suss out what was happening. Suffice it to say that although it took Jay awhile to realize how his actions were hurting Julie, eventually he realized that he needed to distance himself from Selina for the good of his marriage. Jay and Julie worked this all out between themselves and all was well again. There was a bit of awkwardness at the convention, but then we all went our separate ways again and things seemed like they were normalized.

However, the whole thing made us side-eye Selina even harder.

A short while later, Selina divorced her husband.

Now I’m going to introduce you to Karl.

Karl was long-time best friends with Jay, and was good friends with all of us, being part of “the group”. Karl was in a committed monogamous relationship with Karol, and had been for some time. We were all really glad about this, because we liked Karol a ton, and frankly Karl was kind of an awkward man-child with a lot of issues, and we all felt that Karol was good for him, and helping him mature.

Throughout all of this Karl had also become friendly with Selina.

One day Karl announces to all of us that he has broken up with Karol for reasons that made no sense to any of us. We were all very confused and upset, but tried to be supportive of both of them.

Yeah, well, it turned out that Karl had been fucking around with Selina behind Karol’s back. He broke up with Karol, blaming it all on her, because he wanted to fuck Selina full time, and didn’t want to look like the bad guy.

When “the group” found out we all turned on Karl and were like, “NOPE,” and basically everybody stopped talking to him. Selina eventually broke up with him, claiming that she had no idea he was in a committed relationship during this time (which is bullshit, because she could clearly see on social media that HE WAS, but whatever), but of course in cutting Karl out we all cut Selina out as well.

Some time passed. For reasons none of us really understood, in spite of everything he’d done Karol was still in love with Karl, and they continued to live together: initially just as roommates, but apparently rekindling some kind of relationship with one another as well.

Earlier this year, very suddenly and unexpectedly, Jay died.

This came as an absolutely gutting blow to the entire group. In the wake of his death, we all sort of let Karl back into the fold. He seemed incredibly repentful, and he knew it was going to be a long road to regain our trust and respect, but he was contrite.

It has been a very hard year for everyone involved, for reasons that I may get into another time.

At the time that Jay died, Selina -- on her cosplaying Instagram account -- posted a budoir-style T&A pic of herself in costume, and at the bottom added, “RIP Jay”.

I’m going to say this again, as judiciously as I can: If this is your thing, good for you, you do you, but in my opinion that was beyond fucking tasteless, and fuck her.

Well. Earlier this week, Selina killed herself.

This sent a small shockwave back through the immediate group, although it settled again quickly. Karl is the only one left who had any even remotely positive feelings about Selina, and I’m not 100% sure how he’s taking it. He seems OK, and until he says otherwise we kinda’ have to just accept that. If he’s mourning her, he’s fortunately got sense enough not to do it where Jay’s widow Julie can see it, so... thank goodness for that, at least.

You may remember Selina’s BFF and unrequited love, Logan. Let’s get back to him.

Well, Logan has spent the past week melting the fuck down. I don’t even follow the dude anymore, myself, but out of morbid curiosity I’ve checked his FB page.

Holy shit.

This is not just... mourning. He has gone way off the deep end, calling he and Selina soulmates, as if -- in spite of the fact that she never reciprocated his feelings (publicly, anyway) -- she was as madly, head-over-heels in love with him as he was with her. He’s also doing this in full view of Selina’s recent ex-husband, with whom Selina was still friendly, and with whom he is supposedly friends. God bless her ex-husband for watching this unfold and not driving over and stabbing this guy to death.

Logan even went so far as to talk about the cast of characters from a roleplay he and Selina had been doing together, which included a number of “in character” children born of their two characters, and saying they were AS REAL TO THEM as real live biological children are to actual flesh-and-blood parents.

To note: HE ALREADY HAS ACTUAL REAL-LIFE BIOLOGICAL CHILDREN.

Can you fucking imagine being one of his actual kids and watching him mourn these fictional children who did not actually exist, who your Dad concocted with some chick he was obsessed with, and basically saying that these FAKE KIDS mean as much to him as you do?

Like, he actually concluded the post saying (to Selina), “Please watch over our babies until Papa can come home.” Watching this unfold has been COOCOO-NUTS BANANAS. I have never wanted to say, “DUDE,” so much to someone before.

I don’t know why I’m writing all this, except to say I really wanted to get it all off my chest. Part of me subscribes to the whole “don’t speak ill of the dead” thing, and like... look. I feel for Selina’s friends and family. I feel for her, because clearly she was troubled, and I’m sorry that she felt this was the only way out of a dark place. But also, killing yourself doesn’t retroactively erase the shitty things you did when you were alive. And she did a bunch of shitty things. And yeah, I know I’m probably a shittier person for saying that, but whatever.

Anyway. Like I said. It’s been a wild fucking year. :|

#oc #personal #tw: suicide

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scuba-claire · 5 years

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Cursed Child Year Four Part 1 Recap

I thought I’d do a mini recap of year fours first part 1. Disclaimer, this is just my opinion, my interpretations could be wrong, these notes are just what I thought when watching it. I know I missed things, as it’s hard to pick up on everything watching them for the first time. I also don’t think you can get a real feel for how things are going to be for the entire year based on their first show.

With that in mind I really enjoyed the show. Cast change can make the show feel fresh and new again, although this wasn’t quite as obvious this year as it was last year, as only a few of the main actors have changed this year.

I only really made notes about any changes I spotted, or my thoughts on the new actors. Although I noticed the existing cast did change things up slightly in some scenes, it wasn’t my main focus, and I didn’t make any notes for them. I’ll probably notice those things more once I’m no longer looking out for the changes generally.

Act 1

There are changes right from the opening scene. Mark stays on stage after putting on the sorting hat and directs the rest of the ensemble as they move the cases. I’d need to watch it a few more times to get the choreography, but it’s more magical, with people moving in slow motion etc as the hat directs them. It’s also a longer scene now, I think.

I liked this, although a friend of mine pointed out that the old version made it feel like muggle Kings Cross, until they go through the barrier, whereas this version has magic happening in the station instantly. I get that, although I like that there’s magic on stage now right from the first scene.

Dominic as Albus in the first scene is like a jittery, excited child, who’s in awe of everything around him. Rayxia as Rose is great. I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed watching her Rose. Michelle has a nice chemistry with Ron and Rayxia, her Hermione is really relaxed when she’s with her family and friends.

Lily’s line is different here. She mentions them always being late. Also Tom now reacts like Paul did on Broadway, when Harry says Snape was one of the bravest men he ever knew.

Albus meeting Scorpius was cute, they don’t have Sam and Theo levels of instant chemistry, but I like them together. Dominic singing the sweets line back to him was adorably awkward.

Dominic changes through the montage scenes, slowly getting beaten down by the bullying and how he blames everything that’s gone wrong in his life on Harry. Dominic smiles a lot, except when he’s with Harry. Like he genuinely thinks Harry is the reason he doesn’t fit in and is being bullied. But even then, the excited kid from the first scene still comes through in the odd moment, he’s genuinely happy he manages to cast incendio.

The Karl track is the track from Broadway, so Karl gets his chest signed by Harry, and the Karl actor is the carer in St Oswald’s. Craig as Karl was so star struck getting Harry’s signature on his stomach that he looked like he was going to faint, it was amazing.

The rose from Broadway is here, and it’s as awkward as I thought it would be.

Emma as Polly looks stunning in that wig, her Polly is gorgeous, and she knows it. She’s the pretty popular girl who will obviously pick on the geeky Albus and Scorpius. Luke as Yann gives me rich, pure blood, posh boy vibes, and I’m here for it. I missed watching Craig as I was watching these two, I need to get a feel for him in Part 2. The problem with a first show, when I’m trying to focus on so many new things and new characters, is that I know I missed loads.

I actually really like the new wand dance. I don’t know why people don’t like it. It’s not actually that different, some different choreography, they all gather around him when Albus gets his wand stuck in the floor, (no more Ravenclaw baby, weird the things you miss) and they line up at the front of the stage at the end like they’re all demonstrating the spell at the front of the class. It works as they all manage to do it expect Albus. New line, even his wand wants to be in Gryffindor.

Madeleine as Delphi. I don’t know what to say other than she’s perfect. She has really got the feel for imitating someone Albus would want to be friends with in their first meeting. She’s not super confident, and gives Albus the impression that she is just like him. You can see why Albus would want to help her.

She got her wand out as she said I’m a thief, it’s a clear attempt at a joke, and it worked with her manipulative Delphi convincing Albus she’s like him. She also didn’t do anything when Amos kept calling her, like the other Delphi’s have. It was more like she was showing Albus she also had a relative who didn’t understand her and she was resigned to it. I basically loved every moment she was on stage and am excited/nervous for Act 3 today.

I really enjoyed the blanket scene. I’ve seen Albus actors do the start of this scene in two ways. Albus is either shut off from his entire family, or just has a problem with his dad. Dominic does it the second way, he interacts with his mum, James and Lily in a positive way and doesn’t seem to have major issues with any of them. His Albus issues are all with Harry.

Dominic really doesn’t want the blanket, he doesn’t understand why his dad has given him this gift he can do nothing with and just wants his dad to leave him alone. His body language at the start is really showing how he just wants his dad to go away. When he does take the blanket, he holds it and delivers his lines like he thinks if he can just get through the conversation his dad will go away.

They both get really angry, a lot angrier than Jamie and Joe in this scene. It felt like Albus letting out his frustrations at how Harry is to blame for his life being terrible. He’s goof at trying the get a reaction from Harry. After Harry says he wishes Albus wasn’t his son, Dominic sort of looked like, of course you think that, obviously his dad was just confirming to him what he already knew.

Side thought, Dominic as Albus and Ryan as James. I got the impression from this first show that James isn’t very nice to Albus, but that Albus still looks up to him and wants his approval. Like there’s a rivalry there, but in a different way to how Dylan’s James was such a dick older brother, it’s less intense.

On the train, I liked how it looked like Albus really did just consider his plan in that moment when talking to Rose. I also don’t know if I imagined this, but when Scorpius said Rose smelled like bread on the train, it looked like Dominic sniffed the air and gave Scorpius a look like, wtf are you talking about. I hope I didn’t imagine this.

Dominic didn’t sit down while Scorpius was talking on the train. He stayed standing and looked like he was just waiting for Scorpius to shut up so he could hug him. I’ve always seen that hug as spontaneous, but this was cute. Also, when the train went to move, and they lean over, Jon basically ended up on top of Dominic, I’m always here for these random Scorbus moments.

I need time to learn all the new characters in the EGM, but I could see some anti Draco stuff going on.

So, St Oswald’s. Weirdly, I didn’t hate it. I mean I didn’t like it either, but I was expecting to hate it as much as I did when I saw this version on Broadway. I didn’t, so that’s a bonus. There’s a lot going on now though, looking at one trick means I missed another one. I would need to see it again to get a full picture. Maybe when I’ve seen it a few times I’ll get used to it, or maybe I’ll hate it again.

This is nothing to do with the actors or the tricks btw. It’s the change from the stressed out carer trying to keep order while being harassed by the residents, to this arsehole carer using magic on the residents. I know they get revenge, but still, I don’t like it.

Michelle and Susie giving each other knowing looks during the dinner scene whenever Tom was speaking is something I didn’t know I wanted until now. When Tom was saying he makes an ooof noise, Michelle nodded at Susie, and when he was talking about his Skiving Snackboxes, she reacted. It really made it feel like old friends chatting and it was great.

Polyjuice scene, Madeleine is very good, this is a theme. She’s surprisingly calm at first, until the pain hits. Michelle struggled to get into the cloak, Jon helped. They’ll get it with practice.

Act 2

There are three Voldemort arms at once in the opening scene now for some reason. Kathryn’s Petunia is great, I knew that from Broadway. They’ve given little Harry new trousers that show he’s wet himself and I don’t know how I feel about that.

Madeleine, again I love how she matches Dominic’s awkwardness, but still being more confident and someone he would look up to. She didn’t even look at Scorpius as she threw the robe at him. Although she’s not playing them off against each other as much as I’ve seen with other Delphi’s. Her kiss with Albus really fit with her Delphi, Dominic smiling loads. She then she did air kisses at Scorpius as she left. I never would have thought that would work, but it did and it was brilliant.

The Hogwarts scene, Albus really resents his dad, the moment Scorpius mentioned Harry, his body language changed. Although he liked Scorpius saying he was better than his dad. He also doesn’t agree with Scorpius when he said he still gets a tingle, Dominic’s Albus gets no joy from Hogwarts and it’s sad, this boy hates his life.

It’s weird watching the first task without James, Josh or Rosemary etc, but I can see the new cast already having fun with it. The faint is still there, but it’s now Ravenclaw girl.

Dominic ate the chocolate in the hospital scene. Dominic and Jamie work well together, Albus seems convinced he can refuse his dad at first. Genuine confusion in the scene with Ron

Dominic did something I loved in this scene on the stairs when Scorpius turned up. He kept looking down at Harry during the conversation with Scorpius, like he was waiting for Harry to change his mind or checking he was saying what Harry wanted him to.

Michelle in the DADA scene, I like her stern Hermione in the AU. I haven’t got a complete feel for her Hermione in Act 1 yet, I probably need to see it again, but I enjoyed watching her here.

Longing looks in the staircase ballet.

Delphi and Scorpius, oh Madeleine is so good. Again she really finds that way of connecting to Scorpius, of being the type of person he would obviously open up to. She hadn’t really done as much to antagonise him before this, so it makes sense she’d be able to connect with Scorpius here.

With Eve, when she said she hadn’t been to Hogwarts, it came across that saying this was a slip up on her part, which she then had to cover for. But with Madeleine, Delphi saying that might have still been a mistake, but it came across more like she knew it would get Scorpius’s sympathy and make him trust her. Also, that little look she gave as she was being wheeled off stage, like thank god that worked, this is really frustrating. Not obvious enough to give anything away, but a nice touch for her actual motivations.

A general observation, I really get the Scorpius always following Albus and doing whatever he suggests from these two, more than any other Scorbus pairing. Of course Jon’s Scorpius is jumping off the train after Albus, and breaking into the ministry to get a time turner.

Dominic’s Albus is kind of bossy with Jon’s Scorpius and its clear Scorpius just accepts that. I saw this in a few moments, like when they’re talking to Amos and Jon says “do we?” Dominic was just like, sssh Scorpius, and Scorpius just shuts up. Scorpius is used to following his friend around and doing what he suggests, even if he knows it’s a bad idea.

This makes the library scene argument really work with these two. Dominic’s reactions were great, this is clearly the first time Scorpius has ever shouted at him, or called him out for his BS, and he doesn’t know what to do with that. It’s genuinely like it’s the first time he’s thought about any of it, and it makes him realise he’s been an awful friend.

Dominic’s Albus really gets across that he’s only doing any of this because of Harry, he’s panicked that McGonagall will catch them and his dad really will force Scorpius away from him forever, there’s real desperation in the way he’s trying to convince Scorpius to hide with him.

I loved the way McGonagall leaves the library, she’s assumed they want to spend time together and sort of announces it to them, like - I didn’t see you, I’m leaving, carry on boys. It was perfect. She isn’t putting any more effort into to keeping them apart, and has let them know this.

There’s also an extra psstt moment when they’re hiding from McGonagall, and I would need to see this again to work out if it’s just the same recording being repeated or a new one.

Dominic made the story of stealing James cloak into a bad joke to try and break the tension. The joke doesn’t work, obviously, but I like how he doesn’t know how to approach Scorpius after their fight and tries humour. He also seemed genuinely distressed that his dad had been keeping them apart.

The library hug was the most adorably awkward thing ever. I don’t know if people have noticed, but there’s a slight height difference between the Scorbus actors this year. This meant that Jon’s arms were sort of hanging awkwardly over Dominic in the hug.

Blythe as McGonagall is good. She’s a lot softer than Sandy, and I’m looking forward to seeing her change in Part 2 when she’s telling them all off. There are little things she does differently, I can’t remember them all. When she put away the map, she made it seem like it was the spell closing the map and not her just folding it up.

Lucy as Myrtle is great. If I’m honest, I was expecting to just miss April in this scene, but I really like Lucy. She’s still flirty and hilarious, but totally doing her own thing. The second time she cries, she sets the water off three times, Scorpius tries to interrupt her after the second time and she stops him so she can cry again. She also makes it seem like she’s intending to keep the boys secret, and that it’s only because it’s Harry asking her that she then tells them what they’re planning.

Kathryn’s Umbridge is also great, again I knew that from Broadway. I like how she’s just sweet on the surface but you can see the evil underneath. Her laugh is spot on.

One note about this cast, they are so noisy backstage. I was in the third row, but I still only usually hear the occasional noise. This was more than usual.

I’m sure I’ve forgotten loads, but I tried to focus mainly on the new actors and the changes. I enjoyed the show and can’t wait for Part 2 tonight.

#cursed child #harry potter and the cursed child #cursed child review #harry potter play

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carmenxjulia · 5 years

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You Never Did Get My Name Ch5

Title: You Never Did Get My Name, Chapter 5

Description: ✓ Date: set. ✓ Friend: worried. ✓ Feelings: confusing.

[Read on AO3]

"You agreed to what?!"

Carmen flinched at the volume of the voice in her earpiece. She was lounging on the couch in her hotel suite, evaluating her recently freed arm. Since meeting with Julia, she'd been able to get her cast off, and was working to build back the muscle that had atrophied during her recovery. She'd also decided to casually mention her future plans with the agent to her best friend and confidant.

"It's just dinner, Player."

"Dinner at her house. This is seriously dangerous, Red."

"It's actually an apartment."

Player inhaled sharply. He certainly wasn't happy about this latest development, and Carmen was unnervingly calm about the whole thing. Unsurprisingly, her nonchalance failed to put the young hacker at ease. "Did you forget Julia works for a government agency that's trying to take you down?"

"Are they, though? Obviously, it's still Chase Devineaux's top priority, but we don't actually know what A.C.M.E.'s motives are."

"Or what A.C.M.E. even is. You should have checked if Julia had a keycard!"

"Player, I told you, I can't."

"Why not? You've never had a problem taking things from an enemy before. It would really help us to have some information on this mysterious group Chase is working for. Considering Julia Argent is still his partner, safe to say they're both still on the same team. We could know what team that is by now," Player hinted at his annoyance.

"That's just it. I don't think Jules is my enemy. Chase Devineaux would have definitely set a trap for me during our first encounter, but she didn't."

"Maybe Julia is smarter than that and she knew you'd suspect something. Maybe the trap is your second encounter."

Carmen groaned on the other end of the line, trying to figure out how she could convince her oldest friend that Julia was more or less harmless. She stood and began to pace as she attempted to come up with a reasonable way to refute Player's fears. But the more she thought about this entire situation, the less she could rationalize it.

Their casual interaction on the train was the start. It had been easy for Carmen to infer Julia was working with Chase, judging from the use of partner- specifically, "travel partner"- and the C.D. initials from the suitcase she'd noticed sitting on the adjacent seat. While Chase had easily picked her out among the other passengers, Julia appeared to be totally oblivious in her presence. Carmen couldn't blame her, though. They'd never had a close encounter, and Julia was a new detective with nothing to go off of except candid photos and blurry video footage.

After that, Julia had been daring enough to use the number Carmen had left for her. It took weeks, and, surprisingly, the call didn't come from someone at Interpol or A.C.M.E. If Julia had told anyone in her agency about the contact point, no doubt they would have wanted to act immediately. Tracking wouldn't have worked, Player had made sure of that. But contact would have been made sooner. Somehow, there was nothing strange or unnatural in the way Julia had spoken. No indication she was working with others or trying to set a trap or pry as much information as possible from someone who, as far as she was concerned, was a wanted criminal. With her training, Carmen was pretty good at deducing when someone was toying with her, and in talking with Julia, she didn't feel she was being deceived or manipulated. Not on the phone, and not even in person.

Their meetup had been so ordinary. So normal. And when Carmen laid down the ground rule that they weren't to discuss work, Julia respected it. She didn't protest the boundaries Carmen set, the things she was vague about or the topics she declined to speak of. Whereas Chase always threatened to arrest her, Julia was content to chat and have coffee sitting right across from her. It didn't make sense, but then, neither did her decision to leave Julia a way to get in touch with her. Everything was based on a feeling, one Carmen couldn't rationalize or justify.

It should have sent up a red flag, a dozen red flags, when Julia invited her to her own home. But instead, it made Carmen appreciate her openness. Player was right to be cautious. They'd always had to be cautious before, with everyone. But they'd learned to trust Ivy and Zack, so why didn't their little team have room for one more? Maybe not as an official member; but some sort of ally on the other side of the law wouldn't be so bad. Funny, how that hadn't been her plan all along and the idea was just now occurring to her.

Her invitation had seemed spontaneous, not planned or premeditated, like she'd come to the café with the intention of capturing her at a later date. Even if she had, there was no guarantee Carmen would accept the invitation, which would make setting a trap at a second meeting a risk. A risk Interpol, and likely this new agency Julia was working with, wouldn't be willing to take. It was still possible, but not nearly as likely.

When it boiled down to it, Carmen only had a feeling to go on that Julia's intentions were sincere, with no hidden malicious motives. She had, so far, given Carmen no reason to suspect her of plotting something, aside from her obvious association with Chase and previous association with Interpol. Maybe it was because she was so fresh and new, that she was willing to give Carmen a chance at all. A chance at what, she wasn't sure. Perhaps a chance to make a case for her not-so-sinister misdeeds? It was certainly more than any other law enforcement official had given her before.

"It's complicated," was all she managed to come up with. Because it was.

"Doesn't sound complicated to me. This date is a ruse and you're walking into a trap," Player's eye roll was almost audible.

"You don't know that-"

"You don't know that it's not."

"We can trust her."

"Why? Why do you think that?"

"Did you say this was a date?"

"Don't try to deflect the question."

"Not a date, don't call it that."

"I'll call Zack and Ivy if you don't take some precautions."

Carmen smiled to herself, leaning against the back of the couch. It was nice to have someone care about her wellbeing and safety, not just for the sake of a mission, but because they were genuinely worried about her. More importantly, Player was wearing down. This next meeting wasn't something she was going to budge on. Trap or not, with or without Player's approval, she was going. But he was right, taking some precautions would definitely be wise.

"We've already been over the location," Carmen confirmed. "It's a personal apartment, one Julia's been renting since before she started working for Interpol. The chance of a direct connection is slim to none. The property is privately owned, not managed by Interpol or some other secret agency. Sounds pretty ordinary."

"Could still be a cover," Player didn't sound convinced.

"Or it could just be the place she goes home to after work. Most people have those. Pretty standard, normal stuff."

"Since when have you been into "standard, normal stuff" Red?"

"My entire life has been everything except normal. Maybe I want a change."

"Hello? Yeah, someone seems to have replaced my friend, Carmen Sandiego the super thief, with a very unconvincing doppelganger."

"Very funny, Player. Being laid up gave me time to think. I didn't have a typical childhood. And even now, I'm not exactly living a typical adulthood, either. But V.I.L.E. won't be around forever, and when they give up or disband or maybe even die off, what do I do then? Where will I go? What will I do?"

"I always figured you'd cross that bridge when you got to it."

"So did I. But you know me, I always have to have a plan. I guess some part of me wants to be ready for that eventuality. Even if it's years away. What's my next move when there's no more V.I.L.E.?"

"That's great, Red. So what does Julia have to do with finding yourself?"

"She lives that normal life I might have someday. I can learn from her."

"And you picked an Interpol agent to learn from, why?"

"She seemed available at the time."

"Available, huh?"

"Yes. Available. And despite being a government agent, she was willing to sit down and talk-"

Player's snicker on the other end of the line did not escape Carmen's keen ears.

"What is so funny?"

"You're sure this isn't a date? I get it if you don't want me to know, and I think it's a really bad idea to go out with someone who's a potential threat. But you do like to live on the edge and it doesn't seem like I'm going to stop you. So just tell me the truth, Red."

"Player, we've had one conversation. One. Two if you count the first time we met. And I'm a wanted criminal. There's no way Julia would- Not that I'd want to either, I barely know her- Even if-"

"She's available?"

It all clicked into place. "That is NOT what I meant and I don't even know that for sure!"

"Real convincing, Red. Your motives are crystal clear. Clear as Karl."

"I'll tell you the truth, Player. The truth is, I don't know what this is, or where it's going. I don't know, I can't even figure it out for myself, and that's why it's so complicated."

"You trust her. And I trust you. If you really think it's safe, I won't bring it up anymore."

"No, you should be worried, and so should I. I… appreciate you looking out for me. I'll be sure to check in with you before I arrive, when I get there, and when I leave."

"And once during dinner."

"If I can, without Julia suspecting anything. She doesn't know you exist, and I'd rather keep it that way."

"Good to see you haven't lost all sense," Player joked.

"Not that I had much to begin with. I live life on the edge, remember? Playing by my own rules. Running from the law!"

"Having dinner with the law."

"Super edgy, I know."

"Just be careful. Don't let your guard down."

"I won't. I promise. Julia may seem harmless, but she has a secret organization backing her up. And if she isn't setting a trap, I'm going to find out what kind of person Julia Argent really is."

Support this and other stories! https://ko-fi.com/gemology

#Carmen Sandiego #Julia Argent #Carmen X Julia #Carmelia #Player #Fanfiction #You Never Did Get My Name #MINE #Carmen #Carulia #JuleThief #Carjules

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blackjacketmuses · 5 years

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multiimuse said to blackjacketmuses: ✈ for poe - an eye-opening memory

“The cousin did it.”

Poe yelps, blinking a little as Ranpo slams the manuscript down triumphantly. He has to squint through his bangs a moment to see where he’s gotten to, where a finger is poked into the stack of papers as he ruffles quickly through the rest of it --- about a third of the way through, he thinks. That’s an improvement from last time, he decides. Last time Ranpo had only needed four chapters.

“...right as always,” he says softly, picking at his sleeve with a small smile. “What gave it away?”

“Well,” Ranpo says cheerily, rocking back in his seat with his package of Twizzlers, duly handed over as a victory reward. “You were pretty clever with the ex-wife, I gotta admit, she’s a good red herring! But she was investigating the victim, so of course she’d look pretty sketchy. The giveaway was the cousin’s suit, though.” He grins around the candy. “Not a bad try, Ed!”

Poe blushes quietly, retrieving the papers with a nod. “...I’ll keep that in mind,” he says, already mentally taking notes to adjust that for next time, when his phone buzzes in his pocket and he nearly falls out of his chair with a squeal. The crow’s cawing is loud, and Karl squeals as well and darts over to Ranpo, who looks mildly amused but says nothing, watching.

“H-Hello?” Poe asks nervously, and then lets out a groan so uncharacteristic that Ranpo lets his chair drop back to all four legs, eyes widening for a moment at the noise. “Lenore,” Poe moans, letting his head drop onto the table. “Please don’t yell at me,” he pleads tiredly. “I promise I’m working on something. I-- no, I’m in Japan. I---” He flushes. “Yes, it’s--- yes. But I promise I’m...I’ll send you a-a few drafts? No, I--- I don’t have a computer, you know that...I’ll get something to you, I-I swear.” He sighs and tries to smile. “Yes, I-I know. I know. Thanks. I will. Bye...”

He hangs up with a sigh, letting his head continue to rest on the table and whining wordlessly while Karl pads back over to him and lies on top of his shoulders. She was really nice, she was, and so patient with him, but she was right. He really needed to get another book out. But...he hasn’t in years now, and it was hard. He has so many drafts, but--- they never seem good enough anymore. Not...

“Was that your editor?” Ranpo asks above him, and Poe gives him a muffled noise of affirmation before stopping and lifting his head up quickly, Karl digging his claws into his coat.

“---how...?” He tries. He’d never mentioned he was published, neither now nor back then. Back then he’d been in the contest for his detective skills, not his writing credentials, and it had never been brought up. And now, it was--- well, he’d never mentioned it. And he knows Ranpo’s hearing isn’t that good. Well, alright, he’d mentioned sending her drafts, but...he’s really starting to get a skewed image of what’s obvious and what isn’t, isn’t he?

Ranpo doesn’t seem to mind, though, shrugging carelessly. “Obvious,” he notes. “How come you haven’t sent her anything you’ve shown me?”

“....if you can get it so quickly, then...” He begins, though he knows it’s really unfair to use the other detective as a litmus. It’s just that...if Ranpo doesn’t think it’s good enough to stump him, he can’t think it’s good, either. Nothing is adequate anymore. Nothing works. If Ranpo...if he can’t...

“Ed, c’mon,” Ranpo scolds. “I’m the world’s greatest detective! Just ‘cause I get it right doesn’t mean anyone else will!” He frowns, leaning over. “This one was good,” he adds, nudging the manuscript. “This one or the other one you showed me, the one on the cruise ship. Making it up to the reader whether the curse was real or not was a nice twist. I mean, obviously it was, you were using ability users, but the public doesn’t know about them either, so they’ll like that. It’s a nice call back to the one you wrote about the mansion and the theater troupe, too.”

Poe freezes, his eyes widening and heart stopping for a moment. “....you read that?” He asks faintly. “You’ve...read one of my books?”

“Uh, duh?” Ranpo says, giving him a look. “I told you, you were the only person who managed to give me a real thrill back then. I looked you up when I got home and bought all your books. They’re nothing like a real mystery, and still pretty easy to guess, but they were fun.” He shrugs like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “My favorite was the one in the island about the treasure hunt. Having the killer use that nursery rhyme as his killing pattern wasn’t that original, but it was pretty creative anyway, ‘specially since you made the rhyme up, too.”

Poe squeaks. “You liked them?”

“Yeah,” Ranpo says offhandedly through a mouthful of candy. “You’re good at writing mysteries, Ed. Isn’t that obvious? Everyone else’s are super boring. Yours are at least fun, even if I can still solve them before I’m halfway done with ‘em.” He leans his chin on a hand. “I can see why normal people like ‘em, too.” He shoves at the manuscript on the table, smiling cheerfully. “Send this one, or the cruise ship one. Or both! That’s my professional opinion.”

Poe manages a nod, and begs off to do just that, nearly falling on his face as he flees the room with the sheaf of papers in his arms.

Oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no.

He can’t get that smile out of his head.

‘You’re good at writing mysteries.’

‘I looked you up when I got home and bought all your books.’

‘They were fun.’

Oh no, he thinks again, plaintively. Oh no.

#;hc: poe #;writing

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ghostmartyr · 7 years

Text

SnK 99 Thoughts

This post brought to you by liberal stealing from The Mincing Mockingbird: Guide to Troubled Birds. Because why not.

If you don’t think the ending tagline couldn’t be greatly improved by the addition of Gurren Lagann’s narrator, you are wrong.

So if this month was meant to make me think that everyone in that audience doesn’t have a gigantic destruction flag planted squarely in their midst, well, I’m clearly getting all the wrong signals.

We’ve got significant people from a bunch of major governments come to call. The higher up Marley soldiers that the people who actually run Marley don’t like are chilling. The Warrior kidlets have great seats. The parents of former Warrior kidlets have great seats. There are reporters. There’s a grand reclassification of a lie to an audience ever ready to redirect their Eldian fears and hatred. The current Warriors have been awayed from the premises. People from the East Sea Clan exit before the production even gets started. Willy is manning the stage.

All I’m saying is that if something were to go horribly wrong and a collection of mangled bodies appeared in the place of the crowd, it could be done without causing severe problems for either side of the conflict that we’ve come to know. The most significant losses would be the successor kidlets, and when it comes to the timeframe likely to be covered by the immediate plot, that’s close to irrelevant.

Except as meaningful emotional trauma for the current Warriors (plus Falco), who have ever so conveniently been removed from the audience.

The tension in this chapter points to something exploding, and I... really don’t feel comfortable pointing to any one side as the cause.

In one corner, you have Willy going to pieces over exposing a truth that his family has kept secret for a hundred years. Arguably, that’s a great reason to feel nervous. In the presence of Suspicious Happenings, it becomes one more tally.

In the adjacent corner, you’ve got a prominent member of the East Sea Clan coming to say hello to Willy before his performance. Despite the nation having the most noted interest in not being friends with Marley in the past, Miss Kiyomi is a quality of guest who is free to enter the green room at will, and implies knowing exactly what Willy is up to, and considers some combination of his behavior brave.

Then immediately leaves before his show starts.

In yet another corner, which is actually the nosebleed section of the show, Magath is expecting reports on anything unusual, and absolutely no one is calling the sudden departure of every single present Warrior unusual. Or one of the East Sea Clan peeps leaving early. Or Reiner straight-up vanishing with a Warrior candidate.

In a corner that is actually another basement, Eren is destroying what’s left of Reiner’s stability. By far the easiest corner to make sense of, but sense making is not for the early portions of this post.

Meanwhile you’ve got one faction definitely up to some immediate shady business, because you can’t really say dropping people down a hole is the act of a friend. Unless you subscribe to the Itachi Uchiha school of friendship, in which case, A+.

All that combined leaves us with a terrified circus master, and every prominent piece of plot significance being rushed away from the stage. With three of the available four Marleyan Warriors being collected in holes. The only one not in a hole is closest to Magath, as well as the brother of public enemy number one.

If something were to go wrong, the only Titans not in holes and known to be in Marley are the War Hammer and the Beast.

What gets interesting is that Eren is undeniably the party responsible for Reiner being in a hole, yet the obvious Marley counters to Eren and everything he stands for do absolutely nothing about preventing more Titans from finding themselves in holes. The page where Magath asks for reports on anything unusual, even the smallest detail, is accompanied by Willy stress drinking, and followed directly by the isolation of their Warriors.

Not a single person from Marley finds the departure of their Titans from the production worth commenting on. Pieck and Zeke both have marks of hesitance at complying with their instructions, but absolutely no one on the side they’re supposed to be signed to expresses any concern.

Even though they’re expressly looking out for anything unusual.

I like the idea of Paradis folks continuing their love affair with basements, and I think it would be neat if they’re responsible for Galliard and Pieck’s situation just because we’d get to see Our Heroes in action for the first time in ages, but... no one in the Marley chain of command finds this weird?

Their most powerful weapons get carted off on the night of a declaration of war, and it’s not worth a comment?

Blaming Marley for everything is really easy most of the time, because they’re generally up to no good. In this case, the only thing that’s stopping me is Eren’s involvement. Yeah, no one raises any alarms when Pieck, Galliard, and Zeke make their exit, but there’s also been no one casting suspicious looks at Reiner’s absent seat.

It seems like a really easy thing to claim that whatever happens next, Marley wants their A-listers carefully out of the way, but that would include Reiner. If they are involved, not knowing where Reiner is would be a major concern; you don’t drop people down holes unless the next move is going to be dramatic, and as wonderful as improv is, a lot of great drama works best if you know where your cast is.

Which introduces another fun question: Do the powers that be know where Reiner is?

The baseball mitt from last chapter at least planted the seeds of possibility for communication between Eren and Zeke. If (and the strength of that if is still in question) they have been in contact, and Zeke knows what Eren’s plans are for Reiner, in theory, Marley knows where all the major players are.

Zeke is Magath’s golden boy. He’s also Eren’s brother. He’s in the unique position of having ties that could make him privy to both sides’ tactics here.

He is also, as previously mentioned, the only one not in a hole.

I have no idea whose plan is winning out here, but the sense I get is that there is some kind of “I know you know I know you know” hustling going on, and someone is planning to take advantage of the openings that the other side’s plan leaves.

Basically, the one thing that can be said for certain is that someone is plotting a thing. Too many pieces have been moved too deliberately.

You’d think pinning the blame for a war that hasn’t started yet on a person you’ve never met would be enough for one night, but where’s the fun in that.

...I guess I’m already close enough to that to dive right in, so yeah, in the non-conspiracy theory section, Marley still continues to be horrible!

Like. Let me see if I have this right.

Diet Reiss’ production is all about revealing the true story of the island’s origins. It did not come about purely through the strengths of the Tybur family and Helos, but by the grand design of Karl Fritz.

Karl moves a whole bunch of Eldians off to Paradis and quarantines them, leaving behind a threat that is a total lie, because he’s actually sworn to peace.

He’s the true hero of Marley’s liberation, and so deeply ashamed of what his people have done that he offers up complete surrender to any of Marley’s decisions involving his people. Because his people have no inherent right to life, and he has the right to offer their lives up as part of his personal atonement--though in the meantime, if Marley could hold off a bit on killing them until he’s dead, that would be super rad.

Essentially, continuing the theme of bad parenting, we enter the names of the fathers of modern society, because wow were you all about grand gestures that don’t mean a damn thing and screwing over lots of people because it was easier than fixing the base problems.

Following that, though Willy leaves that part of the story out, Marley proceeds to tarnish the good name of the one Eldian King who helped them for the next century. While reminding all the good little Eldian children that the island is pure evil, and they should do their very best to not be like that.

Yeah, the shocked looks on the kidlets’ faces are depressing.

And of course, the reason Willy is explaining that they’ve spent a hundred years lying about the island is because, hey, the island may have started out a totally chill utopia, but in recent years, the ~*evil*~ Eren Yeager has stolen the power keeping it that way, and now the island’s back to being a real threat that we’ve absolutely gotta do something about!

So enters the latest chapter in Marley being terrible.

This makes my head hurt.

“Surprise, King Fritz was the good guy all along, and we were lying about how dangerous the island was!

Except now we’re not lying and it’s back to being dangerous.

Burn the witch.”

It’s like the boy who cried wolf, only the boy is also a wolf, so are the poor sheep, and really, however it plays out, any peasants unfortunate enough to listen to the boy wolf’s warning are going to get eaten alive. As are the wolves standing on the wrong side of the property line.

The point is, I hope this story ends with Willy being disemboweled.

In other news, Annie’s dad qualifies as one of the better parents we’ve seen solely because he actually cares about his daughter being alive.

Seriously, Reiner’s mother is terrible. She’s so pleased for Bertolt’s father, dying with all of the comforts Marley has to offer because his son dies a noble death as a teenager, and tries to extend that compliment to Annie.

Lady, as far as you know, you’re talking about dead children that your own selfishness condemned. Your son is a basket case thanks to trying to make your life better while you were too much of a coward to do something about it yourself.

(It is more complicated than that. I am not in the mood to care.)

Just... what the heck. A parent caring about their child living should not be noteworthy. The fact that Mr. Leonhart’s honorary status means less to him than his child should be a normal thing, and it isn’t.

If it wouldn’t permanently break Reiner (save that for the things that actually are his fault), I’d be in favor of Karina being disemboweled as well. She’s the only one who’s gained anything out of Reiner’s mission, and she’s happy to take advantage of the spoils even though it’s ruined her kid.

Though to be fair, it’s entirely possible that she hasn’t paid Reiner enough attention to notice that.

Speaking of Reiner!

I do like the opening flashback, bringing the old man up again.

Annie and Bertolt can’t help but dwell on some of the unpleasantness they’ve seen and caused, but Reiner avoids thinking too deeply about it until it slams into him like the Armored Titan slams into walls.

Today, playing the role of the Armored Titan, we have Eren!

Playing the role of walls, the much acclaimed, ever loved, sanity of Reiner!

Yeah, that’ll go well.

Eren’s done his homework. He’s already injured, so restraints won’t stop him from transforming if he needs to, and the massive destruction that a transformation from either one will cause means that he can get his point across without violence getting in the way. If they fight properly, people will die, so play nice.

(For the record, unless he’s fallen off the deep end worse than anticipated, I don’t think he ever intends to harm the people he’s effectively taken hostage. Eren’s always cared about life. Removing that during a timeskip is cheating of the highest magnitude. More to the point, though, Eren’s chosen a threat that requires absolutely no follow through to be effective. Reiner cares about life, too. It’s pure psychological torment, but the only one hurt by it did sort of kill his mother and thousands of other people.)

Reiner’s expressions this chapter are a gift. He’s terrified out of his wits, confronted by a ghost whose memory put a gun in his mouth, and no part of that strain gets kid gloves.

My favorite part, though--well, if I’m honest, there are several favorite parts to this show.

The first one is Reiner’s response when Eren tells him that he’s here to do the same thing that Reiner did.

There’s a lot to be said about how Reiner deals with being a fundamentally moral person who has done a long string of terrible things.

The summary is, “Not well,” but this whole sequence is such a dang microcosm of why Reiner’s head ends up snapping.

He serves Marley. He does his best for them. He protects his home, his family, his comrades. It’s his duty, and everything outside of that isn’t something he needs to think about. He puts it best when he transforms on top of the wall. He doesn’t know what’s wrong or right, but he’s going to see his mission through to the end.

Except Reiner likes to hide his own moral complexities from himself.

He’ll go along with whatever Marley’s plan is. With distinction, even.

But the second Eren says that he’s going to do what Reiner did, there’s only one response. He’s shaky, scared, and horrified. Because what he did to Eren’s people is an abomination. Reiner can’t even grasp why someone would want to do something like what he did.

Eren understands Reiner’s choices better than he does.

He is not gentle about it, and he’s not kind, but Eren gets what Reiner’s lost in the storm of his own conscience.

“You guys were trying to save the world.”

I think somewhere in the last four years, Reiner forgot that he meant that justification. The things he’s done have practically destroyed him. There isn’t any apology or action that can make up for it. He’ll stick to his mission, because he’s a Warrior, but outside of that frame of reference, there is no escaping the horrors or guilt.

(So work really hard at sticking to that mindset.)

But when he first joins the military on Paradis, he states his intentions clearly.

He’s here to save humanity.

Whatever he’s done, and whatever will come after, he means that.

It just so happens that what comes after is so horrible that I don’t think he can bear to connect what he’s done with anything like good intentions.

Eren still can.

He spends the whole chapter sending Reiner to a place that he would very much kill himself to get out of, and he’s still the one who looks at Reiner, and the awful, horrible things Reiner has done to his life, and say that it was born of good intentions.

Reiner hasn’t had the luxury of that kind of understanding. Ever. He can’t get it from himself, because his heart or mind would break at even having the conversation. He’s not going to get it from his friends, because one’s dead and the other mostly hated him before he left her behind. All that he has is memories he can’t share, and guilt that no one around him could even begin to understand.

And Eren might not be okay with any of it, but he sees the one kernel of good that is torturing Reiner, and he acknowledges it. They’re both between a rock and a hard place, and they’re trying to save the world.

It’s a more generous description of what Reiner’s done than he would ever be able to offer himself, even believing it, and for a second, I think the fact that Eren sees that gives him a sliver of hope.

He can’t keep it, because Reiner is damaged beyond belief, but for those few moments, he has someone who understands the best of him.

Best ship or best ship?

Naturally, they’re both still on opposing sides, Eren has just been announced as the world’s Worst, and Falco is watching this all quietly screaming, but hey, something went sort of okay and people aren’t yet dead.

Tune in next month to see that changing.

Oh, wait, I don’t think I did proper justice to Falco’s experience.

There we go.

#Shingeki no Kyojin #SnK 99 #shingeki no spoilers #SnK spoilers #spoilers #tl;dr #chapter post #it's November #that's my excuse

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