#but it happens to be the hero from earth dismantling his empire | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

help-i-need-a-cool-username · 3 years

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Recently saw a tiktok that was like "if you ship [toph and zuko] than you have issues or you see something galaxy brained that i havent" and stumbled upon the concept of aroace Zuko and i concocted this idea ages ago so im posting it now: the epic Toph x Zuko Marriage of Convenience

Okay what you are all thinking of is book 3 Toph and Zuko, which totally dont have romantic chemistry and with the added age difference is prob why no one ever considers this ship. Four years when you're a teenager is a big difference. Four years when you're in your twenties and beyond isnt that big a deal. So they're adults and they've been friends for years at this point.

You also gotta sit back and look at what they are. Toph is the only child to a very rich and very well known Earth Kingdom family. Her family name in general is huge and carries a lot of weight but you also got her own accomplishments: Master Earthbender, the Creator of Metalbending, the Avatar's Earthbending teacher, and shes a war hero. Thats big. And then you got Zuko, who at this point is the Fire Lord. Zuko himself comes from a prominent Fire Nation family, seeing as he's royalty. He's also descended from a Avatar, but i dont think thats all that well known. Zuko is a Master Firebender, the Avatar's Firebending Teacher, and a war hero. On top of being famous both these people have credibility to fall back on.

So what im leaning into here is not exactly a marriage alliance seeing as the Earth Kingdom has its own royalty but its definitely a political move

Anyways Zuko has a lot on his plate, dismantling his dad's empire and all that. When he's nearing 30 the council is all like "you need to find a bride". Zuko writes up his ex-girlfriends and finds out they're either married or he just cant bring himself to trap someone into a marriage with him after knowing how it destroyed his mom. So he's stuck with no one of his own choosing so the council and high up nobles are trying to fix him up and not-so-subtly set him up with their daughters. Half of Team Avatar comes and visits (lets say Toph, Aang, and Sokka) and witness the behind the scenes of all this. They're having tea with Zuko and two people come in at different times and try to casually talk about the marriage thing. Toph can hear things that happen in the hallways too. Zuko is all "noooooooo guys why is this happening to me" and Sokka probably finds it funny but also a little sucky, and Aang probably hates it because "Zuko should marry for love!". And Toph is all "I know right" because she can totally relate. Her parents were looking for matches for her since she was born, and now that shes visiting again they've started back up again. Her and Zuko start swapping match-making stories ("so i come home and this boy and his father are there and my mom is all like 'Toph have you met __'" "I'm in the throne room for a meeting on road construction and this guy derails the whole thing so he can introduce his niece to me"). Later on after Toph has been listening in on the palace for a few days now and shes starting to really feel sorry for Zuko. Sokka just keeps making jokes until Toph snaps at him. Aang is pretty oblivious and probably spends all day at the market looking for souvenirs to bring home for Katara. And one night while Zuko is up late doing paperwork by candle light Toph stops by because her body cant sleep at night sometimes and they get to talking and Toph jokingly throws out "what if we just married each other? Then everyone will get off both our backs!" and they're laughing and after they've calmed down Zuko has a light bulb moment and he's like "wait, that might not be a bad idea". They spend all night working out the details to their hypothetical wedding and a day later decide to actually go through with it. Theres uproar from the council of course because Zuko didnt choose their pick Toph isnt Fire Nation nobility. And then Zuko starts listing all her family's importance and stuff and the council is forced to admit to themselves its not actually a bad idea. Plus marrying Earth Kingdom would make the Fire Lord more relatable to the colonies where theyre having a lot of problems with people of mixed heritage right now. Sokka and Aang hear rumblings of this because palace servants gossip and they're debating wether or not to believe these rumors when they run into Toph and just ask her and shes all like "yeah we're talking about it" and they boys flip out. Aang still maintains that everyone should marry for love but Toph and Zuko won't budge.

Over in the Earth Kingdom Toph's parents are ecstatic because the only better option Toph could marry was Earth Kingdom royalty. They completely endorse it and only argue to not seem like pushovers and when topics revolving money come up (ex. dowery). The Earth King gets in on this because its too good a opportunity to not capitalize on it. The Earth Kingdom is abuzz because a foreign King is marrying one of their own. Everyone is hyped and Team Avatar are the only ones who find the whole situation weird because to them its not a fairytale its their actual friends.

All-in-all they get married in the Fire Nation and the guest list was awful to make but people from all over the world are there. Toph's mother freaks out the whole time because "what if Toph falls down all those steps!" The wedding is mostly all Fire Nation tradition but Toph wears a Earth Kingdom wedding dress because everything is political now. Toph and Zuko have a relatively fun night and Sokka has the time of his life. And their marriage actually really works out for them because they're friends. They make fun of fancy people and rant to each other in the evenings. Toph is still running metal bending schools but either now they have to come to her or she gets stuck with a Fire Nation security team for like 3 months of the year she spends in the Earth Kingdom and she gets flashbacks to her childhood. And Zuko is sometimes all "i miss my wife" and the servants are all "awwww they're so in love" but the truth is he wants to talk sh*t with her and because shes blind he always has to write letters with the interpreter's opinion/gossip in mind. Toph still sneaks out all the time because shes not giving up her independence willy-nilly and is not above pulling the blind card to get out of things, which irritates Zuko sometimes because that means he has to deal with boring meetings by himself. They gaang visits all the time and by the time Republic City rolls around Toph manages to get herself sent as a "ambassador" (her and Sokka have some fun their shared meetings) and then to stay on to help set up the police force, which is a little dicy since shes representing the Fire Nation but also shes teaching only metalbending so its a controversial thing. This also gives Zuko a excuse to visit Republic City more often so he can see everyone since they settled down there.

#hinacu atla #atla #avatar #toph beifong #zuko #zuko x toph #prince zuko #fire lord zuko #avatar the last airbender

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yet-another-fan-girl9 · 4 years

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Inhuman (4)

Summary: All beings in the universe have a soulmate except for Midgardians. People can hear their soulmate in their heads. For almost five hundred and fifty years, Loki believed that he had no soulmate until 1513 when a Midgardian princess was born. Will fate be kind to them or will the universe tear them apart?

Warnings: violence, language, hella historical inaccuracies (I tried to do research but then got lazy), maybe some AOS season 3 spoilers(?)

Word Count: ~4000

“Captain.” Loki strode up to him. “I need to speak to you. Alone,” he added when he spotted his brother linger by the doorway. “It’s about (Y/N).”

The blond supersoldier turned to look at Loki. “How did you know her name?”

“I know everything about her. Or, I knew everything. She is— was my soulmate.”

“S-soulmate? Those things are real?”

“Midgardians are the only ones in the nine realms that don’t have soulmates. For a long time, I believed that I did not have a soulmate. It wasn’t until 1513 I felt the connection.”

“1513?” Steve stared at him. “So she’s even older than I thought.”

“Yes, she was the queen for a time. I thought she had died even before the date in the history books.”

“This is a lot of information, Loki.” He sat down. “A queen? Queen… (Y/N)? You expect me to believe that Queen (Y/N), one of the infamous Tudors, Queen of England is still alive and became a hitman?”

“It’s hard for me to believe it as well. Trust me, when I came to the conclusion that it was her, that she was alive…” he drifted off.

“Thank you for telling me. This information will be important in trying to track this organization down. Maybe you should tell this to everyone else?”

“No, I would rather not participate in one of your little presentations.” Loki turned and strode out of the room, leaving Steve to process everything.

[New York, New York, May 2024]

It had been a couple of months since you had been to the Avengers compound and there had been no sign of the superheroes. You were getting bored, though it wasn’t the longest you had been on hitwoman hiatus. Surprisingly, Max wasn’t in the same mood as you. He and Liam were having a jolly good time galavanting around the city or whatever young couples did these days.

You sat at your kitchen counter reading your emails. There were plenty of job offers you could take. Should you resume taking them? What if one was a trap set by the Avengers? It wasn’t like you were going to run out of resources any time soon but you were bored goddamn it.

Alright, just a simple, quiet job. One that you could do on your own. This one seemed inconspicuous. Fifteen thousand for making a woman’s unfaithful, abusive husband look like he committed suicide. You always would help someone in a bad situation and she even offered a down payment of five thousand. Just in case of a worst-case situation, you sent Max your plan.

I’m going out on a small job. If I’m not back by tomorrow at noon, you know what to do.

After you had the little excursion at the Avenger’s compound, you had sent out a step by step list of what to do if someone was compromised by the heroes. You appreciated what they did, as long as they stayed away from you and your employees. You couldn’t let them dismantle your small empire after over a hundred years. Yes, you killed for a living, but sometimes it’s for good.

Like right now, you sat in your black Lambo by Mrs. Davis’ apartment, preparing to kill her husband. You got out and smoothed down your white blouse that was paired with some ripped jeans. Your boots sent soft echoes down the empty street. You made your way to the front door and rang the unpleasant sounding doorbell.

“Hello, are you Mr. Davis?” you asked when the door opened to reveal a tall, blond man. You leaned against the doorframe and looked up at him through your eyelashes.

“Yes, who’s asking?” Although the question was defensive, his tone was suggestive.

“Oh, I heard about you from my friend.” You twirled your hair around your finger. “I was wondering if your wife was home?”

“Fortunately, she is not. Come in, come in.”

You followed the man into the apartment, disgusted by how quickly he had let you in. You walked past a framed photo of the Davises at their wedding. Does the fucker make all of his mistresses walk past the photo? While you strode down the hallway, you slipped on a pair of leather gloves. He led you directly to the bedroom.

Well, no use in waiting. You pulled a gun out of your jeans and when the man turned around, you pressed it to his temple. A breath hitched in his throat and he raised his arms.

“I need you to write something for me,” you sneered. He nodded and grabbed a notepad from the bedside table. You stayed behind him, the threat of the gun always in the back of his mind. “You’re going to confess to everything. Hurting your wife. Cheating. Everything bad.” He complied and fortunately, his hand didn’t shake much. He was left handed, you noticed as you read the note from over his shoulder. “Tell them you feel guilty. So fucking guilty you couldn’t live with yourself.”

When he signed the note, you tore it off and put it somewhere blood wouldn’t stain it. Mr. Davis was shaking like a leaf while you stood to his left and raised your gun to his head again. At least he wasn’t pleading for his life. He wasn’t on his knees, groveling. Without warning, you pulled the trigger.

The man’s blood and brains coated the bedroom wall as he crumpled to the ground. The loud bang of the gun rang in your ears. More blood spilled from the bullet holes in his skull and you watched it seep into the carpet. You placed the gun in Mr. Davis’ left hand and wrapped his fingers around the handle. Then you placed the note on the bed.

No white rose today, you were certain the Avengers were keeping an eye out for them, but you still took a picture to send to the newly widowed Mrs. Davis. You quickly left the apartment, people would have heard the gun go off, and made your way to your car. You could hear the sirens in the distance as you drove away.

🌹

“Something’s happening!”

Everyone rushed into the room to see all of the screens flashing. A typical radar screen with a large blinking dot. Stark had mimicked the technology from the ship Loki had stolen from the Grandmaster and combined it with his own. What resulted was a powerful, as well as specific, radar system.

“What the?” Thor mumbled and looked at the numbers on another screen. “I recognize these signatures but I just can’t place them.”

Brunnhilde and Loki pushed their way to the front.

“I suppose they do look a little familiar.” Loki shrugged and Brunnhilde nodded her agreement.

“Hey, for the idiots back here,” Barton said from the back, “you guys want to tell us what the fuck’s going on?”

“The radar is picking up a surge of energy,” Stark pointed at the dot. “A big surge of energy based on the numbers.”

“Shouldn’t we be doing something about them?” Steve asked.

“Here’s the thing.” Stark pushed his way through the small crowd and stopped at another screen. “This one is scanning up and it keeps picking up something. Never long enough to get a good reading. Most likely it’s a ship using a cloaking mechanism. Woah, what the fuck? Something’s coming down.”

“I remember now,” Thor cut in and everyone turned to him expectantly.

“Well, get on with it,” Steve prompted.

“Yeah, do we need to suit up?” Nat added.

“Yes.” Thor looked at Loki. “The Kree are here.”

🌹

You were about thirty minutes away from your penthouse, taking unpopulated back roads, when you noticed something in the night sky. It looked like a large meteor and it looked like it was headed right toward you. Fast.

“Shit,” you mumbled to yourself and stepped on the gas. Your head hit the head rest as your car was propelled forward.

Moments later, the meteor hit the spot your car had just vacated. The resounding explosion caused you to lose control of your car that was going very fast. Fortunately, it stopped quickly. Unfortunately, it was stopped by a brick wall.

“Motherfucker.”

Your head ached and when you gingerly felt around, your hand came away stained with red. More blood dripped from your nose onto the airbag and it felt like your upper arm was broken. You could already feel the small cuts from broken glass heal, and it wouldn’t take long for your bone to snap back in place, but definitely not fast enough.

You had heard that you shouldn’t get out of a crashed car unless it was going to blow but that advice was for normal people. You didn’t want to stay stuck in your car. Unbuckling your seatbelt was hardest, especially with your arm.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck. Shit. Motherfucker!”

Of fucking course the fucking door couldn’t fucking open all the way. You were able to do some maneuvering to pull yourself out of the hole in the wall but it included a lot more swearing. The fires from the meteor had settled and you realized that it wasn’t a meteor at all. It was some kind of pod that had fallen to Earth.

Two large figures emerged from the burning ship. In the light of the fires, you saw their metal staffs and blue skin. They wore gold on their dark cloaks and around their jaws. You were curious but you also knew that their intentions weren’t going to be good. The Avengers had probably been notified as well and you really couldn’t deal with them right now.

“INHUMAN!” one of them roared and they both pointed their weapons at you.

Then it all clicked. Blue angels that fell from the heavens to Earth. Called the Kree.

“Kree,” you responded much to their shock. “What do you want?”

“You. The Inhumans. We are here for our projects. Only the best will be brought back to Hala. The rest will be terminated.”

“Thanks for the warning.” You back up as inconspicuous as you could, cradling your arm. “How do you choose who lives and who dies?”

To answer your question, one of the Kree activated something on his metal vambrace. A holographic screen popped up and a bright yellow light scanned you.

“Species: Inhuman,” a male voice reached your ears. “Abilities: enhanced human body, strength, healing—”

“Yeah the list goes on and on,” you said. There should be an alley you could escape through somewhere.

“—combat, memory, and speed. Threat: high.”

“You’re coming with us.”

“Yeah, I got that.”

You reached the alley and ran down it as fast as you could. Everytime your arm moved strangely, you winced. You had no plan. No idea where to go once you got to the end of the alley.

But you didn’t have to worry about that because you never made it out. Your legs were swept out from under you and your back hit the pavement. While you struggled to get breath back into your lungs, one of the Kree appeared and loomed above you. He didn’t smile but his eyes held victory. Then he grabbed your leg and pulled you back towards the crash.

“W-where’s your pal?” you said once you could speak. He didn’t respond but he did drop your leg when you reached the pod.

Taking the chance, you struggled to your feet. Run or fight? You had already tried to run and he had reached you before you got far. Fighting was going to hurt but it was the only option you had left. You needed a plan. The glint of the Kree’s weapon caught your eye. It was a terrible plan, but it was a plan. Fuck it.

Your knife came out of your boot right as the Kree turned to face you. With your injured arm, you swung your knife at his face. It barely scratched his face and he tried to raise his own weapon but he discovered that your other arm held it down. You tried to stab the hand holding the weapon, which looked more like an axe than you realized, but he grabbed your broken arm.

You suppressed a scream, but dropped your knife. He pushed you hard and you stumbled backwards a few steps. The Kree swung his axe at you and the pointed tip cut through your blouse and grazed your chest. You moved forward, dodging the next swing with your eyes on your knife. When you got close enough, he grabbed your wrist and began to squeeze. You could feel the bones start to groan under his grasp.

He went to sweep your legs with his own leg again but this time you jumped forward and used his own momentum against him. He fell on his back with you over him. You grabbed your knife off of the ground and he growled when you brought it down on his wrist. The weapon clattered to the pavement.

The Kree flipped around and wrapped his thick hands around your neck. He lifted you off the ground a few inches before slamming your head back onto the hard ground. Combined with the head injury from the car crash and the lack of oxygen, black spots began to cloud your vision.

You brought your knee up to his crotch and his grip lessened but only slightly. You moved the knife around in his wrist and reached for the axe with the other. Your fingers wrapped around the cold metal and before the Kree could realize you were armed, you plunged the weapon into his side. You pushed him over and pulled out the axe. Its blade was stained blue instead of red.

“Inhuman scum,” he spat.

Movement in the sky caught your attention and you saw more pods falling in the distance.

“How many of you are there?” you asked and pointed the axe at his face.

“You will lose.”

Something pulled your attention away from the Kree. Sirens and shouts came from the next street over. You were able to feel Loki through your pain. You were able to pick out Steve Roger’s commanding voice in the noise. The Avengers have arrived to save the day. You raised the axe over your head and cleanly separated the Kree’s body from his head. You felt the now familiar tugging grow stronger.

You escaped away from the heroes and Loki with the axe grasped firmly in your hand. It took some pain to fish the burner phone out of your back pocket and despite it almost falling apart in your hand, you were able to call Max.

“Hello?”

“Max, thank God—”

“Hey, girl. Liam, it’s (Y/N).”

“Hi (Y/N).” Liam’s voice came through the phone.

“Hi. We have a problem. A really big fucking problem. I bet it’s on the news, but the fucking Kree are here.”

“Kree? Like from the stories? Blue angels and shit?”

“Yes, I need you to come pick me up at the Battery. Now, please. A couple of ‘em caused me to crash my car—”

“Not the black Lambo?” he whined.

“Yeah, the black Lambo. Anyways, have Liam spread the word to really get underground. Also if they stick to groups, it’ll be easier to take down the Kree.”

“Wait, what do they want?” You heard the couple moving around and keys jingling.

“To bring the strongest Inhumans back to their planet and kill the rest.”

“Damn, okay, we’ll be there soon.” The line went dead.

You stood on the sidewalk, watching the pods fall. The gash in your forehead from the crash was healed and the pain in your arm was definitely less intense than before. You looked at the cut on your chest and realized that it was still bleeding lightly. It was a thin cut, just a graze but it hadn’t healed yet.

Goddamn it, the Kree’s weapons were made from fucking vibranium.

🌹

He had felt her, but she was nowhere to be found. Loki surveyed the scene before him. The first thing he noticed was the Kree pod that had created a small crater in the middle of the street. Then there was the car halfway through a brick wall. A decapitated Kree lay on the ground. Oh, and it seemed like every fucking thing was on fire. At least there were no crowds.

“It looks like more pods are coming,” Steve looked at the sky. “We should cut them off before they get too far.”

“These are Kree Reapers.” Loki examined the armor. “Stronger than regular Kree. They’re savages. Hunters.” Which makes the fact that she was able to kill one that much more impressive.

“Alright.” Thor nodded and glared at the corpse. “Let’s get these guys out of the sky.” He and the others that could fly took off towards the pods.

“She was here,” Loki said to Steve, not letting the others hear. “But she was gone by the time we arrived.”

“You could… sense her?” Steve responded.

“Yes. We used to have another connection, a telepathic connection. All soulmates have them, but for some reason ours broke a long time ago.”

“Hey boys,” Romanoff called. “Doesn’t this knife look familiar?” She removed a knife that had been lodged into the Kree’s wrist.

“It looks like the one we found in the Senator’s bodyguard which means that she was here,” Barnes concluded.

“Where’s his weapon?” Brunnhilde looked around. “It was probably used to decapitate him.”

“Are there any cameras on this street?” Steve asked and checked the buildings.

“Nope,” Romanoff shrugged. “But Bucky and I can probably figure out what happened. We’ve been to a lot of scenes like this.”

“I’m guessing the crash of the pod caused her to crash her car into the wall,” Barnes guessed and walked over to the wrecked car. “There’s some blood on the airbag but I can’t tell the extent of the injuries.”

“The most common car accident injuries are broken bones in the legs and arms as well as whiplash and other head injuries,” Romanoff supplied.

“She was able to defeat a Kree Reaper even with the injuries she had sustained,” Loki pointed out. “And based on the fact that she disappeared before we arrived, her legs are uninjured.”

“It looks like the pods have room for two of these large shitheads,” Brunnhilde reported. “There’s only one dead bastard, so where’s the other one?”

“Are you guys done there?” Stark’s voice crackled in everyone’s ears. “We need some back up. Now!”

“On our way.”

🌹

“You look like shit,” Max said when you collapsed in his backseat.

“Yeah, fuck you too,” you groaned. Your back was bruised from the multiple times you were slammed to the ground and your head was throbbing.

“Need help patching yourself up?” Liam handed you a first aid kit from the front.

“I’ve got it.” You needed to get all of this blood off of you. “Thanks, though. Maybe I should replace Max with you.”

“You wouldn’t,” your right hand man gasped. “What’s with the… spear? Axe?”

“Both, kinda. It belonged to the Kree before I cut off its head.”

“So they want to kill us all?”

“Only the weak ones. The ones they find useful I guess they’ll turn us into warriors back on their home planet.”

“I wonder what I’d be classified as,” Max hummed.

“Trust me, you don’t want to be close enough where they can scan you because you’ll be close enough for them to kill you. Easily.”

When you finally pulled into the lot under your penthouse it felt like you released a breath you were holding. Your head injuries were gone and your arm should be back to normal in fifteen minutes. Even though you were physically healed, you were exhausted.

You made it through a soothing shower before you pulled on your favorite silk pajamas and collapsed into bed.

“Are you sure about this?”

“Yes.” It had been twenty days since your father had died and today he was going to be put to rest. “Are you sure?”

“You are my friend. I would do anything for you.” Agnes secured the jewels around your neck. “You are also my Queen. I have to do what you tell me.”

“Even if it means your death?”

Sunlight streamed through the curtains and you rubbed your eyes. Your phone told you that it was almost eleven thirty in the morning. You sat up in bed and stretched your arms over your head. Everything felt normal and you didn’t feel sore at all. You examined the thin cut on your chest. It had scabbed over and probably wouldn’t leave a scar.

The weight of last night’s events crashed down on you. The Kree were going to be a huge problem. You needed to keep your people safe. When Afterlife fell, your organization became the largest group of Inhumans. When you reached the kitchen it took you a moment to register the two men sitting at your counter.

“You’re still here.”

“Of course,” Max said and handed you a cup of coffee. “You were looking pretty rough last night.”

“We have a lot of work ahead of us.” You looked back and forth between Max and Liam to ensure they were willing to join you.

“You’ll need all the help you can get,” Liam confirmed.

“Yeah, we’ll need all the help we can get.”

“What are you hinting at, Max?” You raised an eyebrow.

“The Avengers!”

“No.”

“Come on. Just think about it.”

“So do you think we should gather everyone and fight or disperse and hide?” You ignored Max and looked at Liam.

“Maybe gather and hide like you said last night? We shouldn’t go looking for a fight. Especially with these guys.”

“(Y/N), the Avengers might be able to help.”

“You got the word out right? I want to hear from everyone periodically.”

“Yeah, the word’s out. I hope you don’t mind, but Izzy’s coming here to bunker down with us.”

“It’s fine I have plenty of space.”

Izzy arrived at two and settled into one of your guest rooms.

“So Max texted me and tried to make me make you go to the Avengers.”

“Of fucking course he did. You can just ignore him.”

The four of you ate Chinese takeout for dinner. The whole day, you had been contacting other Inhumans warning them of the Kree threat. According to the few contacts you had in Europe and Asia, only one pod landed in Russia. They had quickly taken care of that. None landed in Australia or Africa. You didn’t know how fast the Kree would move south, though.

“I think,” Max began. “That you and the Avengers can exchange information.”

“Max when will you drop this?”

“Never.”

“I think they can help too.”

“Izzy, not you.”

“Just hear me out.” She held up her hands. “I don’t know your history with them, but they did manage to eliminate a few of them last night. And a few of them know more about the Kree than we do.”

Max nodded and raised his eyebrows. You looked at Liam for backup but he just shrugged and then fed his boyfriend some orange chicken.

“It’s three against one,” Liam smirked.

“No.”

🌹

There was something in the room. The AI had called everyone to the living room for a meeting. Loki had thought it was a strange place to meet but at least the seating was more comfortable there. Something was close. He settled down on the chair that was distanced from the rest.

Only two members of the team had gotten seriously injured during the fight with the Kree. Wilson had been knocked out of the sky which resulted in multiple broken bones. The Maximoff girl had been knocked unconscious after she had been hit by seemingly hundreds of lasers. She still hasn’t woken up.

Everyone was certainly still in rough condition, even twenty-four hours later. Morale wasn’t very high either. The majority of the Kree Reapers had escaped.

“Why the fuck are we meeting here?” Stark asked when he spread out on a couch.

“I was about to ask you the same thing,” Steve said. “I thought you called us here.”

“I thought you called us here.”

“You may be wondering why I summoned you all here.” Four figures emerged from the shadows.

Tags: @kaithehero @liliannyah @andreasworlsboring101 @oatballsoffury @aberrant-annie @simplybree @adalina-perez @emage-king @yandereforyou @notactiveonmain @tvdplusriverdale

#inhuman #loki x reader #loki x soulmate reader #loki moodboard #loki #steve rogers #Captain america #kree #marvel #mcu

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magicalgirlagency · 4 years

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A hot take I guess? Something that’s been bothering me a lot about cartoon shows with war and imperialism (you know which ones)

I think people need to understand that a MC defeating villains who are fascist is not going to bring a “wrong message” when it comes to cartoons (yes, I’m talking about SU). The theme of love and forgiveness wouldn’t automatically go away if Steven shattered the Diamond Authority. Fascist don’t deserve forgiveness and a MC killing a fascist leader(s) shouldn’t be demonized for it.

And even if the MC refuses to kill them, because it goes against their principles (like Aang, from Avatar: The Last Airbender), the only option remaining would be to forcibly strip away the fascist leader's powers and humiliate them.

Imagine this scenario:

The fifth season finale Change Your Mind plays normally. Steven talks to the Diamonds, and convinces them to stop being evil.

Then, the final "confrontation" with White Diamond happens, and she has a breakdown after being "humiliated" by Steven, while Blue and Yellow look at her in shock...

...and, then the PLOT TWIST happens!

The Crystal Gems fuse again (now this time with Lapis, Peridot and Bismuth) and land a surprise attack on the Diamond Authority, poofing them all in the end! All of that Talk no Jutsu was just a ruse, so the fascist leaders could be caught in a moment of weakness!

Back on Earth, the team discusses what they should do with the Diamonds, as they might come back and retaliate horribly... cue Steven with an idea: Connect their gemstones to Rose's Fountain, and use their energy to heal every corrupted Gem they've previously found.

Just like what happened to Lapis Lazuli, when she was trapped in a mirror for thousands of years.

Lapis instantly approves of this plan. She craves that sweet, sweet revenge.

And then, it happens, the CGs do it so, and connect the stones to the fountain, and the corrupted Gems are healed. Everything plays out like in the original cartoon, but the Diamonds aren't there at the fountain! As expected!

And for more impact, before the final scene at the beach at night, the team takes out Rose's portrait out of their wall, and BURN IT in the fire. This is meant to be something symbolic and cathartic, since Rose Quartz never was real and has caused so much pain and destruction with her childish game.

And then finally, the final scene at the beach. When our heroes settle down, relieved and happy with their successful mission.

And the sixth season would be about the CGs (WITHOUT Steven, because he's just a child, and should've NEVER been involved in all of this commotion to begin with!), working with the other Gems to dismantle the Diamond Empire, in Homeworld and on Earth, and start anew.

All of the episodes are about the Gems adapting to their new lives in Little Homeworld (because Little Homeschool sounds like something straight from a horror movie about a cult). Steven is barely present in them, or not present at all.

Steven gets one or two episodes dedicated to him talking things out with his guardians and get a therapist; all of that without those pink outbursts, sporadic out-of-their-ass powers and monster transformation. Enough of making traumatized/mentally ill characters unstable and prone to murder.

Steven has helped plenty of people before, but who helps him? Now it's time he gets the help that he deserves.

And then, The End.

I know, I'm a genius. Where's my Pulitzer Prize?

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danwhobrowses · 4 years

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Why Star Wars: The Last Jedi Deserves More Respect

So after a handful of posts I think it’s time to bring back this one, the conflict was that I was considering reviews for Pokémon Sword and Shield as well as a review for Rise of Skywalker, but the latter made me think that this is an opportune moment to talk about the previous entry. Like The Last Jedi, Rise of Skywalker has had divisive opinions, frankly I liked the film but I think TLJ was the best of the sequel trilogy, and I am going to explain why

Fair Warning, within this there’s gonna be spoilers for Rise of Skywalker, possibly Mandalorian, maybe Solo and definitely The Last Jedi...this will also be very long

So I know straight away that this is gonna get heat, there has been constant times where me saying that I liked TLJ has been considered trolling or ‘bait’, honestly I find myself baffled that people can hate it so vehemently, believing that the story is and I quote ‘the worst sequel ever’. While it is clear that Johnson had a different vision to Abrams, that was not a bad thing, a lot of the criticism the film gets are quite hypocritical in contrast to the Original Trilogy which is held to so much esteem, so to start I’m going to break that down. Small Disclaimer before I do: People are allowed to dislike things, not saying that if you do dislike it you are doing something wrong, just pointing out that it’s not wrong to like the film either. Disowning before Watching The first thing I think turned people off of TLJ was the interview Mark Hamill had before the film came out, people misconceiving his comments that it’s not the journey he expected seeing of Luke to mean that this is not a film he would approve of. The same almost happened with RoS with Abrams comment which was abridged to imply that Abrams disowned TLJ as well - he did not - but in a society where we want to home in on flaws and criticize before even seeing that was too wide a door left open. So without fault, TLJ already had a group of people set on disliking the film because it would be different to how they and Hamill wanted it to be and because it’s not exactly like the decanonized ‘Legends’ continuity - despite people being fine that Jacen Solo and Ben Skywalker had been merged to make Kylo Ren in The Force Awakens. It’s easy to point out that if you go into something adamant to dislike you’re going to get your wish, so the first point of order is to give something a chance to impress you, you can’t criticize something because an actor didn’t think it’d go that creative direction, Hamill did not hate this movie and people disliking their content does not automatically make it bad, Stannis from GoT hated the show, Alan Moore hates everything but that doesn’t mean Watchmen was bad, the actors for C3PO and R2-D2 hated each other but that doesn’t mean that when they acted their bond wasn’t great.

The ‘Luke is not Luke’ Criticism Hamill’s comments ease nicely into one of the main critiques that fans felt that Luke was not the same character he was in Return of the Jedi. People criticized his disconnection from the force which included tossing his lightsaber away in the opening scene, the Rashomon sequence where Luke considered striking down his own nephew - a move that ultimately turned Ben to the Dark, drinking green milk and that his last stand was a projection rather than a solid encounter. You know what I say to those criticisms?

They are bollocks, absolute nonsensical criticisms made to try and dismantle the best character of the movie. Hamill delivers his best for Luke in TLJ and his character arc is brilliant. I watched Blind Wave (a great youtube reactor channel) react to TLJ and the members noted how it was great that Luke had a character arc, something I wholly agree with. Luke was around 23 in Return of the Jedi (since the galaxy uses the standardized dating of Coruscant which has the most earth-like cycle), if you expect a 23 year old to have no room left to grow in the next 30 years of his life then I don’t think anything’s gonna get through to you, Luke is meant to be different, because since Jedi a lot of shit has happened. Luke’s discarding of the lightsaber shows his disconnect with the Force, something that had allowed the First Order to paint him as a myth and rendered everyone near-unable to find him, only tracked by the galactic map to Ahch-To from his past days of discovering remnants of Jedi past. Next let’s bring down the Rashomon sequence, the 3 tales of Ben’s turning. Initially, Luke painted a picture that he sensed that the darkness was too late, Ben woke and attacked him. Later Ben paints that Luke is lying, and that when Ben awoke Luke was there with his Lightsaber drawn with intent to kill him. The third story admits that both are correct, Luke drew his lightsaber in sensing the darkness, and Ben awoke to see it and retaliated.

This story peeves people mainly because they say that in Jedi ‘Luke was willing to fight for a single hope of light in his Father but was willing to kill his nephew for a bad dream’. A ridiculous comment that waters down and ignores the bigger picture though. For one, while Luke wanted to save his father and sensed good in him, he still ended up cutting his dad’s hand off, the indication that much like his father Luke - as he had always been in the Original Trilogy - was still susceptible to his emotions, including the negative ones. The other reason this statement is foolhardy is because they don’t listen to Luke’s narration, where he explains that it was a fleeting moment of panic and arrogance, his ego as ‘Luke Skywalker, Jedi Master’ took over when he sensed that Ben was already turned by Snoke, and it was only for a split second which he immediately regrets. It’s this moment that snowballs into why Luke disconnects himself from the force, his ego as a saviour to Jedi led to the downfall of his nephew - which led to his best friend and sister separating, the rise of the First Order being like a second Empire and the massacre of most of his other jedi students, he realised that this was the same ego that led to the previous Jedi’s downfall to Vader and Sidious and thus came to the conclusion that maybe the Jedi way is not the right way. Not only is this a brilliantly done tragedy for the character but it’s a progression that identifies with public opinion of jedi ways and the pompousness that led to Anakin’s turn to the dark side as depicted in the prequels. The use of Rashomon also connects to the Jedi/Sith connections to Samurai which was a great touch by Johnson. The green milk scene was a weird one I’ve seen being criticized, like people are fine with Calamarian fishmen but a Tatooine/Naboo humanoid can’t drink green milk? I think I need to remind you that Luke drinks blue milk on Tatooine, he is a moisture farmer as well, the ‘green milk’ scene was a depiction of how Luke survived on Ahch-To as Rey followed him, his lifestyle disconnected from the force as he lived as basically a farm boy. I don’t know why people got so mad about the colour of milk but you can’t expect those nuns to have fed him roast porgs every day The final criticism is his last stand, something I will touch on a bit later as well. In terms of Luke, people were disappointed that it wasn’t Luke actually there and while yes it would’ve been great to watch Luke tear down AT-ATs luke the EU, but he literally says that he won’t do that

it’s not a matter of can’t, it’s a matter of him strutting up to the army of the First Order will not end the war, most people don’t even know if he exists. Showing up will have inspired the resistance yes but if Luke was shown killed or captured that hope would then be instantly diminished, and Snoke and Ren would definitely be going for Luke’s head to make that so. This is why Luke goes via projection, instead of his ragged hermit self where he’d likely die similarly to how Kenobi did, he demonstrates a highly advanced force power to display himself as a clean-cut warrior who shrugs off the full might of the First Order’s arsenal and humiliates its brand new Supreme Leader, while disappearing. That stand does the Resistance far better than him showing up in person, because now the legend of Luke Skywalker lives longer than he does, he inspires a new wave of Jedi who understand his sacrifice and rebels who have just seen how one man can expose the weakness of the First Order. Luke’s last living gesture is one that inspires hope, before he becomes one with the Force at peace. If anything that is as beautiful as it is tragic of an end for Luke, but by no means is that bad. The Rose Tico ‘Issue’ Luke wasn’t the only character to get on the wrong side of criticism, undoubtedly Kelly Marie Tran got it the worst. Despicable people flocked to harass her over her character, throwing about racism just for that added content of being a horrid human being. Her character, Rose Tico, was a newly introduced character from the Resistance who joins Finn and Poe’s arcs, her main non-racist criticism is her act of saving Finn from the Laser Battering Ram ‘She has this stupid speech about saving people with love while a laser battering ram breaks down the door to kill a bunch of people’ A common theme seems to be that people are taking things the absolute wrong way. Rose’s journey with Finn is an interesting arc where she seeks to make sure her sister’s sacrifice - caused by Poe’s rash personality - is not in vain while accompanying a ‘hero of the resistance’, what she is unaware of is how her assistance relates to Finn’s journey as he tries to live up to the esteem she sees him in, he had always considered himself a defector rather than a rebel. Rose (and DJ) open his eyes to a reality that not everything is black and white, he left the First Order in TFA because he believed that they were ‘wrong’ and so by default the resistance had to be ‘right’ but TLJ challenged Finn to see both sides and make a choice for himself, a choice that is made thanks to Rose. However, his embrace of being a rebel is why he is adamant to try and sacrifice himself for the laser battering ram. I have to point out that until Rose stepped in I thought Finn was gonna die, I thought it really ballsy and a little disappointing that they were gonna kill him off, I also knew that the ship would not stop the battering ram so it was actually a relief that Rose did save him.

I think people dislike it for that reason though, they felt that Finn dying would’ve been a more shocking narrative turn and because Rose saved him she is to ‘blame’, I also believe that people didn’t like the relationship because Finn was clearly still on Rey and not everyone was on the Reylo boat or it got in the way of FinnPoe being more than just a bromance (side note, at the start of RoS I thought they were sailing on the ReyPoe for a moment, though I’m not mad about how they went), but again, that shouldn’t be the fault of Rose’s character. Rose clearly was inspired by Finn’s reputation and grew fond of his personality the more time she spent with him, likewise Finn found himself wanting to earn her esteem and taking care of her, it’s actually a shame that Rose’s role gets heavily reduced in RoS, because I do feel like Rose could’ve filled Jannah’s role (nothing against Jannah or Naomi Ackie of course) with the Canto Bight horse-things instead of the Kef Bir horse-things. So to conclude this section, Rose was good in this film, she served a purpose to grow Finn as a character and most constructive criticisms against her revolve around things either out of her control as a character or without would diminish her character role completely. The Communication Issue between Holdo and Poe Alright, let’s throw some hands up before I rub them together. I agree that Holdo should’ve told people the plan, I do dislike it when a movie creates conflict made by a lack of communication. But, he will say rubbing his hands together, this does not ruin the film. It’s worth reminding that Poe is recently demoted for reckless behaviour, the Resistance’s entire offensive fleet was destroyed due to Poe wanting to destroy one Dreadnought Ship. A reasonable punishment for Poe on his arc to realise that being a leader is more than just winning a battle, but more on that later. So Holdo comes in, new squadron she barely knows because she’s taking over for Leia, she has a plan that she and Leia know but are the only living members who know now. So why doesn’t she tell Poe? It’s quite simple, not only does the novel imply that she’s figuring out if there’s a mole - which is understandable because the First Order must’ve watched Star Trek: Into Darkness and thought ‘hey we could track ships in hyperspeed too!’ - but she’s also trying to enforce Leia’s punishment to Poe. Poe is in this shit because he refused to listen to orders, so Holdo is basically telling Poe to listen to orders, something he refuses to do and starts a mutiny. It is frustrating yes and we side with Poe because he’s the more familiar character, but had Poe just proved himself a trustworthy person who is learning from Leia’s last decree before she went into a coma she would’ve told him. This also transitions nicely into the next criticism people have Canto Bight and the Cryptographer Goose-Chase Poe’s plans of mutiny starts with sending Rose and Finn to Canto Bight, at the behest of the massively underused Maz Kanata, to find a Cryptographer so that they could disable the hyperspace tracker. People hate this scene mainly because it segue’s from the plot, it’s high on CGI and reminds them of the Prequel Trilogy

Now I can’t really contest the CGI but it was nothing bad, CGI still gets used well and the visit to the Casino aided in time for Rose and Finn to establish a relationship, have some lightheated BB-8 moments, introduce DJ the speech impediment ‘wrong hacker’ and continue to drive the shades of grey theme Finn is about to learn about. People never seem to criticize that they put their faith in the wrong guy because it leads to a more interesting conflict, so it’s strange that they hate this transition so much. The Brevity of Snoke and Phasma Two characters introduced that promised to be big deals were killed off in The Last Jedi, the nature of them both was a brave scene that many felt dropped the ball on these characters. And while I am inclined to agree on Phasma at least, Snoke’s death was actually a great turn. Before RoS we were none the wiser on who Snoke was, now we’ve seen it we know that he was basically a mass-produced puppet by the emperor...not the best of closures I’d admit but the anger towards Snoke being killed off is actually hypocritical ‘All Snoke does is sit in his chair and die’ You know who else sat in his chair and ‘died’, ol’ Sheev Palpatine. People are quick to criticize that Snoke was hyped up but barely got to show anything when Palpatine only really demonstrated the force twice in the Original trilogy before being thrown into a pit of apparent death, we allowed the Emperor a pass because we learned more about him through novels and future movies, and that’s something we eventually find out from Snoke as well.

Captain Phasma on the other hand was a sad disappointment, after one brush with death already she returned to basically be killed off again as a symbol of Finn shedding his ties as an ex-stormtrooper and embracing the role of a rebel. This is not really the fault of Johnson though, everyone seems to be more content with the alternate scene where Finn exposes Phasma’s actions for TFA, but that was a choice from the cutting room. While we can be disappointed that Phasma didn’t leave enough of a mark on the trilogy, we can always hope for prequel stuff as we had with Boba Fett, an equally wasted character in his main trilogy who could theoretically be in The Mandalorian (only a theory, nothing is concrete), but if we are willing to love the Original Trilogy despite similar issues we hate on TLJ for then aren’t we being hypocrites? tHaT’s nOt HoW tHe FoRcE wOrKs If you try to pick on Rian Johnson for ‘not getting Star Wars’ directly you would be in for a world of punishment. Two major force powers that get used in The Last Jedi is the ‘Force Skype’ and Force Projection, however both are basically using the same techniques, one is connecting minds while the other is connecting one mind to an individual place. It’s immediately told to us that this is an advanced technique but this is not something Johnson has made up. In the EU this ability is called Simifuturus or just Doppelganger, practiced by Luke, Dooku and Yarael Poof. Rey and Ben’s Force Skype is also used in the EU called Force Bond, Chain or Jedi Kinship, the ability had been fine in beloved Star Wars games Knights of the Old Republic I & II, the Clone Wars and Rebels series and aplenty of novels. For the legitimacy of these abilities cannot be contested. The fact that the ability kills Luke shouldn’t be criticized either, Luke is projecting himself light years away on Crait, with a copy of Han’s dice in a much more polished form, he physically interacts with Leia and takes on a barrage of AT-M6 blasters - turbolasers that can destroy speeders and ships with one hit - and two lightsaber slices, remember Ben felt the impact from Rey’s blaster on their first Force Skype, so Luke carried the feeling of all that damage and strain on his body and maintained his projection. So not only did Luke’s dying moments lead to an incredible display of using the Force but also one that forced him to sustain an immeasurable amount of damage and still manage to bide the resistance time to escape. Leia Poppins Ah yes, the Mary Poppins moment. I dunno how I can explain this one so easily but how about this. Leia is force sensitive, we have known this since Jedi, so to see Leia use the force was a massive moment, but she’s floating in the vacuum of space so there is no ‘up’ she is basically pulling a heavier object than herself in a vacuum, using it as an anchor so she can get to a blast door. As to why she survives in space, you can survive up to 2 minutes in space without a helmet, it is horribly painful though, it’s also worth reminding that Leia is not a human like you or me and if the Force can heal (as shown in The Mandalorian and RoS) then why can’t it keep Leia alive a bit longer in Space? She ends up in a coma anyway so I don’t see why complaints are rife here, she survives barely and it’s not like they knew Carrie was going to die sometime after the film was completed, they obviously had more plans for her so it would’ve been wrong to kill her off there when we were already killing Luke off. Did Disney Ruin Star Wars? This is a statement I’ve heard a lot in regards to TLJ, Solo and RoS, which is weird though, people were fine with Disney doing TFA, Rogue One and The Mandalorian, Mando’s journey with Baby Yoda proving that the utility of fanservice - something the trio get loathed for - can be enjoyable and it bodes well that the director of some episodes is doing an Obi Wan film. The phrase ‘Star Wars Fatigue’ also came about from post-Solo reviews, which I have expressed is dumb because MCU do 3 marvel movies minimum a year. But the reason Solo got low box office figures wasn’t because it was bad, it’s because it was released around the same time as Deadpool 2, it was left to the sharks without a chance to succeed. So no, Disney have not ruined Star Wars, if anything fan perception has damaged the franchise with people hating it because it’s not the Original Trilogy or it’s too much like the Original Trilogy, the same can be said for the EU. RoS is quite similar to Dark Empire but because Disney retconned most of the EU it’s the enemy, but let’s be honest, does anyone want the continuity to be that Chewie gets blown up? I doubt that. So WHY does The Last Jedi deserve more respect I think the mixed reviews of Rise of Skywalker has proved that maybe TLJ got a harsh end of a stick, even with Abrams’ vision back at the helm the film proved to be divisive and personally quite safe. This is probably why I liked TLJ the most, Johnson went to challenge things and build off of the previous movies as a whole, nothing really was safe, it took narrative risks that opened the door to a lot more things.

We explored Rey’s connection to the force and her desires for answers being unable to be sated by it because she’s expecting more from her level of learning, we also have Snoke’s gambit to bond Ben and Rey together to strengthen both, Ben strengthens into a more mature state but continues to conflict in a less whiny way, even relenting from trying to kill his mother. We also got some ‘reverse Jedi’ stuff with both Ben and Rey adamant that the other will turn but instead of turning one another, Ben’s hatred however proves too great for Rey to accompany him which leads to Ben getting a villain promotion to Supreme Leader. We have a solid arc for Finn, Luke and Poe as he finally learns to take care of others, because as Rose was saying, sacrificing yourself is not going to beat the First Order, heroes are great but dead heroes win nothing, protecting others is the essence of the Resistance and that’s what a leader is meant to do. Hell, we even get a little Hux stuff, the way he slowly considers shooting Kylo Ren while he’s down and his constant abuse culminating in the rather obvious RoS reveal that he’s the spy. Unlike RoS, TLJ thrived on giving every major character worthwhile arcs like these which all ended up entwining in the climactic showdown, while tertiary characters did end up getting underused there were still windows for them to do more in the next episode which was taken out of Johnson’s hands, but he laid a lot of groundwork for the story to be taken multiple directions, which is actually quite difficult when you’re midway through a trilogy and on the 8th outing of a saga. In addition, the film provided Hamill’s best performance as Luke Skywalker, giving him a fitting end to his journey which explored almost every dimension of a Jedi’s character; training, temptation, losing faith and redemption.

I also loved how Johnson described the Force in TLJ, it wasn’t about Dark or Light, the Force was the Force, an energy that flows through all that is harnessed by the force sensitive, even Force Ghosts. And using the Puppet Yoda was a great and fun addition, and it makes sense that he can fire lightning, because Force Ghosts are one with the Force, they flow with the flow of nature. We got lore and demonstration of great powers that made the ‘holy shit’ moment of Kylo Ren stopping a blaster shot mid-flow look like novice work. And while we’re talking about ‘holy shit’ moments

You cannot deny that TLJ had some absolutely breathtaking visuals, moments in this film are some of the best moments in Star Wars, a combination of intensity and hype from Luke’s standoff with the First Order to Holdo’s hyperspace ram, Ahch-To’s real-life setting was also beautiful as were the design of Crait from its Icicle foxes to its salt speeders leaving a red path of smoke

This film looks beautiful and the story is multilayered with character development, worldbuilding, good action and gutsy plot twists, you know everything people (rightfully) praise The Mandalorian for. It’s definitely not a film where you’d find yourself bored and when you set aside your fan theories and the illusion that the Original Trilogy was Flawless save for the Death Star plot hole you will find this movie a lot more enjoyable. Now I don’t want people saying it’s a ‘Don’t Question, Consume’ sorta thing, it’s a matter of accepting that there are flaws but not allowing it to ruin the experience, because The Last Jedi embodies a lot of the essence of Star Wars old and new, it is probably the best that the New Trilogy has provided and it is certainly worthy of respect.

#star wars #star wars spoilers #star wars the last jedi #the last jedi #luke skywalker #princess leia #rey #kylo ren #ben solo #snoke #supreme leader snoke #poe #poe dameron #rose tico #rian johnson

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afriendlyirin · 5 years

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Steven Universe Rewrite

So I’ve now finished my rewrite of the final arc (go read it and tell me all your thoughts), and while I’m satisfied with it in many respects, I still feel like it doesn’t properly resolve or engage with everything I’d like to, nor is it fully in keeping with the parts of Steven Universe I liked, despite that being my goal. There’s simply too much to get into and too little space to for it. To fully “fix” the narrative in my mind, I’d probably have to diverge much farther back.

I’m not interested in actually writing such a story, but I think it would be a good exercise to sketch an outline of what such a thing might look like.

I think the biggest problem is that Steven Universe has too many antagonists. The three initial Homeworld gems work well on their own – we spend a lot of time between each one, giving us time to process what’s happened before they return or a new antagonist gains focus. But with the diamonds, we don’t really get that breathing room. We barely know anything of Yellow before Blue shows up, we’re only just starting to really process them before White appears, and then the show ends. And throughout all of this, we have even more unresolved antagonists dangling – Jasper, the rubies, Topaz and Aquamarine, Homeworld’s system itself. To do justice to all of these characters at the previous pace of the show would probably have taken twice as many seasons.

My second problem, which is more personal preference, is that I don’t like how the plot ended up going epic, with Steven having to take on uberpowerful opponents with an entire empire of resources. I’d say this is also thematically confused – the show starts off making it seem like everyone is safe on Earth and the war is in the distant past, but it’s then revealed the war is very much still on and the plot becomes about Steven continuing the rebellion Rose left half-finished. My favorite parts of the show were seasons 1-3, which were much the antithesis of that – the conflicts were much more subdued, against lone actors or just interpersonal problems.

So, let us combine these things to give us a different starting state.

There was only one diamond, and she was destroyed during Rose’s rebellion. Either she blew herself up with a corruption bomb, or the shattering of a diamond is what makes a corruption blast. Down-scale the empire’s resources such that they were putting most of their manpower into fighting the rebellion, meaning that their population is utterly crippled by the fallout of the blast in addition to their loss of leadership. The gem empire still exists but as a shadow of its former self; it no longer has the manpower to invade new planets. (We can also tone down the oppression; no killing people just for being born. Whether or not that is still the case for Era 1, it’s just not possible to keep doing that with your population so crippled. Homeworld can still be oppressively conformist, but not to the point of EUGENICS EVERYWHERE.)

Right off the bat, this dodges a lot of awkward questions that are present in canon. Why did Rose stop fighting just because she saved one of many colonies, and why did she make Steven when Homeworld was still a threat that could endanger him – why, in sum, does she act like the war is over? Well, because it is, and she won.

This shifts the tone and focus of the story away from an epic rebellion plot and into one of postwar reconstruction. After the dust has settled, what happens? How do you pick up the pieces and move forward? Steven will only ever encounter pale shadows of Homeworld’s former power. Things like the Cluster become akin to forgotten landmines, echoes of a violent past that can still hurt people long after the conflict is over. He can still fight Homeworld gems, but they are lone agents acting on personal grudges; Jasper is not acting under orders, she just really wants to take a swing at Rose Quartz. (This setup even works a lot better with the threat level we actually see from canon, which is that Homeworld keeps sending weak scouts and small groups instead of bringing their full military might to bear against the Crystal Gems.)

This frees up a lot of space to just get into the characters talking about their feelings, which was always the real core of Steven Universe. In canon, Amethyst is the only Crystal Gem who really gets a full arc with a proper resolution (the battle with Jasper at the conclusion of season 3); Garnet’s gets flattened to just be about her relationship so it can be rushed through in Heart of the Crystal Gems, and Pearl’s arc gets completely substituted for something else that officially has no problem for her to resolve at all. The time spent on the diamonds and battle logistics could instead be spent on developing those arcs. With the antagonist compression, we could develop the Homeworld gems further as well, perhaps making them proper foils to Crystal Gems – something I get the impression canon was trying to go for but never seemed to really commit to.

Speaking of which, this would make the Homeworld gems much more tragic and sympathetic. Lapis’ despair over how different the new Homeworld is would no longer be about the simple passage of time, but because it is genuinely a shambling corpse of what it once was. And because Era 2 is so different than Era 1, Peridot, an Era 2 gem, would lack much of the shared culture and knowledge other gems have, justifying her naivete and social awkwardness. Finally, the rebellion destroying the entire army makes Jasper even more isolated – she is one of the very few survivors of the war, further justifying her fury at Rose and her inability to open up to her peers – she has none.

This would also make everything about Bismuth so, so much more reasonable. Instead of reacting to the fact that Rose lost the war that is very much still on, she’s advocating for igniting a brand new one before the ashes have even cooled on the first. (For extra horror, she might not even be dissuaded by the news Rose killed the diamond after all – they may have understood Homeworld’s soldiers were only following orders and assumed they would defect if they removed the command structure… but now you’re telling her they assassinated the head honcho and they’re still loyal to Homeworld? Clearly the only solution is to KILL ‘EM ALL.) It is far more understandable for Steven to keep her bubbled in that situation, and for the Crystal Gems to agree to it.

Ultimately, I think this plotline could remain very similar for seasons 1-3; perhaps move up the “Rose shattered Diamond” reveal to around season 2, and follow it with the Cluster plot to show why that really was necessary while emphasizing that yeah, war is horrible we really shouldn’t be starting another one, Bismuth!

The major difference would be swapping out Yellow Diamond for a lower administrative gem. I thought Yellow Diamond alone worked as a fine antagonist, really, so not much needs to change – just transplant her personality into another gem. This character could function as a foil to Garnet, someone thrust into overwhelming responsibility because there’s no one else qualified left alive. We could even double down on this and make her a permafusion; that maps really well onto modern conservatism, where people who would actually be hurt by the old hegemonies still romanticize them anyway. Season 4’s arc could revolve around her; having dealt with Lapis, Peridot, and Jasper, Steven must go to Homeworld and address the problem at its source. (The events of “Raising the Barn” could happen here, giving Lapis an extra season to work through her issues.) This could actually be resolved very similarly to the White Diamond resolution in canon, but it would fit with the earlier themes much better – this gem really would have reasons to feel insecure about her failure to live up to a perfect ideal. And for bonus points, that makes her a foil to Steven, too.

It would also make it a lot more believable that these gems would need Steven to teach them what is, if we’re being honest, pretty basic philosophy. If they are technically free of the old system but still stubbornly cling to its trappings, it makes sense that they’d need an outsider to tell them to think for themselves and that this would genuinely be a radical new perspective for them. Hauntings, again – just as in real life, the system still influences peoples’ thinking long after it was officially dismantled.

We could replace the Zoo arc with something that hits the same beats. The rubies return (or someone new gets sent) and capture Greg for some reason. Instead of seeing the Zoo we get to see Homeworld society directly during the trip. The events of That Will Be All still occur, as Not Yellow Diamond, cracking under the strain, unfuses and argues with herself behind closed doors.

Instead of the gems only being caught as a joke (and having that also be resolved as a joke), it’s a choice Steven makes. We invoke the hero’s last temptation: He has everything he’s ever wanted, his family in one piece and Homeworld beaten so thoroughly they’ll never threaten them again… but to take that offer means looking away, and abandoning everyone who is still suffering on Homeworld. He looks upon the gates of Heaven, but willingly chooses to walk back into Hell.

(Connie should probably be present to witness this so we can set up the falling-out arc, which is important for deconstructing Steven’s martyr complex.)

This leads to an analogous arc to Wanted and Diamond Days where Steven navigates Homeworld until he finally reaches Not Yellow Diamond. For added tension, the gems are separated somehow and Steven spends a significant time on his own befriending Homeworld gems. Garnet converges with him for the finale so we can make it about her (maybe extend her themes to the previous arc, focus on her stress and failures as leader during the heist).

Not Yellow Diamond is a noncombatant, but hides behind elite guards and defenses that Garnet and Steven can’t handle on their own, necessitating a fusion. The theme here could be that Garnet is paralyzed by her responsibilities, unable to both mount an offense while also keep Steven protected; Steven cuts through this by taking on his own responsibility, showing Garnet that she doesn’t have to do everything herself.

Not Yellow Diamond’s redemption happens similarly to White Diamond’s, but because she’s a noncombatant it is actually reasonable for Steven to spend so long on a nonviolent solution. Possibly Garnet even tries to shatter her (this could be what makes them unfuse), but Steven stops her. Not Yellow Diamond more explicitly agrees to change things and protect Earth.

So by this point, Steven will have dealt with all extant threats… but there are still issues left unresolved. The corrupted gems still aren’t healed, Bismuth’s still bubbled, Lapis is still missing, and Pearl hasn’t had a personal arc to resolve her issues. This would then turn season 5 into something of a denouement season, tying up all the remaining loose ends. This season’s theme could be one of self-actualization, revolving around Lapis and Pearl working through their difficult mental health problems and Steven, though seeing his own issues reflected in them, overcoming his own imposter syndrome in the process.

Season 5 starts after a timeskip. Steven is trying to heal the corrupted gems but is making no progress. Make this into a metaplot, with snippets in other episodes throughout the season showing he’s continuing to try and making more progress as his personal arc progresses.

Bismuth is already unbubbled to leapfrog over that awkward conversation, but still suffers from PTSD. She gets an episode (or two) about her issues, primarily grief. She bemoans the loss of her friends, and Steven tries to assure her that he’ll heal the corrupted gems any day now. She shows him the shards and says bitterly, “Can you heal these?” Spirals into a breakdown naming and remembering all the shattered gems. Steven tries to lay down some generic platitudes like he always does, but this time it doesn’t work; Bismuth calls him out on his ignorance and innocence, that he’s never lost anyone so he has no idea how she feels. This forces him to rethink things and actually listen to Bismuth, foreshadowing that that will be the theme of this season. (For bonus points, could also have her echo Pearl’s “She’s gone, but I’m still here,” re: the shattered gems.)

This could probably happen simultaneously with the falling-out arc (though that interacts awkwardly with the timeskip since Connie would probably be upset immediately after), could draw a connection by having Steven realize or Connie point out his god complex, he wants to help people for his sake not for theirs.

After that heavy opening we can have funtimes with human friends; Sadie Killer arc happens here plus any outstanding human subplots resolve. Should probably also have an episode about Pearl that touches on her issues since that’ll be the topic of the final stretch.

Then Lapis comes back. Have a conversation about PTSD and how she needed to do it on her own time etc., Steven can show his growth by accepting this and not pushing.

If the Lion chest is important, Lapis found the key while soul-searching (it was hidden somewhere on Earth the CGs didn’t look).

Next plot episode is Steven getting frustrated over his inability to heal the corrupted gems (can have a comedy bit where he tries increasingly absurd and convoluted methods), wonders what he’s doing wrong. Something happens that leads to him talking to Pearl about Rose. Possibly he thinks whatever’s in the chest is the cure, but that seems pretty stupid even for him. Events lead to Pearl revealing that she shattered Diamond and Steven has a fresh meltdown, accuses all the other gems of secretly being shatterers and not telling him (Garnet could react really awkwardly, implying she actually has killed people), decides that’s the problem and runs off.

(If there is a similar memory scene with Pearl, it’s via hologram; Diamond literally does not get a voice.)

Either Pearl tracks him down, or someone else brings him back only for him to discover that Pearl has run off because she agrees that she is horrible and shouldn’t be around Steven. Either way leads to a deep conversation about their issues. The climax here would result in Steven fusing with Pearl as he has with the others, but perhaps this time the context is peaceful rather than it being a tactic used in desperation, affirming the idea that fusions are a way of life and not just a tool.

As a result of his growth from this, Steven finally figures out the method to heal the corrupted gems, whatever that may be. We have a great happy ending montage where it looks like everything’s resolved – Steven has forged peace with Homeworld, and all the corrupted gems are healed, including Jasper…

…who immediately attacks him. We get one final episode, or perhaps even a full arc, revolving around a final fight with Jasper. Because Steven never actually resolved her issues before she got bubbled! She is still mad, still violent, and still hurting. This is the most narratively satisfying climax, because Jasper is all the story’s themes embodied: the sins of the past come back to haunt us, the scars left by war, and the pain of grief and acceptance. She always made the most sense as a “final villain” to me. Steven’s usual approach of steamrollering people with generic feel-good platitudes would not work here; he must actually use what he’s learned and engage with Jasper on her own terms.

(If this were an actual show THIS is where I would pull the surprise season extension, lead everyone to think the Pearl reconciliation is the grand finale and then surprise them with Jasper.)

The Jasper episode, or the finale if it’s a whole arc, would be titled “Under the Stars So Bright” as a reference to Trigun and also the imagery of being under the star of Diamond.

I feel the only way to make this work would be to intercut the Jasper ep with flashbacks to her time under Diamond, much like Trigun’s final episode. Only issue is that the sudden change in POV would be really weird; Trigun worked because the hero was there for those events and we only see his perspective, but Steven has no window into Jasper’s past.

Jasper poofs all the CGs and digs a hole to the core with the intent of popping the Cluster. Steven proceeds to get the crap beaten out of him protecting and bubbling the CGs like Vash vs. Midvalley in Trigun. Make this incredibly gruesome, even with the bubble shields she cracks his gem and draws blood.

Steven tries to reason with her like he did before, and like before it just makes her push back harder. Eventually she tries to pull a suicide by cop and bait Steven into shattering her. He gruesomely rams his fingers through her face to grab her gem and draws his fist back to kill her, and then we get a flashback montage of all his family memories – but in an inversion of Vash vs. Legato, this results in him not killing her. (For bonus creepy, he could also be stopped by Jasper flashing a grin or letting slip that she wants to die.)

Maybe as a compromise, he does poof her – this would be the only time in the series he intentionally does so.

(In the fantasy world where I have an animation studio at my beck and call, this would be filled with visual references to Trigun, both the Legato and Knives confrontations.)

Ending is Jasper going to prison to face trial for trying to blow up Earth. Lapis gets to say her piece, then Steven gives a more mature redemption speech than usual, about how he can’t make her change and she has to want to become a better person but he still believes in her anyway. This can perhaps be the nuanced message that the movie… appeared to be trying to go for with Spinel, that people can have understandable reasons for lashing out and doing bad things, but that doesn’t mean you’re obligated to exhaust yourself for them; you don’t have to be a martyr.

In the final montage, Jasper reunites with other jaspers who were corrupted in the war (maybe mirrored with a montage of Bismuth hugging formerly-corrupted Crystal Gems). Final message is what the canon ending claims to be: Steven has gained a more mature and complex outlook on “good” and “evil” but he still chooses to be optimistic and believe in the goodness of people. GOOD END.

That’s my take. Ultimately, it seems Steven Universe bit off more than it could chew, or perhaps had too many cooks. The most important takeaway from this, in my view, is to keep things to a manageable level in your story. Don’t introduce elements you know you won’t have time to adequately address; a few points done well will often land better than a lot of stuff done slapdashedly.

#steven universe #su #fanfiction #su meta #steven universe meta #my posts

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aion-rsa · 4 years

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Top New Science Fiction Books in September 2020

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Looking for space opera or alternate Earths? Here are some of the science fiction books we’re most excited about and/or are currently consuming…

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Top New Science Fiction Books September 2020

Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots

Type: Novel Publisher: William Morrow Release date: Sept. 22

Den of Geek says: This next-level meta take on superheroes looks witty and biting. But what really makes it stand out is the character’s predicament: she’s a laid-off henchman going from bad job to worse, struggling with her own moral code along the way.

Publisher’s summary: Anna does boring things for terrible people because even criminals need office help and she needs a job. Working for a monster lurking beneath the surface of the world isn’t glamorous. But is it really worse than working for an oil conglomerate or an insurance company? In this economy?

As a temp, she’s just a cog in the machine. But when she finally gets a promising assignment, everything goes very wrong, and an encounter with the so-called “hero” leaves her badly injured. And, to her horror, compared to the other bodies strewn about, she’s the lucky one.

So, of course, then she gets laid off.

With no money and no mobility, with only her anger and internet research acumen, she discovers her suffering at the hands of a hero is far from unique. When people start listening to the story that her data tells, she realizes she might not be as powerless as she thinks.

Because the key to everything is data: knowing how to collate it, how to manipulate it, and how to weaponize it. By tallying up the human cost these caped forces of nature wreak upon the world, she discovers that the line between good and evil is mostly marketing. And with social media and viral videos, she can control that appearance.

It’s not too long before she’s employed once more, this time by one of the worst villains on earth. As she becomes an increasingly valuable lieutenant, she might just save the world.

A sharp, witty, modern debut, Hench explores the individual cost of justice through a fascinating mix of Millennial office politics, heroism measured through data science, body horror, and a profound misunderstanding of quantum mechanics.

Buy Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots on Amazon.

Divergence (The Foreigner Universe) by C.J. Cherryh

Type: Novel Publisher: DAW Release date: Sept. 8

Den of Geek says: Why, you might rightly ask, would we recommend #21 in a series? This is because C.J. Cherryh is a master at what she does: slow, meticulous space opera with engaging characters and a transporting sense of completeness to its world of diplomatic clashes between humans and aliens. Really, we recommend you start at #1, Foreigner, if you haven’t read the series before. And if you have, this September is a real occasion. Publisher’s summary: The overthrow of the atevi head of state, Tabini-aiji, and the several moves of enemies even since his restoration, have prompted major changes in the Assassins’ Guild, which has since worked to root out its seditious elements—a clandestine group they call the Shadow Guild. With the Assassins now rid of internal corruption, with the birth of Tabini’s second child, and with the appointment of an heir, stability seems to have returned to the atevi world. Humans and atevi share the space station in peaceful cooperation, humans and atevi share the planet as they have for centuries, and the humans’ island enclave is preparing to welcome 5000 human refugees from a remote station now dismantled, and to do that in unprecedented cooperation with the atevi mainland.

In general Bren Cameron, Tabini-aiji’s personal representative, returning home to the atevi capital after securing that critical agreement, was ready to take a well-earned rest—until Tabini’s grandmother claimed his services on a train trip to the smallest, most remote and least significant of the provinces, snowy Hasjuran—a move concerning which Tabini-aiji gave Bren a private instruction: protect her. Advise her.

Advise her—perhaps. As for protection, she has a trainload of high-level Guild. But since the aiji-dowager has also invited a dangerously independent young warlord, Machigi, and a young man who may be the heir to Ajuri, a key northern province—the natural question is why the dowager is taking this ill-assorted pair to Hasjuran and what on this earth she may be up to.

With a Shadow Guild attack on the train station, it has become clear that others have questions, too. Hasjuran, on its mountain height, overlooks the Marid, a district that is part of the atevi nation only in name—a district in which Machigi is one major player, and where the Shadow Guild retains a major stronghold.

Protect her? Ilisidi is hellbent on settling scores with the Shadow Guild, and her reasons for this trip and this company now become clear. One human diplomat and his own bodyguard suddenly seem a very small force to defend her from what she is setting in motion.

Buy Divergence by C.J. Cherryh on Amazon.

An Unnatural Life by Erin K. Wagner

Type: Novella Publisher: Tor Release date: Sept. 15

Den of Geek says: Putting a robot on trial is an old concept in science fiction: just look at Star Trek. This novella looks like an entry in the contemporary conversation with this pleasingly retro concept. Publisher’s summary: The cybernetic organism known as 812-3 is in prison, convicted of murdering a human worker but he claims that he did not do it. With the evidence stacked against him, his lawyer, Aiya Ritsehrer, must determine grounds for an appeal and uncover the true facts of the case.

But with artificial life-forms having only recently been awarded legal rights on Earth, the military complex on Europa is resistant to the implementation of these same rights on the Jovian moon.

Aiya must battle against her own prejudices and that of her new paymasters, to secure a fair trial for her charge, while navigating her own interpersonal drama, before it’s too late.

Buy An Unnatural Life by Erin K. Wagner on Amazon.

Top New Science Fiction Books August 2020

Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

Type: Novel Publisher: Tor Release date: Aug. 4

Den of Geek says: Muir’s necromancers in space have gained an enthusiastic following for their irreverent tone and wild gothic magic.

Publisher’s summary: She answered the Emperor’s call.

She arrived with her arts, her wits, and her only friend.

In victory, her world has turned to ash.

After rocking the cosmos with her deathly debut, Tamsyn Muir continues the story of the penumbral Ninth House in Harrow the Ninth, a mind-twisting puzzle box of mystery, murder, magic, and mayhem. Nothing is as it seems in the halls of the Emperor, and the fate of the galaxy rests on one woman’s shoulders.

Harrowhark Nonagesimus, last necromancer of the Ninth House, has been drafted by her Emperor to fight an unwinnable war. Side-by-side with a detested rival, Harrow must perfect her skills and become an angel of undeath ― but her health is failing, her sword makes her nauseous, and even her mind is threatening to betray her.

Sealed in the gothic gloom of the Emperor’s Mithraeum with three unfriendly teachers, hunted by the mad ghost of a murdered planet, Harrow must confront two unwelcome questions: is somebody trying to kill her? And if they succeeded, would the universe be better off?

Buy Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir on Amazon.

The Doors of Eden by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Type: Novel Publisher: Orbit Release date: Aug. 18

Den of Geek says: Portal fantasy of a sort, backed by hard science fiction from the author of the award-winning Children of Time, this novel looks inventive, rigorous, and adventurous.

Publisher’s summary: They thought we were safe. They were wrong.

Four years ago, two girls went looking for monsters on Bodmin Moor. Only one came back.

Lee thought she’d lost Mal, but now she’s miraculously returned. But what happened that day on the moors? And where has she been all this time? Mal’s reappearance hasn’t gone unnoticed by MI5 officers either, and Lee isn’t the only one with questions.

Julian Sabreur is investigating an attack on top physicist Kay Amal Khan. This leads Julian to clash with agents of an unknown power – and they may or may not be human. His only clue is grainy footage, showing a woman who supposedly died on Bodmin Moor.

Dr Khan’s research was theoretical; then she found cracks between our world and parallel Earths. Now these cracks are widening, revealing extraordinary creatures. And as the doors crash open, anything could come through.

Buy The Doors of Eden by Adrian Tchaikovsky on Amazon.

Seven Devils by Laura Lam and Elizabeth May

Type: Novel Publisher: DAW Release date: Aug. 4

Den of Geek says: This ensemble cast space opera fits nicely into the “Expanse” model of adventure stories with enough political detail and blood to make you feel like you could walk into the far-future world. An early review calls it “epic, if occasionally bumpy.”

Publisher’s summary: When Eris faked her death, she thought she had left her old life as the heir to the galaxy’s most ruthless empire behind. But her recruitment by the Novantaen Resistance, an organization opposed to the empire’s voracious expansion, throws her right back into the fray.

Eris has been assigned a new mission: to infiltrate a spaceship ferrying deadly cargo and return the intelligence gathered to the Resistance. But her partner for the mission, mechanic and hotshot pilot Cloelia, bears an old grudge against Eris, making an already difficult infiltration even more complicated.

When they find the ship, they discover more than they bargained for: three fugitives with firsthand knowledge of the corrupt empire’s inner workings.

Together, these women possess the knowledge and capabilities to bring the empire to its knees. But the clock is ticking: the new heir to the empire plans to disrupt a peace summit with the only remaining alien empire, ensuring the empire’s continued expansion. If they can find a way to stop him, they will save the galaxy. If they can’t, millions may die.

Buy Seven Devils by Laura Lam and Elizabeth May on Amazon.