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cienie-isengardu · 1 year

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@mnmovdoom said to “This lightsaber…”

I'd love to hear your thoughts about Kreel and his lightsaber. This panel is amazing and it gives me so many feels (I specialise in knights, so weapons are highly symbolic) and considering what happens on Crait, this panel is just... ugh, my heart ;-;

(Sorry for late reply, I was out of country for the last week and had no access to sources to answer properly 🙂)

Oh, I have a lot of feelings about Kreel! He is one of my favorite new characters from Disney canon and it is really interesting that he is using a lightsaber, especially since he doesn’t have any ambition to be real Jedi or Sith apprentice at all. He even said so to Lord Vader's critique ("Too much a stormtrooper. Try all you might, sergeant Kreel, you will never be Sith"), as at the core he will always be a soldier:

< It wasn't the Sith who saved me from dying in the fighting pits of Chagar IX. It was the 501st. I'm a trooper to the core. Sir. >

Kreel gained knowledge about Jedi during undercover mission as Gamemaster but his opinion about the Force seems to confirm previous statement:

Yet despite his bold words about being a stormtrooper first and foremost, Kreel likes the lightsaber and has appreciation for it as a weapon:

< Just a trooper who appreciates the value of a good saber. >

And yes, the lightsaber for sure is a useful and dangerous weapon but this weapon is strictly tied to his previous undercover job that lasted for years and the fighting on the arena was similar to what he experiences as a child in mentioned fighting pits from which he was saved by 501st troopers. As a Gamemaster he was a slave of Hutt and he was glad to finally turn against his "master". And yet, when Kreel was giving report to Lord Vader, we could see him keeping the lightsaber behind his back

and using it on SCAR Squad's mission soon after that (though I'm not sure if this was the same lightsaber he used against the Hutt, as it had a blue color while as sergeant, his lightsaber is green. Is that a simple error or Kreel picked one of the collected relics on his own?)

Surprising thing is that Kreel was allowed at all to keep the lightsaber since the Empire worked hard to erase any trace of the Jedi and comics made it clear A) the collected items were confiscated by the Empire and B) Vader doesn’t consider him as good material for Sith. Even more surprisingly the weapon has green color, not the red like Sith and Inquisitors commonly used, which ironically is one of Jedi colors. Lord Vader said that Kreel's lightsaber should be destroyed and most important, Kreel did not earn the right to it.

Kreel for sure has some experience with lightsabers and maybe Force, at least in a theoretical way, yet as the comics proved, he is not that that good with it. Once he engaged Luke Skywalker in lightsaber duel, Vader outright said nor the sergeant nor the young rebel were skilled enough for such skirmish

< You are engaging him in a lightsaber duel. Neither of you are skilled enough for such an endeavor. >

and later the Sith needed to save Kreel during exercise with training droids because the man deactivated safety protocols and set droids at maximum combat level and in result got overwhelmed pretty quickly. Vader definitely had a point there (and more patience than he has for imperial officers but I guess being one of the 501st gives people this benefit). Kreel already failed a few times and went against his boss’ orders (attacking Luke) and despite that, Vader still decided to give him a chance to prove his worth. I’m pretty sure it was less about the sergeant's potential and more about his answer, if he fails he will kill his squad and himself with the given weapon. He needed to truly believe in that to convince a Sith Lord - though this is an extreme approach, this also shows Kreel’s mindset. Either he will be worthy of this weapon that belonged once to a Jedi who died with it in hand - and was gifted to him by Lord Vader himself - or he will pay for failure (insult done to his superior) with his life and the life of his men. There is no middle ground and well, it sounds to me a lot like Kreel is willing to do sort of twisted “seppuku” (as a honorable suicide to make amends to his boss?) albeit killing his squad is a bit unfair, as they usually fails because of Kreel’s obsession about dueling Luke. So there is definitely something off about his connection to a lightsaber, as it strays more and more from Kreel’s “trooper to the core” assurance given to Vader.

On one hand, Kreel isn't aspiring to be something more than a trooper or to rise in rank (frankly, I don’t think he even cares that much about “evil Jedi” propaganda as he mainly wants to kill rebels on every occasion). On the other hand, Kreel clings to the weapon that is a vital part of Jedi or Sith culture and identity. He is not a Knight by any means, doesn't follow a Jedi philosophy, sometimes doesn't even follow a common sense, as he throws it away everytime Luke is around.

The only Knight-like mindset is about being worthy of his special saber and to beat Skywalker in duel but he isn’t above using a lightsaber to massacre rebels. So the weapon is a tool of doom as much as a symbol (gift). Which contrasts a lot to Jedi lore; yes, Jedi used their lightsabers in fight and to kill, but they generally built their weapons alone, shaping to their liking and remaking it as they pleased. Usually Jedi didn’t get their lightsabers from others while Kreel was gifted with it but we don’t exactly see him “connecting” to the lightsaber? He does not intervene in its construction / redesign to make it fit better to him and maybe this is just me, but I have this feeling it is Kreel that readjusted himself (his fighting style) to the weapon, not the other way around? Bear with me on this one, but the stormtrooper to the core would rather stick to the blaster, the soldier weapon, right? Kreel barely uses a blaster now - for example, when fighting against bunch of rebels, he consciously chose the lightsaber to slaughter them and even SCAR squad was surprised if not freaked a bit by the result. Of course, the last few years working undercover demanded from him to adjust to the “gamemaster” persona but he didn’t switch back in that regard. And sure, a lightsaber is a cool and deadly addition, but this is a weapon of the enemy - Jedi and the Force is what became tied tightly to the Rebellion thanks to Luke who became a shining star (a new hope) after destroying Death Star. His journey to Jedi knighthood is kinda an interesting contrast to Kreel’s own development (or regress?).

Luke grows more and more accustomed to lightsaber fighting, more tuned to the weapon and Force. He is growing, with each fight more and more. Though both men started with "borrowed" lightsabers (Luke had his father's weapon, Kreel’s own belonged to an unknown Jedi), Luke slowly builds his Jedi Knight and Rebel commander identity while Kreel seems to be staying in the same place or worse, actually getting worse in regard to his competence? Losing time after time, putting his obsession (hunting rebels/Luke) above his missions and safety of his men; he uses the lightsaber both against the enemy and himself. As much as the cutting arm was necessary to save himself before the ship exploded, one may wonder wouldn't it be better to just call for backup? Instead Kreel decided to rely solely on himself while metaphorically speaking, the failure takes away part of his humanity, if we go with star wars Old Trilogy / Legends (in universe) bias insisting how losing a flesh and replacing it with mechanical part is a symbol of dehumanization.

(Also, in star wars usually people lost limbs when their opponent cut them while Kreel took own arm instead of calling for help from his squad. In a way this reminds me of Vader and the iconic “Resurrection” [Star Wars Tales 9] in which Vade pierced himself right through with a sword to kill his opponent when it seemed he was close to dying. In that regard Kreel and Vader are pretty ruthless even against their own body. I may of course overthink it but not many characters in star wars were shown as using their own lightsaber for self-harm for whatever reason, I believe?)

At this point, I don’t think Kreel truly earned the lightsaber. So far Vader didn’t sound impressed by his skills or achievements of the SCAR squad. Yet for whatever reason, Kreel is still breathing (and I seriously hope the man will survive another meeting with a disappointed boss), so there must be something worthy in him for Vader to tolerate repeating failures. Personally I suspect it is less Kreel’s fighting skills and more the dedication to serve the Sith/Empire and maybe exhibited a sense of 'honour ' (if promising to kill your own squad and himself in compensation for the disappointment caused could be counted as such). I would love to learn more about Kreel and his service in 501st, how he became Vader’s undercover agent and what the Sith taught him to better understand Kreel’s stubborn clinging to a Jedi (Knight) lightsaber of all possible things.

Also, this man definitely should get professional therapy, not a deadly weapon to a hand.

I got carried away a bit, I hope I didn't bore you :)

#star wars #my replies #sergeant kreel #i got a lot feelings about him okay?#darth vader #seems to have more patience for this one obsessive weirdo than for most imperial officers lol #and i feel the luke and kreel treating of lightsaber should be compared

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nekropsii · 2 years

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[In reference to your second Hostilestuck post] If it were just someone's random creepypasta that'd be perfectly fine and harmless fun but sending graphic descriptions to complete randos honestly speaks to some kind of clear irresponsibility, is the problem. Especially when an argument can be made that the descriptions are more graphic than the images themself, because with that amount of detail your brain is likely to start filling it in more. You can't really make an argument that those descriptions work as any kind of litmus test for the content in question when that's the case (I was substantially more nauseated by the description of what happened to Eridan than I was by any of the revealed panels, which have substantially more warnings surrounding them). It's as easy as giving a vague 1-2 word description of what the content contains and then saying "I can go into more detail if you're interested / you can handle it" because if someone says no to that then they probably won't be interested at all anyways. It feels more like the users being sent these asks are being used as a platform in general and while that's not a new idea for ARGs it is without any warning or consideration as to who it's being sent to. A good ARG isn't something you just shove in peoples' hands, the audience actively pursues it after the lead is out there (whether that's solving puzzles or actively choosing to watch when it posts) and thereby is much more prepared to face the content when they find it because they're already going to be cautious. I don't think it's damned to be bad or anything if the person doing it wises up a little but as it stands you're right there is absolutely problem with its marketing. I do kinda hope it's just some kid and they learn from this. (sorry for such a long ask I was gonna put it in the tags but I didn't want to nuke you from there, you don't have to post/reply to this I just needed to get it out)

Don’t apologize, I genuinely agree with you, and sometimes you can only properly get your thoughts out with a lot of words. If you’ve been here long enough, you’d know that I understand the need for wordiness completely, lol. You guys are gonna be getting new Nekro lore here, because I’m gonna start speaking from experience.

Content Warning: Long.

I definitely agree that the image descriptions are significantly more graphic than… The images themselves. Honestly, when I saw the supposed “Resurfaced Panels,” I was kind of… Disappointed? Like… Really, really disappointed, actually. I thought that, considering how hyped up this was, how the alleged comic itself was described, and how people were calling it “super gory,” it’d be, well… Actually gory. The actual images themselves aren’t that bad at all- the blood isn’t convincing, the trauma isn’t convincing, the images don’t have much of a sense of carnality.

It’s very stiff, very impersonal, and it doesn’t seem to understand itself or what it’s going for very well. It’s just kind of… There. It’s a little amateur- not that there’s anything wrong with that at all, I actually fucking love amateur art, it just kind of shows that whoever is making this doesn’t really “get” what they’re going for, and they don’t know how to actually deliver the same intensity that they’re writing about. At least, not in drawn form. No shame in that- everyone has their strengths and weaknesses, and this can arise even in the depiction of the same idea by the same person. Some are simply better at writing out their ideas than drawing them. There’s a reason why some things are Books, some are Comics, some are TV Shows, some are Movies, some are Songs, and some are a Painting Collection.

Sending such graphic, visceral descriptions to random people- people who aren’t even known to be horror fans or gorehounds!- totally unprompted and without any warning is, as you said, wildly irresponsible… At best. It’s genuinely a pretty shitty thing to do. My honest assumption is that this is someone who is either still in their teens, has zero sense of boundaries, or both.

None of these things spell out good things for any potential ARG, and this is me speaking as someone who has literally worked as a writer and team manager for one for an entire existing company!! How are you going to act as a proper GM if you have no boundaries? How are you supposed to maintain the curtain? How are you supposed to cultivate a good, healthy audience if your advertisement consists of shoving very unsavory content into unconsenting people’s faces en masse?! Jesus!! I really do hope that, if this is some kind of ARG pitch, whoever is running the game matures a little and/or backs out. From what I can see of this, this is way out of their scope.

You know how an ARG works well, that’s exactly how it’s supposed to function. Again, consent. I don’t think anything is truly “damned to be bad,” especially with regards to art, but the way the current trajectory looks, this seems like it’s going to spiral, and it’s going to spiral hard. The Players for this (alleged) ARG- the “Sleuths”- definitely seem to also be taking this too far, and those who aren’t in the active Player Base kind of… Really aren’t taking this seriously, because everything about this situation so far has been astronomically ridiculous. It’s going to lose most of its spotlight very quickly, I think- this audience really isn’t built to last.

I’m gonna cautiously keep an eye on this thing. Again, as an ex-GM for a corporate ARG, this absolutely doesn’t look like it’s going to end well. Not to be that pretentious, egotistical asshole who thinks he’s uniquely qualified to read these kinds of situations, but I think I’m uniquely qualified to read this kind of situation. If I’m wrong, then hell fucking yes, I love a good underdog victory… But I don’t think that’ll happen.

This marketing fucking sucks. Everyone behind it needs to go in the Time-Out Corner and remember that people on the internet are, in fact, real people, and that they have boundaries, too. If you cultivate this kind of audience with no sense of boundaries, you’re in for an absolutely fucking hellish time. Trust me, I’ve been there. Hell to pay, if you’re gathering a crowd of that kind of person on purpose, man. Hell to fuckin’ pay.

#sorry if this is rambly I am writing this at #[checks clock]#5 in the morning. so #apologies!#my insomnia meds started kicking in as I typed this.#homestuck #hostilestuck #nekro.pdf #nekro.sms

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coolmika745 · 1 year

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Takiyasha Hime Onmyoji Manga Summary Volume 1 Chapter 1 Part 2

Here is the link for part 1 and the character list.

Here is where I left off last time on the summary.

Nineteen years later. The fourth year of Tentoku, the spring of 960 in the Western calendar.

Hiromasa played his flute and the panels showed Seimei's fox form [1]. Seimei is impressed by how Hiromasa played his flute and asked how he has been. He also referred to Hiromasa in third person instead of second person.

Hiromasa told Seimei that everytime he played the flute he felt that Seimei was not a human being. Seimei asked that if he is not human then what is he. Hiromasa described Seimei as a hungry wolf and a wild beast with keen senses pricking its ears and said if the flute made a good sound Seimei would listen to him and be quiet, but if the flute made a bad sound, he felt like Seimei would bite the flute.

Seimei said that there was no a chance for him to bite the flute and stated that Hiromasa was a literary and instrumentalist, but he was a product of the laziness in the world.

Hiromasa got offended when Seimei said he was lazy, but realized something else that Seimei said. He told Seimei not to praise him for play the flute because he can play anything but kangen.[2]

The narrator introduced Minamoto no Hiromasa and said that he was demoted from the status of Emperor Daigo's (Minamoto no Ason Uhei's) grandson, and became Junior Fourth Rank, Lower Grade and later he became Junior Third Rank) [3].

The narrator then introduced Abe no Seimei and said that he was an Astronomy Student (Onmyoji Student).

Seimei thought his mind that he heard Fujiwara no Satoshi said that those with good nature can lack good judgment.

Seimei told Hiromasa to be careful not to be envious of others and he asked what is the element that makes him jealous? Seimei replied pedigree, rank, kangen talent, fame, and self regard are all elements that can make one jealous and then he asked Hiromasa why he was at his house in the first place and that if he makes a mistake he will be made into an unknown noble who inherits the throne of Japan. Hiromasa asked Seimei what can he say if he made a mistake.

Seimei's Maid Servants, Honey Beetle (Mitsubachi) and Honey Night (Mitsuya) entered the scene. One of them asked Hiromasa if think of himself as so humble to visit an Onmyoji's house without taking a companion with him?

Hiromasa said that he does not know what kind of rumors they were trying to make. Seimei remarked that it is suspicious that Hiromasa came to his house by himself and asked if he is trying to curse someone.

Hiromasa asked Seimei, why is a student like him still a successful student and Seimei replied that Hiromasa should not be concerned about his matters and then said that it has been dangerous lately and urged him not to be walking alone at night.

Hiromasa responded and said weird things are definitely happening here and he mentioned incidents were pregnant women were getting beaten up or killed by a group called 'Thief Without Stealing'.

Seimei then told Mitsubachi and Mitsuya that it seems that a guest has come, but there's no need for intermediary

Seimei talked to the guest and said that he saw him there already. A tiger springed out of nowhere and frigtening Hiromasa and then it turned into a cat.

The guest spoke and called Seimei shamon (ascetic monk) and demanded him to throw out one thousand fish and a tail.

Hiromasa realized that the visitor is none other then Kamo no Yasunori, the current Master Head of Onmyoji. He is also Seimei's master/teacher.

Mitsubachi and Mitsuya commented about Yasunori's entrance as oyakata style and it is impossible to detect.[4]

Seimei told everyone that his teacher was visiting and for them to please refrain from playing practical jokes.

Yasunori welcomed Hiromasa and called Seimei's house a bleak place. Seimei got angry and asked why would a eccentric, lazy teacher like him would go to such a bleak please unless he was going to ask him to do some dirty work.

Yasunori told Seimei not to call it dirty work and the narrator introduced Kamo no Yasunori as the Tentoku 1st Year Onmyoji Master Head. His court position is currently Junior Fifth Rank, but he will become a Junior Fourth Rank later.

Hiromasa told them that he ended up staying too long and was about to leave. Seimei prepared to see Hiromasa off, but Yasunori told Seimei it would be helpful if Hiromasa could listen to what he has to say. Hiromasa was baffled at the fact that Yasunori wanted him to stay and listen to the conversation.

Seimei got angry and said that he is deeply saddened by the vileness of his master's heart who he tries to use what is available to him.

Yasunori said that he was really mean for saying that and Seimei told him that it was thanks to him. Yasunori changed the subject and asked Seimei about the stranged thief who broke into Councilor Ono no Yoshifuru's Mansion. Seimei said that he heard that the thief want home out stealing anything.

Hiromasa said that he heard it from Furu Dono himself. Yasunori asked him could he listen to the story and the scene switched to the flashback of the incident that happened on the night before five days ago.

There was a man who had two people threatening to cut his throat with two swords. The woman told him to get up and he noticed her. The woman told him to excuse her for coming so late at night.

The narrator narrates the chapter ending with "A sign of disaster that will shake the world, creeping silently into the dark night."

[1] Seimei is half fox spirit and half human. His mother was a white fox named Kuzunoha and his father was a human named Abe no Yasuna who is also called Abe no Masuki; so, I guess when Hiromasa was playing the flute, he saw Seimei's fox form.

[2] More information on kangen can be found here.

[3] More information on Japanese court ranks and positions can be found here.

[4] More information on oyakata can be found here.

Here is a link to the my twitter post that discusses the manga.

#Takiyasha Hime Onmyoji #Takiyasha Hime Onmyouji #Abe no Seimei #Minamoto no Hiromasa #Honey Beetle #Mitsubachi #Honey Night #Mitsuya #Kamo no Yasunori #Manga

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el-makes-art · 2 years

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Oh Laudna…

[ID: a digital fanart comic showing Orym and Laudna from Critical Role campaign three, episode 17. Sitting round a campfire in the jungle at night, Orym says, "It’s strange… After everything you went through, you’re the happiest of the bunch." Smiling, Laudna replies, "Well of course! The worst thing that ever happened to me… has already happened." The final panel shows Laudna in profile, her ear cuff clearly visible, as Orym watches, concern and sympathy on his face. End ID]

#cr spoilers #critical role spoilers #bell’s hells #cr orym #cr laudna #cr c3 ep17 #cr fanart #oof this scene #ahhhhhhhhhh

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yelenabelovasbxtch · 2 years

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Panel Pt. 4

Florence Pugh X Female Reader

Ugh how I wish this could be real! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!!

Let me know if you’d like to be added to the tag list.

⚠️Trigger Warning: Alcohol consumption.

Concept: You go to Comic-Con and attend a Florence Pugh panel. What happens after surprises you. Part 4/?

I think the fluff is starting to turn into some heavier stuff ;) we will have to wait and see for the next chapter!

Word Cound: 1772

Tag List: @jeyramarie @flosbelova @bridgecitybrad

You walk down the hallway towards the elevator and pop down to the twelfth floor. You knock on the door with butterflies forming in your stomach. No more than a second later the right door swings open.

“y/n!” Florence says with the most excitement in her voice. “Oh my god. You look absolutely beautiful, please come in!”

You smile and walk through the door to see a spread of charcuterie and other snacks along with some champagne on ice. Florence is wearing this tight red dress with black heels which put her a little taller than you now. Her hair flowed down naturally with a little bit of mild wave to it which you absolutely adored.

“Wow, Florence, this looks amazing.” You say gesturing towards all the food and drinks.

“Ah it’s nothing, I had to get the best for my girls! But seriously you look dashing tonight.” She replies with a little laugh at the end.

That was twice now that Florence complimented you in the last couple of minutes. You could feel yourself blushing

Florence walks over to the speaker system that she had in her room. “Have any requests?” She asks.

“Hmmm how about Southern Suns?” You reply with a smile.

“Excellent choice.” She says with a wink.

The music starts playing and she pours you a drink. ”So y/n, what were your thoughts of my friends at lunch today?”

“Florence…you keep saying your friends like they’re not the avengers!! Like of course they were all even more amazing than I could have even imagined. And I must say, I thought they were attractive on television…in person it’s- just wow.”

Florence lets out a little laugh. “Yeah, I hear that. When I first met Scarlett I was honestly taken back a little. Not only was I completely starstruck but my god is she beautiful!” She responds.

“Florence…are you crushing on Scarlett’s Johansson?” You say in a teasing tone.

“How could you meet her and not be?” She says.

“Ha. I hear that. It’s crazy hearing you say that when I could say the same thing about you.”

You can’t believe you just openly said that. The champagne must be going to your head a little faster than you thought it would.

“Oh, so that’s how you feel?” She says with the biggest grin on her face.

“Well…I don’t mean in like a weird way I’m just saying that like you’re very pretty?”

“Ha. I’m just teasing you y/n. I’m very flattered you see me in that light.” She says with a big hug.

You can feel yourself getting a little nervous now because you most definitely think Florence caught what you were saying back there but luckily you were saved by the bell. Scarlett and Lizzie show up at Florence’s doors.

“Ah looks like these two have already started without us.” Lizzie says as she sees your bright red cheeks.

“That just means you guys are gonna have to catch up!” Florence responds with a little bit of slur in her speech.

A little bit of time had passed and you were all a couple of drinks in and starting to feel more comfortable in front of them.

“God meeting you guys has been so amazing. This wholeeeee experience has just been amazing. I wish it never had to end.” You slay with a smile and your eyes half-closed.

“Don’t worry y/n we won’t forget about you when we go back to filming. We will still stay in contact and hopefully see you when we are in the same city.” Lizzie says.

“Oh 100% and you can even come visit us on sets and stuff. Next time there’s a premier we will make sure to send you an invite to that as well.” Scarlett says.

“Oh my god really? You guyssss that’s so amazing. Thank you. I feel like we are just such good friends already.”

You were clearly very intoxicated at this point but Florence had started letting up a little bit so she was definitely more sober than you were. She couldn’t stop looking at you and smiling whenever you talked because all you did was tell them how much you loved them. The night went on and you all had some really good laughs and took a whole lot of photos.

“Oh god Liz it’s already 2:30, we should probably go, we have an early plane to catch tomorrow,” Scarlett said.

“Oh shoot, yeah I guess…that’s too bad I was having so much fun.” She replied with a slight frown.

“Well it was so amazing having you guys thank you so much for coming over!” Florence says.

“Yeah, I guess that means I should probably head out too.”

“No!!! I’m still so awake and could use some more company, would you like to stay for just a while longer and watch a movie or something?” Florence says with her classic frown on.

You tried not to play it cool like you weren’t over the moon that she wanted you to stay and nodded your head with a little smile. The two of you hugged Scarlett and Lizzie as they walked out the door.

“Behave you two,” Scarlett said with a wink.

Florence blushed and pushed them out the door. She whipped back around as soon as the door clicked shut. “So, what do you want to watch?!”

“Oh, I’m easy, anything really.” You say.

“Hmmm ok…what are your favourite movies?”

“Uhhh…marvel?” You say with a laugh.

Florence looks at you and just sort of chuckles.

“What’s your favourite genre that isn’t my work?”

“Hmmm, I do love a good rom-com.” You reply.

“Romcom it is! I have just the one.” Florence says as she puts on Crazy, Stupid Love.

“Wait! Before we continue the movie can I offer you some comfier clothing? That dress looks like it wouldn’t be the best snuggling attire.” She says.

“Oh- um yeah, that would be great.” You say nervously. Snuggling attire? What does that mean exactly? Like friendly kind of snuggling or something else? At this point, I think it’s a go with the flo type of night. If it goes a certain direction you want it to then great! If it doesn’t well you’re still friends with Florence Pugh and that’s pretty amazing.

You follow Flo to her bedroom as she opens her dresser drawers and pulls out two full sweatpants and hoodie tracksuits.

“Wow, those look very comfortable.” You say

“Oh trust me. They are.” Florence says as she is handing you the two pieces. “Oh you can change here or in the bathroom if you’d like. I don’t mind.”

You decide to just go to the opposite side of the room to change because you had nothing to hide. You start to take off your dress but the zipper gets caught so you have to ask Florence for help. She walks over to you as you pull your hair up to give her better access. She pulls down the zipper and helps you pull the dress off.

“Ohh a matching set eh? Not everyone goes this fancy all the time.” She says with a chuckle.

You turn around to look at her as she’s saying this and very quickly notice that she is also in her underwear.

“Coming from you…you’re matching too. Trying to impress someone?” You say with a smirk.

“Ah, please, you wish y/n.”

You both laugh a little, put on your sweats and go back out to the living room. It wasn’t long after that, that you both started to doze off. You were sitting on the couch and Florence was sitting right next to you, tightly snuggled up close with her head on your shoulder and a giant blanket spilling over both of you. You notice Florence’s eyes getting heavy and yours were too. You decided to rest them for just a second.

The two of you wake up to the loud sound of the music with the credits rolling at the end of the movie. Feeling a little groggy you check your watch and notice the time says 4:47 am. Wow, it’s late…or well early.

“Hey Florence…maybe I should go back to my place and sleep.” You whisper to her.

“Nooo…it’s way too late and you’re still drunk. I don't want you walking back alone at this hour.” She says in an adorably cute tired voice that her accent made that much better.

“Florence I’m only a couple of floors above you I don’t actually have to leave the building or anything.”

“I know I know, I just don’t want you going alone. I have a California king bed, just come sleep with me. You won’t even notice I’m there, the bed’s so big.”

You decide to do it, mainly because at this point you were way too tired to get up anyway.

Florence gets up and gives you her hand to pull you up too.

“Let’s close these to make sure we aren’t interrupted when the sun comes up.” She says as she’s closing the black-out curtains.

The two of you crawl into bed and nothing has ever felt so good. It felt like you were laying on a bed of clouds. You both doze off at opposite ends of the bed.

An hour or so later you wake up because you needed to go to the bathroom only to find Florence’s arm wrapped around you just above your stomach. While you didn’t think anything of it at first. You had never felt so comfortable and at peace before. You quickly go to the bathroom and try to not wake her. When you sneak back into bed she has turned around. You were a little sad but decided that it was your turn to make the move and quietly threw your arm around her. Your bodies lined up perfectly and right when you thought it couldn’t get much better you felt her arm move to grab your hand and pull it up towards her chest and just hold it as her thumb was drawing circles on it. She was fully embracing you and the two of you slept well through most of the morning.

— end of Pt. 4 —

#black widow #cooking with flo #florence pugh #florence pugh fanfic #florence pugh smut #florence pugh x y/n #little women #yelena belova #yelena belova fanfiction #fan fiction #Scarlett johansson #Elizabeth Olsen #marvel #mcu

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mam-te-moc · 3 years

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New Frozen comic, part one. Translation under panels

Part two

A source of strange water

Every year Arendelle citizens prepare a grand celebration for harvest

Anna: I can't, why Elsa is not with us yet? She should be here already.

Kristoff: Easy, she will show herself soon.

K: You did a good job Anna, everybody is impressed with celebrations

A: I hope you don't lie.

Citizen: I am sorry to interrupt your highness, but unfortunately we have a problem...

A: what happened?

C: Water in fjord looks, how to say it, strange

A: How strange?

C: It changes color.

A: I must see it immediately

A few minutes later

A: I must be dreaming! This water is brown!

K: I don't like this. I have never seen it so muddy.

C: Smell it. This smell is also strange.

A: Strange? Rather awful!

Olaf: Anna, Kristoff, you won't believe this! Water in a fountain changed color. Finally we have some magic, it got boring.

Anna: I am afraid that's not magic.

A woman: Folks, something bad happened!

A boy: it stinks like dirty socks!

Anna: oh no.

A: I feel anxious. This got really dangerous.

K: You are right, it's hard to live without clear water.

Anna had no choice...

A: With a heavy heart I must say that our harvest festival has to be postponed. I promise to solve this water problem as fast as it's possible..

Woman: Your highness, you can count on us, if a help is needed.

Man: Thank you for caring, queen Anna!

Olaf: If it's not magic, then what?

K: The problem is...I don't know.

Woman: Queen! I think that's poison! My sister Helga saw him a few days ago!

Anna: Who? When?

Olaf: Wow

W: I will explain... She works in this new loom at the river. And she is sure that she saw a demon poisoning water in the river.

(demon - an evil spiritfrom Scandinavian legends)

"She was finishing her work when she saw a scary shadow on the water..."

Helga: Oh

W: Of course she immediately ran away, but since then water changed its color.

Olaf: Brrr! I feel all my hairs stood on end. Even though I don't have hair.

A: Wait, why this demon would poison the water?

W: Maybe they got angry because this new loom was built on their river?

A: That would explain it...

Some time later friends try to find something more in castle's library

K: I got it! In this book I found something about demons. Probably they are distant relatives of forest's spirits.

O: Then let's ask Elsa!

A: i have written to her already. I hope Gale will bring a reply soon.

A: You ask, you get. Here's Gale!

O: You are my fastest friend!

A: It's called an entrance with a bang.

K: What did Elsa write?

A: She wrote that even though demons were fictional, some believed in their existence. Also she thinks that we should go to this loom to check where a pollution leak to a river started.

Elsa: I regret that I can't be with you now, but I believe that you will find a solution to the problem. Because if not you, then who.

Will Anna listen to her sister and go to the loom? Who she will meet there...You will find out a solution to this criminal puzzle soon.

#frozen #frozen 2 #elsa #anna #frozen comic #frozen magazine

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hunterartemis · 3 years

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Media Bias (Avengers X Alien!Reader)

It was a request from anonymous reader and since I have limited experience with tagging, I am going to quote the person’s request here:

“ Hi can you please do Avengers x reader where the reader is like Starfire from og teen titans (but the reader is green and the blasts are blue) and the Avengers go on a talk show and the host is being very mean to her. Thanks”

So, dear anonymous. I hope you enjoy!“

Words: a whopping 4100

Y/n, open the door” I heard Sam thudding away on my door as I buried myself in the layers of blanket and put the air condition humid enough to cause a mini monsoon.

“Go away Wilson and leave me alone--” I bellowed on top of my voice.

“Y/n it’s been more than 7 hrs, you got to come out... whatever happened in the morning you gotta let it go--”

“I don’t wanna let it go... I am a national embarrassment--”

You must be thinking, what is the situation you’ve been dragged into. Let me pause there and rewind 17 hours back to give you a complete understanding which lead to this complete mess.

People think our story ended and sealed with Thanos never got to see what we go through in the New York penthouse. With the ongoing Pandemic on board, people are desperate to see us even more, as if it is the new Thanos and we are to defeat it. There is no greater sense of helplessness than playing the puppet of courage without doing anything. So whoever wrote that “after the defeat of big bad, the heroes rejoice” was a big idiot.

And thus, I found myself awake after hours, sitting alongside the broad glass panel that showed the completely stopped-in-time, shining in the dark cityscape of once bustling New York. A fleeting sense of desolation plagued me as I remember my own world in the verge of extinction. My breath almost stopped in the great worry of my fellow living being in this planet; the one who saved me from destitution--

“y/n, is that you?”A calm and concerned paternal voice broke the train of my thought. I sharply looked behind my shoulder to see a disheveled figure of man standing in the dark. By the tousled curls and the slouched hem of the sweatpants, I knew was Bruce.

“Urh, you startled me!” I said with a dismissive voice. I felt almost embarrassed to realize what I was thinking moments ago. I took a deep breath and tried to compose myself.

“It’s you who startled me y/n, what are you doing up so late?” Bruce said with a groggy voice rubbing his eyes rather irritatingly. “We have an important event to attend tomorrow first thing in the morning” he slowly moved towards from the shadowy part of the room to the path of dimmed light from the glass panel and spared a long glance at my face. The way he looked at me sometimes irritated me, because it was an inalienable fact that he fell into the same category of humans who express an unhealthy obsession with my kind: a scientist.

“It’s not like I enjoy staying up like you Lowly Human...I am as stressed for tomorrow as you are!” I tore my face from his ken to express my displeasure. In reply, he sighed disappointedly, which sounded patronizing in my already agitated mind.

“I wish you’d stop insulting my specie whenever you get upset...” he gently put his hand in my shoulder, but soon he withdrew and stepped back. “And what is that god-awful smell?”

Any female whether she is human or not is very sensitive to criticism, especially about how she appears, thus Bruce’s comment was not only offensive but hurtful as well. I could not restrain my anger and annoyance anymore, and I stood up sharply to face him “I just happen to wet myself in the rain yesterday at my detour downtown and it turns out it has too much sulphuric acid and it is peeling my skin away... right before when I am about to go up close on television.” My hand subconsciously moved up to my cheek, where flakes were forming in my otherwise jade smooth skin. “And you are telling me to stop insulting your specie... I will when you unicellular cretins will stop ruining your own environment—“ I folded my arms defensively, gazing away from Bruce’s face “--as if I don’t get ridiculed enough for my chrorophyllic skintone, and now I am shedding like a common reptile.”

“Alright alright I am sorry...” Bruce threw up his arms defensively, and his small paces back and forth showed his discomfort more than anything, “do you want something for your skin, CeraVe or something? I can fetch you some ice if you want?”

His apologetic gesture made my whole effort defeated; but my pride disrupted me from being apologetic “Forget it... as if those human manures would work on my skin—“ I heaved a sigh and looked at him again “must we do the thing? I mean I am not the only alien that set foot on earth in this decade, why must I be walked around like a showdog in front of all the people?”

For some moments Bruce did not answer me. I almost thought he was ignoring me, but then I realised that he must be contemplating on every word he wanted to say and every word that was running through his brilliant mind. Out of anyone in the team, Bruce was the visual hole, the less than heroic material: even with the Hulk. And for this, the society made sure that he would be self conscious for the rest of his life for his other identity. My annoyance almost melted to sympathy when I heard him speak in a rather frustrated voice.

“Y/N, I know that you are stressed about this and frankly I hate this stuff too, but this is very important for the people: for your people as well as ours. Not all things that come from the space are benign and people need reassurance that you are not hostile. I hate this too, but it is for the greater good!”

“Greater good, greater good... it is always for the greater good!” The same old daily whining of lofty agenda made me sick “I am sick and tired of these Brucie, I don’t want to do this anymore... I am tired about people asking me weird questions and cretins posing as scientists trying to push probes on me the first chances they get-- I wish I could just disappear with the portal that brought me in this cursed place!“

Bruce came closer and grabbed my shoulders gently “Don’t say that y/n... otherwise we wouldn’t have the means to counterattack all those aliens—“ my silence might have given him the cue that he wasn’t doing a very good job at convincing. His wavering eyes fixed on my face once again as he spoke “okay, here is a deal: how about it is the last time you appear in public, hm? Once you satisfy them that you are part of the team, I swear people will leave you alone... they left the Hulk alone too once they understood that he is one of the good guys!”

“No but...“

“No ifs and buts... go, and have some sleep. Let me look in the lab if we have some squalanes and peptide solutions lying around—“ he said with a paternal affection and disappeared into the dark passage which lead to his room

“Thanks Brucie you are the best—“

I couldn’t help but to smile a little. Humans!

...

“This is a bad idea I am telling you--“ I told Bruce with an hushed tone as the makeup artist went on with a puff on my face for the millionth times. The rest of my team was behind me, getting the same attentions to their dismay. I could tell Bucky was downright uncomfortable as his makeup artist had a hard time getting not distracted by his bionic arm; and Wanda was downright glaring at the man who kept flicking the brush on her nose.

“relax y/n, you are smart and you are friendly, you are going to ace this and trust me people are going to love you--“ Bruce said with gritted teeth to make sure no one could tell what he was saying. He almost flinched as some of the powder made into his nose and the makeup artist followed him up with a q-tip.

“My face is itchy...“ I whispered again, trying not to gouge my face out with my nails as the powder sat on the flaky part of the cheek. If this wasn’t a studio I would have scratched my face like a lunatic and ended up as someone who was attacked by a bear in the mountains. And I was glad that I was standing beside Bruce who knew how not to go overboard with the things. Clint would have brushed them off, Wanda and Bucky would have panicked, and Sam’s gestures no matter how genuine would have made me laugh.

“Wanda already told the makeup artist to spray you with Squalane, your face isn’t half as bad as it were yesterday night“ Bruce then went on politely gesturing the makeup artist to spray the stuff Bruce brought from the lab in a clear bottle, and the look on the Makeup Artist’s face was between annoyance and bursting into tears.

“Brucie...“ “I don’t wanna mess it up--“ I said nervously as we walked into the couch and settled with the others.

“Trust me you won’t... “ Bruce graciously consoled me.

The cameraman cued and we were all gestured to look into the main camera as the lights in front of us adjusted accordingly. Within all hustle and bustle, the host walked in like a royalty, and by the looks of his face and those following him with makeup and refreshment, he had a really bad morning.

“We will go on air in 3, 2 and 1”

“Good Morning America, this is your host Justin Fallon and welcome to another episode of The Early Show. Today we have with us some really special guests. You might know them from News, the murals, the comics and the Merchs please welcome our own global superheroes: The Avengers. Welcome to our show” the host said with an uncomfortable friendliness and turned towards us.

"Thanks for having us with you" Sam answered graciously, with a little awkwardness. I could understand why; it was always Tony, Steve and Natasha who spoke in public. After such a terrible loss, he is struggling to fill up their shoes for the sake of our public image. He had been wrapped up into a pretty bad controversy recently for succeeding as Captain America and it had a pretty bad toll on him—to the point his speech kind of went from cheerful to composed in an unnatural way.

"It’s been way too long since our morning couch looked so colorful and it surely brightens up the day.” The host said with an obligatory politeness. Although the term was innocent enough but it seemed not so—I instantly froze up and million things started flying inside my head: was I looking good enough, is my patches showing under the layers of power and squalane. Turns out it was not me alone. From the corner of my eye I could sense the tension behind me from Clint and Bucky and I know it was different than mine. The host must have wanted the old team, and looked like he was stuck with the mediocre leftovers.

“Thank you...“ Sam replied.

“So here you guys are after averting the big wipeout crisis, in the quiet and chilling, so how does it feel to be in the pensive from being hyperactive all the time?“

“Well, at first it did feel kind of boring and lack luster, but slowly we are adjusting to it. With the ongoing Pandemic crisis I think we just have to adjust to the situation. In a way, I think we are all helping each other by staying inside and recuperating.” Sam answered diplomatically.

“That’s so nice” the interviewer said quite curtly and then changing the topic he sharply turned to Doctor Banner “I know of all you people Dr. Banner will find this Lockdown Leisure slightly more comforting, isn’t that so Doctor Banner?”

Wait, what was that? Was that even normal? Sam was sitting in the front and after him Bucky, then Wanda and then Bruce. Should not he come gradually? Breathe... maybe I am reading too much into this. Keep a friendly face, don’t think too much... the entire nation is watching... this is the one time I have to do things right! It’s for me, my team who housed me and my people.

I had to give props to Bruce for managing things calmly despite his claims about public speaking. He politely replied “Well theoretically it should be but it’s not like causes of anger cannot exist within the so called peaceful environment if you think about it, but I am glad you showed your concern” and like a pro, reached out to the glass in front of him to sip some water—like some real celebs in talk shows.

“Isn’t that true! So Solaris, how does it feel to be surrounded by the icons of the earth?”

I wasn’t really ready for the sudden attention. For a second I blanked out completely and gaped my mouth like a complete idiot. My stupefied face must have been quite prominent because the host tried to laugh it off lightly to divert the attention. I am still wrapping my head around the fact how some humans work so beautifully under so much attention—If I could choose between blasting off alien armies and speaking in talk shows, I will take the aliens instead.

“I..I--It’s quite fun... there is never a dull moment with them--“ I manage to utter, and thankfully it wasn’t a gurgling sound from a deep abyss.

“The thing is, being the most newest member, you sort of have a mystery around you, the kind of a Blue Comet sort--“

“Oh thank you— “ great going me, like a real talk show celeb—keep it up!

“So why don’t we break that down... Solaris, is that true that you came from a whole another galaxy which is not Milky Way?” the Talk show host asked, reading from a small piece of card.

Finally, something I can talk about all day: stars, planets and galaxy. I will have to slay this, I chanted inside and replied after drawing a breath “Yes that’s true. I am from Planet Auriga from Pleiades system. Our Sun is Alcyone, the second brightest star right after Aldebaran. You people call our system Taurus Constellation--”

“--so much astrophysics, take notes kids they might ask you at the NASA interview.“ the talk show host interrupted. It annoyed me greatly because I could finish the words I worked so hard to speak confidently. So that’s how Bruce must feel all the time when people interrupted him when he explains things. However the host went on as if nothing happened “For a near human creature in this planet, do you identify more with the Professor X’s troop or with the Avengers?”

Near human creature? My race is literally the most Superior in all of galaxy.

“I don’t really understand what you mean...” I said as politely as I could manage.

“I mean isn’t it hard to fit in when you are the only alien in the group--“

The flippant remark was rude and I tried not to wrap my head around it. I recalled Bruce’s words to keep cool and maintain a neutral face replied : “I mean I am not the only one, Thor is also not of the earth and he is a darling to be around. Alien or not I think I have learned a lot about myself and the ways of earth by spending time with this wonderful people?“

I could hear the audience clapping and cheering with my reply. A surge of pride swept across my chest and I smiled slightly at the audience.

“How sweet--“ the host said, keeping with the cheerful mood “as the outer world people are coming into the planets, we think a lot of things are shifting, do you find it hard to cope into the earth from where you come from--“

Finally, a thoughtful question, I made a solid eye contact with the host and replied “No, the atmosphere is pretty much the same in Auriga, but I think humans can do a lot better taking care of the environment. I know for a fact that millions of planets and their lifeforms were extinct because of excesses I see on earth.”

The thoughtfulness of the host was only for so long “The girl’s been around... if you know what I mean—“ he commented with a little wink, and from the audience’s laugh I knew he didn’t mean something polite or mildly positive. After the laughter subsided, he turned again to me “I dig the midnight blue hair... it is so contradictory and yet it works“ he complimented “because you know scale and hair are not something we see very often in our planet--“

Excuse me, what was that supposed to mean?

“--so tell me are the lapis cascades all natural? I mean they are not dyed at all?”

“No they are not... the special keratin bond that reflect the blue pigment of the natural light but they are actually transparent—“ I added objectively.

“So that means in the right lighting you don’t need to mow the bush—“ the host said with a curved smile on his lips, and the audience went on laughing in the same manner they did moments ago.

Even under the blowing airconditioner, I started t feel really warm around my neck “I really don’t know what you mean; you are making any sense at all! Do you guys need special light to mow the bush, do you do in the solstices or during the eclipses—“ this time I didn’t hide the fact that I was annoyed.

“--she is really really funny you guys--“ the host again smiled and acted like I was a stone wall and my reaction didn’t register in his mind at all. “So you are saying you don’t mow your bush at all?“

“I live in a New York Penthouse, there is no bush--“ honestly if this wasn’t a dumb talk show, I would have taught this impudent human a lesson.

The host looked a little uncomfortable as our eye contact lasted for several seconds. He cleared his throat and went on “Okay you guys, she just clarified that there is no bush, so let’s move on to your...your look... I am so fascinated by it, it’s so reptile chic--“

What’s your fascination with cold blooded animals? Are you asking to die like one?

“Um, thanks...?!”

“So how do you manage to maintain this--“

That was honestly the last straw. This host is impolite and rude and he leeches off the discomfort of his talk show host. When this realisation hit, all my self-control and self preservation went out of the window. The vacuum was replaced by the sheer annoyance towards the host who deliberately mistreated us since the beginning.

“Do you think that’s how I live, maintaining my skin and mowing the bush--“ my pitch rose from my previous composed tone “I mean what kind of questions are these?“

The host was still wearing his phony smile on his face, but I could see the colour slightly draining off his face “No I was just asking, because the audience wants to know--“

“I think the audience is smart enough to understand that they cannot get the green skin on natural blue hair, so can you move on to a more sensible question?“ I answered heatedly and defensively at the same time, and as I spoke I felt the aura of tension shifting from discomfort to sheer panic.

“Y/n... don’t do this--” I heard Bucky whisper very faintly from above.

“Solaris, don’t get me wrong, but we don’t always get a green-skin hottie on the morning couch, don’t be offended!” he said while he gestured covertly to cut the camera on the other side. I have to give this man an applause , I could tell he had busted all his courage but he kept the face of nonchalance too good to be true—no wonder he sat on this chair for so long.

“What’s your obsession with the skin colour?—“ I said heatedly as I stood up from my seat “Don’t you dare cut the camera... don’t you dare! Do you think you humans are the epitome of beauty from which point everyone in the galaxy should confirm? I am sick of this... Everyone, I am so sorry for your wasted time but no more of this!”

“Solaris--“ this time it was Sam’s voice that implored me from the sides. For a split second I felt bad for him, because as Captain America, he would have to take the heat from the public. But I was at the point of no return. If I back out now, I would be called a pushover and I would have to endure that image for the rest of my life in the earth.

“You know what, as you are so obsessed with my looks, I would love to show you another thing of mine that is blue--”

Blast

So long story short, Solaris goes to a morning talk show, Solaris encounters a rude host and Solaris blasts him with her Blue Sun Beam. Biggest disaster ever!

The thudding outside the door would not stop, and honestly their over attention was getting on my nerves “honestly, why don’t you go away... what are you, my royal nanny?”

“Very funny Solaris... now come out and get some food--” this time it was Bucky who spoke. Although he was the shortest to reply, but it made me well up. He had the shittiest history amongst all of us: hunted, betrayed, manipulated and now sidelined—how can I see my problems bigger than him.

“How can I... I ruined everything, all the reputation you built throughout the year, I blew it up within 3 minutes, how can I show my face to you guys! I was supposed to be the superior being--“

A moment of silence followed. But then the old familiar calm voice spoke from the other side

“y/n... It’s not about superior or inferior, you were just very very honest with your feeling! sometimes it’s good for the public, sometimes it is not. I mean look at me--I have struggling with my anger all my life and god knows the stuff I have wrecked in Hulk state. It’s okay to make a mistake... no one blames you!”

“Ha ha right...“ I replied sarcastically, feeling mad about how well Bruce understood my situation.

“Honestly, the way you acted today... Tony would have been proud!”

I could not hold myself anymore. All the feeling that has been plaguing me until now: embarrassment, guilt, confusion, sadness... all came down like a thundering rain with that one statement. I rushed and slammed the door open and jumped on Bruce to embrace him into a tight hug. At first I could tell Bruce was taken aback, but soon his firm arms snaked under my back to hold me tightly.

“I am so sorry... I ruined you all--“ I hid my face in Bruce’s shoulder. Suddenly I felt a gentle pat on my back, I straightened up and looked, it was Sam. His awkward cautionary expression was gone and he looked cherry as the old days “As Captain America, I cannot condone your behaviour, but as Sam... well, that jerk deserved it--“ he reached for his pocket and took out his cellphone “and hundred thousand people in New York agree with you“

I looked at him with a curious expression as he gave me his phone. When I looked at it, it was a tabloid video that had the clip of me blasting the host and it had—

“Stars in galaxies!... 100K likes?” I exclaimed

“And look down, there are comments too--” Bucky scrolled down from behind my shoulder to descend to the white space.

That jerk deserves it, he was literally harassing her...You go Solaris #MeToo

Solaris is so cool, I wish I was as cool as her.

Ugh, I hate that morning show host, if I was in her place I would have thrown him off the stark tower, #SunQueen

Racists never change, and We stan our color positive hero #SolarisRocks

Humans...

...

Okay, that took a lot of time because at first I didn’t know how to work on the request, then I had to go back and forth and rewrite most of it two times because I wasn’t convinced it was good. So I sincerely hope it’s good because I am freaked out as hell.

I also gave reader a name because she is inspired by an alien character in TeenTitans called “Starfire”. So I call her Solaris, and was constantly reminded of Solar of Mamamoo (TMI)

I don’t hate on Fallon, I just used his name because it is recognisable by American public and I also had to see a lot of Jimmy Fallon’s show to write about the Talk Show plot. I was also greatly inspired by Naomi Campbell, RDJ and Nicki Minaj’s interviews.

#avengers x reader #alien reader #skin color #teen titans og #starfire inspired #yay I got a request #rude talk show imagine #avengers x reader imagine

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bigskydreaming · 3 years

Note

Sorry to bother you, but RE: the Jason Todd in Arkham thing, like, what was Dick supposed to do? Take him home to the same house where two of the KIDS that Jason had threatened/attacked were supposed to be living in what one hoped would be relative safety?

Like, full offence, Jason had at that point proven himself a danger to all the people around him. If he wound up at Arkham, oh well, maybe don’t kill a whole bunch of ppl and harm numerous others. If Arkham doesn’t work as a hospital, maybe he should have been at another one, but at that point in his character arc, a secure mental health facility was probably the best he could expect.

It’s like ppl forget he’s a multiple murderer with a history of targeting the ppl Dick loves. I don’t even read the comics and I know this much.

Oh for sure, I mean, I've posted meta about this before because the fandom accepted narrative gets it sooooooo wrong. Like, I'll always be right at the front of the line yelling IT WAS JASON'S CHARACTERIZATION THAT WAS CRAP THROUGH ALL THAT, THAT'S NOT JASON, GIMME NUANCE OR GIMME DEATH. Y'know, something like that.

But like, given that Jason was written as repeatedly trying to kill Dick's other two brothers its like, yeah?! What was Dick supposed to do? He'd tried asking Jason nicely hey could you stop doing that and Jason was like LOL no.

And also....people are like - Dick callously threw Jason into Arkham right next to the Joker and then just left him there and forgot about him and....SOURCE?

1) Dick didn't DO this to Jason, JASON went after Dick and Damian and in the process of fighting him in a very public space, Dick beat Jason and police were already like....right there? Dick didn't actually have the option of being uh no, you can't take this known and notorious criminal into custody, I'll stop you on the basis of - well I can't tell you actually but plz just trust me okay, he totes didn't mean it! (except like also, at that point he totes did, so.....)

2) What pull Dick DID have as Batman with the GCPD, he used to get Jason put into Arkham INSTEAD of Blackgate for his SAFETY. We know this to be true. Jason himself confirmed that absolutely nothing bad happened to him in Arkham, he just didn't want to be there but WHO THE HELL EVER WANTS TO BE IN A PRISON OF ANY SORT? And the first thing Dick said when Bruce said Jason had demanded to be transferred to Blackgate is that Jason wouldn't be safe there with all the enemies he had gunning for him. It was abundantly clear that Jason's safety had been a primary concern for Dick the whole time (and Jason wasn't safe at Blackgate, its just fine, he only wanted to be transferred in order to enact an escape plan that got like 80 people indiscriminately killed but whatevs. Its Gotham, what's a few dozen more dead criminals am I right? *rolls eyes at how often that little detail gets left out of the narrative).

3) Dick consistently put time, focus and Wayne Enterprises money into Arkham Asylum while he was Batman, since Arkham was being rebuilt from the ground up after it was blown up in Battle for the Cowl. Also, Dick had been one of the last 'patients' in the old Arkham, given that he went undercover to infiltrate the Black Glove while they were in control of Arkham and spent a week in there drugged to the gills, locked up and in a straitjacket before being almost lobotomized. He has every grievance with Arkham that fan writers like to PRETEND Jason has from his stay there, but Jason's only complaint was that he again, was bored, and he had to take psych evals every other week because it was after all, still a mental health institution. Dick did everything in his power at the time to make sure that even if Jason did have to be locked up to keep him from going after more people, like, it was going to be as humane as possible and the stuff that Dick himself had JUST experienced in the old Arkham WOULDN'T happen to Jason.

4) The Joker was literally nowhere near Arkham THE ENTIRE TIME. This is not a small detail, given that 'the Joker was just five cells down' is the entire basis of most writers' Jason-in-Arkham angst and the anti-Dick sentiments they tend to create. All the major Rogues escaped from the old Arkham in Battle for the Cowl BEFORE it blew up. That's why they're not DEAD. Dick's run as Batman was primarily about fighting the escapees. And Joker, very significantly, was clearly among those Rogues not present in Arkham during Dick's Batman run, given he was literally toying with Dick and Damian through most of it. Seriously, how much do people have to hate Dick and think the worst of him to think that he - the dude who btw, BEAT THE JOKER TO DEATH WITH HIS BARE HANDS FOR MAKING JOKES ABOUT KILLING JASON - would just....obliviously lock Jason up right next to the Joker and throw away the key?

Like...and it goes on and on, lol. I remember the first time I brought all this up in an argument with some Jason stans, they literally started laughing back and forth to each other in the replies about how someone was a bit too carried away with their own fanon, and its like...LMAO! Yes! Someone is! Its YOU! You are the people you guys are talking about, looooool, I can literally back all this up with sourced panels.

Buuuuuuut, c'est la vie.

I mean, this is nothing new for us, its literally Teen Wolf fandom alllll over again. Probably why I just said nope, not doing this again awhile back and was like umm actually I will NOT just be ignoring the blatant false narratives thrown around here just so that people happy with the fanon narratives that prioritize the characters they like and sling shit at the characters they don't can have their fandom just the way they want it at the expense of everyone else in it. You wanna push bad faith interpretations of specific characters at every literal opportunity, its like, that's cool! I got the drive! I can push back with actual facts, its all good!

But the most hilarious thing to me will always be how fucking INDIGNANT people get about that, like "How dare you point out the precedent we established in not caring about any fandom experience other than our own and thus being loud and everpresent with our preferred interpretations in an attempt to drown out any other possible interpretation just so that the most people possible would be influenced by us instead of anything else, and we'd get more of the content we like at the expense of any possible nuance whatsoever."

Like, the most common complaint I get is people griping about how damn often I'm saying "mmmm, no, this isn't what happened actually" and "okay but have you considered flipping the script BACK from the way you flipped it initially in order to get this weird ass interpretation of a superhero noted for his emphasis on emotional caretaking of his loved ones actually being this callous oblivious selfish jerk who tramples all over the feelings of everyone around them and makes them just the woobiest woobies that ever did woobie all throughout Woobieland?"

And I'm just like, okay see, I hear you, its just the thing is, the THING IS......

If you didn't want that to be the topic of conversation so damn often, then hey, just a suggesh, but maybe you shouldn't have devoted literal years to coming up with the most bad faith interpretations of this character possible at literally every available opportunity. Maybe there'd be like.....less reason for the topic to come up so often, if like....you by your own actions hadn't made it a necessary topic to tackle so often?

I DON'T KNOW, I'M JUST SPIT-BALLING HERE, DON'T MIND ME AND MY CRAZY-ASS IDEAS OF FAIR PLAY.

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foone · 3 years

Text

Unbreathing Vacuum

I got an ADHD inspiration to write a short DS9 fic off a shitpost about Star Trek-but-all-the-computers-run-windows-98, so I wrote a thing about Odo and the crew's reaction to his seeming death. (This was written for twitter, so it's gonna have some weird paragraph breaks, sorry about that)

Odo is tracking down a Bolian weapons dealer with as many morals as hair follicles when he finally corners him in a cargo bay. It goes south, quickly, as it turns out weapons dealers have access to a lot of weapons.

His Bajoran security officer is laying down suppressing fire as Odo sneaks around behind the Bolian who is trying out a wide variety of strange weapons, colored beams shooting across the room like we're in a deadly disco of death.

Odo reforms into a grumpy humanoid behind the blue man group reject, shedding his Andorian Ice Fox form that let him cross the sea of crates without detection. Odo grumbles "I think that's enough, don't you?" as the Bolian turns and screams.

The football shaped object in his hands that was beeping increasingly frantic pitches drops to the floor, and he dives for it. Odo looks down in surprise, then recognizes what it is, but it's slightly too late, as timers on Klingon grenades are not known for their accuracy.

There's a flash of light and pressure as it detonates, and the cargo bay wall cracks, and the one sound no one wants to hear in a space station begins: the high pitched hissing of air rapidly leaving.

Odo gets to his feet in that uncanny way he sometimes does when he forgets to move like a being who has bones. He simply transitions from a body on the floor to a standing vaguely humanoid form. The Bolian, being closer to the blast, appears dead, or at least soon to be so.

He turns to his security officer to tell her to go call Chief O'Brien, when the hissing wall suddenly groans with the sound of bending metal, and the wall gives way completely. An entire semi-rectangular wall panel is ejected into the black, taking Odo and the dead Bolian with it

The security officer, nearer to the door, slams the access panel and dives through the door before it can finish opening, and rips off a barely attached wall panel to yank on the manual bulkhead release.

The door slams shut with typical Cardassian efficiency, not caring or bothering to check if there might be a limb or two in the way. The hurricane wind of all the station's air trying to escape is suddenly ended, and deafening white noise gives way to the low hum of the station.

Moments later, the crew up in Ops are reacting to the news of Odo's death in almost comically predictable ways.

Kira, the career soldier, is angry. She's seen many friends die in front of her, and she never let herself become numb to it. She's swearing at Odo in ways that the universal translator is so good at eliding, saying she always told him he was taking too many risks.

Just because he won't mind when someone stabs him doesn't mean he's invulnerable, she told him, and he, as always, almost-smiled in the way he only seems to do around her and grumbled about how he'd be careful.

The young doctor is barely holding it together. Kira's lashing out but it's a controlled sort of anger, a way she keeps a handle on the pain of losing people. Bashir, the eternal optimist to Odo's eternal pessimist, doesn't really believe in death, a strange trait for a doctor.

O'Brien is focusing himself on technical issues to avoid having to think about the emotional ones. What kind of weapon could have taken out a reinforced cargo bay wall? Had it been damaged before and incorrect repaired? He makes a note to do a full check of structural integrity

Dax has seemingly no reaction, but that's almost to be expected. You have a different outlook on death when you've died before, multiple times. As a near-immortal you see many people and make many friends, and nearly all of them will die long before you.

You have to learn to accept it, or it will kill you by inches. One of the downsides of seemingly endless life is there's a lot of time to mourn.

The commander is definitely feeling the impact of the loss, especially having had far too much experience with this particular kind of loss before. He flashes back to that time he always, in some way, still resides in...

When an alien force shows up and starts carving your ship into digestible chunks, you quickly become intimately familiar with the effects of sudden decompression on the humanoid body. It's not pretty, it's not as fast as you'd hope, and it's something you never forget.

He maintains his composure, leaning on his command training, and asks Kira to make a list of security officers she'd suggest promoting to Chief of Security. He thinks for a moment, realizes Odo had no family, and says he'll send a note to Dr. Pol

He turns back to go into his office when there's a dull thudding noise, and a sort of faint tink-tink-tink caused by the flexing of glass that happens with even the thickest of reinforced viewport.

He looks around in confusion, and Dax suddenly points at one of the high-up viewports. Floating outside the window, looking only slightly more annoyed than his resting "I hate life" face, is Odo.

It feels like something outside of a horror movie, a ghost floating silently outside a second story window, because humanoids don't just happily move around in the harsh void of space without needing a suit or a forcefield to keep them breathing.

But Odo isn't like most humanoids, after all. He's not a humanoid, for one. He's more a confounding self-propelled pile of goo that sometimes feels like pretending to be a humanoid shape.

This is made more obvious by the fact that he's only half there. His lower half is not legs, but a shimmering stretch of undifferentiated shapeshifter material, in order to hold onto an access handle tightly enough to give him the leverage to knock on a window.

Seeing he's got the attention of the crew, he pulls his hands from the window and starts attempting to sign to them. Kira's the only one with any experience in Bajoran sign language, and the best she can make out is something like "he broke his... Weasel? Columns him... Boat?"

He sighs, rolling his eyes, like only a shapeshifter really can. The sigh is silent of course, but if anyone could grumble in disappointment in the vacuum of space, it would be Odo.

His hands blur together as he shapeshifts them into a new form: a small flat panel, with Bajoran lettering in a large block font, perhaps a little too blocky as his aggravation is coming across even in typographical form.

COMBADGE DAMAGED BEAM ME ABOARD

Dax and O'Brien quickly confer, taking a painfully long moment to figure out how to lock onto something that is neither wearing a working combadge or reads as a life sign. Finally they figure out how to get a lock, and engage the transporter.

The grumpy-looking chief of security rematerializes on the Ops transporter pad, adjusting his "uniform" in an entirely unnecessarily maneuver he long ago picked up in his study of humanoids. He's naked, after all, he just looks like he's wearing clothes.

"Thank you for bringing me in", he grumbles, not saying the "finally" everyone can clearly hear in his tone. "It turns out that you can't open airlocks from the outside, so I wasn't able to come in the obvious way."

O'Brien, still slightly surprised by the sudden reappearance of his "dead" coworker, falls back on technical details as always. "That's a safety system we installed. The airlocks won't open unless they detect a ship is docked."

Kira chimes in with "Yeah, the Cardassians didn't have that restriction, as they wanted the freedom to just toss Bajorans out the airlocks when they felt like it." Odo responds with his usual grunt, a dismissive "pah, you solids and your weaknesses and your squabbles" noise.

Sisko replies "Regardless, it's good to see you alive and well, Odo."

Odo half-nods. "Commander, if you'll excuse me, I have reports to file and a safety lockout to implement. As tempting a prospect as it might seem, I wouldn't want Quark to end up to be sucked out the station's new orifice when he comes looking for his shipment of Yarmok sauce."

O'Brien jumps in with his typical urgency, half-covering up the feeling of "I should have fixed that already, damn" that he's seemingly always feeling around here. "I'll send a repair team down there right away."

Odo doesn't turn as he walks to the lift. "That would be appreciated, Chief. I'd rather not have to walk along the outside of the station again today." he says, punctuating it by activating the lift and descending out of view.

Sisko rubs his forehead. This is a strange place indeed, and despite all the headaches it gives him on a daily basis, he's beginning to feel almost at home in this remote alien place.

This place is strange, the people are strange, the situation is strange... But they're his strange.

Maybe someday they'll stop surprising him. But he doubts it, and he isn't sure he would want them to.

He sits down at his desk and pulls up another of the day's reports, thankful he doesn't need to write that letter to Doctor Mora Pol, for more than one reason.

It's never easy losing someone under your command, and writing that letter to their next-of-kin never gets easier either. But it's a good day when you don't have to do either.

#star trek deep space nine #ds9 #odo #star trek #fanfic

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the-lightning-strikes-again · 3 years

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A Review of Voltron DDP Comic: A Legend Forged (2008)

I knew the old Devil’s Due Publishing (DDP) comics for Voltron were lit…but the sequel, A Legend Forged, really resonated with me! This 5-issue comic series is DDP’s interpretation of the history behind the Voltron robot itself, and it wraps this lore within an adventure plot featuring our main pilots (Allura, Keith, Hunk, Lance, Pidge) in an alliance with Lotor.

I’ve meant to write a review about A Legend Forged for a while because I know that older Voltron comics aren’t always accessible. I think this one deserves some attention because it does things that I find just really refreshing after watching the 2016 Legendary Defender show. It also has some fun details that could have been source material for the world building and events in the 2016 VLD show.

The basic summary of this comic is that Team Voltron and Lotor are accidentally transported 1,200 years in the past after some classified time travel tech destabilizes in the middle of a fight. Powerless from the blast, they crash-land on a nearby planet, and they’re soon captured by people on the planet who have exceptionally advanced technology. Lotor agrees to a truce with Team Voltron to help find a way out of their prison, and back to their own time.

In arriving through the wormhole, however, they catch the attention of a very powerful group who are missing an important piece to complete their special defense project (the Voltron robot). The robot is being built in part by King Altarus, Allura’s ancestor, to fight off the villain in that ancient past—Empress Jain IX, Lotor’s evil great great (10X) grandmother, who is a sorceress hellbent on intergalactic domination.

Ultimately, Team Voltron and Lotor get caught up in the efforts to stop Empress Jain and assist King Altarus’s Council…and they discover some interesting things about themselves and about Voltron along the way!

I found A Legend Forged to be one entertaining, snarky shenanigan after another. Although it does source the 1984 character designs and backgrounds along with some references to Vehicle Voltron (which may be alienating to fans familiar only with VLD), I love that this comic deeply and openly explores what makes the Voltron franchise so identifiable and unique—its Arthurian legends/magic in the midst of an expansive space opera.

The comic is meant for slightly older audiences compared to VLD—it includes several instances of adult cursing, frightening images, some brief images of romance/non-graphic sensuality, and occasional graphic violence showing blood. I couldn’t find a publisher-recommended age for this comic on the book covers, but I think it might be T for ages 12 and older.

If you’re interested, a deeper overview of A Legend Forged is included under the cut!

___

At a high level, there’s certain things that just really attracted me to this comic, even though I’m usually not much of a comic reader:

THE WORLD BUILDING

The whole timeline distortion that takes them back 1,200 years is a direct consequence of humans attempting to back-engineer the mysterious Voltron robot. Within that back-engineering, they’d stumbled into creating a time machine:

(Photo Description: The city of Toronto in the future. Someone asks, “Time travel?” Coran replies, “Devised using reverse engineered technology from Lion Voltron, no doubt.” An alliance official responds, “Come on now, how would that be possible?” A second official responses, “Coran’s right. The way that Lion Voltron summons energy and weaponry is a mystery. We learned how to mimic the ability with the vehicle units, without really understanding it.”)

So there’s a lot of undertow here about just what exactly all these different parties (Earth/Galaxy Alliance, space pirates, Lotor) were planning to do with a time machine to begin with before it gets blown up in a battle over it. But there’s also something interesting happening here involving Fate/Destiny and plasticity of time itself.

At the very heart of this comic is the concept that the Voltron robot could not have been completed 1,200 years ago if Team Voltron and Lotor were not accidentally tossed back in time to help complete the project. And idk, I think that’s just pretty cool. It ties these lives of these characters together in a way that I don’t think I’ve seen in any other Voltron iteration—that they were meant to pilot Voltron, because their presence helped to unlock the final missing piece to bring it to life.

---

In addition, we get a really interesting look into the ancient past of the Voltron universe, back to the beginning of the first space empire. The comic’s big bad, Empress Jain IX, is an incredibly powerful and heartless sorceress of Drule heritage, from the planet Doon:

(Photo description: Empress Jain standing before the leader of a world she’s conquered, declaring, “And thus, the mighty fall! The powerful kneel at my feet! Behold the grandeur of your empress, and witness what happens to those who stand in her way!”)

But there’s always been this larger question in the Voltron franchise around King Zarkon’s unique, fish-like features compared to other Drule characters like Jain, and this comic answers that.

This is what the OG Zarkon looked like:

Compared to the ancient people of Korrinoth, who have similar ears and coloring as he does:

(Description: Keith says to the team, “I think we may be witnessing the beginning of King Zarkon’s people’s assimilation into the Drule Empire.”)

The planet that our protagonists crash-land on 1,200 years in the past is called Korrinoth. The people here had been recently conquered by Jain and share many similarities with the visual features of Zarkon. So this comic establishes that Zarkon has both Drule and Korrinite heritage. Unfortunately for Lotor, the Korrinites of the planet don’t acknowledge his Korrinite blood because he looks too Drule in comparison. So this comic reaches back on the hints that Lotor struggles to fit in with his own people…and it helps to explain why he’s captured along with Team Voltron:

(Photo description: Team Voltron and Lotor stand together, having been captured in a purple energy field functioning like jail bars.)

---

There’s also the concept that Voltron—just like the surrounding environment in Voltron franchise—is an amalgamation of science and magic. The comic’s big bad, Empress Jain, had discovered that her own dark sorcery arts could be challenged by the “lion gods,” who were demanding an increasing price be paid for her horrific conquering. In order to negate the lion gods’ power, Jain explicitly banned religious worship around them and any lion god iconography from her empire.

(Photo description: The dark entity Sarga says, “It is coming, and soon, that which may be your downfall. A twisted abomination of science and technology. The might of the Lion-Gods with the heart and mind of Man.” Jain says, “But I have banned worship of the Lions through the empire.”)

So the Voltron builders were reaching back to a very ancient, lost power that they were risking their lives to resurrect. The connection to a pantheon of lion gods helps to provide some logic around why the Voltron robot itself splits into lions—because it’s literally the symbol of these lost gods.

The visual design of Voltron is also reflected in the armor worn specifically by warriors fighting in the name of these banned gods:

(Photo description: A humanoid warrior wearing Voltron-based armor, coming to Team Voltron’s rescue at the command of the Council.)

So Voltron as a machine metaphorically stands as the Ultimate Warrior in humanoid form, supported by the individual lion gods.

---

Within the comic, it hints at some pretty intense religious discrimination—that Empress Jain was willing to arrest and torment even her own daughter, Azakhi for becoming a Lion Priestess:

(Photo description: Jain’s daughter, Azahki, is revealed to be a dirtied prisoner captured by Jain’s forces. She tells Team Voltron, “Do not fear my Drule appearance. I am a devout follower of your ways.”)

This background battle supports why Team Voltron and Lotor are instantly targeted by Jain’s forces when they crash-land on Korrinoth, bearing the banner of the lion gods in the form of Voltron.

Later on in the comic, we also see that the colors themselves represented the various domains of these lion gods:

(Photo description: An image of Voltron as it’s being built, with King Altarus narrating in the background, ““Yellow for win, red for fire, green for earth, blue for water, and at the center…the might blackness of space which houses all of reality.”)

So we really see Voltron pick up a lot more backstory to explain the robot itself.

We do get a deeper look as well into King Altarus and his Council.

King Altarus, Princess Allura’s ancestor, is the leader of the group. But the work involved in building Voltron doesn’t just rest with him like it did with Alfor in VLD. His council is just as equally if not more powerful than him in other ways.

In this panel, King Altarus introduces his four other team members as the most powerful scientists or sorcerers of their respective planet:

(Photo description: An introduction of the five council members of Altarus: “Cybrus hails from a world of sentient machines…More than a computer, he is also sorcerer to rival any other. The striking beauty to my right is Heket. Born of a nomadic race who travels the galaxy bestowing gifts of knowledge to primitive worlds. She is also the most brilliant scientist of her people. Phelos is a brilliant sci-mage from the neighboring solar system. If you are truly who you say, you may already know legends of our final ally. From a primitive world, but master of the most advance wizardry in the galazy: Merlin.”)

The combination of Altarus, Cybrus, Heket, Phelos, and Merlin all echo the 2016 Legendary Defender’s backstory—in which leaders of various people united together for the greater good of their galaxy. Once again, we have five unique planets represented in the Voltron effort—but in this case, it even includes Earth. This helps to explain part of why Voltron’s original design had very medieval attributes.

Maybe some would think it’s a bit hokey that the OG builders included the actual Arthurian figure of Merlin, the wizard? Idk, I think it’s kind of a fun way to connect Voltron’s ancient, magical past to Earth as well, and it suggests that Merlin was preparing or called by the others to help prepare for a future of advanced warfare. I’ve always wondered why the OG Voltron looked so medieval with the crests and the swords and such—and actually, it being built in part by a medieval human wizard would help to explain that!

We also see in the DDP comics a very heavy evolution to Allura’s character and to the world building within the Voltron franchise itself. She’s no longer just a princess who knows how to fight—she’s actively a Clairvoyant, with untapped power. King Altarus acknowledges, and the other Council members sense it, that Princess Allura has way more internal magic than she even knows about herself:

(Photo description: Council member Heket says to King Altarus, “I have a feeling about the girl [Allura]. Her aura is oddly similar to your own.”)

We also see that the dark entity Sarga recognizes this in her as well:

(Photo description: The dark entity Sarga says to Empress Jain, “The visitors…they each have a link to this monstrosity. However, the blood of only one of them pulses with the magic of Arus. The one called Allura! She is the one! She must be—” Jain cuts in, “The host!” And Sarga confirms, “Yes, with Princess Allura, Sarga will live in this realm once more. With her, we can control Voltron.”)

I feel like this magic probably helped to set the tone for the Princess Allura we meet in the 2016 Legendary Defender reboot, who ultimately got the opportunity to grow into the powers that are hinted at here in this previous iteration.

---

I do also like this comic because the protagonists (with the exception of Pidge who is 16) are adults, and they’re a little more mature in their decisions and interests.

Like, for example, the Lance in this comic has a much more extensive sensitivity to and interest in culture. Instead of it being Hunk bonding with aliens through food, we see Lance as the diplomat, bonding with Jain’s daughter Azahki, just by asking her questions:

(Photo description: Lance and Jain’s daughter, Azahki, sitting at a table and eating. Lance says, “That hit the sport. I was frickin’ starving.” Azahki says, “After being held prisoner for so long, I had forgotten what real food tastes like. So much time was wasted…so much life. Just sitting in a cell because of my beliefs. I…I’m sorry, Lance. This should be a nice evening, and I’m bringing the mood down.”)

(Photo description: Lance replies, “Actually, I’m fascinated to learn more about the followers of the Lions, and about you. Like, where you come from. You feel free to talk about whatever comes to mind.” Azahki responds then, “You’re too kind.”)

I think along with this, we see a more nuanced view into the Drule themselves. Azahki, as both a Drule and as Empress Jain’s daughter, has turned away from the evil deeds of the empire and has suffered dearly for trying to do the right thing. This falls in line with DDP’s dedication in the worldbuilding to show that not all Drule are bad.

We also see some very interesting, Honervian backstory relating to Empress Jain’s dark powers. Like VLD Honerva, Jain is in part backed by an ancient spirit/power she likes to “talk” to. She calls on it as the “Mother of Power.” This creepy creature is named Sarga in the comics:

(Photo description: Jain summons Sarga: “Mother of Power, Great Spirit, I summon thee.” The dark entity Sarga manifests and says, “Yesss, sweet Jain! You know my name! Feel free to speak it. Have you found the Host?” Jain replies, “Not yet, great Sarga. But the search continues. To date, my body is the only one that could sustain you in our realm.” Sarga says, “Jain. Do not be so simple-minded. It’s only your mortal shell.” Jain retorts, “One that I rather like, thank you.”)

Sarga is pushing for Jain to give up her mortal body entirely so that Sarga can walk the mortal plane, but they don’t see eye to eye on this. Jain likes having her own body. Even so, Sarga knows that she has to protect her investment in Jain, and so she’s the one who plants a devious idea in Jain’s head—that she could potentially use the Voltron from the future to destroy the Voltron of the past, and therefore reestablish her supremacy over the lion gods and their legacy.

Tbh, I visually get a LOT of vibes from Jain relating to VLD’s Honerva character? Down to the long stringy hair and gold eyes…and she really does look like a female version of Lotor, tbh, lol.

(Photo description: Jain leaning in a circle of candles, exhausted from summoning Sarga, who has referred to Voltron. Jain murmurs to herself, “Pow..power. There is power in that name.”)

I think what I like about Jain as a big bad, though, is that she’s legit just an evil person. She doesn’t have an abuse backstory, like what so many content creators like to reference as the reason for someone going insane/evil. She’s clearly very talented and very powerful and very in control, and she’s using those abilities in all the wrong ways just because she can.

Given DDP’s contributions to the Voltron franchise with its female villains (Merla, Jain), I almost can’t believe that the 2016 VLD show didn’t carry these characters forward but instead raised up the all-new Honerva as “needed female villain rep.” But I can definitely see the echoes of Jain in the Honerva that we see throughout VLD.

I also really, really see similarities in how Jain is willing to use her own daughter, Azahki, as a pawn for her own aims. And by the end of the comic, Jain eventually accomplishes bringing Sarga into the mortal plane by sacrificing her own daughter’s body. This pretty hauntingly echoes the lack of maternal instinct seen in Honerva in VLD and Honerva’s malicious interest in and use of Lotor, even post-death in s8.

I feel like I relived Honerva’s interactions with Lotor in s8 when I saw how Jain acts with her own daughter, Azahki:

(Photo description: Azahki has been shot in the battle. Jain kneels down to her and cries, “Daughter. My only daughter.” Azahki says, “Mother...you…you’re crying? I…I’m sorry…you didn’t give me… a choice.” Jain pleads, “You can’t do this, Azahki, not now. After being gone for so long and now…” But then Jain has a complete switch of demeanor. She stands up and declares, “Now you’ve ruined everything! Everything!” Azahki, bewildered, says, “What?” And Jain yells, “I should have killed you in your crib!”)

Another association with Honerva is that Honerva/Haggar killed the original paladins. Likewise, it is Jain who takes down the Council one by one:

(Photo description: Jain breaks into the Council, hand glowing with power and fallen warriors around her, saying, “How could someone with such feeble defenses have eluded me for so long, Altarus? I give you credit for that, at least.”)

(Photo description: Jane is surrounded by the dead bodies of Merlin and Heket. She says, “Now, to finish this.”)

So I guess I’m just fascinated by Jain as a villain and find her similarities with Honerva interesting. In Jain’s case, however, there’s absolutely nothing to be sympathetic with her on, lol.

In terms of Lotor’s part:

I think this comic represents probably the most actively hopeful iteration of him that I’ve seen in the Voltron franchise? Like, Dynamite Comics had Lotor moving to ally with Team Voltron to bring down the rift creatures in a massive alliance, but those comics were canceled before we could see the whole story that Brandon Thomas intended. Here, we have a whole, complete story in which Lotor actively does good deeds and lives, wow.

(I didn’t think that was, like, allowed in this franchise, lol?)

I do think it’s really interesting that here, Lotor comes face-to-face with just pure, unadulterated evil—and it scares him. Just like in VLD, this Lotor is forced to watch Jain decimate an entire planet and enslave its people. Despite being canonically “evil,” Lotor does not take this level of destruction very well:

(Photo description: Empress Jain speaking to an underling, saying, “For now, rid this planet of its luscious environment and warp home.”)

(Photo description: The planet is set ablaze by Jain’s forces. Lotor is looking on from a different ship. He is unsettled by Jain’s power and says, “My god.” His prisoner that he’s watching on Team Voltron’s request (the space pirate Captain Stride), teases, “Nothing like a little global decimation to build character, eh, Lotor?” And Lotor warns, “Stride,” with an upset look on this face.)

His motivations for helping out and connecting with both Team Voltron and King Altarus’s council do start with just wanting to save his own neck. But as the comic progresses, we see him taking larger and larger risks to help protect the team, and he responds more emotionally to the stakes being faced by other allies.

Jain’s level of evil, and her later attempts to target Princess Allura as a host body for the dark entity Sarga, are what really push Lotor out of the antagonist/villain role into the position of antihero. And I like this exploration of him because Lotor is a really fascinating character in the franchise and usually always a wild card. Like, he has the capacity to play both sides and be unpredictable.

And it’s interesting too that this comic even opens up by acknowledging that. In the beginning, King Altarus and his council are watching Team Voltron and Lotor recalibrate from their crash-landing on Korrinoth. King Altarus notes that Lotor is evil, but that he’s capable of doing good…because of his love for Allura:

(Photo description: King Altarus judging the team: “The girl has a clairvoyance about her, but doesn’t even realize it. I sense something noble about all of them…save for the Drule who should not be trusted. Although his apparent fondness for the woman may cause him to fight his true evil nature at least for a while.”)

Later in the comic, it’s King Altarus himself who leans on Lotor when he thinks all hope is lost. And it’s Lotor who holds him up and tries to take down Jain:

(Photo description: King Altarus leans upon Lotor and mourns, “She’s…she’s done it, Lotor. She’s ruined our chances. Five generations…for nothing.” Lotor has raised a blaster and replies, “Not without going through me first.”)

So we really see this comic actively allow Lotor’s character to do things outside of the typical bounds of a villain. The very person who called him inherently evil is the one wailing to him and counting on him to save the day, lol.

We also see echoes of VLD Lotor’s pride in this comic. The DDP Lotor is also a man of mixed heritage and is very proud of who and what he is.

(Photo description: Lotor is on the battlefield, having slain an enemy who’d called them pathetic. Lotor responds, “Pathetic? My noble blood begs to differ.”)

So I liked that once again, Lotor is actually proud of who he is even though the world around him actively tries to devalue him. I think that’s been something meaningful about the Lotor character that a lot of people have connected to.

In his efforts to assist Team Voltron in reclaiming their own recharged Voltron lions (so that Jain can’t get them), Lotor is actually a very helpful ally as well, and a skilled warrior. So it was fun to see panels of Team Voltron and Lotor fighting together, side by side.

THE CLIMAX AND RESOLUTION

Ultimately, the evil Empress Jain tries to take over the Voltron from the future, in realizing that Allura has deep, spiritual connections to the machine. She agrees that this makes Allura the perfect host body for the dark entity Sarga, and as their way to control the robot. And so she enacts the rituals to possess Allura:

(Photo description: Allura’s features are mutating unnaturally as Sarga begins to posses her. In the background, Jain calls, “Don’t fight it, child. Don’t fight the honor of becoming a god.” Someone in the background, revealed later to be Lotor, calls out, “No! You can’t do this!”)

With Jain threatening Allura’s life, Lotor steps up to defend her, still holding up the battered King Altarus:

(Photo description: Lotor yells, “No! Not Allura!” And he shoots Jain through the shoulder.)

(Photo description: Jain snaps, “Lotor! How dare you attack your own kind! I’ll smite my own daughter, let alone a pissant distant grandson!”)

Ultimately, Lotor’s decision to shoot his grandma (what is it with this franchise and matricide/patricide lol) results in Jain being distracted long enough for the combined spiritual/soul energies of Allura, the previous Council members, and Altarus to bring “life” to Voltron.

This completes Voltron as a spiritual being as well—that it’s sentient and not just a robot, but imbued with the hopes and impulses for a defender against the evil attacking them.

(Photo description: Voltron awakens as a sentient robot and stands to move against Jain.)

Realizing that she has lost, Jain flees in a poof of magic—with her daughter, Azahki, oddly disappearing too. The comic ends for them on an unsettling note that Sarga has in fact slipped through to the mortal realm…by choosing Azahki instead of Allura as her host body:

(Photo description: Jain kneels and cries, “Oh mighty Sarga, I humbly beseech thee. Forgive my failures. Forgive my ability to bring you into our world. I beg you to be given a second chance! I vow to you we will see this through.” From behind, someone says, “Don’t be so harsh, mother.” Jain turns around and asks, “Who dares?” A woman in a cloak appears and says, “You may have failed to give me Voltron’s power, my child. But do not fear.” The woman is revealed to be the possessed body of Azahki, Jain’s daughter. Through her body, Sarga says, “I found a body that will do just fine for now.”)

However, we don’t see this thread explored any further. Shortly after the battle, the Galaxy Alliance manages to rebuild a temporal manipulation device to lock in on the missing Team Voltron and Lotor, and pull them back through time.

(Photo description: A strange flying machine appears. Someone asks, “What…what is it?” Allura echoes, “What’s it doing?” Lotor peers at it curiously and says, “I believe it’s scanning us.” The comic panels show the device scanning and identifying people to send back to modern times.)

And so, eventually, this wayward team makes it back home, with the final panels suggesting the Garrison had to complete a couple of temporal jumps to do it.

FUN LITTLE PIECES ALONG THE WAY

The comic itself had some interesting and funny scenes in it, including the following:

Please enjoy this image of a boi having tamed a dinosaur in the middle of an active battle:

(Photo description: Prince Lotor sitting atop a large, dinosaur-like creature that he’s tamed, calling joyfully to the paladins, “You can put your toy away, Pidge. I know where to find the lions.”)

Pidge jokes about Hunk and Lance:

(Photo description: Hunk had saved Lance from a shot. In running past them, Pidge calls, “Keep moving, guys! There’ll be time for spooning later.”)

Some time-traveling paradox humor:

(Photo description: Lotor shooting an ancient Drule, “Hope you’re not one of my forefathers.”)

Some Keith and Lance badgering:

(Photo description: Lance complains, “Keith Kogane seriously isn’t going to lecture me about battlefield romance, is he?”)

Did VLD get the name Kaltor from this comic??? Because Kalthor sounds pretty darn similar to Kaltor from VLD:

(Photo description: Jain calling out for an underling, “Kalthor! Sigh. Kalthor, this effort is beneath me. Extract the information I seek.”)

ALSO BLESS, THIS COMIC LETS ALLURA CUSS:

(Photo description: Princess Allura raises a blaster to use, but it doesn’t work. She says, “What the--? Damn! Now is not the time for you to malfunction! And I do not know how to fix a 1,200-year-old—”)

This comic probably is also the singular place in the DDP comics that offers any evidence whatsoever that Lotor and Allura actually did have positive childhood experiences together prior to his father decimating Arus, helping to explain Lotor’s curious loyalty to Allura throughout:

(Photo description: Lotor standing before Allura and saying, “I knew you’d pull through, Allura. Speaking of treehouses, do you remember climbing the Arusion orchids in the royal gardens when we were children?” Allura responds, “Yes…of course I do. I…”)

And finally, this comic has no issues whatsoever with making fun of itself or the concept of robotic lions:

(Photo description: A space pirate complains to Lotor, “Think about it! How you think this place ends up looking like it does in our time? Looking like Planet Doom?! Meanwhile, the Kitty Cat Club up there gets out without a scratch!”)

VOLTRON IS THE KITTY CAT CLUB, 2008 CONFIRMED

CONCLUSION

The 5-part comic A Legend Forged (2008) adds an incredible amount of history and lore to the Voltron franchise. It gave me some things that I personally was really craving out of this franchise—including some logic behind the lion imagery, a legit alliance between previously warring groups that doesn’t just end in catastrophe, some adult snark and some good-old fashioned silliness, some deeper exploration into dark entities/spirits, and also just a really powerful villainess that you can love to hate.

I think the comic ultimately took on the theme of Strength in Unity and fulfilled the concept that people really can work together. Even if the Team Voltron and Lotor and Council alliance was all just temporary, it was still nice to see that alliance come through for the greater good of the universe, instead of leading to more mass insanity like it did in VLD….

I liked that in this iteration, Voltron stood as a collective effort on the part of various worlds who were oppressed by Empress Jain. That helps to tone down the savior complex inherent in the franchise, that at least here, Voltron wasn’t one nation’s attempt to play police for all other people.

From a critical perspective, if you read carefully, there are some instances where you can tell that various alien races are prejudiced against each other and discriminate on the basis of appearance and religion, and even Team Voltron feeds into this at times in their initial assumption that Korrinites are a barbarian race when in fact they’re very intelligent and advanced. These aspects are just not fully reflected on within this comic, but they definitely feed into the conflict as we experience it 1,200 years in the past. Interestingly enough, the comic also makes fun of Team Voltron members who are from Earth as being “primitive” too. So I guess the DDP world does function in a “problematic” state where all of these alien races are struggling with how to interact well with one another. I’m not sure if that baseline would be a potential trigger for someone just entering this series, so I wanted to call it out here.

I do also occasionally find comics hard to read because of the all-caps print and because comics will switch back and forth between past and present, with only small visual markers to warn you. So I don’t think these comics are designed in the most accessible way. But that could just be me.

---

Overall, I think A Legend Forged ranks as one of my more favorite comic iterations of Voltron. It definitely has some differences from both the 1984 and 2016 shows, but it pulls on enough shared content to remain accessible. And while it was a quick read, it felt pretty tightly constructed. I would have liked to see more aftermath and epilogue, but I feel thankful that the story got an ending and that both Team Voltron and Lotor are shown being transported back home. The comic’s similarities and differences compared to VLD made it fun to read and analyze as well.

So yeah, if you get the chance to try reading it yourself, I recommend it! And if you’ve made it to the end of this very long post, thank you for reading!

#Comics #Voltron #Comics review #A Legend Forged #Allura #Lotor #Keith #Hunk #Lance #Pidge #Zarkon #Jain #Azahki #Coran #DDP Voltron #yay I finally finished my review piece #it actually was a pretty enjoyable read

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whattheheehaw · 3 years

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Hi! I’m sorry you’re getting shitty anons about this and you’re probably sick of it so I apologise for asking this but I’m genuinely curious what made you start actively disliking zutara? Like, considering how much excellent and insightful content/meta you yourself used to make/write? I get that interests change over time and you’re totally valid!! the anons sending you hate over it are really dumb, but if you’d be ok with sharing, I’d be really interested in hearing why you’ve done almost a complete 180 on the ship? Was is just burnout/end of a hyper-obsession? Or was it some of us in the rest of the fandom that turned you off? Or was it even something about the ship/characters themselves that you changed your mind about? xx

In short, it was a combination of burnout, dissatisfaction with fandom, and disappointment in myself that caused my disinterest for Zvtara.

I got asks similar to this one a couple of times before, but I never gave a comprehensive answer, mainly because I didn't know how to articulate my reasons why I don't like it anymore. But now that I've been out of ZK fandom for a month and have had some time to reflect, I think I can give a much more thorough response. Beware, this is long and I heavily critique the Zvtara fandom, so if you're a ZK shipper, keep reading at your own risk.

My first minor annoyance with Zvtara is that the fandom has a tendency to idolize certain fics and creators. And while there’s certainly nothing inherently wrong about that, I feel like the Zvtara fandom does it to such an extent that it influences the type of content that content creators make in order to get recognition. And to illustrate my point, I’m going to talk about one of the most famous Zvtara fics of all time: Once Around The Sun by eleventy7.

Don’t get me wrong, I love OATS. I think it’s a great fanfic and I think the author devoted a lot of time and effort to make it such an excellent fic. The plot, the development of the characters and their relationships to one other, and the messages about family and love were all brilliantly written. I mean, there is a reason why it’s regarded as the “Zvtara Bible”. This one fanfic had such a profound impact upon the ZK fandom, and I think the biggest impact that came from it is the dramatic influx of post-war Zvtara AU fanfiction.

Because so many people kept reading OATS and recommending it to others, I think there was an overall interest in ZK fics that take place in a post-war setting. And I think that all of the high praise towards OATS made more fic writers start to write post-war fanfics because of this demand for post-war AU.* I normally wouldn't complain about it because more content is more content, but in my opinion, 99% of ZK post-war fics are the same fic but in different fonts.

Like, there's at least 3 of these elements in every ZK post-war fanfic:

Ambassador Katara

An assassination attempt (usually on Zuko's life)

A healing scene between Zuko and Katara (usually Katara heals Zuko)

Aang and/or Mai is pushed to the side or vilified to some extent in order to make ZK happen

A private journey between Zuko and Katara to facilitate #6

S L O W B U R N (that's not really slowburn and more like "I love you and I very much want to be vocal about my feelings but #7 is in this fic" but the love story takes up like 30 chapters so I guess it's a slowburn?)

Zuko's advisers don't want him to get married to Katara because ✨racism✨

Ursa is found

Azula is in the fic because a) she's going to get a healing arc ft. Zuko and Katara and thereby helps them get together or b) she's the villain and thereby helps them get together

ZK wedding happens in the FN

After reading multiple post-war fics back to back, I could tell that the format was pretty much the same across the board, which isn't very interesting for me to read. My only other fic options in the Zvtara tag on AO3 are canon divergence fics which almost always take place during The Crossroads of Destiny or after The Southern Raiders. And to some extent, those stories are pretty much the same too. There's nothing really new or creative going on in the ZK fandom fic-wise, and because of that, my interest in ZK fandom started to dwindle.

My second issue with Zvtara is that it's a very old ship from a very old show. Because there's been 10+ years since the end of A:TLA, every nuanced point about shipping and the show itself have been talked to death.** There's just nothing new to say. It's the same arguments being rehashed over and over again in the tag because there's no other interpretation one can come up with.

For example, there's so many people who talk about why Zvtara as depicted in The Southern Raiders is not toxic and that's great and all, but I (and most likely many others) have read those same points about five times already. And for some reason, each time this happens, people act like someone just discovered the lost city of Atlantis when they bring up their new-but-not-new argument in defense of Zvtara. Honestly, I'm ashamed to say that I'm not exempt from being part of the group of people that reiterate old arguments. I've done it with one of my posts about The Southern Raiders and I've done it again with my Zutara/Omashu parallels post.

There's no new content to really dissect and analyze (especially considering Zuko and Katara are rarely in the same panel in any of the post-war comics), and because of this, people are just restating points that someone else made several years ago.*** And even if someone did have a different interpretation of an episode, their ideas would most likely be shut down because for the past several years, the same interpretation has been recycled through the fandom repeatedly and people are resistant to new perspectives.

This brings me to the third thing that I dislike about Zvtara: the insistence that there can only be one way to interpret The Southern Raiders. For the longest time, I've read take after take that said if Katara decided to kill Yon Rha, it would be ok because that's her grief to deal with and if she thinks that's the best way to mete out justice, then good for her. And again, I'm ashamed to say that I perpetuated that idea in a few of my own posts. I have always thought that "Katara killing Yon Rha is ok" is just a bad take in general, but I didn't want to vocalize that opinion when so many people—so many of the nice mutuals that I made—all shared that same opinion. Taking down a popular opinion of your own ship is completely different from taking down a popular opinion of a ship that you dislike. The Zvtara fandom is the first fandom that I was actually active in and I wanted to fit in so badly with everyone else that I just parroted whatever other people said, even if I didn't agree with those sentiments.

This leads me to my final reason why I don't want to be a part of ZK fandom anymore. I think I established myself as a "meta" person pretty early on and because of that, I constantly felt pressured to come up with new takes on the ship. And when people started flooding my ask box with stuff like "Can you write a meta about your thoughts on the idea that 'Zuko only took Katara on that field trip in TSR because he wanted her to forgive him'?" and "What are your thoughts about antis saying Zuko and Katara are toxic because of TSR?", I realized that I don't need to come up with new takes. People just want me to paraphrase something that 10 other people said about the same exact topic, because if I said what I actually thought about the subject (i.e. there is some truth in what antis say about TSR and it's not as much of a "Zvtara episode" that most people make it out to be), I'd probably get ZK shippers in the replies telling me that I'm wrong because x, y, and z or "you shouldn't tag this as Zvtara".

And that was pretty much how my love for ZK turned into disinterest. I was and still am disappointed that I didn't stick to my personal opinions. For as much as I talk about herd mentality on Twitter, I certainly don't practice what I preach. In all honesty, the only reason why I held on so long to ZK fandom was because I had so many nice mutuals there and we all shared this collective distaste for antis. I think I started to become more anti-Zvkka and anti-Kataang than pro-Zvtara, which isn't what I wanted to do when I made this Tumblr blog.

The thing that made me joke about becoming anti-Zvtara was the fact that some ZK shippers just like to send shitty anons to people whom they've reblogged countless different metas from. Sending shitty anons to people in the first place is wrong, but sending them to people who tagged their posts correctly and did nothing wrong is just disgusting.

*I'm not a fic writer and can't speak for fic writers, but it definitely feels like a lot of ZK fic authors are pushing themselves to write the next OATS, and by doing so, they are proliferating the tag with post-war fics that have very similar aspects to OATS.

**I think that as more people point out the same nuanced points about Zvtara, it diminishes the actual significance of those points. Like, it's hard to explain but the more people talk about the subtleties of the ship, the more those parts become glaringly obvious and I become numb to their actual impact on the characters and the show.

***At this point, if someone wanted to make a new argument about Zvtara, I think they would have to look very closely at every little detail in every single one of their scenes together to find a crumb of new meta material. And speaking from experience, it's not very fun trying to make a mountain out of a molehill. Whenever I post a "meta" like that, I feel like I'm reaching to make a point that doesn't exist.

#anti zutara #anonymous #ask and ye shall receive

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