#it took them a millennia but the promise is fulfilled | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

etheriadearie · 11 months

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Hi! First of all, love your blog!! I have a question that I would love to hear your thoughts on - I love your analysis of catra and think so much of it is spot on. I love hearing about how much of her actions have come from a place of love for adora.. I was wondering what about the scene where she cuts adora off the cliff to presumably fall to her death? was she really in that moment ok with killing her? what do you think about Moments like that where we see the physical harm she is willing

Catra's long walk through darkness to being the light of Adora's life-

This is such an important moment so thanks for bringing it up. To put things simply, Catra believes she’s not killing Adora. In fact, I'm certain she KNOWS she isn't. How am I sure? Because what we’re seeing play out is something deeper, that is, in fact, magic... (meta to come, but first…)

Pictured: four times Catra encounters Etheria's magic- (Promise/Promise/Portal/Heart Part2)

Promise is the most important episode of SPOP prior to s5, it really has no equal. The fractured history of their relationship before we meet them in ep1 is revealed, and as such, the reasons Catra feels she must be apart- all while there are actually three forces acting upon both Catra and Adora. I hear about two of them, but what's the third?

I'd encourage anyone reading this meta to carefully listen as Catra makes Adora fall. Because what we're hearing is important. (feel free to do so now or later)

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🎶🎵 Do you hear it? 🎶🎵 Why does the music rise and then gloriously crescendo as Catra says her final goodbye?

The music rising here makes this an 🎶undeniably🎶 positive moment for Catra. This is -their- song, Promise, and it crescendos as Catra leaves Adora. So what's the deal?

Well, in short, it means that Catra leaving Adora is the right thing. How can that be. Well, Adora's willingness to sacrifice herself, and others, who she loves, to fulfill duty is wrong. Adora isn't becoming a hero like the Princesses and Light Hope tell her she is, she's walking into a millennia old trap. Catra has seen this behavior before, and Adora’s not choosing the strong path of a hero of love.

Adora’s false belief in duty means that she goes from fulfilling one manipulator's every wish, Shadow Weaver, to another when she gets the sword- the First Ones. And Catra knows in her gut that Adora is wrong, like she has been before. So, Catra -must- refuse to enable her any longer. In doing so, Catra is rightly asserting her own personal worth.

The narrative arc goes on to show us that in s1-4 Adora not a hero, and the reasons Catra is rejecting her during Promise are exactly why she's not on the true path of She-ra: By rejecting love, Adora cannot be a hero, she instead enacts a false form of false justice thats based in naive belief and others prejudices. This is why Catra wanted to go, because she’s seen it all before- where Adora rationalizes others' pain as part of her false duty, letting her anxious need to satisfy others control her.

Yes, the war is terrible, and Catra is directly involved in its cruelty. We should absolutely fault her for that. I'll of course talk about Adora's violence being similar, but Catra indeed rationalizes violence as necessary in a terribly biased way. Like many of you, I found her s4 portrayal hard to stomach and I didn't know if she could come back from who she seemed to have become. It took Nate Stevenson’s genius s5 for me to realize he had done something amazing with her and Adora’s arcs. Yet, in the subtext of the plot it's obvious that Catra shouldn't go with Adora, as well as that the war that they fight in s1-4 isn't quite what it seems... (more later)

In the most basic way possible, Catra would not want to go along with Adora considering her false behavior, but this is a decision reinforced by the power of magic, which we’ll discuss. Catra’s choices are rooted in survival always, (not in wanting power or proving herself, nuhuh) and the way Adora treated her was abandonment which encouraged the violence she was up against from their abuser. It's not surprising Catra would want to go her own way, and so the only way she sees for herself to survive is within the Horde. It's about survival, simply that.

And Adora, meanwhile, can't have her cake (trying to enact a false form of She-ra justice) and eat it too (have Catra’s love.) She feels loneliness where Catra used to be because of her own falseness that she’s acting out due to her traumas. Going on emotions alone there are good reasons for their separation, and both are wrong, but there's also a magical force here that's leading them both up to the true crescendo of Promise when Catra confesses her love…

But I digress, let's discuss the meaning of Promise, and the hidden magic behind what happens.

The 3 forces: two good, one "evil"

The first of the three forces acting on Catra and Adora in Promise is plain to see: the love which they have for each other, which ought to mean that they can heal their divide. But, as we know, their love is too fractured at this point to do so.

The next is our 'evil' force- Light Hope, who most people assume is controlling what they see in the Crystal Castle to manipulate and divide them towards the ends of enacting the First Ones plan of destroying Etheria. But, does this explanation really make sense, or does it lack something?

Why would Nate Stevenson have the music soar as Catra walks away from Adora if that were the case? Promise being so gloriously played as she does this makes this a positive moment for Catra, although melancholy, and not the moment of Light Hope's triumph in her dark plot. We don't hear this song played so gloriously again until s5 when Catra confesses her love, when the music reaches its true crescendo. Maybe the music here means that Catra mustn't go with Adora, for Adora’s own sake-?

This is what I mean by a third, mysterious and -magical- force, that's also acting on them, which is on the side of good, but is seeing the long game and trying to avert the larger disaster we see at the end of s4 when the weapon is activated- the evil First Ones plot nearly coming to fruition and destroying them all. This force gives Catra a push towards separating from Adora during Promise, where it is letting history play out so that Adora's falseness as its hero is exposed. This force is deep planetary magic...

The rising of the music is a hint its presence, but the direct evidence of it is seen during strange happenstances in Promise, which we’ll discuss, as well as further occurrences later on in the series. What this force is trying to accomplish is the halting of that evil plot, as that is paramount, and is working towards Adora developing into the hero of love she's supposed to be. Adora needs to have the strength of self to reject false manipulations and burdens, in order to defeat their true enemies all along- the First Ones and Horde Prime.

And, for Adora to confront her own wrong baises, Catra cannot enable her false rationalizations any more. So, the magic is acting on Catra, helping her to decide to go. It's not just her anger at Adora's rationalizing away her pain that's guiding Catra's decision to let Adora struggle alone as a false hero, the magic tells her that she's right. If Adora can't see how she's wrong, like how she didn't know Shadow Weaver continued to torture Catra, then being apart is what’s right for Catra and also what will enable Adora to come to terms with her own weaknesses. All of which needs to happen for Adora to realize the path of the hero of love, and for them to come back together in the end and win with the power of love.

This force guiding Catra is the deep magic of Etheria, the magic of love.

Razz describes magic as a source of beauty and of good, which cannot be controlled, it just is.

It is love, as well as the beautiful diversity of life, it is its own innate force- and love is more powerful than anything in the universe. Loving is perhaps the greatest thing we can do during our lives…

And, as we first see Catradora in episode 1, there's hardly any love, especially from Adora back to Catra. After all, Adora rationalized and enabled their abusers actions. Catra, in contrast, was still doing her best to love Adora as of ep1, to wake her from her anxious need to satisfy Shadow Weaver, to bring her back to love. But she had no way to reach her, because Adora had stopped listening to her long ago...

During Promise, Etheria's magic sees that Catradora is but a whisper of its potential, and it needs both of them to be strong by love. Adora may go on to learn to be a hero of love the hard way, making many mistakes with grave consequences, but Catra’s journey alone and the dark consequences of her actions will give her the wisdom she needs to be strong enough to be with Adora, who is the focus of over a millennia's of violence and deception. It's Catra who knows to double down on love, and by doing so is able to unlock Adora’s power of love that lets them win in the end.

But I digress- what does the guidance of this mysterious force look like, and what are its intentions?

The first uncanny moment of its intervention can be seen when Adora beings to fall and Catra catches her:

The way the plot has Catra so casually in position to catch Adora feels unnatural. That's because, as we’re watching this scene, Catra is in no position to save Adora, having distanced herself from Adora because she was pestering Catra about why she returned the sword, aggravating her.

Catra so illogically being out of place to save her here is a hint that there's something else going on. It's as if Catra knew Adora would fall before it happens…

This is what I mean by guiding force, because I believe this is exactly what we're seeing- where it's Etheria’s magic guiding this moment, not Light Hope. It sets a trust fall moment for them. And we can see how Adora doesn't get it:

We know in canon that Catra always loved Adora (also, Catra's tail flirt at the end ☺️), but the prejudiced viewpoint Adora shares here shows just how little she gets it. Like how she didn't know Catra continued to be tortured by Shadow Weaver, like how she didn't know the Horde was evil before Glimmer berates and guilts her over it, yet Catra did. Adora is far too focused on duty and satisfying others unfair expectations to see the truth, it was true before she switched sides and it's true afterwards, and that’s how she's not on the true path of She-ra.

We're also seeing the thesis moment of Promise here, because the rest of the episode plays out to show us just how wrong Adora is. We see the memory of Catra being tortured and then treated with death threats by their abuser, how Adora came up short in standing up to Shadow Weaver, and then how she went on to break the promise she made to Catra in order to satisfy their abusers expectations. Adora has a naive belief in duty due to her trauma that's being exposed and which prevents her from being the true She-ra.

During this moment of Catra catching Adora it's not so much that Adora misstepped, than that the magic changed the ground to make sure Adora would start to fall- setting up the trust fall, of which Catra is given privileged knowledge is about to happen, that exposes Adora’s false mentality for us to see.

::I suspect Catra likely feels this coming like hearing a whisper in the back of her mind. It is the first of many guidances from the magic... how it happens doesn't really matter, as we see further evidence of interventions on their behalves later in the series. But in Promise, she will act on this whisper, which confirms to her that her feeling that Adora is misguided are justified, like she has seen Adora be before. Since Adora had closed herself off emotionally to any guidance Catra tries to give her at this point in the series, Catra will choose to go alone instead.

So, there really is no way Catra would be with Adora at this point in the series; hoping she’d be with her with Adora’s falseness as a friend is hoping for something that was simply not there. Catra, as the person who Adora stopped valuing with love, will (unconsciously) play the part of Adora’s foil in s1-4 that's needed to expose the weakness that makes her no hero of love. This is where Catra's needed, and Etheria knows Adora’s failure to trust in love will lead to her failing as Etheria's hero, something that must be corrected if the cycle of violence is to ever actually stop- as she goes on to do at the end of s5. It's guidance is a nudge in the direction of Catra leaving so Adora will learn how she's a false hero.

Adora really does have a problem with letting others misguide her, Light Hope of course but also Glimmer, who forces false burdens on her unthinkingly. Adora must instead choose love over false duty and burdens, because love is what can guide her hero's journey and will make her strong enough to overcome the really difficult things that history is asking of her. Catra will help her do this gladly in s5, but don't make the mistake of assuming Adora in s1 was capable of accepting Catra's love and advice, she’s blocked it off from herself with her anxious trauma guided beliefs. In truth, Adora needed to change for the better just as much as Catra did.

Now, I realize that this theory may be hard to accept, because it means Etheria stans the war, if only a bit. But, with how much is wrong with the war, such as the prejudices the Princesses show while further being ignorant of how they're part of a First Ones weapon, there are no easy solutions to fixing this. Etheria needs them all to be stronger, but to be strong they must choose that strength for themselves- the strength of love, it cannot tell them what to do. Doing that produces no real strength.

They must learn- the hard way: Catra and Adora must choose to value love by their own will, but that doesn't mean Etheria isn't going to remain idle when so many seek to manipulate and destroy them, especially such as with Adora, who is the focus of Light Hope and the First Ones plots.

It's acting on them both here, but as it just so happens, there's another time the magic guides Catra during Promise-

The next time we see Etheria guiding Catra is as she watches Adora make the promise to her child self that was broken, and then Catra's child self stops to look back at Catra, her eyes full of meaning:

Catra's child self's actions here isn't a memory, it's an addition, one added by Etheria as it tries to communicate to Catra the gravity of Adora’s misguided behavior. I really can't accept the idea that Light Hope produced this moment, because she's not some perfect abuser. There is way too much nuanced emotion occurring.

Etheria’s magic, on the other hand, is a living thing- even if not human, it intimately understands love as a powerful force that exists in nature, and it's telling Catra to not enable Adora's false heroes path any longer. Not when she values love so little as to give in to prejudice and allow others ignorant and/or self centered narratives to guide her.

Their real enemies- the First Ones and Horde Prime, will be able to exploit Adora’s fragile guilt complex against her- by accepting the sword, she stepped into their trap. Because of that, in s1-4 a thousand years of manipulations are right on track to give the First Ones what they want- destroying Etheria, something that can only be stopped once and for all if Adora accepts her true self, her loving heart that makes her the hero of love. And Catra, while the Horde IS wrong, is providing the proving grounds needed for Adora to develop her own hero's way by allowing a false conflict to continue.

Adora remains misguided all the way until s4, when she starts to trust her own feelings, laying the groundwork for being the true She-ra we see in s5. It really does take her this long to do this, she really turns the corner on it for the better when she voices total rejection of the First Ones control in s4 as she smashes the sword, instead speaking her own mantra based on love. And, this rejection of the roles made for her by others happens in large part because of Catra’s unwillingness to accept Adora as someone who enacts naive and false justice. Even if it's hard to watch, Catra refusing to enable Adora was correct.

::As Catra's child self looks at her, magic is trying to tell Catra that following Adora now would mean nothing would ever actually get better, and that her behavior will result in further disaster. Catra decides then that following Adora would be the wrong thing to do...

::So no: Catra isn't trying to kill Adora at all, or even at any point in the series. We can take her words at the Battle of Brightmoon, that she knew Adora wouldn't die, to heart. Not that it's also easy to see how she knows that they are inside a simulation, and that on some level none of it is real, and that she therefore knows Adora is not in real danger if she falls.

But, Catra can feel that something else is trying to tell her that Adora is wrong, confirming her suspicions that Adora is on a false path once again. This force is Etheria’s magic, and it will guide her yet again...

That's the short answer, but we should talk about the other evidence of Etheria’s guidance and it's implications. Next up in our journey: the Portal episodes.

Later Evidence of Catra's connection to Etheria’s magic

Etheria’s next guidance happens during the Portal event, when all hope seems lost and Etheria is vanishing towards non-existence. The veil that separates magic and reality thins, and because of it, we get Corrupted Catra, returned from death instead infused with knowledge gifted by Etheria’s magic about She-ra’s of past to teach Adora that she is playing into the First Ones trap, read the full meta here if confused, or here's a handy summary:

As the world is collapsing into nonexistence, Etheria’s magic takes this opportunity to give Catra all of the knowledge she could ever desire that Adora and the Princesses are on a false path that’s naive, ignorant, and will lead to the fruition of the evil plans made for them by the First Ones, as well as giving Catra the whole history behind She-ra and the wrongness that’s allowed this to come to pass.

In s4 Catra at first takes this given knowledge to mean she must pursue renewed war against the Princesses, as well as against her abuser, >whom they are harboring<, before realizing her knowledge of the history of events leading to this wrongness means she’s in a unique position to help Adora overcome it all during s5- for the sake of love and survival. Probably a discussion for another time, so I digress.

The final major whisper happens in s5 while Adora is dying in the Heart chamber. As she is slipping towards death having given in to despair, Catra is able to save her by sharing the dream with her with Etheria’s help: it links their consciousnesses together. Read the full meta above if confused, or quickly here:

This isn't a random vision Adora has, they both see it and it's the personification of Catra’s love brought to life with some help from Etheria’s magic, to show Adora what she has to live for. It's magic, and yeah it's tapping into Adora's own repressed feelings as well as Catra's, and it can do so because while the Heart may be a machine, the magic inside it isn't- it has its own living consciousness and it understands what their love means. Etheria itself powers this moment, it is their biggest shipper- it helps them win in the end!

To conclude; each time it has an opportunity to act, like it does during Promise (because they are inside a simulation), the magic of love does so to help and guide Catra. And, by association, Adora. It's with Catra’s guidance that Adora is strong enough to absorb the Heart and win, as Catra is the one who brings Adora back to the power of love. Catradora love is so powerful that it can save the universe, but by theory, it doesn't happen without a little help from the wisdom of Etheria magic- and its innate knowledge of the power of love.

This masterful level of narrative arc is something I'm certain Nate Stevenson is capable of. And so, Adora and Catra aren't apart to make the plot work, it's a necessary part of Etheria’s magic guiding them towards the power of love, and helping them towards correcting the systematic wrongs of their world once and for all. While that equals Catra being on the wrong side of history, her resistance is part of proving to Adora how she is wrong as a hero. It was necessary.

But aside from that, let's talk about how Catra uses violence, since this AMA directly brings it up-

SPOP is a great show where there's a lot going on behind the scenes. Because of that, I think people tend to make up assumptions to fill in gaps they can't yet figure out. It's only natural, but one way I feel a lot of SPOP fans go wrong is when they suggest that Catra enjoys and seeks violence.

That's not really true- the data doesn't back it up. For example, Catra always holds back from killing. It's true in every fight, it's true like a dozen times over while she has Adora captured and at her mercy, but let's talk about the one time Catra had every reason to feel justified in killing.

This would be in s4 when Hordak comes after her. There's no doubt Hordak has deadly intent, to maim or to kill her, so it makes total sense that Catra would justify killing out of self defense. But instead, she goes to elaborate lengths to make Hordak land the final blow upon himself.

Catra sets him up to be done in by his own anger- he damages the forge equipment which crushes him while trying to kill her. So, even at the point of extreme personal peril, while Catra knocks him into the path of the falling equipment, she's making sure her own hands are clean. She really abhors killing- and she's fighting in control, always.

Therefore, any time we assume Catra is trying to kill is suspect of our own prejudices. She chooses not to, that's a line she chooses not to cross. I can say personally as someone that had to win fights brutally to protect my life and sanity, that I did have pride in winning those fights. That's what you're seeing on Catra's face. But, I can also tell you that everything about actual fighting disgusted me, and Catra is the same.

Catra grew up in a system where the violence was always going to come for her, fighting back was necessary and right. I can't empathize enough how being in such a position changes your outlook on life, and if you didn't experience her situation, you might not understand her. And yes indeed, as time goes on, Catra’s reliance on fighting does run out of control, so much so that it leads to her losing conscious control over it, such as shocking Entrapta and opening the Portal. But to that, let me say, in how Catra felt threatened by her abuser at that moment, it's surprising she didn't snap *sooner*- everyone has a breaking point, and after careful watching, I'm certain Catra considers that moment her greatest failure.

But hey, what fun is a meta without comparing her to her counterpart? What we actually see is that when put under pressure, Adora loses all control over her emotions and lashes out. This is in addition to how she’s self destructive, as we all know.

Adora does, in canon, almost kill Catra multiple times. I'm not even going to discuss Legend of the Fire Princess, you can read a discussion here. Instead, let's look at the Battle of Brightmoon.

How is it so easy for Catra to make Adora lose all control?

In part this difference in fighting with control comes from how Catra grew up under mortal danger from their abuser, she learned to be prepared to defend herself, either physically, or mentally against torture. She became hyper vigilant, and learned where the line between life and death stands, as well as her own breaking points. She learned how to act so she could hide her emotions, she sees bad things coming from miles away, and she prepares for them. When she leaves Adora in Promise, she can tell Adora is being manipulated yet again, reason enough to not follow her.

Adora, in contrast, was the target of the manipulations and the teacher's pet, and as such was supposed to win every contest, so she was treated that way by her teammates. At the moment she finds the sword, Adora is a person who’s never actually been in a fight, she doesn't know how to control her fear or her anger. Everything she's done was a training exercise. So, her emotions run out of control all the time.

All Catra had to do to make her snap was play on her guilt complex and fear of failing, something Shadow Weaver instilled in her to make her die for sacrifice, yet Catra can't stop herself from seeing Adora as being weak for giving in to it. It is indeed a weakness, and meanwhile, when Adora left she passed total judgment against everyone in her old life on the word of a manipulative computer program. She fails to try to understand them and goes on to try to win the war against them through extreme violence alone, she does this not out of some great moral clarity- she does it mostly out of guilt over how Glimmer and Angella make her feel bad about it- yet Glimmer is one the most flawed and prejudiced characters we see.

Adora is failing that critical test, and her behavior mirrors a lot of irl behavior we see in people who claim and want to be good but end up hurting others because of their naive understanding of what good actually is. Also, remember that Catra does come full circle in s5 to see how Adora was hurt in order to be controlled by guilt, and helps her get past it. She's the one person who can really get through to Adora on this matter. Catra is the only person who ever really tries to put the brakes on Adora’s need to anxiously satisfy others, not going along with her was part of this, and in s5 she insists that Adora stops doing it yet again.

Catra continues to object to Adora's misguided choices in s5, and she deserves praise for this, even if in the past she refused to go with Adora and fought the war instead. Adora’s behavior has to stop sometime, yes she laid the groundwork for it in s4 such as developing her mantra and smashing the sword, but we see how she's still not past what her abuser did to her in her decisions in s5. It'll take Catra's help to break past this, which we'll discuss more below.

So when it comes to violence we're supposed to consider this dichotomy: of Adora's unstable mentality and Catra's careful application of force. Nate is playing our presumptions against us by doing so, and asking us to look deeper. Because, when we investigate violence, we see it's actually Catra who can meter her violence to the situation, and it's Adora who's violence runs out of control. Catra uses violence precisely, usually as a tool for survival, she doesn't enjoy it. These are fights that were always going to come for her and she's not running from them. During s1-4, Catra is very deliberate with her choices, you can't really say the same about Adora.

Final thoughts: Catra's understanding of survival is what's most important to saving Adora's life-

Ultimately, Catra's arc is about love and not this magic, of course. And in this a big part of her arc is about convincing Adora not to die- Catra, who refused to die all along, must be strong enough to help Adora survive- by showing her how the choice of living is stronger than sacrificing to fulfill her (false) burdens.

We watch along as Catra goes through trauma and learns to faces it head on, she comes to terms with in a way that Adora couldn't... as the focus of a millennia long scheme meant to make her fail. Catra's relationship with trauma, and her experiences of nearly letting herself get killed because of those traumas, allows her to be a guide for Adora in s5 and her help is what powers Adora's final transformation.

This is something the magic helps her to do- because what it's doing is giving her the truth behind it all, so that she can be free to choose love. 😎 Yet, her s1 choice to survive, and to be apart from Adora who endangers her, is not the wrong choice, because, in fact, surviving will be Catra's most important lesson to Adora while she saves her.

Which is to say that we ought to recognize Catra's choosing survival, as opposed to Adora's acceptance of martyrdom, as a form of strength, even if she's working for the wrong side. A lot of what Catra does is inarguably wrong but she's also right about a lot- she's right that Adora betrays love and can seemingly rationalize any act in the name of corrupted duty, Catra barely survives Adora trying to literally kill her multiple times- and no, Catra doesn't ever try to kill her in return.

And Adora chose to rationalize it all in the name of She-ra not out of some great moral calling, but out of an anxious need to satifify others which their abuser instilled in her in order to control her. Catra knows all this and is right to assert that Adora's attempts at being She-ra in s1-4 won't 'fix' anything... and that she'd just continue to get hurt if she went with Adora. So, Catra puts being with Adora on pause and does what she feels she must do to persist- before rejoining Adora in s5 once their most dangerous enemy discovers them all, and helps Adora to chose survival, too.

Adora's view point, in short, is self defeating and pretty nihilistic, whereas Catra's really isn't- she is trying to live when everyone else, Adora included, seems to want her dead.

You cannot really be selfish in demanding to live- life is sacred, and Catra has respect for her sacred right to live that we all have. If people tell you to die for the narrative, as Adora tries to do, what's right is to reject it. Catra is the one who tells Adora not to die because she understands this fundamental truth. Catra shows that sometimes violently rejecting other people's control, if they're trying to kill you, is what's right. And yes, she does take it too far in s1-4, but it's all part of the story of how she surivies long enough to get past her trauma in order to be able to help Adora in s5.

Her understanding of survival is so important to share with Adora because that's where she's strongest yet Adora is weakest... It's also true that Catra understands love much better than Adora, we see that in her love confession, but her telling Adora she's got her love to live for isn't all she does to save her. She also instructs Adora on the wisdom of what it means to fight while respecting your own right to live. Catra, who was told by Shadow Weaver that her life had no value and should just give up and die, knows very well what it means to fight while never giving up.

Catra's words "you've never given up on anything, not even on me" are so important because she's telling Adora not to die like her enemies want her to do, while simultaneously paying respect to Adora's newfound heroic path, telling Adora that she believes in the hero Adora's trying to be. In this moment, Catra knows Adora must chose her right to live, that which is her sacred right, or they are all doomed, and that Adora isn't seeing that choice as the fundamental right that it is. She knows Adora is expecting to sacrifice herself, which she's doing out of guilt.

Catra's words instead help to show Adora how not giving up fundamental right to life is the right choice- she starts by acknowledging how Adora is fighting for the right reasons- such as her mentioning that Adora never gave up on her and returned to save her from Horde Prime- a decision shows that Adora is a true hero. A true hero does not rationalize away someone's death as necessary when they know the person about to die has goodness in them, Adora saw that truth behind Catra's actions, so her rescuing Catra was right. It was a breakthrough moment for Adora, nevermind that she needed to save Catra for the sake of the love they had for each other before Shadow Weaver tried to break each of them...

But, if you know you're fighting for the right reasons, then you must insist on living to prove it through your actions- you can't die to noble sacrifice. Because operating under that belief is a form of weakness. Adora's constantly doing this means she's inherently weak, and all while the world that Adora wants, one that's right and just, can come true- but only if Adora chooses to survive in order to prove it. She has to continue being She-ra. Survival is necessary, because without it there can be no better tomorrows. It's not wrong to want to survive.

So with these words Catra is telling Adora to survive- Catra survived many close calls with death leading up to this moment so that she can tell Adora how to not to give up and die. Through her experience of surviving, Catra finds a way to save Adora from her own self defeating beliefs.

Catra in s5 is a person who's prepared to be her better self- she's processed her trauma to get past it, and is seeing that survival cannot be the only answer to living, you've also got to have something to live for. And that's loving Adora. So after all of that, Catra is not going to let Adora fail, falling to the self destructive habits their abuser instilled in her, and instead shows Adora the way past it all. As the person in the relationship that who's processed her trauma. You have worth. We all have worth! And believing that isn't selfish.

So, it had to be both things, not just Catra telling Adora she's in love with her and she's got that to live for. Adora also has to choose to survive.

So there was no simple answer because of the depth of the problems facing Etheria. They are being lead by princesses who are naive, self involved and ignorant- something Adora blindly devotes herself to. Catra refusing to go along with Adora is a big part of her getting past that misguided framework to be a real hero who can save the universe and stop the cycles of violence for good. And ,if Catra had gone with her? It almost certainly would have resulted in the destruction of Etheria when Light Hope manipulated Adora into activating the heart while having no idea of the consequences. No simple answers- because the princesses are not right in their ways, never mind that the Horde brang war upon them.

The strength of Catra's belief in choosing survival is what leads her to being able to guide Adora past her self destructive nature to save the universe.

When Catra kisses her thus imbuing her with he power of love, we see Adora transformed into someone fundamentally stronger, she's the embodiment of goddess lesbian power that we love. Why Adora becomes so much more powerful is because she is now fighting with an understanding of both parts of what it means to fight from a true position of strength:

To fight while insisting on your sacred right to live,

And to fight with something to live for and the belief that your morals are good and must go forward. Only when you do both can you be your most powerful- you have to have enough respect for yourself to believe you deserve to live!

Adora understood the second point to a degree, but not the first. She was never going to be a complete hero without Catra showing her how to value herself. Now knowing both lessons, Adora is a stronger She-ra than any before her- and is one that can stop the cycle of violence for good.

Catra's story as a message to people like us who survived-

In s5, what we're seeing is a fully emotionally realized Catra, a person who has matured and surpassed her traumas and has gained the wisdom and clarity needed to save Adora, by sharing these hard learned lessons with her. And, we only get to see a fully realized Adora after Catra shares these truths with her- an Adora who can finally step past the trauma thinking their abuser instilled in her.

S5 Catra proves to us that she's this person over and over, she's reclaimed that she must trust in love, yet I still see people doubt her. People sometimes say Catra's transformation in s5 was rushed, but it really wasn't- if you consider how after Etheria's magic showed her the dark truth behind it all, then Catra was in a position to choose the better path- after going through the worst and seeing the truth for what it is. This is her therapy- it's the truth that she's shown by Etheria that gives her the choice to see past her trauma.

Catra's story is a tribute to knowing that if you're in a dark place where you've been hurt like Catra was- know that not giving up is what's right, know that you have a scared right to live, and that your abusers are wrong. Keep fighting, keep believing. Sometimes that fighting will get ugly. But, this attitude she shares with Adora, of never giving up, it allows her to be the all powerful lesbian goddess we love her as. Nate is telling us to not give up- through Catra's story and further showing us how this wise and mature Catra has the strength to help Adora past her trauma as well. He's also telling us to not give up on love. It's one of the most brilliant narrative arcs of all time!

Trust in Catra! Trust in your sacred right to living! Huzzah!

But we're not done explaining Catra's actions, are we? Let's talk about the wrongness of war she's leading on Etheria...

Yes, war is always wrong, but here's what I meant earlier when I said the war on Etheria isn't quite what we expect-

It is, I believe, the canonical truth that Catra did not preside over a army that was committing genocide- one of the most common criticisms of SPOP. But, how is it possible this story is different from the other war stories we're been constantly fed (such as ATLA)? Simply put: it's because Hordak's army had no need to commit genocide.

Do you really think Nate would wants us to skip over this catching point? No, instead Nate decided to cleverly sidestep this issue.

In SPOP, there's never any direct evidence of Hordak's army doing as such, yet we're shown in all explicitness that Horde Prime and the First Ones ARE genocidal. Who were the real enemies all along. That's important. Why Hordak's army doesn't gun down civilians is because the villagers in SPOP never fight in the war, they never ever raise arms against him. It's the Princesses who fight, and furthermore this is reinforced when we see that most of the anger the villagers voice is directed towards the Princesses, not the Horde.

Genocide is mostly motivated out of two factors- one: hatred and racism- let's just say that simply doesn't exist on Etheria. But the second reason is to remove the others side ability to fight back- if everyone's dead, there can be no uprisings. But, the villagers never fight. So, Hordak's army had no need of shoot-to-kill orders.

Contrast this to Horde Prime and the First Ones explicit genocidal intentions, add in the villagers anger not being directed at the Horde but instead at the Princesses for abandoning them to war, and you've got the full story behind how the war was being fought.

Assuming Hordak's army was gunning down civilians is instead a presumption carried over from other stories, but Nate set us up to expect that then subverted the expectation by showing no such thing- and by showing the real enemies explicit genocidal thinking, was asking us to look deeper. SPOP is a show which subverts our presumptions at every turn in order to make a better story. This certainly doesn't absolve Catra of being wrong, but I think we should understand that she's wasn't directing a genocide- I don't think she was capable of doing that.

Catra actions are in no way perfect and we're not supposed to think they are, but I really think Nate intentionally did this so that this catching point would not detract from the overall narrative:

Which is to say that the way Adora tries to be She-ra in s1-4 was never going to 'fix' anything, she's a proof of the flawed heroes stories we saw too often growing up. Victory would be miraculous and not explained, always dues ex machina, and unsatisfying. In SPOP, Adora goes through actual character growth to become the person who can change the world, and she doesn't do it alone. Catra's love is what shows her the way to be better, and it's not easily earned or miraculously given- they struggle to understand and accept each other. And that makes for a much more satisfying conclusion, with a kiss that's so believable that I don't expect to see a more meaningful kiss in media for the rest of my life. Thank you, Nate.

Thanks for reading. I hope I did an ok job discussing a very sensitive topic. This has been the hardest thing I've ever written.

::psps: this isn't the tell all for this theory, it could probably use its own discussion post so let me know your questions.

If you enjoyed it, let me know with a like and please pass it along with a reblogg if you can! We writers really appreciate them most of all because of how tumblr works! Thanks a ton.

Thanks again,

-EtheriaDearie

PS:S: Happy Pride and Nimona release tomorrow!! Yay!! 🏳️‍🌈🥳

#she ra #she ra and the princesses of power #spop #catradora #she ra meta #catra #wlw

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dragynkeep · 9 months

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(1/2) If you don't mind me sharing some more thoughts on your Everafter AU, including some constructive criticism on how Penny's time in the Ever After ends: I feel like Curious staying in the Ever After while Penny returns to Remnant wouldn't really work, because even if Curious' heart was fixed by Penny's time with them, they're immortal and they would still have their insatiable curiosity, with no way of answering their present and future questions while remaining trapped in a realm that they've already known top to bottom for eons: the way I see it, once Penny's presence leaves Curious' immortal life in the Ever After, then it could take centuries or millennia, but it would only be a matter of time until Curious starts mentally and emotionally suffering from their situation again and they eventually end up back at square one. It reminds me of an argument the cast of Coeur Al'Aran's 'White Sheep' posed about Salem's redemption: that the above scenario would basically happen to the fic's pseudo-redeemed Salem after she started outliving her new husband, all her eight children and her descendants, even if it took centuries for her to reach her breaking point again; unless the cast ended her immortality first.

(2/2) I feel like the only real way Curious can gain permanent peace and redemption in your AU is if Penny takes Curious with her through the door out of the Ever After, fulfilling Alyx's broken promise at long last. (From what little we know in canon V9 about Curious and Alyx's relationship and the broken promise, it seems to me that a Remnantian can carry the Cat through the door with them consensually, and that the reason Curious never considered this option again after killing Alyx in favour of solely turning to bodyjacking was because Curious' pain, rage and newfound Tragic Bigotry made them absolutely refuse to believe any human would ever go that far for them when Alyx did not.) As for the question of what'll happen to the Ever After now that its psychopomp and heart-healer has been removed from the ecosystem (one of the many things V9 refused to address, and yet another reason why Post-Character Derailment Team RWBY are narcissistic, mass-destructive monsters whom are far more fit to be the antagonists than the actual villains :P)... well, I imagine the Blacksmith could repurpose another ascended Afteran to take over the Curious Cat's duties without the Brothers' design flaws that made Curious go insane. Maybe Somewhat, given Little's relationship with Ruby. Once Penny and Curious are through the door, I can imagine Curious and the Blacksmith finally get a direct face-to-face for the first time ever, and the Blacksmith can give the Cat some closure by answering their questions about why the Brothers left and abandoned them. I think any one of several things could ultimately happen to the Cat after going through the door: 1. Curious accompanies Penny to Remnant, seeing it at long last, and they become a permanent supporting character. 2. Since Curious' design flaw of being unable to ascend because the Brothers didn't make them with a connection to ascension has effectively been bypassed by Penny bringing them to the Blacksmith's realm, the Blacksmith is able to finally ascend Curious, promising to make sure that Curious' new incarnation in the Ever After won't have the immortality and other fatal design flaws that the Brothers left in them. 3. The Blacksmith offers Curious a chance to stay with them in their realm permanently, where - given the Ever Tree's Yggdrasil motif and the Blacksmith's ability to open a portal to a desired location on Remnant - Curious would be able to observe any and all of creation for eternity via windows, resolving the problem of Curious' mental state suffering when they can't learn new things. And who knows, this whole "watching creation" deal would mean that Curious really would be always able to watch and be with Penny wherever she is on Remnant after they've parted ways. Sorry, just had to share these.

Don't be sorry to share these, I enjoy critiquing and talking about my projects and AUs with people who're interested.

And yeah, what you have to say does make sense, in that the Cat never getting the answers they need to move on wouldn't be a good conclusion to their story. I made it that way because I just phased the Brother Gods out of my mind and don't want to think about them.

But, I think changing it so that they get to at least meet the Blacksmith first, and shown how they changed through their friendship with Penny, would be a good ending even if they don't go to Remnant with them. Because I don't want Curious to go to Remnant to be honest because that's not where they belong.

Their home is the Ever After, and they can make a life there without having to attach themselves to the first thing that comes along. First with Alyx, and then with Penny. Only Penny allowing them to find the answers and push the Ever After to be a place where the people can make their own paths without having to hit the reset button would show the message more than just treating the Ever After like stage dressing that Curious has to leave.

#rwby #penny polendina #curious cat #au: everafter penny #answered #luke.txt

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ladysternchen · 11 months

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Betrayal- Annoyed

Prompt #3, Medium: Against the Odds. Let your character experience a setback. Once you begin creating about the setback, you can open the next prompt.

In hindsight, Lúthien thought that she might have known that her plan would not work out. After all, things like that never had worked out even in childhood, she mused, again realising how often she had been in a situation such as this back then. However much her parents had promised not to get angry if only Lúthien were to tell the truth, they always had, anyway. The same had held true for Daeron’s parents, and Galadhon and his wife. So really, she might have known better from the start. True, her father had not strictly speaking broken his promise to her (at least not yet), but still she cursed him into Angband itself as she learned in the morning that he had made his men search for Beren and capture him, to be brought before the thrones. Daeron, her father… who else would betray her trust ere this matter was settled? She would not, however, be the Princess of Doriath if she couldn’t do some quick thinking- so she forestalled the guards that were leading Beren to Menegroth as a captive and took his hand, pressing it firmly. His palms were wet, and Lúthien felt the turmoil of his soul. “It will be alright!” she assured him, leading him before her parents, well aware that all of Menegroth seemed to be assembled in the Hall. Lúthien first looked at her mother, who sat upon her throne silently, no clue to her feelings showing on her fair face. But as their eyes met, Lúthien perceived her mother’s thoughts, and knew that Melian was truly biting back laughter. Silly Maia! Lúthien called her in her thoughts, not bothered at all whether her mother would actually be aware of what she was thinking. But then she looked on to her father, and for the very first time in all the millennia of her life, she was somewhat cowed by him, for it seemed to her that she stood not before the father she loved but only before her King as a wrongdoer. Lúthien shook the feeling off quickly and hoped with all her might that Beren, who was by now quaking with fear, would do the same and get a grip. They had no margins for error in this.

She noticed her very own error too late. Upon setting foot in the Hall, playing along the lines of yesterday’s conversation had seemed prudent, but even as she spoke, praising Beren’s deeds, she realised how weak she had made her own position. Behave like a child and you’ll be treated like a child, she chided herself, but the damage was already done. This time when she looked into her parents’ faces, she got no clue as to what either of them were thinking, but her heart leapt a little when her father bade her let Beren speak for himself. If he did not make the same mistake as she had, they might still stand a chance to end this to everyones satisfaction. Well, almost everyone’s. The next moment, however she would have loved to kick Beren in the shins, or else a bit higher up, she thought savagely. He had obviously got his courage back, but now he so grandiosely overdid it that Lúthien groaned inwardly. And of course her father rose to the bait. Lúthien would gladly have buried her face in her hand and denied that she ever had anything to do with either of them. Males! she thought. Males of any race. Need they all be so idiotic? She wasn’t even truly shocked when her father named a Silmaril as her bride-price, was even somewhat relieved. Yes, Beren in his pride had of course set out to fulfil his oath, but even he must know this was ridiculous, just like her father knew. She would let tempers cool a bit, then set out to get all their heads on the right way again, and hopefully, they would all be able to settle the matter without anyone getting harmed.

#silmarillion fanfiction #silmarillion writers' guild june challenge #secret gate #matryoshka #the tale of beren and lúthien #lúthien tinúviel #beren erchamion #melian of doriath #elu thingol #doriath #the quest for the silmaril #betrayal #annoyed #chapter three #that chapter will be neigh unreadable because I had my kids climb all over me while writing #that sort of messes with concentration #massive apologies

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piracytheorist · 11 months

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hey, read your answer about you being an anime only! i promise i'm not trying to pick a fight, but if you're open to discussing this a little: considering it took endo years to get to this point, it's unlikely we'll be able to get a full S3 next year since there's probably not enough manga chapters. will you be reading the manga then? ps: the manga isn't exactly. spoilers. it's the original story, no?

I don't think I'll be reading it, no. I mean, I can't be sure, my resolve may break at some point and I may indulge, but as I've explained why I'm doing it that way, I plan on continuing watching the anime first and then reading the respective manga chapters.

If I may be a little more personal here, this past year I've been stuck on a job that, while not unpleasant or demanding or exhausting in any way, it was far from fulfilling. This job's contract ends at the end of July and if I'm lucky, I may actually get a much more fulfilling job this September and be more proactive in it in general, so I'll have more time filled with stuff I like. Last fall it was Spy x Family that filled a lot of that hole, and I've been stuck all these months without that nor a job I enjoy. So I'm thinking, if I get that job I want, I'll have less unfulfilled time and thus less dependence on the show (not that I'll love the story or characters any less), so it may be easier for me to wait for ten months again for new content.

As for your p.s., by anime-only standards, yes it is a spoiler. If you go to the cinema to watch a film that was inspired by a book, you wouldn't tell someone what happens at the end if you knew they haven't read the book. That's spoilers. The book is still the original story, the film is still an adaptation, but by revealing a part of the story that a film watcher doesn't know, you're spoiling it for them - and no film watcher is obligated to read the whole book and know the whole content just to enjoy the film. And while Spy x Family is quite popular, it's not common knowledge popular. Saying "Jesus dies on the cross and then gets resurrected" isn't a spoiler for the bible or any film inspired by it because it's a millennia-old story that even many non-Christians know.

When it comes to the manga vs anime debate on what's spoilers and what's not, it can get a little tricky cause you have snobs and purists on both sides, which is why I prefer to stay away from the fandom instead of engaging and then complaining about getting spoiled, because I will get spoiled and it will be my fault. My one request is that, if someone reblogs any posts of mine, to not add any details about stuff that happens in manga chapters that haven't been animated. That's all. But no-one is obligated to read or engage with my stuff, a lot don't even see it, I'm not demanding anyone tag their spoilers on their own posts or complaining to those that don't, I recognize my own responsibility in curating my experience and avoiding spoilers and take the necessary measures to do so. So I don't see where's the problem with me, in my personal blog, referring to stuff that hasn't happened in the anime yet as "manga spoilers".

I understand you wanted a discussion, not a fight, but honestly it's a tricky issue, and I'd really really rather not get into the bad side of a purist, whether they're a manga or an anime purist. And such a discussion can be derailed very easily, so while you're welcome to discuss it with me in a civil manner, I will stop it if I feel it can get out of hand.

I'm not mad or upset at you or anything. I'm just a little wary because I know how toxic fandoms can get, especially when they hold some very passionate beliefs about what's "right" and what's "wrong" in the way other people consume fictional media.

#nette speaks #anonymous #ask and ye shall receive

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autumnslance · 2 years

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Cinnamon Rolls: Ancients Edition

The inevitable sequel to Scion Cinnamon Rolls and Shadowbringer Cinnamon Rolls. For Endwalker 6.0 and the first tier of Pandaemonium: Asphodelos. I thought of waiting but...nah!

Beautiful Cinnamon Roll Too Good For This World, Too Pure:

Meteion - Little bluebird(s) of happiness literally meant to go to space in all her innocent trust and learn about other people. It went a tad awry along the way thanks to untrained empathy--and "our" Meteion fought so hard to not give in to her sisters' report and their despair. Despite it all, a sand grain of that sweet girl remained after many millennia, and in the end we were still her friend and shared our answer with her, fulfilling the promises her creator never could.

Looks like they could kill you but is actually a cinnamon roll:

Erichthonios hasn't his formidable father's power, but still has skills and knowledge, even beyond his transformation. He loved his mother dearly and took up her work. Even in the throes of outside influence, his battle lines are about concern for his colleagues and their charges in Pandaemonium. He wants to save as many of the creations as he can too--for practical reasons, sure, but also because it's right to do so. He has a lot to prove, and his former mentor's harsh words nearly break him, but support from allies is seeing him through thus far.

Looks like a cinnamon roll but could actually kill you:

Themis - We have a strong suspicion as to his likely identity, but all we know for sure is this intelligent young man has quite a bit of magical power and skill, picking up interment magic and the ability to control Asphodelos in a very short time with minimal instruction, simply observing the others. He has friends in high places, given his own robes and references to Azem. Themis is not one to cross, as is clear by the end of the first wing of Pandaemonium.

Looks like a cinnamon roll and is actually a cinnamon roll:

Hythlodaeus - Honestly, he's far too humble and self-deprecating. It's unlikely he would have been approached for the role of Emet-Selch, or made Head of the Architect Bureau, if he was truly lackluster. Hyth compares himself to his exceptional friends and next to them, who wouldn't feel a little wanting? But he's not bitter about it; on the contrary, he sees his place as helpful and supporting to his friends, while being a laid back Sunshine Troll the whole time. We know he'll do anything to help, paving the way for others to be heroes. Good bow choice, it's definitely my favorite, and the class makes sense when you consider his bestie; Hyth's as much a drama queen as...

Looks like they could kill you and could actually kill you:

Emet-Selch - Yeah, he was on the Shadowbringers list as his modern Ascian self, but Ancient Emet-Selch is no less a delight in his eternal Rat Grandpa manner. Always a curmudgeon, always a hard-line traditionalist, and always caring about his duty and his people. Emet-Selch was a powerhouse even in the days of eld, though it took some cajoling to get him into shenanigans--even he couldn't resist Meteion's adorable request to help the charybdis (the pained sound he makes when he knows he's going to crack!). He can fight through Ktisis as either a Dark Knight or a Black Mage, and never needs to resort to transforming into his own battle form (even if he could, due to the suppression field). Emet never loses his dramatic flare, either, the old theater nerd. There's a cinnamon roll somewhere in here, but it's stale and hidden in the back of the cupboard out of stubborn principle.

Could kill you, but is still a cinnamon roll:

Venat has the kindly old mentor/mom friend routine down. She adores cute things; just look at Argos and the Loporrits. She genuinely loves her world and people, feeling she still has a duty to them even after stepping down as the previous Azem. She is also a woman who can fight in multiple different styles--Paladin, Dancer, White Mage--and has custom abilities to boot. Add her becoming the god of the star to the mix and she earns her ego as much as any old man wizard mentor in fantasy ever has. And she loves so much, she breaks the world to give mankind a fighting chance against the Final Days, holding onto a promise and painfully watching over her children through the millennia to meet WoL again and finally get our Answer.

Would kill for a cinnamon roll:

Hermes needed someone not his own creation to confide in. Surely they had therapists in ancient times? Hermes is a tragedy that unfolded because he felt isolated in his differences of thought, especially after so long as Elpis' administrator and seeing creations and death differently than the apparent accepted societal norm. His personal projects like Kairos became unofficial policy, and his lack of forethought on the greater scope of Meteion's mission lead to everything we've experienced--but Hermes still counted himself among men when given the choice. With his memory of those few key days erased, he worked as hard as anyone else in the Convocation to save his world. The weight on his soul never lifted however, and his sundered reincarnation that became the modern Fandaniel took Hermes's despair in a terrible direction.

Sinnamon roll:

Azem - Look, the fact we can glibly say "I'm Azem's familiar" and everyone just goes with whatever insanity follows should tell us all we need to know. Before even considering how they stole borrowed the Ifrita concept to fight a volcano to save an island of people (and their grapes). Throw in Venat as Azem's mentor and role model, and Emet's long-suffering commentary alongside Hyth's trollish delight, and it's pretty clear who the wild child of the Convocation is. But really, considering the Warrior of Light is their reincarnation/heir to their legacy, are we at all surprised?

#Final Fantasy XIV #Endwalker #Pandaemonium #6.0 Spoilers #Meteion #Erichthonios #Themis #Hythlodaeus #Emet-Selch #Venat #Hermes #Azem #Silliness #Cinnamon Rolls #Memes

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laceymorganwrites · 3 years

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The story of the sad chapter 17

Word count: 1,792

Pairing: Ban x goddess!reader

Warnings: uuuuh swearing, maybe a teeny tiny bit of blood and gore?

A/N: eheheehhe we´re back~ I´ll try to update this at least once a month but I can´t promise anything. thanks for your support

Grabbing your sword, you dashed forward and slashed Hendrickson´s shoulder, though the wound you inflicted didn´t last very long, soon you were followed by your friends, each of you getting a few good hits in.

Though nothing seemed to work, in this state he was invincible and it enraged you.

How dare he use magic as dark as this? Wasn´t he aware of what happened all those millennia ago? Wasn´t he aware of the consequences? What goal could be so great as to forget all about that?

Resurrecting the demon clan to him meant power, but he didn´t think about the source of it, he didn´t think about the fact that they would betray him as soon as they could walk the earth again.

“Leave the rest to us…” Meliodas announced to Elizabeth before joining the fight.

The princess now rested next to Hawk, trying to protect his dead body.

You tried to regain your composure and focus on the fight, trying to make out Hendrickson´s weak points, but he kept attacking you and your friends so that it was almost impossible.

In a flurry of magical blows, Gowther lost his head and glasses, you almost stepped on them, but quickly picked them up to hand them over to him.

Meliodas told all of you to get ready for your big attack.

A smile formed on your lips, finally.

It was time.

All of you got ready to use your strongest attack on Meliodas, so that he could in turn counter them on Hendrickson.

You made it your mission to distract the demon while Meliodas gathered as much magic as he could, using your wings to take him off his feet and slashing your sword at him with full force.

“Tell me, what did you gain from all this? You know, demonic magic might be strong on its own, but you underestimated us! This is the end for you” you called out to Hendrickson, letting him know that he has lost.

It was impossible to dodge or stop Meliodas´ attack at this point.

The shockwave from the attack was so great that it shook the ground, you had trouble staying on your feet and fell against Ban, who caught you.

He smiled at you, even through the chaos and was more than relieved and happy to see you mostly unharmed.

All eyes were on the exhausted Meliodas as Merlin returned with the king, he was better now since she treated him.

You looked around the battlefield, holding Ban´s hand tightly and took in the damage and loss, but also a bitter sense of victory. At least for now.

For now you allowed yourself to smile, to exhale the breath you didn´t realize you were holding, to revel in your boyfriend´s presence and feel the happiness of him being there with you.

In a fit of guilt the holy knights knelt down before the king, apologizing for their sins and asking for his punishment.

You had to chuckle a bit, they were good souls after all. But that was just how the demons liked it, they took the good souls and made them rotten, good souls were easier to corrupt, to bend to their will.

It wasn´t their fault, they simply were taken in by a greater power than them. A power they simply couldn´t defeat by themselves.

The king announced that there would be no punishment and that the knights should repent for their sins in rebuilding the kingdom and working hard.

Then the king faced you and your friends, expressing his gratitude.

“I guess that´s just what we do” you chuckled.

“We can´t help but aid those in need” you stated, smiling at him.

No matter how evil they painted you as, your group were always after helping people.

Elizabeth also got praised for being brave and making this all possible, if she hadn´t searched for your group and wouldn´t have stumbled into your bar, you wouldn´t have been reunited with all the others.

Well, most of them anyway.

The princess started crying, blaming herself for Hawk´s death, while you and Ban went over to his dead body to pay your respects.

He had been with you in those years when you were almost happy, always being there for you and everyone else.

As if by some sort of miracle, the little pig revived, making everyone around you smile in shock and happiness.

You only smiled to yourself and looked over to Elizabeth, she probably didn´t even realize what she just did.

A part of you was glad she didn´t, that meant she didn´t remember anything heartbreaking and utterly sad, but even so… not remembering your one true love was still the worst curse in your opinion.

Everyone cheered and for a moment it felt as if everything was back to normal, whatever that strange state might be.

Elizabeth hugged Meliodas and healed his wounds, once again not comprehending it was her doing.

She reunited with her sister, overwhelmed by everything happening, her cheerfulness knew no bounds.

You leaned against Ban a bit and he laid an arm around you, pulling you closer to him and gently tracing his fingers over your shoulder.

Exhausted you all made your way back to the Boar Hat to rest a bit.

“I just want to sleep… for a week” you groaned as you threw yourself onto the bed.

Elaine giggled.

“But then you´d just miss everything! And we´d miss you” she joined you on bed, resting her head on your shoulder.

“Hm, okay you got a point” you thought out loud, shifting a bit so you were more comfortable to which Elaine jokingly complained.

“You can´t even sit still even when you´re supposed to rest, can you?” she giggled.

“I guess not….it used to be so easy back then. After every battle I´d just sleep the whole day” you reminisced.

It was a nice memory, the bed always felt the softest after a long and hard battle. Returning home meant feeling each and every one of your muscles ache, sneaking out to meet Estarossa for a bit only to have to hurry up the rest of the way so you wouldn´t cause any suspicions.

And nobody would bother you in the day after the battle, it was a peace and quiet you didn´t know anymore.

But it was also one you never wanted to have again.

You much preferred the chaos of your friends, talking with Ban until you both fell asleep in each other´s arms.

“Now you have something to fight for” Elaine smiled and you nodded.

You never gave it much thought back then. Sure, you always thought you did it for your friends, but you didn´t have friends. It was simply your duty you had to fulfill, the expectations that came from leading the army rested heavy on your shoulders, making you more exhausted than ever.

But now you had your friends and love lifting you up, cheering for you, truly. It made you feel so alive, more vibrant than the brightest colors imaginable.

You would always give it your all when it came to protecting your loved ones.

With that thought and a smile on your face you and Elaine slowly fell asleep.

Within the next few days the rebuilding of the capital and everything else that got destroyed was of the utmost importance.

Everyone helped and of course so did you.

It was nice having a routine again, it felt going back to your normal every day life even though you never had anything of the sort.

Though lately you seemed to crave normality.

It wasn´t like your life was bad at any means, it was just that you were sick of fighting.

Elaine and you were on lookout and helped rebuild the roofs and other things in high places, handing the others the things they needed.

Together you worked quite quickly, after all you unfortunately had a lot of experience.

After a while you came down to the ground again and stretched your tired muscles.

“I´ll go see what the others are up to, keep an eye on everything for me, will you?” you smiled and Elaine nodded.

“I hope they´re almost done! The festival is about to start” she reminded you to which you nodded and made your way to the Boar Hat.

As soon as you stepped through the door you could smell Ban´s cooking, making you even hungrier than before.

You exchanged loving smiles and you joined him behind the counter, checking your inventory.

“Mel, we need to stock up soon” you remarked and he nodded.

“Yeah don´t worry about that!” he said.

Gilthunder visited you a bit after you arrived and sat down to talk with Meliodas.

Meanwhile you and Ban sneaked into the kitchen, cleaning up together.

Well, you were cleaning until Ban grinned at you and gently pushed you against the wall, a dreamy smile on his lips and his eyes full of adoration as he closed the distance between you and kissed you passionately.

His one hand gently cupping your cheek, tracing his fingers over your beautiful skin, his other placed on your waist to be even closer to you.

Heaven wasn´t a place, no. It was right here, right now in this moment. With you.

Your lips against his, this feeling of needing air but not wanting it, craving more and more of your touch.

This was truly heaven to him.

You eagerly kissed back and hooked your arms around his neck, smiling into the kiss and just enjoying his presence.

If you could you would stay like this forever.

Ban still had the same look in his eyes as he broke the kiss, so focused on you, getting lost in this moment. Nothing else counted right now. It was like the outside world didn´t exist.

“Fuck, I really love you, you know that?” he whispered, his smile never leaving his lips.

Time stopped, your heart jumped out of your chest and stopped at the same time.

Those were the words you both dreaded and wished for at the same time.

And now that he uttered them, you didn´t know what to say.

“You don´t have to say it back right now, I just wanted you to know. Now was the right moment for me and I will wait for yours to come. And if it doesn´t that´s alright too. I would never pressure you into anything. You´re too precious to me” he said and it was in this moment that you knew, though something held you back.

You didn´t like it in the first place, this queasy feeling in your stomach.

Ban laid an arm around you as you two exited the kitchen, celebrating Elizabeth officially joining your party.

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queenmuzz · 3 years

Text

A Father's Wish

Tagging @buurenaars-workshop. So if you want to blame the angst. It's all their fault with the angst prompt. TW Mentions of Torture, but nothing too explicit.

Despite his less than ideal situation, Sparda contents himself that he’s done what he set out to do. The veil between both the Underworld and Overworld has been reinforced, aside from a few small tears, and his ancient foe, Mundus will be confined to the depths of Hell for nigh eternity. Sure, he had expected to die in a blaze of glory, mowing down hordes of his fellow demons, each one howling for his blood, or to be struck down by the God Emperor himself in single combat. But instead, because of that three headed witch’s sinister magic, his desire was not fulfilled. Not yet.

Mundus takes his time with him, like a cruel child with a bug. He rips his wings off, brands him with white hot iron, impales him with crystals, gouges off chunks of chitin. To Sparda, who has dealt with these pains before (and many millennia ago, inflicted them) these are trifles he can heal from. Eventually Mundus will tire of him, and finish him off. In the end, Sparda still wins, Mundus will never reach the realm he has given everything to protect. Although the Dark Slayer wishes he could have been with his new family for a little bit longer. Eva, who he’s known for less than two decades, and the twins, even less. To a demon, the passage of time goes far too quickly.

Every so often Mundus cuts a bit deeper, driving past flesh, into his own soul. Mundus taunts him, being disgusted that he would debase himself by not only protecting Humanity, but diluting his blood with them. Sometimes, Sparda senses it's THAT that really enrages Mundus. Not his betrayal, nor his sealing away, but that he dared do something no demon had ever done: fallen in love. How he wishes he could see his wife and children, at least one last time, to apologise for his departure, to tell Eva how much he loves her, to Dante, to play one last game of hide and seek, to Vergil….how proud he is of the boy.

When Mundus chuckles on one of his occasional ‘visits’, Sparda’s blood begins to freeze.

“I’ve wiped out your degenerate line, my loyal” the sarcasm is thick “lieutenant. I do so enjoy listening to tales from my followers telling about your beloved human pet’s last screams, and the taste of your mongrel’s blood…” He cackles maniacally , but Sparda has doubts. Mundus is well known for his treachery, and lies, he wouldn’t put it past the God Emperor to try to wound him with such a devastating falsehood. And besides, somehow, even in his cell in the depths of hell, he knows his sons are alive. Of course, he’s never been able to tell them apart, even with his demonic senses (Eva dressed them in red and blue to help him), but somehow, he knows…

So why does his chest hurt so much… ? And what are these tears dripping down his face?

Time passes, the tortures become almost banal, to the point that Sparda barely feels them. Mundus hasn’t made one of his visits lately, he seems to be preoccupied with some new and diabolical project. No doubt trying in vain to rip a hole through the veil, and somehow, for a brief moment, succeeding, before it slammed shut, if Sparda sense’s aren’t completely dulled by pain. But there’s a tenseness in the air, a foreboding, like when the shoreline recedes before the tsunami. (He still wishes he could see his family one more time, take them to the beach like he had promised).

When Mundus shows up again, he doesn’t come alone. He seems excited, almost giddy, but there’s a trace of frustration.

“Ah, my old friend…” he says sweetly, as sweet as a poisonous flower can be. “For so long I’ve been bereft of a loyal, capable second in command, one who won’t stab me in the back. And finally,” he moves aside to show a smaller figure, clad from head to toe in metal...no, not clad….encased. Sparks of electricity race down Sparda’s spine, warning him that something horrible is about to happen. “I have a replacement, and no longer need you.” The Dark Slayer should be relieved, his end is about to come, but his heart hammers in fear, not for himself, but for the knight in front of him.

“It took a lot to break him, to mold him into a suitable servant, and much like a diamond, many, many, cuts had to be made. And even yet, there are a few imperfections that I have not been able to cut away. Nelo Angelo has a few stubborn traces of his weakness...his humanity. Eva used to tease him that a demon whose senses could tell when Modeus or Baul was about to make an appearance, but that he couldn’t tell his own sons apart.

But now...even trapped in metal, his demonic will nearly crushed, Sparda can sense who he is, and it breaks his heart. He wanted to see his family one last time, but not like this, never like this.

“Vergil...” he calls out in a broken hoarse whisper. His son is so much taller...how much time has passed? How long has he suffered like his father? And almost imperceptibly, the knight stiffens at that name.

“What is that phrase that those wretched humans use?” Mundus muses, “Ah, yes… ‘two birds, one stone.’ I break off the last chunk of weakness, and I have my hated rival finished off. So simple.... I cannot believe I didn’t think of it before.” He turns to Nelo Angelo (no...his name is Vergil) and gives a chilling order. “My command: kill this traitorous prisoner.” Sparda’s heart crumples at the cruelty of it all. He’s not afraid to die, but not at the hands of his own son.

“Vergil!” he calls out, and without thinking, he changes from his bug like form, to his familiar human visage, hoping that will trigger some sort of resistance in his son. Whatever happens, Vergil must maintain a thread of iron will, that is his only hope of salvation. It works, because Vergil pauses, and his ugly cumbersome blade (Sparda gave him Yamato, she suited him so much better) trembles in his hand. “You must fight back, my son…”

Mundus laughs, “I never thought I’d see the day that the great and mighty Dark Slayer begs for his life.”

Only now does Sparda deign to respond to his former friend and comrade. “I am not begging for mine...but for his.”

Mundus growls, and rage oozes out of the cracks of his triumphant facade. But he keeps it simmered down, and with a flick of demonic energy, a glittering flash of gold and red hovers in front of Vergil. His son reaches out for it, his half of the perfect amulet. “Ahaha,” his master taunts in a sing-song voice, “Not yet. I need you to do one tiny, almost insignificant thing before I bestow you my gift. Kill him.”

His son still hesitates, silently glancing between his father and the amulet, before he makes his ultimate decision. He takes an attack stance, and strangely, Sparda is relieved. He’s not forsaking his humanity, no matter what Mundus thinks...he’s fighting for it, for the amulet is his mother’s gift, his humanity.

The blade pierces Sparda’s heart, and it barely hurts as the world grows dim. Vergil is close to him, and weakly, Sparda brings him into an embrace, (his son deserved so many more) and whispers in his ear...

“Even after everything...you are still fighting back...I am so proud of you…”

#Devil May Cry #Sparda #Vergil #Angst #My Writing #Sorry not sorry

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thebibliomancer · 3 years

Text

Essential Avengers: Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #4-6

August, 1984

SITUATION: HOPELESS!

Damn this is a great cover.

Last time: Begun the Secret Wars have. The Beyonder promised any desires fulfilled if the assembled heroes and villains of Marvel would kill each other. Galactus and Doom tried to get an early taste but got slapped down. An early sortie ended with several villains captured. A massive storm curtails hostilities for the night but the X-Men decide to ditch and join Magneto, who has kidnapped and started making out with the Wasp. The villains led by Doom attack Herobase and totally trash it. But Doom promises “we shall level this place so that no stone remains on stone!”

Anyway, true to his word, Doom has Molecule Man level the hero base. The one that was the size of Chicago. Molecule Man OP.

But Doc Ock discovers that the heroes escaped this destruction and are booking it five miles in the distance.

Ock starts looking for long-distance weapons to blast them with but Titania just picks up an ENORMOUS piece of the wreckage and hucks it the five miles. The Wrecking Crew is suitably impressed and follows suit with smaller chunks of rubble.

Molecule Man decides to show off for Titania by throwing a rock of his own. If you consider a mountain range a rock.

Meanwhile, at the heroes retreat, Cap is counting heads to make sure they’ve got everyone.

Hawkeye comments that everyone is accounted for except Thor... and the X-Men who went missing before the battle.

Hulk: “Deserted, you mean!”

Cap tells them that they can worry about it later after they’ve gotten away.

Spider-Man, potato sack draped over Hulk’s shoulders, rouses from the Ultroning he took because his spider-sense blaring and he points to the giant piece of crap that Titania threw.

Hulk is too busy carrying wow Reed, Spider-Man, She-Hulk, and Ben Grimm to knock away the projectile but Hawkeye evidently had something to prove in that earlier storm scene and he proves it now.

One explosive arrow isn’t enough to take out something that big but if he places it juuuuuust right

He splits it in half with a BARRROOM!

Wow, nice job, Hawkeye!

Iron Man follows it up with a double repulsor blast which drives the two pieces further apart so they don’t fall around the heroes instead of on.

And then Molecule Man drops a mountain range on them.

Womp womp.

Y’know. Between Galactus and Molecule Man, being put super close to a base right at the start of things... the Beyonder really tilted the scales in this conflict between good and evil, huh?

This isn’t even fair.

All the heroes praise Molecule Man for throwing the biggest rock of all and Volcana is fawning on him. DOOM is more reserved in his assessment on whether the heroes are super dead or not.

Meanwhile, Thor and Enchantress are having their ‘just gods’ chat half the world away.

Thor asks what Enchantress could possibly want from the Beyonder given that she’s already a goddess, beautiful, powerful, and immortal.

Enchantress: “I would ask for your love, Thor -- because for millennia, I have desired you! As well you know -- ! For, I stop at nothing to satisfy my selfish desires, and I have often sought to take your love by deceit or force!”

Thor: “Love is not an object to be seized or stolen! It can only be given!”

And Enchantress asks whether Thor could ever love her. Thor honestly answers that he doesn’t know. Because she’s beautiful and powerful and immortal but true beauty “is a thing of the spirit.” So he suggests instead of devoting her time scheming to trick him into love like a Silver Age love interest to work to better herself, over come her greed and lust and “unfetter the beauty of your godly spirit”.

Enchantress is willing to try or pretend to try and asks Thor for a kiss as like... self-improvement down payment.

Enchantress: “Kiss me, Thor... give me a glimmer of hope... and I will try!”

Thor doesn’t get a chance to answer yay or nay because the ground rocks as if a mountain range was dropped half a planet away.

Enchantress portals them back to the hero base annnnnnd find themselves smack dab in the middle of all the villains.

All the villains want to kick Thor’s ass but Doom offers Thor a proposal.

Doctor Doom: “Now, listen well! You are hopelessly outnumbered! Submit -- and I guarantee you a merciful death!”

Otherwise, well it is thirteen to one.

Thor glances at Enchantress to see if her change of heart has kicked in and she wants to get beaten to death at his side but she can’t meet his gaze and walks away.

And then the villains beat the shit out of Thor.

Fairness where fairness is due, Thor puts up a good fight. Even as they hold him down and punch him in a dogpile, he manages to throw them all off. Titania socks him in the gut and he tosses her to the horizon. He blasts the villains with lightning.

Then Ultron blasts Thor with the new disintegrator Doom installed in him.

All that’s left is a helmet and a tattered cape (and we can also see Thor hiding behind some rubble on the next page, yeah they’re not going to kill off Thor in Secret Wars!).

Doom then turns around and has Ultron disintegrate Kang too.

Turns out he’s still holding a grudge for that time Kang shot him out of the sky.

These two sure have a rocky relationship.

The stunned villains follow Doom back to DOOMBASE to plot the demise of the X-Men, Magneto, and possibly Galactus.

Meanwhile, the X-Men, flying in a psychic powered ship and thinking X-Men thoughts.

Colossus misses Kitty and is totes sure that his feelings towards her definitely won’t change.

Rogue ponders how she would have been on Doom’s side not so long ago and doesn’t know if she won’t defect if the battle goes bad. She likes living, okay?!

And Wolverine insists he’s not going to take any prisoners since this is “maybe the last war, for all the marbles in the universe!”

Its cute that he thinks he’s allowed to kill anyone with Jim Shooter writing this.

And ever practical Cyclops is worrying about what they’ll do if Magneto refuses their olive branch.

Although he shouldn’t worry.

Magneto is currently using enough energy “to raze a small city...” to make Wasp a comb.

What a fun extension of his powers.

Magneto is an excellent host and kidnapper.

The X-Men show up and Professor X proposes that the mutants should become a third faction separate from Captain America’s group but still, y’know, vaguely good.

Magneto has similar thoughts and apparently that’s what he’s been discussing with Wasp all night, between kissing? But he has a slight twist on Xavier’s idea.

Magneto: “‘Slay your enemies, and all you desire shall be yours!’ That is what the Beyonder told us when he placed us here! After seeing his power demonstrated, I believe him! Therefore, we must take an aggressive role -- ! Unlike Captain America and his allies, we must not fight a defensive battle! We must slay Doctor Doom and his lackeys! And if Captain America’s company does not see the wisdom of our course -- if they do not join with us, or worse, if they oppose us -- we must slay them as well! Don’t you see -- ? Should Doom triumph, he would have the Beyonder fulfill his selfish desires! But we, by the Beyonder’s grace would create a golden age on Earth -- and throughout the universe! An age in which men and mutants live together in peace!”

That’s classic, post Giant Sized nuanced Magneto. Lofty goals, slightly murdery.

A heroic, or anti-heroic third faction would be an interesting twist on the ol’ battle of good vs evil going on.

But Wasp reveals that she wasn’t actually that into his plan. Or him. And she pinches his widdle cheek right before embarrassing the combined X-Men and Magneto.

To add insult to injury, she even mentions that she could be kicking their asses harder if she didn’t mind doing a little murder. Her Wasp stings can knock down a house after all. She’s pulling her punches.

Hm. You know, nobody really ever holds this Wasp moment up as a Great Wasp Moment the way they celebrate the similar Spider-Man moment.

So what was this all about?

Well the story I heard, that I can’t find anymore, is that this was around the time that Claremont was planning a heel-face turn for Magneto. He would stop being a sympathetic villain and would join the heroes.

Jim Shooter thought, for whatever reason, that Magneto would end up with the Avengers. Because the Avengers is where supervillains go to reform or something.

It does happen a bit. Hawkeye, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Swordsman, Moondragon in a sense, Vision kinda.

Heck, if you think about Scarlet Witch’s track run, Magneto had a better chance of not snapping back to supervillain if he was well and established as an Avenger.

Claremont, characteristically, decided he’d rather keep all the X-pieces on his X-board rather than let someone else handle it.

But in that brief period where Jim Shooter EIC thought that Magneto, Master of Magnet, might end up as an Avenger, Shooter decided he’d help lay the groundwork for not only a connection to the team but a possible romance subplot with team leader the Wasp.

Kind of like her bringing her boyfriend on the team?

As baffled as I am by Wasp just instantly making out with this dude, I am intrigued by the possibilities of Magneto on the Avengers.

Magneto trying to tone down his DRAMATIC SUPERVILLAINY for the Avengers. Scarlet Witch having to deal with the dad she didn’t want to deal with hanging out at her job.

It’s a real missed opportunity.

Sure we all like the New Mutants but I think it would also have been better for Magneto’s emotional state if he wasn’t asked to babysit the most spitefully danger prone teenagers imaginable. Who then yelled at him about dying on his watch when he kept asking them to stop going into fatal danger.

Long story short, Magneto on the Avengers would have been real neat. As insular as the X-books are, I don’t know if we’ll ever get that. It’s hard to want to use any mutant characters if an X-book can just yoink the character back for some happening that affects all mutants.

I still kinda want it. Preferably without dating Wasp. Although. She dated Havok and Tony Stark (twice). It would be a lateral move.

Magneto is a bit sore (possibly even in his heart) and decides to crush Wasp’s getaway vehicle but Xavier tells him to let her go.

Xavier: “A few hours ago, I succumbed to temptation and psionically prevented Spider-Man from delaying our journey here! That was a crime -- an act I shall long regret! In that moment of weakness, I was no better than Doom... or Hitler... or anyone else who ever used power to usurp another’s freedom! If we are to be allies, Magneto, we must first agree that whatever noble ends we seek do not justify evil means!”

People keep using Hitler comparisons around Magneto. It’s a little bit uncomfortable. I think we should maybe do less of that by a lot.

Also, Xavier feeling bad about fucking with people with his mind powers? That won’t last to the current day.

Meanwhile, that mountain range that was dropped on the heroes.

They're not dead!

They ARE trapped beneath billions of tons of stone, in a tiny little pocket formed from Hulk bracing two miles of rock on his shoulders. And he’s only going to be able to hold it for a minute, maybe.

Captain America revives Reed and using his big genius brain, he comes up with a plan near instantly.

He’ll just need the Iron Man armor plus components from Hawkeye’s arrows and Spider-Man’s webshooters.

He also needs to yell at Hulk because yelling at someone to provoke a specific response is kinda one of Reed’s go-tos. In this case, Hulk’s strength is flagging so Reed tell him that he’s tired of his mewling self-pity. Ow. But it makes him angry and the angrier he gets etc etc.

So by sciencing the whatsit armor components components, Reed makes it so that Human Torch and Captain Marvel can shove their power into the Iron Man armor so it makes a big KTHOOOM! like so

Aimed at a faint tapping noise they hear.

The faint tapping being Thor smashing at the mountain with his mighty blows, filtered through two miles of rocks. Wow!

Captain Marvel flies out to try to find a new place the heroes can hole up.

She zips all around but the best bet she finds is a village perched at the foot of the mountains that Galactus is chilling on top of.

Captain Marvel: “Hey, a village -- ! So the Beyonder brought some non-combatants along for the ride, too! It figures! Obviously, the big B spared no effort to provide all the necessary accoutrements for this little secret war... And what’s a war without innocent victims?”

Geez.

That’s really a chilling thing. This village was ripped out of his home planet to be set dressing here.

That doesn’t get focused on a lot but everything on Battleworld was stolen or scavenged from other places. This is a horror story to these weird aliens.

They’re not even very happy to see a bunch of colorfully dressed strangers strolling in. UNDERSTANDABLY.

The village healer apparently manages to talk the other vaguely cat-esque people into letting the heroes stay. And then for good measure, she goes around healing their major boo-boos.

Johnny, being Johnny, instantly takes a shine to her when she heals his arm and ribs, declaring that he’s in love.

His reputation for having love interests everywhere he goes is maybe a little overblown but its not not a thing.

Ben Grimm frets about them seeking shelter right under the gaze of Galactus (Gazelactus?) and then Things out now that a big rock man isn’t particularly helpful.

Reed assures Ben that Galactus couldn’t give less of a shit. Right before Galactus moves slightly.

AHHHH HE’S RAISING HIS ARMS IN THE AIR LIKE HE JUST DOESN’T CARE!!

September, 1984

The Battle of the Four Armies!

Wasn’t that part of the hobbit? Are there going to be wargs?? I hope so.

So last time, Galactus moved slightly and that startled Reed very much.

Iron Man: “Look at the size of that thing! It takes up the whole sky!”

Hulk: “Even though it’s still millions of miles away!”

It turns out that moving very slightly is how Galactus summons his ship to him. His ship that’s as big as as solar system.

Thank god that gravity doesn’t work right in comics.

The assembled heroes react with concern but the cool healer alien lady starts freaking out.

Johnny tries to calm her down, I assume by speaking very soothingly. So she drags Johnny to her cool house to get high.

Johnny: “Vapors -- ?! You... want me to... inhale this stuff? Is that it? Okay... I trust you! Whuh -- ! Smells sweet, but strong!”

And apparently on her home planet, her people smoke pure, uncut exposition and recap.

Johnny wished he could explain to her what’s going on well bam, now she’s snorting the series pitch and seeing a helpful breakdown of allegiances.

And it goes both ways.

Johnny: “That was neat! It was like... touching souls! I saw in your mind too, you know... And I liked what I saw!”

He got her name beamed right into his brainmeats and still manages to pronounce it wrong as Zah-Shee, so she corrects him Zsaji as they start to make out.

Meanwhile, over at Magneto’s Sweet U-Shaped Fortress, Colossus is sitting in bed, hugging a cool alien pillow, and thinking how much he misses Kitty Pryde and thinks that he’ll probably never see her again.

Then Xavier yells in his mind to get his ass up to a meeting and is even pissy that he doesn’t hustle fast enough.

Magneto: “How quickly they respond, Xavier! You have trained them well!”

Xavier: “They are slower than I am content with, Magneto!”

Wow. What a weird situation where their archnemesis is giving them praise while Xavier glowers at them embarrassing him in front of Magneto.

The caption says “seconds later” and Xavier is like ‘what did you stop at the failure store to pick up some failure!’

Professor Xavier is a jerk!

Anyway, there is an emergency so haste was called for. Xavier shows the X-Men the GIANT SPACESHIP THAT GALACTUS SUMMONED WITH BUT A THOUGHT!

Magneto tells the X-Men to go get in position to try to beat up Galactus while he and Xavier hang back at base and try something else.

The X-Men complain about Magneto giving them orders but Xavier tells them to snap to.

He also has the gall to say

Xavier: “You must be careful, Magnus! Imperiousness for the sake of expediency is not wise!”

after he got mad at them for taking WHOLE SECONDS to respond to his call to assemble.

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away as the pharaoh flies, in Doombase.

Molecule Man and Volcana continue to bond. Or rather, he keeps telling her how crap his life was before he got super powers and that just makes him more endearing to her.

They’re walking through some kind of nice garden that Doombase evidently has, where the Wrecking Crew and Absorbing Man are hanging out. Absorbing Man and Thunderball just casually comparing balls, as ya do.

Piledriver decides that picking on the guy that can throw around mountain ranges and the woman that can turn to lava is a good idea.

Molecule Man is just going to ignore it because his therapist tells him not to react but Piledriver goes and calls him a nerd and whoops, that’s the insult Owen Reece can’t ignore.

Piledriver tries to get the Wrecking Crew to dogpile on Molecule Man but they all pretend to not hear him.

Then Molecule Man turns Piledriver’s clothing molecules into metal and knocks him into the mud. And Volcana stomps on his head for good measure.

Sooooo. Like. Don’t mock Molecule Man. Obviously.

Galactus’ ship causes a stir among the villains too, although at least one assumes Doom is behind this.

Doom isn’t behind this but he did plan for it.

He contacts the other villains or as he calls them “servitors of Doom!” and tells them to get prepared for battle.

Which aggros Enchantress to come talk to him.

She’s decided that she doesn’t want to be here anymore. With Thor blown up, she doesn’t even have something she’d wish on the Beyonder for since she’s got it all. She’s a goddess, beautiful, powerful, immortal.

She’s got nothing to gain but a whole lot to lose by sticking around but she can’t leave.

The Beyonder put a barrier around Battleworld to prevent people (not naming any names but the Enchantress) from just bailing. But if her and Doom work together, they could circumvent it!

Enchantress: “How would you like the love of a goddess... for the rest of your life?”

Doom: “I would not!”

HAH!

So she switches tactics. Instead offering to use her mighty magic to fix his scarred face.

Doom is mighty tempted by this offer but decides against it because Magic Always Has a Cost, etc.

Enchantress: “Doom, please -- ! I beg thee -- ! I don’t want to die! you cannot imagine what it is for an immortal to face total, ultimate death!”

Doom: “Are you finished?”

Savage.

Over at two separate hero groups, two separate plans to ask Galactus to please not eat the planet with everyone on it emerge.

At Magneto’s Sweet U-Base, Xavier tries to use his PSYCHIC POWERS to contact Galactus mind-to-mind with a boost from Magneto’s latent psychic powers.

Yeah, I also forget that those are a thing.

Meanwhile, at Zsaji’s village, Mr. Fantastic suggests that he go talk to Galactus since he saved his life once. So he stretches up to yell in Galactus’ ear that eating the planet would be a BAD idea and that they should try to reason with the Beyonder but the giant purple world eater just ignores him.

Magneto becomes frustrated that Galactus is ignoring him.

Xavier: “It is no use! We’re like gnats to Galactus! Even at rest, his mental defenses are far too much for us!”

Magneto: “No! Magneto is no insect! He must acknowledge us!”

And decides that he’ll force his way into Galactus’ mind.

He notices this.

And psionic feedback blows up Magneto’s Sweet U-Base. Then Galactus shoves Mr. Fantastic away with TELEKINESIS.

All things are possible with the POWER COSMIC. Including talking to squirrels and getting Reed Richards to go away.

The bigger issue is that Galactus is aware that a bunch of people that usually try to stop him from eating planets are hanging out nearby and he decides to do something about it.

So Galactus sends a robot to beat everyone up and in its first move, it gives Hulk a sweet left hook.

It can also SHOUT PARALYZING GOOP AT PEOPLE?

Where does Galactus get these things?

Captain America throws his mighty shield and while the robot is too big to entirely yield, the shield gets jammed in the robot’s eye. Ouch.

The Thing holds the robot’s arms behind its back long enough for the Human Torch to blast fire down its throat until its stomach explodes.

Wow.

But the heroes don’t have a chance to recover because several villains show up to take advantage of their post-fight exhaustion. Spider-Man’s spider-sense giving the heroes barely any spider-time to prepare.

The heroes are being forced back against the mountain when the X-Men show up to justify their ‘third force’ thing, leaping into action against the villains fresh.

As Storm whips up a mighty storm to discombobulate the villains, Galactus takes notice.

Even the mighty planet eater cannot utterly ignore the raging gale. And, in the moment that he ponders its possible significance -- concluding that to him, it has none -- Doom reacts!

Doom’s plan was for the villain attack to distract Galactus briefly. Kind of like if a big gnat fight was going on at your feet, you might look at it long enough like ‘huh’ for someone to pickpocket you.

During that brief distraction, Doom warps a ship into Galactus’ home.

Colossus is really in his head about never making it home to see Kitty Pryde again because he goes ham on the villains, wading into the Wrecking Crew and wrecking them, screaming that they won’t keep him from her.

But going ham isn’t being careful because the Wrecker manages to nail Colossus across the metal ribs with his enchanted crowbar, hurting him so bad that he unsteels.

Cyclops saves him from being stomped by the villains he was just stomping with a pretty cool wide OPTIC BLAST that drives them away.

At this point, Enchantress decides to get gone while the getting gone is good and teleports the villain group away.

The X-Men also decide to immediately take off, leaving the injured Colossus behind.

Magneto: “Why this foolish mewling? Colossus was obviously gravely injured! He is of no further use to us! We cannot afford to be encumbered by casualties!”

IN FAIRNESS, Xavier argues that Colossus is so badly injured that to move him could kill him and that Captain America et al were around so he’s in good hands.

In unfairness, the reason why they had to leave immediately is because Xavier decided “As an independent ally of Captain America’s group we were extremely effective. I believe we should continue playing a role as a ‘third force!’ To do so we must... keep our distance... even if it means leaving Colossus behind temporarily!”

Uhhhhhh sure, Chuck.

In other fairness, Xavier is entirely right that Colossus is in good hands with Cap’s group, because Iron Man finds the injured Colossus and immediately asks Johnny to get Zsaji to heal him.

Human Torch: “I’ll try... but who knows if she can help a mutant? I mean... they’re not exactly normal humans! He’s a whole different species!”

Wow Johnny that’s super dumb what you just said.

I mean, aside from the cosmic or gamma or spider origins of the various powers in this group... She’s an alien! Being able to heal humans at all is already a pretty big leap in plausibility! And she didn’t even hesitate to try that!

Iron Man has similar thoughts.

Iron Man: “Lemme get this straight... A guy who can burst into flames has doubts that this broad from planet Mongo can help this mutant dude? Thank god he ain’t black, huh?”

It’s a bit of a moot point because Colossus refuses Zsaji’s help and tells her to stay away from him.

Johnny remarks “he’s nuts! Maybe they all are!”

Is it a rule that one of the heroes has to be casually mutantphobic per issue?

X-Men plus Magneto just saved your ass, dude.

Anyway, Zsaji just goes off to help everyone else that needs healing.

And, uh, Colossus may have weird ulterior motives for telling her to go away because he glares at Johnny and Zsaji making out a little to celebrate Spider-Man having no broken bones anymore.

Colossus: She is very beautiful... and very much in love it seems with the Human Torch! Why does that... trouble me? And why can I not picture Kitty in my mind now? Zsaji! Her name is Zsaji... Stop looking at him that way!

After that train of thought, Colossus cries out in pain and Zsaji goes back to heal him. Which he accepts this time.

Uh.

Kind of hard not to read it as him intentionally interrupting a moment between her and Johnny.

So here’s a thing.

Jim Shooter supposedly did not like Colossus and Kitty Pryde’s relationship because of the age gap where they met when she was 13ish and he was 18ish.

And he evidently decided that breaking them up was on the to-do list for Secret Wars.

Some spoilers but because of developing a strong crush on Zsaji during Secret Wars and getting his heart broken, Colossus is going to break up with Kitty when they get back.

So that’s why this.

Could have unfolded more naturally but here we are.

Meanwhile, Mr. Fantastic and Cap(tain America) speculate what Galactus is up to.

It seems that he’s going to consume the planet, which will kill everyone on it because its really hard to live through that. Which would make Galactus the winner of the Secret War. But Reed thinks there’s more to it than that.

And Cap wonders where the heck Doom got to.

Doom got to Galactus’ ship. Remember? I said that earlier.

And Galactus’ ship is really cool.

DOOM: “I entered this place as subexistent hyper-energy in a vessel whose technology is undreamt of by my kind... Whose simple controls even I could barely fathom... And now, I see that the unbelievable vehicle which brought me hither is but a toy... and I am but a virus on this greatest of worlds I now tread! Other men would simply blind themselves... or fall to their knees and worship... Or perhaps, if they were less learned than I, they would lack the wit to react at all! But I, Victor von Doom, shall find an answer here! No! I shall find a way -- a way for the virus to grow... to become strong... to overwhelm this mighty pulsing world-ship.. and then Galactus himself... and then the Beyonder!”

You can never say that Doom lacks ambition.

The issue ends with Doom surprised to see something!

But instead of waiting a month or a week, we get to find out what right now!

October, 1984

A LITTLE DEATH...

What does that even mean, comic book?

So, I lied.

We don’t find out immediately what Doom found because first we find out what happened to Wasp after she humiliated and ditched the X-Men.

Uh.

She’s not doing well.

Despite everyone else in Secret Wars almost immediately picking up the usage of these strange, alien vehicles and playsets, the one Wasp stole is apparently so complicated that she crashes it on a rock.

Whole big planet to fly around in and she crashes it into a rock.

Wasp: “Oh, no! I broke a nail! I don’t even have an emery board and I’m thirty-seven trillion miles from my manicurist and it’s her day off anyway!”

And then she accidentally bumps into a switch in her crashed ship that activates a map and she figures, eh what the heck, might as well go to where the map says.

Hmm. I feel that Wasp has regressed in characterization a little now that she doesn’t have to be leader.

It really does feel like old flighty Wasp without the steps forward she’s taken post-divorce.

And that’s weird because this is being written by Jim Shooter, the guy who also set her on the arc to evolve her past being Hank’s partner and pep squad.

This isn’t the Wasp as we’ve seen her in recent Avengers issues and I don’t know if its just because she doesn’t have to be responsible or if Shooter just wrote a more simplified, flanderized even version of her for the people who aren’t Avengers readers.

Alas alas.

Anyway, Wasp finds herself in a swamp where the map indicated but can’t find anything to indicate why it was marked.

Then as she sits around, talking to herself, the Lizard suddenly attacks!

TENSION PRESERVING SCENE SHIFT.

Up on Galactus’ ship, it turns out that the thing that Doom discovered was........ that there was a weird vibratory energy in the walls.

Reasonably enough, Doom decides that’s significant and he uses some of Galactus’ machines to reconstitute the vibrations into KLAW, master of sound.

And Klaw, master of sound, is a little bit insane from his ordeal, repeating words over and over.

But wouldn’t you be insane too if Dazzler ate you and then shot you at Galactus?

So that’s how he got stuck in the walls.

Doom gets annoyed at this man and his exposition and tells Klaw to piss off but the master of sound decides to hang around and question Doom about what he’s up to.

Doom also loves talking to himself so, yeah, he answers.

Klaw: “What are you looking for?”

Doom: “Knowledge... power... opportunity! A way to conquer Galactus... and, perhaps the Beyonder as well!”

Classic Doom.

Klaw points out that eventually Galactus is going to notice intruders, even tiny ones.

But currently Galactus is occupied building his Galactus devices to eat Battleworld. He’ll be done soon and will definitely notice a tiny Doom scurrying around.

So Doom decides he’ll have to delay Galactus so DOOM can finish his own work.

He considers manipulating the heroes into attacking Galactus but decides that they’re too weakened by all the fights they’ve been in. He also decides that though the X-Men are largely fresh, they suck too much to distract Galactus. He could send his own team of villains after Galactus. But considers them to not have the brains without being personally led by him.

So Doom comes up with a more indirect plan than sending people to slap Doom in the face.

Doom: “He plans to feed upon the planet’s energy, does he? Well, perhaps I can spoil his lunch!”

With some teleporters on Galactus’ solar system sized ship, Doom sends Klaw to Battleworld.

(Wait, Doom got to make two more villains and his side is getting Klaw? The heroes should get another person too!)

Doom: “Serve me well, and I shall reward you beyond your wildest dreams... Fail me, and I shall destroy you!”

Klaw: “Oh, pshaw! I am my wildest dream! I’m made of energy, and you can’t create or destroy energy! Einstein said so! But I want to put a fly in Galactus’ soup! Soup! Oop, oop, oop....”

Good attitude to have, Klaw.

Klaw teleports right into the Doombase and tells everyone that he has orders from Doom.

AND and and he also says the secret password (Ukase Doom Rex - or as a casual google translates “an arbitrary command from King Doom.” Fun.) which tells Ultron to rather insist that everyone listen to Klaw.

Meanwhile, back over at the REAL plot, Wasp and the Lizard meeting.

Wasp immediately starts bossing around the Lizard, reasoning that since he didn’t hit her when he knocked a tree over, he’s not really trying to hurt her, just posturing.

Wasp: “Come here! Come over here! I won’t hurt you! Come on!” He’s as scared of me as I am of him! Imagine!

Lizard: “Sss-swamp iss mine!”

Wasp: “Right! Your swamp! I was just passing by on my way to the plaza so I thought I’d stop in! Charming muck! Tres chic!”

Hah.

Wasp also notices that the Lizard’s arm is bloody and bruised from the big fight in issue #2. Huh. I hadn’t even noticed that Lizard just nopes out of the plot after that. Apparently not really understanding this whole plot or the stakes, Lizard just fucked off to find a cool swamp to hang in for some peace and quiet.

Meanwhile, at the not completely destroyed, less sweet U-fortress, Magneto and the X-Men bicker some, as historied enemies are likely to do but Xavier tells them to cut it out because they’re allies now darnit!

He has a sit down to PSYCHICALLY PROBE Doombase.

He gets some snippets of conversation that Doom has some new plan before Enchantress detects someone prying into her thoughts and wards Doombase from That Kind of Thing.

Enchantress: “By Fafnir’s teeth -- ! Who dares to pry into my thoughts?! Some... mortal fool! Dolt! Hear thou this -- the mind of a goddess is too subtle for your clumsy probing! And to the mightiest sorceress of all -- your power is a joke!”

I actually enjoy magic being able to hard counter psychic powers. And also Enchantress’ mighty smug at being able to do it.

Anyway, Xavier heard enough to know that something is up so he sends Cyclops, Wolverine, and Rogue to go spy on Doom’s group when they go off on Doom’s errand.

Now, that’s a fun group. Cyclops and Wolverine get along like a house on fire and Rogue is the one looking at the house burn wondering ‘why the hell am I here??’

But tension has finally built to the point that Storm storms off and confronts Xavier about basically walking all over her as the leader of the X-Men.

Xavier: “You wish to speak to me, Storm?”

Storm: “No! I will speak to you and you will listen to me! I am the leader of the X-Men -- not Cyclops, and not you!”

Xavier: “Control yourself! Your anger is disrupting weather patterns for miles around -- which may make it difficult for Cyclops’s sky-craft to take off!”

Storm: “Let him wait! I did not order him to take off!”

Xavier: “So... you are the field general and I am... what? The aged training officer, fit, perhaps, to hone your battle skills, but not to lead! Is that what you believe?”

Storm: “You are an excellent tutor! Leave the war to the warriors!”

Xavier: “Notwithstanding your doubts, I have made the decision which is mine to make -- I will give the orders! Understood?”

Storm: “Give your orders then, and see who follows them! I will go my own way!”

Xavier: “No, you will not! You, and the rest of my X-Men, will obey -- without hesitation! As loathe as I am to tamper with others’ minds I will not tolerate insubordination, mutiny... or desertion!”

Storm: “I... see! The stakes here are unimaginably high... the odds are already heavily against us -- and yet, you are willing to beat your own troops into submission to ensure that you have the honor of leading them into catastrophe!”

Ooooooooof, this is not a good look for Xavier.

Meanwhile over at Zsaji’s village, Colossus daydreams about Zsaji while being sad that he’s not thinking about Kitty.

In fairness, he also watches Cap(tain America) et al repairing the damage the villain attack did to the village and thinking ‘wow maybe the non-mutant heroes are cool people and there doesn’t need to be suspicion and mistrust between mutants and other superheroes!’

And also wonders what the heck this third party thing is about.

Personally, after that conversation between Xavier and Storm, I’m convinced that the third party thing is really about Xavier’s head blowing up if he’s not the guy in charge. Even though he agreed Cap should be the leader, he’s having remorse about it and ditched.

Zsaji stops by to top up Colossus’ healing and the big lug decides to confess all of his complicated feelings.

Colossus: “Hello... I was just... I -- I must tell you that I... think... you... are... I mean, what you do, whatever it is, it eases the pain greatly! No! I -- I cannot deny my feelings! Zsaji, I think you are the most beautiful, most wonderful woman I have ever met!”

Zsaji: “<untranslated alien cursive>”

Colossus: “Oh... of course... you speak no English -- and probably no Russian either! What is the matter with me? I -- I am sorry!”

Zsaji walks away from this weird babbling guy and Johnny swoops down to scoop her up for a romantic last second not hit the ground moment.

Y’know. As ya do, romantically.

I think? Romance is a perplexment.

Nearby, Cap(tain America) has finished putting the fires out and has gathered She-Hulk, the Thing, Reed, Thor, and Hulk for a strategy meeting.

He tries to outline a plan for attacking Galactus when he starts eating the planet but She-Hulk interrupts to go ‘hey what about Wasp? Our friend? Who got kidnapped? By Magneto? The same Magneto that just showed up recently with nary a Wasp?’

Cap says that Colossus told him that Wasp ditched the X-Men so he assumes that Wasp is looking for the heroes. He sent out Captain Marvel to do some FTL searching the planet for her but nothing so far.

So She-Hulk argues that they should beat up Magneto for kidnapping her in the first place but Cap is a buzzkill and thinks they shouldn’t focus on vendettas and also shouldn’t alienate Magneto when he’s more or less on their side right now.

Hulk gets fed up with just sitting around and says that they should go beat up Magneto or Doom or Galactus or someone. Buzzkill Cap says no.

Hmm. We have Hulk and She-Hulk in the same book, on the same team, and in the same scene but they don’t really interact.

Its not like there’s no room at all for character beats. We keep getting quiet moments for beats.

It’s going to be a huge missed opportunity if She-Hulk and Hulk don’t catch up on-screen at any point.

I don’t know if they’ve interacted since he accidentally gave her powers but I want it!

Speaking of character beats, Spider-Man finds Hawkeye whittling some new arrows to make up for the ones Mr. Fantastic used to get them out off under the mountain range. Spider-Man tries to commiserate because his web-shooters were used too and now he is without.

Hawkeye: “No, you don’t! You’re still Spider-Man, even without webs! But without arrows, man... I’m just a guy in a funny suit!”

Sure, its a gimmick. But dammit its his gimmick and he’s really good at it!

Elsewhere, Rhodey Iron Man tries low-key flirting with Captain Marvel, as he’s been kinda doing throughout, but Monica is having none of it.

Captain Marvel: “I’ll make you a deal! You call me ‘Captain Marvel’ instead of ‘babe,’ and I’ll call you ‘Iron Man’ instead of ‘bozo’!”

She takes off musing how different Iron Man is compared to the short time she knew him on the Avengers.

Doom’s Four of Molecule Man, Absorbing Man, Titania, and Dr Octopus show up at the volcano level of Battleworld and are immediately intercepted by Cyclops, Rogue, and Wolverine in what may be an enormous tactical error from Cyclops.

As Rogue points out, they were supposed to observe what Doom was dooming here but Cyclops insists on confrontation even though they’d be outgunned if it was JUST Molecule Man.

Cyclops: “Doom wouldn’t commit so much muscle to an operation that wasn’t vital! Whatever they’re planning to do here, we must prevent them from doing it!”

Wolverine: “Do or die! My kind of fight! Let’s get ‘em!”

I feel like if Wolverine and Cyclops ever agree on something, there’s a strong chance that a bad decision has just been made.

Personally.

Titania and Absorbing Man flirt/bicker some more, bonding over a shared interest in hitting Wolverine with a giant boulder. Absorbing Man asking Titania out on a date and her agreeing “I think you may be tough enough for a real woman! Okay... but I call the shots!”

They make a beautiful couple.

Rogue is continuing to have serious doubts about being an X-Man, not helped by... this whole situation.

Rogue: “Ah’m not afraid... not of fightin’ anyway! But I don’t want to die! And bein’ an X-Man is looking more and more like suicide! Doom’s side is trying to win the prize the Beyonder offered -- which is anything they want -- by killing their enemies! And what are the X-Men doing? Beats me! And what am ah doing? Following orders -- ?!”

Typing that accent was painful.

Rogue gets konked by Titania because she was too busy internally monologuing instead of dodging and the remaining villains surround Cyclops to kick his ass when Wolverine jumps out from behind a rock and tries to gut Molecule Man.

Cyclops deflects him by OPTIC BLAST but Molecule Man still gets so badly cut up that the villains abandon the field to get him medical attention because Doom’ll kill them if they let him die.

Villains gone, Cyclops tears Wolverine a new lecture hole, yelling at him that the X-Men don’t kill.

Cyclops: “Listen carefully, Wolverine -- ! If you want to be on our side, you don’t kill! Take a life, anyone’s life, under any circumstances... and from that moment on, you are the enemy! Clear?”

Wolverine: “Yeah... and when the time comes... try to make sure you’re at a safe distance, jerk... for your own sake!”

Apropos of this, Jim Shooter was very disapproving of Wolverine slaughtering the Hellfire guards back in the Dark Phoenix Saga and that’s how we got the Reavers. They couldn’t be dead so they came back as pissed off cyborgs.

The funny thing is that later on Wolverine becomes the ‘hard man hard choices’ character and will gladly leap to killing while Cyclops will cough awkwardly and gaze very pointedly in the other direction.

They’ve both changed so much.

Anyway, with reconnaissance thoroughly botched by Cyclops’ daring leadership (one could almost believe that he made the decision to grab glory instead of following the mission due to being supplanted by Storm as X-Men leader), the three X-Men have to just kinda. Guess. Why Doom’s Four went to a volcano.

Granted.

GRANTED.

Cyclops guesses right immediately that setting off a volcano is a pretty roundabout and uncontrollable way of dealing with either Cap’s group or Team Mutant so its likeliest that this was intended for Galactus in some way.

So Cyclops blows the volcano himself with his punches from the punch dimension, setting off a chain reaction of eruptions.

And I’m just sayin’. This is the same outcome that would have resulted from just watching the villains do their thing without rushing in.

Meanwhile, over at making me angryville, the Wasp and Lizard subplot continues.

Wasp is patching up Lizard’s arm and giving him a talk about surface hostility.

Wasp: “You’ve been a very, very good patient, Lizard! I’ll bet you’re really a sweetie underneath all that surface hostility!”

Lizard: “I hate humansss... crush them all! Lizard... and hisss kind musst rule!”

Wasp: “I see! Well, I’d heard you were vicious and cruel, but I believe in judging people and lizards on their behavior, not on reputation, and --”

Lizard: “Wasssp is... crazy!”

Wasp: “Tsk! Such manners! And here I was about to tell you I thought you were a gentleman-- a gentlereptile! You’d better apologize or I’ll tell Gucci where to find you!”

Lizard: “Sss-sorry...”

Aw.

Kinda like how I wanted Magneto to join the Avengers, I also want the Lizard to join the Avengers too. And just hang around yelling about wiping out all humanity but just chilling with the Avengers.

Why do you tease me with things I cannot have, Secret Wars!

Like an alive Wasp who isn’t dead, for that matter?

Sigh.

I mean, I know that she’s alive by the end of this based on Avengers #243 but still, sigh. They were having a nice chat and she gets lasered.

Maybe this is why she quits as Avengers leader when she gets back. Or maybe it was the memory of kissing Magneto. Who can say?

Anyway, the culprits were the Wrecking Crew driving a giant vehicle that was definitely sold separately.

Doom apparently finally realized that the Lizard was missing and sent these goons out to pick him up in case they needed more muscle down the line.

Lizard is just PISSED that his new best friend was shot and starts throwing punches, so the Wrecker activates a stasis-ray on the ridiculous toy that freezes the Lizard, Wasp’s dead deceased corpse, and a disc of the swamp in place for the vehicle to just scoop up like a forklift.

Back at Zsaji’s Village, Galactus nears completing his device and the Thing proposes challenging him to a poker game, because Ben Grimm would.

Geez, that’s a great mechanical nonsense dominates the sky biggishly shot.

While the heroes wait and plan, a “dark and menacing figure lurks” nearby!

You’ll never guess who this is! Unless you already know! Or look it up! Or guess at random! But do you have that kind of time?

Follow @essential-avengers because I have that kind of time. Also like and reblog if you’d like to.

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battlemaps4all · 3 years

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ELEANOR LOVEPETAL

Eleanor Lovepetal was born in the small town of Dead End to her parents, Oliver and Charlotte. Like most of the Halflings of the generation, she was considered a miracle. Many of the previous generation had mysteriously grown sick about twelve years prior, causing them to produce a thick black ichor and reducing the childbirth rate. But as mysteriously as it came, the sickness was cured.

Growing up, Eleanor’s family was upper middle class, with her father working as a town guard against the creatures that might come from the Blackgrove, and her mother working as a seamstress. Eleanor’s parents always stressed the importance of being a proper lady, and would often talk down to Eleanor about her intelligence and her appearance, leaving Eleanor with a lack of confidence in herself.

When Eleanor was a young woman, she was selling a few of her mother’s dresses at a town festival celebrating the harvest, when a handsome young halfling man travelling through Dead End approached her. He asked what she was doing in a podunk little town, and over the course of a few weeks, began to charm her. His name was Drake Flintbough, and much to her parents disapproval, Eleanor began to fall in love. Drake would tell her stories of his plans to see the world of Luster and Eleanor was swept up in his dreams of adventure, and his promises to bring her with him one day. She wanted to help, and so she spoke her only friend, a girl named Petunia, and got Drake work in town at her family’s farm, and Eleanor continued to work in her mother’s tailor shop so they could save gold to fulfill their dreams. After being together for a year, Eleanor and Drake were wed, only 17 at the time.

Eventually when Eleanor’s parents passed away from long-term complications that the black ichor caused, she took over the business and Drake quit the job at Petunia’s family’s farm, and helped Eleanor run the business side of the tailor shop. The two spent many years working together, but eventually their relationship began to sour. Drake started making more trips out to East and West Haven to try and sell their clothes out there, leaving Eleanor for a long time. His kindness and list for life that endeared Eleanor to him was gone, but Eleanor held on to that memory. The night before their 21st wedding anniversary, Drake came home with Petunia, and told Eleanor she had to leave in the morning because the two of them were having a baby. Eleanor was distraught, betrayed and went out into the night, having everything taken from her in a single moment. Her family home, her business and her husband all gone.

As Eleanor weeped in the town square, rain falling around her, suddenly she could no longer feel the cold. A tall figure completely covered in thick robes and a large brimmed hat held an umbrella over her asked her what was wrong, and Eleanor shared her story and talked for hours into the early light of morning with this stranger. Listening and nodding along, the figure asked her to trust him, grabbed her hand, and in an instant the two of them were high in the snowy mountains of Beory’s Spine, outside a cave, having teleported there.

LThe two entered a vast cavern littered with books and bones and arcan contraptions, and the figure revealed itself as a skeleton with it’s head encased in a chunk of frozen ice. His name was Khaz’azarius, the Monarch of The Frigid Heart, an ancient Lich that had spent the last millennia planning revenge on a king that had wronged him, only to emerge from his lair to discover the king, and his nation, had been gone for longer than history can remember. He had been travelling Luster in a disguise to see all that he had missed, And the two shared in their pain and loss of purpose. When they were talking about what they wanted, Eleanor wanted a fresh start and to see and do the things she never got to do after she was married. Khaz’azarius wished more than anything to become mortal once again. The two spent the next few weeks scouring over maps and tomes, performing acts of magic to find lost knowledge to discover the secret to achieve this, and eventually found a ritual that may do what they sought. A historian in a nation that rose and fell while Khaz’azarius was in his cave had written a theory on reversing immortality, and it required four magical components and the proper location. This nation was once called Qalora.

They came up with a plan. Khaz’azarius could not travel openly due to his undead nature and need to stay somewhere cold, and so he placed a fraction of his personality into a ring so that he could keep an eye on her, as well as reanimating one of his former vampiric generals, Idona of the Rotted Dreams, into an icy flameskull to keep her company. Eleanor set out to live life and find the materials needed to end Khaz’azarius’ immortality so that they can learn to live life together.

IMPORTANT PEOPLE

Drake Flintbough - Eleanor’s Ex-Husband

Petunia - Drake’s new wife and Eleanor’s former best friend

Khaz’azarius, the Monarch of the Frigid Heart - Lich best friend and Patron

Idona of the Rotted Dreams - Flameskull Familiar/ Life Coach

#Spotify #dungeons and dragons #halfling oc #warlock #undying warlock #Lich #undead #flameskull #dnd character #dnd #halfling

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thran-duils · 3 years

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You’re Now Mine (P.15)

Title: You’re Now Mine (Part 15) Summary: Fulfilling a request for @lets-personofinterestontumbir! – “Could you do a drabble for the Persephone AU I don’t know If you’ve seen once upon a time but the episode 1x07 reminded me a lot of this story when the evil queen ripped out the huntsmen’s heart if you could do something like that it would be awesome. Thank you.” Words: 1,826 Warnings: DARK AF, Emotional/Mental abuse, smut

Chap 14 || Chap 16 || Masterpost (mobile) || Fanfic masterpost

Tucking the blanket underneath your feet further, your eyes scoured the tree-line. You had seen some deer earlier and were hoping to see them again. After they had left, you had scattered some oats along where they had been in the act of attracting them back. It was chilly outside, still being an early spring morning as it was, but you were comfortable enough on the deck with your warm cup of tea.

Lucifer had been gone for almost a day at this point, leaving you behind here. You were all alone, truly.

Biting your bottom lip harshly, you tried to hold back the tears that were brimming as you saw Sam and Dean die again, flashing before your eyes. You hated Lucifer for doing what he had done, no matter what reasoning he had had. He had not been sure about it but still sacrificed them all the same. You knew he despised them but never thought he would be that cruel.

The air shifted from behind you and you whipped around quickly, spilling some of your tea. At the sight of him, you almost dropped the cup completely in your shock.

“C-Chuck?” you sputtered.

His hands tucked into his coat pockets, he shrugged sheepishly. “Yeah, In the flesh.”

You placed your cup down and stood, tossing the blanket over your shoulders to keep yourself warm. “How did you get in here?” Chuck’s brows furrowed and you explained, “Lucifer said… he said he locked me away in here.”

“He did,” Chuck confirmed calmly.

It was your turn to look confused; how was he sure of that? He took a step closer to you and you instinctively took one back, an ominous feeling slowly welling at the fact he was here. Was it truly even him or was Lucifer playing games again? And why would he choose Chuck out of all people?

Chuck – if it was even him – smirked slightly noticing your movement back from him. He stopped and held his hands up in a friendly manner. “No need to be scared of me, Y/N. I’m here to help.”

“Help with what?”

“Amara. My sister.”

His sister?

“I’ve stayed out of the picture for too long. Left you all to defend yourselves when I should have been here assisting. It is my mess and I need to fix it. I was the one who locked her away in the first place.”

Hesitantly, you asked, deciding to play along, “What do you mean? What can a prophet be doing in this situation? No offense.”

Chuck’s smirk grew into a smile. His eyes fell away from you to the empty garden pot near him. He walked to it, reaching out over the bare dirt. Beneath his hand, flowers boomed.

Your eyes widened in shock and you had had enough. “Lucifer!” you rasped, tearfully. “I’m not in the mood for mind games! Please, just stop.”

“I am more than a prophet,” Chuck continued, ignoring your request. He faced you, telling you sincerely, “I’m God.”

Shaking your head, you said, “That… that’s not true.”

“It is. Lucifer was right. I should have come sooner, not driven him to such ends to try to get my attention. I did hurt his feelings by showing up now, but I am here nonetheless. And I have struck a deal with him to get him to agree to work with me – again – on putting Amara back where she belongs.” Chuck clicked his tongue and added, “Plus, I need Sam and Dean to come back to help us. They’re always a key in these fights.”

Your mouth fell open in shock and you stammered, “C-come back? You’re going to…?”

“Of course. I couldn’t let them die like that,” Chuck returned. “I created them to withstand battles like this one.”

The question of Castiel almost fell from your lips but you bit it back. You were still unsure whether or not this was actually Chuck or Lucifer. If you asked about Castiel, you knew that would infuriate Lucifer.

How you hated not being able to tell the truth from an untruth. Lucifer had made sure of that.

Sighing loudly, Chuck looked out over the yard. “It’ll be beautiful here when the flowers fully bloom, Y/N. You have a good spot.”

Why did you feel something was about to happen?

His gaze fell back on you, and he smiled softly. “It’s been good knowing you the way you’ve been over the encounters we’ve had before this, Y/N.”

“What do you mean?”

Chuck merely cocked his head, that smile still on his lips.

<> <> <>

Everything was fuzzy. Your vision, your thoughts. Rubbing at your eyes with your blanket, it tightened around your shoulders.

Blinking, your vision focused on the person in front of you. “Chuck? What? How did I get out here?”

Chuck smiled at you, slow and simple. “Yes, Y/N. Just checking in to make sure my son is taking good care of you. And I found you out here, taking a nap. I’m sorry I startled you.”

“I…” you trailed off, trying to remember when you had come out here. Looking around, you were still at home. It was spring… why could you not remember? You noticed someone else standing by the sliding glass door back into the house. A dark haired, handsome man. His hands were in his slacks pockets, watching the two of you intently.

Chuck followed your stare and assured you, “Oh, that’s one of my angels. Don’t worry about him, just accompanying me.”

You tore your gaze away from the man and directed at Chuck, “Has… has something happened to Lucifer? Has he done something?”

Chuck shook his head, smiling still. “No, Lucifer is fine. You’re fine. You’re still safe here. Just like he promised for this last millennia.”

Your shoulders relaxed hearing his soothing words. You had worried for a moment that something terrible had befallen Lucifer. You knew little of what went on outside your home, so you had a lot of opportunity to wonder what dangers lay out there for him when he was away.

Chuck held out his hand to you, beckoning you. “You should go inside. Get something to eat. Lucifer will be back soon. I promise.”

Following his lead, the two of you made your way back towards the door. The other angel stepped out of the way, allowing you two to pass by. His aquamarine eyes were piercing, watching you intently.

Curious, you thought to yourself but paid no more mind.

<> <> <>

Dean and Sam blinked in astonishment around the bunker. They were sitting at the entrance table, far from where they had been. They both remembered what had happened, Lucifer standing in front of them, smiling wickedly. Y/N had been begging him to spare them and he had not heeded her pleas. The immense pain as he twisted their insides… then darkness.

How were they back home? Was this heaven?

They locked eyes. “What…” Sam muttered, knowing damn well Dean did not have an explanation but asked nonetheless.

“Back in one piece then,” a voice sounded from the other end of the table.

Their attention snapped towards it and they stared in shock at Chuck Shurley sitting at the end of the table. And Lucifer.

Dean’s face hardened immediately. He began to stand up from the table, “You sonofabitch—”

He was slammed back into his chair by a wave of Chuck’s hand. “We don’t have time for revenge right now, Dean.”

“Dean is hostile! Wow, what a surprise!” Lucifer said, trying to push Dean and Sam’s buttons. It was working too.

Chuck said firmly in warning, “Lucifer.” Lucifer shut his mouth and settled back into his chair, staring down the length of the table at the boys.

Sam narrowed his eyes in curiosity at the exchange, wondering why Lucifer backed off so easily. Staring hard between Chuck and Lucifer, he sized them up for a few moments before realization dawned on his face. “You… no…” he trailed off, in shock.

Halfheartedly, Chuck waved his hands. “Surprise.”

“You’re God?” Sam blurted.

“What?” Dean demanded, looking wildly between Sam and Chuck.

“This whole time?” Sam asked harshly.

“No, actually. He was a prophet and God decided that he should take the reins—”

“Lucifer,” Chuck warned again, and Lucifer shut his mouth.

Sam shook his head and said more to himself than anything, “This whole time.”

Dean leveled Chuck with a glare. “And you just sat back this whole damn time?”

Instead of arguing, Chuck said, “I had other pressing things to attend to.”

“Then the whole damn world being threatened by the Darkness? What else could have possibly been occupying your precious time?”

“A lot of things I don’t want to discuss with you, Dean,” Chuck returned, an ice to his tone. Dean caught it, realizing he was pressing God. He leaned back, his gaze moving between Lucifer and Chuck. Straightening out his jacket, Chuck said, “What matters is I am here now, and we have to figure out how to get Amara back in her imprisonment.”

That lit a fire underneath Dean again. “We?” He demanded, his finger circling around the table but his gaze was pointed at Lucifer, hatred burning in his eyes. He growled, “Hell fucking no, You killed us!”

“And?” Lucifer drawled.

“And?” Dean snarled, incredulously.

“You’re here, aren’t you?” Lucifer pointed out. “My plan worked. You’re welcome.”

Pissed, Dean shook his head. “Nice friggen plan, Lucifer. You traumatized Y/N and killed us! What a bang-up job!”

At her mention, Sam asked before Lucifer could retort anything, “Where is Y/N? Is she still in hell? She should be here.”

“She’s not your concern anymore,” Lucifer said, feigning lightheartedness. “And she’s not Cassie’s either.”

Dean snarled, “The hell is that supposed to mean?”

“How can I be any clearer, Dean-o?” Lucifer taunted.

“Let it go,” Chuck advised the boys.

“Let it go? She’s family!” Dean barked at him before pointing at Lucifer threateningly. “And you’ve been torturing her for months!”

“She’s not your family anymore!” Lucifer snapped in return, his cool demeanor gone, bristled by Dean’s accusation.

“This is not important enough to bicker over right now!” Chuck shouted, losing his temper. The table fell silent at his outburst instantaneously. “Yes, Lucifer was reckless and should not have done what he did. But that’s because he felt he had to force my hand and that’s my fault. Y/N’s fine, you’re fine. What is not fine is Amara is running loose wanting to destroy the planet.”

No one said anything in response to him, sitting in tense silence.

Chuck inhaled deeply, exhaling slowly. Clearing his throat, he said, “We need a plan. And we need more help. Specifically, from hell and from a witch.”

Lucifer chuckled at this, leaning back in his chair. “Ah… Crowley and Rowena. Of course. My favorites.” He flicked his gaze to Sam and Dean, smirking. “The ol’ team is back together again, eh?”

~~~

CASTIEL FOREVER TAGS: @willowing-love @perseusandmedusa @greenappleeyes @afanofmanystuffs @earthtokace @shikaros-blog @marisayouass @splendidcas @stixnstripesworld

Tags I missed who requested to be tagged or showed interest (for this one time just so I don’t bother people who are not interested anymore. If you want to be tagged again, just leave a comment on the post or PM me!): @itsmeempar, @vvipgot7be, @roonyxx, @littlesupernaturalwords

#casifer x reader #casifer fic #spn fic #supernatural fic #lucifer x reader #lucifer!cas x reader #my shit

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eggytranslations · 3 years

Text

Volume 1, Chapter 10-Separate Paths

Content warnings: n/a

At night, the two brothers lay in bed with a lit candle by the bedside, chatting face to face.

For the most part, it was Shen Zhen who did the speaking. He talked about the anecdotes and odd happenings of officialdom as well as which new friends he had made recently and what kinds of natures they all had. His expression was animated as he spoke and his words could not be stopped in the slightest.

Shen Qingxuan listened for a moment before he shook his head faintly. He knew that his time in officialdom was still short and that he had not yet experienced those petty schemes, so his spirits were high and full of expectations. What will happen in the future was not yet evident.

In the end though, he was his very own younger brother. After a minute’s hesitation, Shen Qingxuan ended up pouring a basin of cold water on his brimming, enthusiastic heart. You need to be prudent in all things. Before you have distinguished their faction, do not make friends carelessly. Even if you have gotten to know them, keep a distance. It is not too late to wait until later, once you are sure you can associate with them, to treat them sincerely.

Shen Zhen was a little taken aback. After he recovered, although he did not say anything, he was no longer as spirited as before. He merely nodded and agreed.

Shen Qingxuan realized that he was overly blunt with his words. It was not entirely impossible for Shen Zhen to be aware of all these reasonings, but to have it said so candidly made it hard for Shen Zhen to accept emotionally at the moment.

With a sigh, he reached out to stroke his little brother’s head and continued to say, Father’s wealth is great and his influence is broad so I know you do not have worries from that end. But you must think about it. The greater the wealth and influence of the Shen family, the larger we are as a target to rope in for conspiracies within the official circles. You have just entered this space, so your experience is still short and without any roots. If you do not act carefully and join the wrong faction, it will be very difficult for you to turn things around again. Not to mention, if that happens the Shen family wealth may not be able to help; instead, our family might lose everything and become ruined or dead!

The last sentence, after some hesitation by Shen Qingxuan, was nevertheless said out loud. Under the blankets, Shen Zhen’s body shivered once.

“Gege, I know.” Shen Zhen was silent for a long time before he slowly said, “This time I have come up to say goodbye to you.”

This time it was Shen Qingxuan’s turn to be taken aback. Shen Zhen took a glance at him, and then lowered his eyes, saying softly, “It is precisely because I understand these things, so I requested to be transferred to the south and take office at Ningyuan County’s government office. The official documents have already been sent down. I set out at the end of this month. This parting will be as lengthy as the mountains are high and the rivers are long, I do not know when I can return……”

Shen Qingxuan furrowed his brows as he tried to recall where Ningyuan County was located. After thinking for a long time, he remembered that Ningyuan County was a small county seat in an extremely remote part of the south, situated in a hot and humid climate where the folks were fierce, and brigands and bandits ran wild. The people there were all called southern barbarians.

Shen Qingxuan’s brows did not unfurrow until after a very long time. He replied, Going there is good too. If you stay in the capital with this temper of yours, you will never know when you might offend someone. Go there to sharpen yourself. Once you return, gege will set a dinner to welcome you back.

Shen Zhen smiled and reached out his arm to hook his older brother’s neck, burying his head into it and saying softly, “I knew you were going to say this.” After a pause, he continued, “Although that place is a bit more challenging, it is a good place to build foundations for my career goals. Gege need not worry about me. A couple of bandits and brigands are not enough to defeat me. Moreover, diedie has a shop there, so there is no need to worry about clothes and food either……Ten years at most, and I will return.”

Shen Qingxuan was silent as he nodded his head.

This was their first time parting as two brothers who had grown up together from childhood. Although they were distanced by some years of age and were polar opposites, nothing could erase their mutual affection made of blood thicker than water. This greatly saddened both of them.

And after who knows how long, Shen Zhen finally said something. “Gege, I know your health is not good. But you must promise to at least wait until I return.”

Shen Qingxuan was stunned again. When it dawned on him, he could not help but feel grieved. He nodded and promised at once. Of course I will wait for you to come back. Rest assured, I still have not seen you get married and establish yourself, and then shoulder the responsibility of bringing honor to and continuing the Shen family legacy. How could I let go and leave?

Shen Zhen finally laughed, “Wait for me to marry and have a son. I will definitely have two kids and give one to you for sure.”

Shen Qingxuan laughed as well. To this day, he still had not taken a fancy to any girl, so who knows when this hollow promise will be fulfilled. Then he thought that it was not necessarily true that he will not be able to marry and have children. If it was just a matter of carrying on the family line, then it was quite simple. But at the same time this thought appeared in his mind, Yi Mo’s face abruptly popped up at the worst moment, startling him into suppressing and keeping his restless thoughts down all at once.

I must not think about it again. I dare not think.

The two brothers affectionately spoke a good deal of words again. For a time, Shen Qingxuan was unsure if he should tell him about the matter of regaining his ability to speak, including the matter of knowing the serpent as well, to save his younger brother the trouble of worrying about whether he was alive or dead while he was away from home.

But on second thought, he abandoned this idea.

Although he could speak now, he did not know how long this state could last, let alone what kinds of mishaps might occur in the future. He had already experienced the ups and downs of life. Before determining the final outcome, there was no need to make his family worry with him.

What’s more, the future of him and Yi Mo was quite complicated. Neither of them could promise each other anything.

Besides, vows were empty and tedious by nature. Who would believe them?

In the later half of the night, Shen Zhen had fallen fast asleep, appearing docile as he nestled next to his brother, just like when they were kids. No matter how feral or unruly, he was always clever yet sensible in front of his elder brother, putting on a submissive appearance. It seemed as if there were an invisible pair of divine hands that had arranged everything.

Shen Qingxuan smoothed his brow, lost in thought as he looked at him. Even from a young age, there have been people who have pointed out that these eyes were the most similar feature between them, as they had both inherited their father’s eyes.

Their least similar feature was also these eyes.

While Shen Zhen’s eyes were still full of youthful energy and innocence, Shen Qingxuan already possessed a pair of gloomy and exhausted eyes.

Shen Qingxuan sighed without a sound, tucked in their blankets, and in a daze, gradually fell asleep as well.

The next few days were a continuous rush since Shen Zhen needed to hurry on and take up his new post. The entire household was busy running around, not even Shen Qingxuan could decline and had to go down the mountain as well.

Since they were short on hands, Shen Qingxuan sent his own serving boy over to help out. He himself was unable to help, so he sat quietly in a shaded nook.

Shen Zhen busied himself with saying goodbye to his friends and going in and out of taverns and restaurants. When he came home, he also could not rest, and was instead pulled away by Master Shen to bid farewell to his elderly relatives one by one.

Shen Zhen would come find Shen Qingxuan in his free time to relay his hardships, remarking that he did not realize leaving would be this tiring. Naturally, Shen Qingxuan would say something to appease him and follow up by pushing him to another banquet.

Soon, after everything was sorted out, Shen Zhen went on his way.

Shen Qingxuan had also returned to the mountains, settling back into his quiet days. He would count the sunrise and sunset as he listened to the sound of wind blowing through the tree leaves.

Ever since they parted after the hot spring, Yi Mo had not shown up again.

He was not sure what Yi Mo was busy with, or maybe Yi Mo did not want to see him again at all. Every time Shen Qingxuan thought about this, he could not contain his scoff. So what if you do not want to meet. At most, you can hide until next year’s trial, and then you will have to come find me anyways.

But then he thought, What kind of person is Yi Mo? Did he even need to hide from a cripple like him who could not even truss a chicken? He probably did not wish to come.

Was it that he did not wish to come, or was it because he shunned him for being a cripple with dubious intentions? The latter was not impossible, Shen Qingxuan kept thinking, I fear that this yao has lived for millennia and has never encountered such a dishonest and shameless matter. Immediately, this idea was overturned by him. This was a yao who had lived for millennia; what kinds of things had he not seen? It was possible he had already seen all the affairs of the human world, and it was simply only because Yi Mo looked down on him and did not wish to see him.

Shen Qingxuan sat by himself in his room, the thoughts in his head spinning fast, but he was unable to make sense of any of them. Instead, the messier his thoughts became, the more depressed his heart felt.

It was like there was something blocking his chest, he only wanted to howl hysterically, and trash and break some things to feel relief.

Perhaps it was because he had just experienced a period of excitement, he could no longer guard this loneliness as calmly and composedly as he did before.

Sensing his own dangerous mood, Shen Qingxuan felt even more stifled. He really had no outlet to vent, so he simply picked up a stack of strange fox and ghost stories that he had collected previously to read. Except, as soon as he read a page, he wanted to rip out a page. He wanted nothing more than to rip all these things that falsely seduced people’s hearts into fine powder.

What fox girl would receive a good marriage when repaying a kind act? What love-struck fool would receive a marriage alliance after watering a flower spirit……all of it was entirely ridiculous and delusional.

Did the people who wrote these novels not know that “humans and yao walked separate paths,” huh?!

––Humans and yao walked separate paths.

Shen Qingxuan narrowed his eyes, chewing on these six words with gnashed teeth. Turning them over repeatedly again and again, soundlessly biting them out, then swallowing them down again and again. He was angered without reason and his hatred was drawn out even more.

Those words flashed across his mind again, “separate paths that converge to the same end,” but then he did not dare to continue the thought again.

They were a human and a yao, plus they were both men, so this convergence could not bring about the “same” romantic affairs mentioned in stories.

At most, they would be an excuse for others to gossip and add more topics for people to talk about after meals.

Once he internalized this point, Shen Qingxuan’s unwarranted anger skyrocketed even higher.

“Did those novels provoke you?”

Shen Qingxuan whipped his head up only to see Yi Mo standing next to the candle, half of his face hidden behind his messy long hair, the other half shown in the swaying shadow of the candlelight, and a pair of light-as-water eyes staring fixedly at him. His eyes were extraordinarily tranquil through and through.

Shen Qingxuan’s hand trembled once, then those white as snow scraps fell messily and scattered all over the ground.

The originally chaotic thoughts in his head seemed to follow these scraps as they fell to the ground and sank into the background as well. It was suddenly peaceful.

He was neither worried nor panicked, neither happy nor concerned.

He just unhurriedly lifted his head and gazed at the other man’s tranquil eyes. He vaguely thought that they had been like this for thousands of years, as if they were a secret place that had existed since antiquity where no one had visited.

“Yi Mo.”

Shen Qingxuan heard his own voice sound out in this still world and ask word by word with incomparable earnestness:

“Shall our separate paths converge into one?”

Would that be okay?

#a snake encounter #yu she #su hen #danmei #tl #eggytranslations

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bbnibini · 4 years

Photo

The Angels They Called “Azrael” (The First and Current Azrael’s Backstory) (part 1/present Azrael general HCs here)

The First "Azrael"

Dealing with the Celestial War's aftermath had been a painful yet needed transition to normalcy---friends and family were lost, ties were broken and grief laid heavy on everyone's hearts. Michael did all he could to reduce casualties, worked harder than he ever did yet he still felt empty. Azrael is gone and no amount of prayer can ever get her back. So many more deaths of course resulted from the war, but his biased feelings couldn't help but concentrate on an old friend. She had been one of the first angels to be appointed to Heaven like he was. They went through a lot together and also grieved over friends long passed.

To think the Angel of Death herself would succumb to her own domain---he had to thank his millennia of experience to at least keep a trained stoicness. If he shows even an ounce of disturbance, the already low morale in Heaven would only worsen.

He only wished his former brothers were safe and the fallen angel they protected as well.

Would it be devilish of him to wish happiness upon one of the instigators of the Celestial War? No matter how hard he tried, he could never seem to hate Lucifer. He was a friend. Family. No matter which form he would take, his affections for him and his siblings would never change. Just because they had taken a new form didn't mean that they are evil---straying perhaps, selfish even. But their hearts would always carry the kindness and gentleness of an angel's love: unselfish, encompassing as if emulating God themself. He'd rather look at the brighter side of things than lament over what had been lost. After all, their rebellion encouraged reformations of Heaven's outdated system.

"A succession system"

Expected mixed responses--after all, he had been refining this proposal with Azrael for years. Contingency plans had been laid out in case this scenario happens. Azrael had always been fussy like that, and now looking back, he was rather thankful.

Training successors upon one's death and allowing their protégé to take over their name? It was unheard of until now. Death was almost a foreign concept to angels, especially ones of the current generation. They had never experienced the clumsy yet thoughtful creations of their one and only God, His stumbles, His failures and almost childlike curiosity and innocence. His love however remained unchanging even as the war ended, listening with a kind and attentive ear despite the sea of protests emerging from His own 'child's' ridiculous proposal.

"With all due respect Michael, your suggestion is already unheard of, yet am I hearing this correctly? A human successor? Are you out of your mind?" cried Metatron.

Understandable. Humans are excellent vessels for sin, so easily swayed and corrupted by evil yet loved nonetheless by their own Creator. Undeserving are most of them of His mercy, repeating mistakes of their ancestors in a tiring and seemingly endless cycle. However...their overwhelming capacity for change was indubitable. An angel will always be guided by the light, unquestioning of God's teachings and promising eternal servitude. Demons are the opposite---capable of only evil and sin, tempting and beguiling with no chance of redemption. Humans however are capable of both, teetering on the edges of good and evil and paving their own path, their own definition of morality: the embodiment of hope.

"Only the purest human soul will be chosen--carrying the goodness of God, one must have overcome the hardships evil placed upon them untainted." he repeated the words of Azrael in her proposal and even passed on her dying wish to the council. He saw a smile faltering from one of the familiar faces of his brothers, that of the young Simeon observing their discussions with curious interest. Well.

At least one of them was considering it.

Needless to say, it took numerous revisions of the succession proposal before it was finally approved. As promised, a soul was chosen from the humans to ascend---the purest of souls, untainted despite numerous hardships.

He had no name of his own, thrust in the throes of their own war as a young soldier meant to be forgotten in his passing. He received disdain and tasted isolation for his unusual features, yet he carried not even an ounce of hatred in his body for the ones who persecuted him. They called that nameless child ██████████.

That child never learned of love nor hatred---the blankest and purest of souls. A war child whose innocence accounts for his own inexperience. He died too early to learn of good and evil.

Michael was beginning to realise that fulfilling his friend's dying wish might be a mistake.

Present Azrael

The only known human protégé. To respect the former Azrael's dying wish, he had been chosen as the new Azrael to carry out his predecessor's duties and legacy.

Was originally a war child. Had the "purest soul" in his time largely due to the fact that he died too early to be influenced by right and wrong.

Upon ascending and being a complete Celestial, his body was forced to take an adult form (most likely causing him a lot of pain and mental strain), although his childlike innocence remained intact. Michael and his brothers tried their best to delay his duties as an Avatar of Virtue due to this.

He is the first and last human to ever be considered as an angel protégé. This is the compromise the Council of Angels have decided upon by considering the first Azrael's dying wish. The current Azrael believes that that may change if he continues "doing his best".

Isn't very good with distinguishing his emotions. Being an Angel of Death could often times be really stressful and taxing, and the only indication that Azrael is ever affected by it is when he asks his brothers why "he's feeling really tired". Oftentimes, he would just suddenly cry and he doesn't really know why.

He feels like because he was originally a human, he has to work extra hard to keep up with his brothers and colleagues. He has a tendency to overdo it, however.

Is extremely adept at combat because of his past life. He often prays for the enemies he had killed in battle and mourns for their death, thinking "No one deserves to be forgotten." He believes that if he mourns for them, at least their lives will never be in vain.

Started liking sweets because of Michael. His favourite food are the macarons the Angel of Charity had baked for him as a "welcome present". He also likes eating pancakes with his older brother, Uriel.

Speaks in a very formal tone with everyone. It's become a habit at this point.

Despite having an adult body, he is still a child at heart. Michael says it will take a while for his mentality to adjust with his body. (I don't really want to give a clear age of when human Azrael died, but I'd say before he even reached teenage years). He has the innocence and the mentality of a slightly pedantic young child.

Despite being forced to grow up twice in his two lifetimes, Azrael doesn't hold any resentment. When asked by Michael if he wishes to retain memories of his past life, he answered, in a very nonchalant way: "I do not really mind either way, big brother."

He hasn't experienced what it was like to be a child in his past life so he decided to relish his more peaceful times in Heaven. He happily experiences all that heaven has to offer and is a very willing learner.

He remembered being a servant in his past life before being deployed into war. His master was an artist and he learned how to paint and sculpt by observing him(although he only put it to good use once he became an angel because he wasn't allowed to touch anything in his master's workshop). Handicrafts just came naturally to him once he became an angel. He says "It's very relaxing".

Having experienced hardships in his past life, he learned how to value the present. He was unsmiling and expressionless when he was brought to heaven, but by opening up to his brothers, he slowly learned how to smile from the bottom of his heart.

Considers Luke as his closest friend. They met each other as cherubs in angel school. Azrael is one of the reasons why Luke wants to improve his baking skills.

He was persecuted for his unusual features when he was human. He doesn't hold any ill will to those who hurt him, but because of his experiences, he resents his eye colour as it reminded him of blood and war. Similarly, he doesn't like how red eyes are quite a common physical feature for demons, especially considering the lives he had taken in war. It just holds too much coincidental implications, and he'd rather not consider the thought.

He sees his second life as a lifelong atonement for his past sins. Now that he is an angel, he wanted to act the part and treat everyone with kindness and warmth--- something that even he wasn't privy to. It doesn't mean that he couldn't learn though, and he rather looked forward to it.

#bbwritesforom #obey me angels #obey me headcanons #obey me scenarios #obey me drabble #shall we date obey me #obey me #obey me original character #obey me oc #obey me (worship me au)#obey me solmare

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