#outfits are based on their looks in 'the promise' comic book

[reallyhardydraws]

babies being cuties 💛💙 (commissions open!)

#avatar the last airbender #a:tla #aang #katara #kataang #kataang fanart #atla fanart #outfits are based on their looks in 'the promise' comic book #draws

[twisted-tech]

The Phantom Blot & Crowley’s Identity

Who is the Phantom Blot?

⚠️(Book 6, 7, & Glorious Masquerade spoiler warning)⚠️

Phantom Blot Similarities to Crowley

Overblots and Phantoms are closely related things in Twisted Wonderland, and based on the names, both are probably derived from the same Disney villain: the Phantom Blot. Given blot and phantoms are a major plot point, I wouldn’t be surprised if this Disney villain becomes an in-game character, maybe even a final boss? I want to point out the similarities the Blot has with Crowley to suggest they may be the same person.

The Phantom Blot was created in 1939 in Mickey Mouse Outwits the Phantom Blot. This is right after the shorts that inspired Ramshackle Dorm: Thru the Mirror (1936) and Lonesome Ghosts (1937). Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) was released near the same time. 

The timing may suggests that these things are related. I bring up Snow White because there’s lots of evidence to suggest that Crowley is based on the crow from Snow White (the school being themed on Snow White, his outfit being similar to Pomefiore’s uniform, the portraits in his office, etc.)

The Blot was first introduced in comics as a thief who only stole cameras of a “special type” and then destroyed them immediately. It was never said what was special about these cameras or why he destroyed them.

In the prologue, Crowley gives the Prefect the Ghost Camera, saying it’s “enchanted with a special kind of magic” to photograph both the body and soul of the subject. 

His appearance resembles ink, sometimes it even drips off of him. “In costume, the Phantom Blot wears dark clothes that make him resemble a living ink-blot, or a shadow, hence his name.” Since he is constantly disguised, his only defining features are his glowing eyes. 

Crowley is also always disguised, dresses darkly, and has glowing eyes.

The Blot’s abilities include- but are not limited to- disguise, identity theft, escapology, blackmail, bribing people with false promises, manipulation by using another’s greed/desire for revenge against them, high intelligence, and duping innocent people into acting as his unknowing agents.

Disguise/Identity Theft: Obviously Crowley is disguised with his mask, but he also proved he can change his form when he transformed into a ghost in the prologue. Though he claimed to use a transmutation potion to do it, we have nothing but his word to prove it. This is doubly suspicious since Azul has said that such potions are highly restricted and often illegal. Knowing this, it’s very strange that Crowley just happened to have a potion like that on him, and that he would waste it on a trivial battle with the Prefect and Grim. If he can pop a rare potion like it’s nothing, does that mean he has more? And why have them to begin with? What if he had it on him because he constantly uses them, and the Crowley we know isn’t his true form at all? Or, did he lie about the potion and he actually has an ability, item, or unique magic that changes his form?

The theory that he’s constantly transformed lends itself to many different “Crowley’s Identity” theories, and goes beyond what he looks like without the mask. I use it now to suggest he might be the Phantom Blot that’s taken a more humanoid form, but I also see compelling evidence in the “Malleus is Crowley” theory that this could work for too- but that’s for another post.

This also opens the possibility that he has been turning into other people/creatures and stealing their identities throughout the story. If so, it raises every interaction into suspicion. He could have easily spied on people or spread false information, who knows.

Escapology: I think this works into Crowley’s skill at avoiding his responsibilities and his dislike for the law. There’s less obvious evidence for this, but hear me out: in book 1, he escaped fighting Riddle in order to evacuate students; in book 5, you could argue he “escaped” dealing with Jamil’s overblot by leaving the school and not answering his phone; in book 6, he narrowly avoided losing his job when he was called to parliament. He has a knack for getting out of situations.

Blackmail/Manipulation: There’s too many examples to list them all, but to name a few: bribing Grim with tuna (and not paying up), bribing the Prefect with dorm repairs (only to not chip in at all and let the other students and the Shroud family pay for it), threatening to throw Grim off campus if he didn’t serve as a janitor, and deliberately withholding funding for food, dorm repairs, and a portal home from the Prefect to better exploit them and force them into doing tasks for him. He also only does this because he is aware of how completely reliant the Prefect is on him, having noted on their first meeting that the Prefect is “without a cent to their name” and doesn’t have any “ability to contact their guardian”. He straight up laughs after coming up with this plan so I think everyone already knows this.

Bribery: On top of “bribing” students to do things, he also accepts bribes. In Jamil’s overblot flashback, Crowley confessed to accepting a bribe from the Al-Asim family to accept Kalim into the school and make him a dormwarden. Interestingly, during this scene, Crowley’s tone of voice completely changed from it’s usual over-exaggerated one to a very serious tone. He also accepted a bribe from the Shroud family to allow Ortho to attend school as a student.

High Intelligence: The Blot is described as a master strategist. The trouble with this is that the game is not over, so I can’t really prove yet that Crowley does have some master plot in the works. He does seem to be hiding something though, which makes me think he probably has some plan going on.

Duping the Innocent: Once again, there isn’t really proof of this since the game is unfinished, but Crowley seems to know more than he’s letting on and has a tendency to manipulate other’s into doing things for him. It wouldn’t surprise me if he’s been using the Prefect or other students to carry out a more nefarious plan with them none the wiser.

Personality wise, “The Blot is very vain and his desire for money and power is only surpassed by his desire to immortalize his name in ‘the annals of crime.’" “He is very cunning and can come up with hundreds of different plans, from stealing all of the money in the world, to murdering Mickey Mouse.” 

Now I wouldn’t say Crowley has shown any murderous tendencies, but he fits the other traits to a T. One of his main personality traits is his desire for prestige and money, seen in how often he talks himself up and how he makes a point to tell people he’s the Headmage of a very famous school. He also hates being outdone by RSA.

The Blot isn’t just any villain-- he is the arch nemesis of Mickey Mouse (I didn’t even know he had one before now). He stands out from other comic villains by posing a true threat to Mickey’s life. “The best part (about Mickey Mouse Outwits the Phantom Blot) by far is the Phantom Blot himself. Menacing and truly dangerous in a way most comedy adventure villains aren’t allowed to be. He’s a real threat while still being humorous and entertaining”.

Crowley definitely has the potential to be hiding a more sinister side. He’s goofy, over the top, and generally sleazy with no proof of being truly evil. However, he sometimes let’s slip the mask, such as when telling Jamil that he had to accept Kalim as a housewarden and his voice lost all it’s previous joviality, or when he seemed to know something was coming just before the CHARON attacked the college.

The Blot’s relevance to Mickey also caught my eye considering the presence of Mickey in the game. Mickey has a history of fighting inky, magic monsters in not only tv shows but games as well. I don’t fully know what the connection between Mickey and Crowley could be, but there’s more to Ramshackle’s history and magic mirror that I bet Crowley isn’t saying.

Magic is an integral part of the Blot’s character: he despises anything related to magic and often tries to steal it from others and destroy it. In some variations, he himself is a “powerful evil sorcerer” and gives his ink to other villains to make them stronger. More recent depictions of The Blot solidify him as a powerful, evil sorcerer who battles Mickey, uses ink to give others extreme power, kidnaps people, attempts to take over the world, and tries to eliminate all magic.

Despising magic is more of Rollo’s thing, so I think they’ll go more the powerful, evil sorcerer route. Crowley has shown a consistant interest in blot, from his explanations of it to the Prefect and later revealing that he searched for the blot crystals after overblots only to never find any because Grim ate them.

Idia mentioned wanting to find a way to “recycle” blot and use it as an energy source, and that STYX was working to research that. It’s possible Crowley is working with STYX considering he implied he knew CHARON was arriving before they did, he let them take him without a struggle, and he was in a private meeting with the two leaders of STYX. 

If this is true, then it looks even more likely that he somehow plotted the overblots of the students to better study them. It may be he had good intentions, such as to help research a way to make blot safe. And I’d he did find a way, maybe he’ll start sharing blot with some other people.

Sage’s Island is also the ideal place to do such experiments since it’s remote, and if anything went wrong it wouldn’t hurt the mainland. The game makes it a point to show how hard it is to get on and off the island without the mirror during winter break and certain events.

With the kidnapping people point, this could be applied to how STYX kindnapped students, and you could argue that if Crowley is working with them, he kidnapped them by extension. But even before that, I argue that the Prefect is technically kidnapped as well. Crowley shows no desire to return them home. In fact, he does the opposite and encourages them to get used to the new world and forget about their homeland.

One old theory is that Crowley is constantly in a state of overblot himself, attributing to his mask and the gloves he never removes in order to hide the markings. It is also strange that the Dark Mirror has overblot markings, and that in the trailer, Crowley’s mage stone turns black at the end and his cloak falls into a pool of ink, suggesting he might have overblotted.

The Blot once told his daughter a reverse fairy tale story that portrayed himself as the hero and Mickey as the villain before telling her to dream of “happy endings.”

In general, this fits the theme of the game. The villains are heroes, and history seems to have been altered to portray the villains virtues over their immoral behaviors. The title of the game is Twisted Wonderland after all, so we know there’s something going on here.

Interestingly, though history was changed, it does not portray the heroes as villains. It more of an “everyone wins” situation where all get their happy endings.

Not to get back on the Malleus-is-Crowley theory, but this is also remarkably similar to what Malleus said before putting the students to sleep.

To close off on, the Phantom Blot seems like a really cool villain and I recommend checking out the wiki if you want something to do. Even if I’m completely wrong with the Crowley part, I do feel pretty confident saying that he was the inspiration for phantoms and overblots. Thanks for reading!

Sources

https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Phantom_Blot#Background

https://twisted-wonderland.fandom.com/wiki/Twisted_Wonderland_Wiki

https://twistedwonderland.miraheze.org/wiki/Twisted_Wonderland_Wiki

https://rachelbethhines.tumblr.com/post/174145090021/the-best-of-disney-comics-part-10

#twisted wonderland #twst theory #twisted wonderland theory #dire crowley #twst crowley #the phantom blot #twst phantom blot #twst crowley theory #dire crowley theory

[kustas]

obligatory disclaimer of “i read this two years ago and cringed so hard throughout i blanked most of it from my mind” therefore don’t remember much details

from what i remember: it’s a mass of easy clichés that does nothing well.

nothing, NOTHING stuck out to me in monstress from the story to the artwork, and the litte merit i fought to find was stuff i had seen better executed in other places. the only two things i remember liking was some character designs (especially female characters) and the overall aesthetics of the fantasy art of the world. for the first: while a few had memorable designs, the mass felt like faux-anime prettyfaced potatoes with too complex outfits. reminded me of final fantasy MMO characters and i mean this in a derogatory way, where the only design elements characters are allowed to have are so kewl flourishes on an instagram model base. regarding the art, i gotta put a nerd hat on for this but i mean the direction taken for in-universe art forms and styles and the cultures and context around them. i remember little cultural variance but the artwork itself, if not that original, had the merit of trying instead of stealing RL artwork like most fantasy series are content to do. unfortunately as these are my opinions i happen to find it kind of ugly.

as for the art, in general. BOY is it bad - i know it’s a webcomic and have respect for that and how intricate the artwork is for such a format but I also do think it looks like ass. too much complexity with little regard for hierachisation of buisiness for readability purposes. the volumes are disastrous where characters have little shapes especially in difficult angles. this i would not care for had the artist not went for half assed realism. a potato face can look great but not if you try shading it realistically. and realistic shading often has to be polished if you want it to be readable.

plot wise: things sure were happening in the most boring way possible. “protagonist possessed by a sort of monster god thing” is as tropey as can be, the political going-ons and emotional drama i did not find a way to give a shit about because you did not spend enough time knowing about the world in a meaningful way to understand its politics (or care), and no characters were endearing. layers upon layers of the pointless shock and sad violins my meanest brain pieces imagine is what bad angst fanfic reads like.

it’s just bad!!! everything about it felt edgy and amateur.

i’ve read enough weird, wild & touching comics to know how hard they can hit even ones rougher around the edges and have so much love and respect for them as an art form but monstress promised little from it’s premise and delivered even less. maybe i’m not the target audience but who even is? it has the maturity and edge of something for older children but too much graphic content for that especially given how harsh US publishing is with sex. it’s too complex for casual fans and imo too shallow for hardcore fantasy nerds. i don’t want to say this because i’ve met people I know who liked it who have wild culture and are smarter than I am but had I not I’d have told you “monstress has fans because a lot of people have not read good comic books in their life”.

found some live texting i had while reading it with an equally hateresque friend who is a comic author themself and who’s name i gracefully have censored.

worst comic book i’ve read ever for real

[youngjustus]

HAVE U SEE THE NEWS ABOUT SUPERFAM????

i'm glad that while i wasn't really paying attention to the announcements at nycc, my followers are still keeping me informed and up to date lol thank you

and Okay. okay. i'm going to be real with you here: i think that people cling to his original 90's costume a little too much. comics are a visual medium, and the costume does express his character to an extent (this is a character originally created in 1993 as a commentary on the mtv generation and child stars) BUT i get the impression that a lot of people On-Line only like him for aesthetic reasons, and just look at him and make up a personality based on the outfit + some influence from the young justice tv series. there is a lot more to him than just his costume! and he isn't less interesting or becomes an entirely different character post-2003 when he gets put into the t-shirt and jeans. really, i promise!

also. the dan mora redesign (if you can even call it that) is almost exactly the same as the patrick gleason redesign from 2019 minus the spikes on his shoulders and the S shield now being on the front. i did like the spiked jacket, and i'm sad to see it go, but ultimately i really just hope that he's written well.

regarding kara and some of the other designs: i enjoy any supergirl outfit that has the character wearing pants, so this is mostly a win in my eyes. i hope that she can get to be called superwoman finally - again, characterization and growth is thing that is more important to me at the end of the day.

however, i did like how different conner's designs have been compared to the rest of the superfamily in that he didn't wear a cape and had the jacket instead. he still looked like he belonged, but that design was unique to him. which makes sense for a character who is about individuality! i'm all for a cute matching family moment, but them all having jackets is a little weird to me. i think kara, natasha, kenan, and jon need capes!

and finally regarding upcoming storylines: i'm very happy to see that kara, conner, natasha, and kenan will all be returning to the superman book in seemingly a big way. i didn't see any specifics in the articles i did read for what the others besides the irons family will be doing, but the "kryptonization" of metropolis sounds... interesting LOL i think that these characters deserve to have their own books, and while they say there are still unannounced things, its a little frustrating to see jon still be the only super character that’s guaranteed to get his own series. jon continues to be a character that i struggle to care about, but i at least hope the people who do like the character get something enjoyable out of the new stuff.

#asks #super posting

[oh-hush-its-perfect]

Alex Fierro's Introduction Full Breakdown

Okokok so. This is going to go full English-professor mode, where I'm drawing conclusions that are gonna seem a little far-fetched. That's what's fun about media analysis! I can say something is a symbol, and even if I don't have enough faith in RR's competency to know if he meant for it to be a symbol, it's still true! That being said, a lot of these choices I'm sure are intentional, either at a literal or subliminal level. Page numbers are going to be used not to assert a kind of authority or whatever— this is a Tumblr post, not an essay— but to help readers find the pages I'm referencing in case they'd like to do some digging of their own. Also, this is going to be really long. Really sorry to anyone with ADHD; I might make an audiofile of this so you can get the information without having to read the whole thing. With all that, let's get into it!

To kick off, let's talk about Alex being in the form of a cheetah when she first meets Magnus. Of course, there's the obvious impact of him seeing her but only so breifly, as well as introducing the conflict between her and the rest of Hall 19. But that could have easily been accomplished by almost any animal. The choice of a cheetah being implicated implies two qualities of Alex that will be recurrent throughout the two books she's in: 1. She has a tendency to run away, as we'll later learn when she describes how she became homeless, and 2. To Magnus, she's elusive. She can't be caught or held down. The event that shows this so transparently is how Alex refuses to define their relationship at the end of the series, despite it clearly surpassing the normal bounds of friendship.

But the cheetah isn't the animal Alex is in the form of when Magnus first gets a good look at her; she's a weasel. Weasel's bring up all kinds of connotations: ferocity, slickness, a lack of charm. When we want to describe someone as an untrustworthy person, we call them a weasel. RR had Alex take this form to play up her comrades' feeling of distrust towards her. She could be a double-crosser. But paradoxically, the up-front and vicious mannerisms of a weasel also have a transperency. She does not try appealing to her Hallmate's sense of goodwill because she doesn't have anything to gain from it. So even though there is the implication that she might be an antagonist, there's also evidence from her actions and mannerisms that she isn't. The weasel's long and skinny frame also allow for a smooth transition into Alex's actual body, which is convenient.

As Alex transforms into her usual human form, Magnus describes her as "a regular human teen, long and lanky, with a swirl of dyed green hair, black at the roots, like a plug of weeds pulled out of a lawn" (pg. 50). That simile at the end is of particular interest. Let's compare it to another time Magnus describes Alex's hair, in Ship of the Dead: "Her hair had started to grow out, the black roots making her look even more imposing, like a lion with a healthy mane" (pg. 136). By contrasting these two different examples, we can see the development of Magnus and Alex's relationship. The first time he sees her, he thinks of her hair as something nasty— note the word choice "weeds." Later on, though, he becomes more affectionate towards her, more complentary. The immedient negative reaction is less his actual impression, though, and more the reaction he expected to have based on everyone else's reaction to Alex.

Her clothes are equally as interesting; as Magnus describes it, Alex wears "battered rose high-tops, skinny lime green corduroy pants, a pink-and-green argyle sweater-vest over a white tee, and another pink cashmere sweather wrapped around the waist like a kilt" (pg. 50). Aside from the obvious fact that this outfit is a) bizzare, b) fire, and c) Alex's signature colors, which add a layer of style to what can otherwise be a somewhat boring series fashion-wise (excuse me, Blitz), the outfit reveals a crucial facet of Alex's backstory in a kind of subtle way. These are expensive clothes, like the Stella McCartney dress in Alex's room. Note the mention of fabrics (corduroy, cashmere) and patterns (argyle). These indicate wealth and status. Even the high-tops; shoes like that don't come cheap. But I'd like to return to the very first word of the section: "battered." Alex's wardrobe show-cases a proximity to wealth, but also shows that that proximity has been strained and lengthened, maybe for an extended period of time. Alex dresses like a rich person, but she isn't one. Least, not anymore.

The last word of that outfit-introduction is also of interest: "kilt." At the current moment, Magnus thinks that Alex is male. No one has indicated otherwise to him. Everyone has been referring to Alex with he/him pronouns. Samirah called Alex her "brother" (pg. 29). His first thought in seeing what he at first perceives as a guy with a jacket wrapped around the waist is That looks like a kilt. This thought tells us about Magnus: despite being open and accepting, he still has some lingering notions of gender conformity from his years in wider American society.

Magnus also indicates that the outfit "reminded me of a jester's motley, or the coloration of a venomous animal warning the whole world" (pg. 50). This is rather self-explanatory, but it's still worth noting that Magnus sees the outfit as something bizzare, strange, and even perhaps comical. This places Alex at odds with the other people Magnus has met. It also reveals that Magnus has zero fashion sense. But we already knew that.

After finishing up staring at the ensemble, Magnus finally gets around to actually looking Alex in the face. First Magnus says that he "forgot how to breathe" (pg. 50), which, yeah, relatable. This is justifed by saying that Alex has the same face as Loki, but the very same sentence that asserts that that's the case also suggests an alternative reason: Alex has "the same unearthly beauty" as her father. Here we can see the beginnings of Magnus's attraction to Alex, though at this point, he still has a lot of internalized homophobia. Though there's certainly some truth in that Magnus was unnerved by Alex's resemblance to Loki, the idea that Magnus pointed out that Alex was pretty without elaborating on that thought until about a chapter later— after he was informed that Alex was presently a girl— can tell us a lot about how Magnus perceives sex and beauty.

Of course, Alex's eyes are given special attention. She has cool eyes; what can I say? But I'd like to focus in on how Magnus here depicts Alex's heterochromia as "completely unnerving" (pg. 50). Again, let's contrast this with how he describes them after getting to know Alex a little better in Ship of the Dead. In Chapter 3, Magnus describes "[Alex's] dark brown eye and his amber eye like mismatched moons cresting the horizon" (pg. 25). Once again, this shows the development of their relationship— but this time, it's in a much more personal way. Eyes are the windows to the soul; they are culturally important and biologically important in inter-personal connections. In you look into someone's eyes, you're giving them your full attention, and you're implying a kind of closeness. The way that Magnus describes Alex's eyes in the second passage is downright intimate. At this point, he is in love with Alex, and it is clear when contrasting the two descriptions.

As my last point, I'd like to discuss Alex's first words on page: "'Point that rifle somewhere else, or I will wrap it around your neck like a bow tie'" (pg. 51). First of all, Alex saying this with a "perfect white smile" (pg. 51) on his face implies that she is used to being threatened. She is not afraid of being shot; she counters the promise of an attack with a promise of her own. This pleads the question: why is Alex accustomed to violence? What events of her past or qualities of her life have brought her to this point? The threat itself reveals Alex's trauma from being genderfluid in a society with rigid gender norms, as well as her antagonistic relationship with her father. Magnus makes a comment that Alex "might actually know how to tie a bow tie, which was kind scary arcane knowledge" (pg. 51). Like Alex's wardrobe, the idea that she may have experience in high-class fashion also implies her former status as a rich kid.

I could go on. I could break apart Alex saying "'Pleased to meet you all, I guess'" (pg. 51). There is a wealth of information in this short page span that tells us things about Alex Fierro in the present moment, quietly demonstrates things about her past, and characterizes the narrator Magnus Chase. This passage is also effective in hindsight in marking the progress of Magnus and Alex's relationship.

But I'd like to take a step back and look at not the pieces, but the whole picture. Alex Fierro gets a full page of pure description— her outfit, her face— and about a chapter of introduction. This comes after several chapters of build-up. Alex Fierro is an important character you need to keep your eyes on. Alex Fierro is emotionally significant to the main character, Magnus Chase. Alex Fierro is one of the most developed and well-rounded characters that Rick Riordan has ever written— heck, she's one of the best characters in middle-grade books period. The extended emphasis on her and her alone tells us exactly what role she's going to play in this story: she's the star.

#she IS the moment #I'm sure I missed a few things too #alex fierro #mcga #magnus chase #magnus chase and the gods of asgard #fierrochase #magnus chase/alex fierro #mcatgoa

[thevindicativevordan]

On Kong Kenan/Super-Man

It should've been him. He should've been the Superman of 5G/Future State/right now not Jon, and he should be the one getting an HBO Max series not Val. Hell he should be getting a movie!

God this dude is literally the best legacy character Superman has ever gotten, wholly his own person with his own lore and status quo while still building on the idea of "Superman". I am so pissed at DC for essentially just dropping him after his ongoing ended, what the hell Lee? You keep trying to make the Wildstorm characters happen, I need you to get my man Yang another Kenan book.

Have to admit I was a bit nervous at first about whether or not Kenan would be a worthwhile character. Yang's New 52 Superman run had been a disappointment to me overall, with only the the arc where Superman has underground wrestling matches against forgotten gods really sticking with me. Now he was introducing a brand new Superman? Didn't feel like he had "earned" that yet. But from the first issue I was hooked on this new character.

Kenan was unlike any other member of the Superfamily. He wasn't kind or sweet, he was an asshole! He was a bully! He was fantastic! Right from the start Kenan was set up to undergo a very different kind of character journey than the other members of the Superfamily. Empathy, humility, respect for people weaker than himself, these are all traits most heroes wearing the S-shield already posses by the time they first don the crest, but not Kenan.

Like all bullies he was even a bit of a coward himself at first, trying to bail on the experiment meant to give him Superman's powers right as it begins. After "saving" Lixin (the kid he bullies and steals lunch from every day) from Blue Condor he demands all the money Lixin has on him as payment. He's not courageous or selfless either at the start, Kenan is as much of an opposite of Superman as you can get short of being Bizarro. Learning the appeal of these traits formed the basis for his growth over the course of his series.

Seeing Yang bring in a lot of recognizable "Superman" elements in the series, but with a twist, was also great. Kenan is the one who bullies "Luo Lixin" rather than the traditional Clark/Lex friendship of Pre-Crisis and Birthright. Initially Kenan develops a crush on intrepid reporter for Primetime Shanghai, Laney Lan, but she dismisses him as too young and Kenan eventually ends up pursuing Avery Ho (Flash) instead. Baxi the Bat-Man of China has a similar relationship with Kenan as the traditional Superman/Batman in terms of being vitriolic best buds, however Baxi is the one who has the most respect for authority while Kenan is the rebel. Kenan is a part of the "Justice League of China" which does not meet with the approval of the already established Chinese superheroes, the Great Ten. That contrasts nicely with the good relationship the Justice Society and Justice League have, as well as seeing Yang lampshade the "Chinese copy" trope and incorporate that into his storytelling.

One of the funniest differences is how Kenan chooses to immediately reveal his identity as Super-Man to the world by taking off the compliance visor he was forced to wear, contrasting with Clark's choice to hide his identity. He was so eager to impress people that he never gave any thought to the danger he could put himself or his family in by revealing his identity until it was too late, something Clark is well aware of and has taken great pains to keep his identity secret. Was a missed opportunity for DC to have Kenan comment on Clark copying him for once when he outed himself under Bendis.

But one of the most poignant differences between Clark and Kenan is the gulf in separation between their relationship with their parents. Clark has a loving relationship with Ma and Pa Kent, trying to live up to their lessons as best he can. In contrast Kenan's mom was believed to have died in an airplane crash when he was just a child, and he never really knew her. His father was distant from him after that and the two weren't really close despite Kenan's attempts to impress him. So Kenan lacks that strong connection while still clearly loving both of them.

Pa Kent's death is one of the most tragic examples of Clark's love for his parents, and I've always been a fan of takes where Clark promises his father to fight for the powerless on Pa's deathbed. Kenan gets a similar scene at the start of his career, his dad "dies" (after being exposed as Flying General Dragon, a pro-democracy "supervillain" from the Chinese authorities perspective) and wants Kenan to promise he'll fight for Truth, Justice, and Democracy. But because Kenan's dad never really bonded with him, Kenan doesn't know what those mean, and can only promise that he never wants to see people die, something his father takes comfort in at least. In classic comic book fashion it's revealed that Dr. Omen, Kenan's "boss" and the one who gave him his powers, saved Kenan's father, because she is Kenan's mother! Kenan's relationship with his parents forms a lot of the crux of his character arc, and seeing how Yang utilizes the classic Superman concept of family kept the storytelling exciting.

Yang's brilliant exploration of the concept of "Superman" through the prism of Chinese culture was a great way to differentiate Kenan as well.

I absolutely freaking love how he tied to the concept of Qi to the S-shield in particular. Connecting the shape of the shield with the way Kenan has acquired his powers along the path of the Bagua (eight trigrams used in Taoism that represent the fundamental principles of reality), with his octagon S-shield outline representing all eight principles together, was mindblowing! So was the idea of restricting Kenan's access to his powers unless he was actually acting in a Superman manner, that tied his character growth to his power growth in an entertaining manner. There were so many characters and concepts that meshed Chinese and DC lore together, like how Emperor Super-Man was Kenan's "Doomsday", they even recreated that iconic dual kill shot! The Chinese Wonder Woman Peng Deilan, being based on the Chinese Legend of the White Snake! There was even some Korean mythology referenced with the Aqua-Man member of the JLC "Dragonson".

Yang also managed to do a Superman Blue/Superman Red story with Super-Man Yin/Super-Man Yang!

Shameful that it took me a while to realize what Gene Yang was doing but once I caught on I was touched. You can tell how much Yang loved Superman and his mythology, and how he was excited to incorporate as much from Clark as he could, while still using it in a way that was solidly Kenan's. And not just Superman's mythology, but the history and lore of the entire DC Universe. I-Ching got to be brought in, fleshed out, and used as Kenan's mentor! The "Yellow Peril" villain from Detective Comics #1, the comic DC gets its name from was brought in and revamped as I-Ching's twin brother All-Yang! Hats off to Yang for taking a racist caricature and attempting to make him into something more.

This series was a beautiful attempt by Gene Yang to build a space for Asian heroes and villains where they could be more than stereotypes, Kenan himself being a defiant mold-breaker in every regard as the complete opposite of most Asian characters in Western media (a jock, a bully, loves his dad but not on great terms with him, a powerhouse as a hero, etc). So much thought and hard work was poured into this by Yang and his team of artist collaborators.

Especially the costumes, man Kenan had so many great looks. From his starting outfit (which is my favorite Superman variant not worn by Clark himself), to the one with the Yin/Yang shield he acquired later on, to his Super-Man Yin & Super-Man Yang outfits, Kenan looked damn cool. Part of me is bummed they didn't go with the Chinese character shield they toyed around with, but I loved how Yang used the "s-shield" as a plot point, so I'm not too broken up over it.

All that great work Yang did to build that space up has been more or less forgotten sadly. It was nice to see Kenan in the DC Asian Month Celebration issue. Avery is going to be in Justice Incarnate at least (unsurprising considering she was created by Williamson). So fucking bummed that Superman Family Adventures cartoon didn't happen, they were going to have Kenan and John Henry Irons in it! Would've been a dream come true for me to see Irons in animation again, and Kenan making the jump to outside media! Maybe that would've encouraged DC to let Yang keep writing New Super-Man, or at least encouraged them to use him elsewhere instead of allowing him fall into Limbo.

Unfortunately I'm not sure what the future holds for Kenan. Jon is being pushed as Clark's replacement in the comics, with DC keeping all the other contenders such as Kon benched. Calvin is leading the Justice Incarnate team likely due to the upcoming Coates reboot that will make Clark black. Val will probably get something once Taylor leaves Jon's book or once they officially announce the HBO Max show is happening. So where does that leave Kenan, my new favorite PoC legacy hero? Currently my only hope is that Yang is working on something for DC involving him. Yang left Batman/Superman, where I was hoping to see a Baxi/Kenan team up, to go work on "exciting other opportunities" per his Twitter. So fingers crossed that there's something in the works for Kenan!

One day I hope he gets his day in the sun again.

#kenan kong #new super man #gene yang #justice league of china #superman #dc comics

[legends-live-in-memories]

Super-Rockin’ Wedding of the Century

AYO! Day 2 of MGI Trope Tussle! Team Enemies-to-Lovers for the win. I bring you another oneshot. but this time i used 3 prompts like a dumbass.

Fics Masterlist

Daminette Oneshot 4.3K words (no warnings except slight cursing)

Summary:

“Marinette is invited to the Super-Rockin' Wedding of the Century and she needs a date. Alya is both her best and worst wingman.”

Day 2 of MGI Trope Tussle, I used 3 prompts to make this thing: 1. "You don't have to like me, you just need to pretend you do." 2. "I like your costume. You look very cute." "Are you making fun of me?" 3. 'Write about a very unusual wedding proposal.' this is the culmination of all my efforts.

without further ado:

It was the biggest news on the internet. Global sensation, international rockstar, Jagged Stone, was officially engaged to childhood friend turned manager, Penny Rolling. Memes and fan theories stormed every corner of the web. Trending topics including #rockstar_wedding and #RollingStone permeated every social media platform. Guest lists were speculated, dress designers were tagged in every post that even mentioned the words ‘wedding’ or ‘bride’. It was total mayhem but none felt it worse than up-and-coming Parisian designer, M. D. Cheng, privately known as Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

The young adult was up to her neck in design templates, and was drowning in half-baked ideas and sketches. While the internet has only heard about the proposal for a solid two weeks at this point, Marinette was in the know for six months. Jagged Stone had contacted her in advance because he needed her help with the proposal itself.

And what a proposal it was.  

Jagged had outlined his idea in simple terms but it was still so mind-boggling that Marinette needed him to draw some visual aids to completely convey his idea. Initially it sounded simple enough but the more the man spoke, the more Marinette felt her brain fry at the mental picture. It first involved recreating a scene from Penny’s favourite movie. Which sounded rather romantic, if you ignored the fact that her favourite movie was Bride of Chucky. Then it involved Jagged dressed as the Tinman from Wizard of Oz. Oh, and the proposal had to happen on Halloween because that was the anniversary of their first date apparently, and based on everything else this plan entailed it might as well have been. Marinette’s role in all of this was to simply re-make the white wedding dress Chucky’s bride, Tiffany, wore because Penny already had the leather jacket to match. Of course she did. She didn’t even want to know how Jagged acquired the Tinman suit. Not her barrel of monkeys.

While many thought Jagged was the eccentric one of the pair, due to his loud personality and being an actual rockstar, the more Marinette worked for the two of them over the years, the more she learned how absolutely wrong they all were. It turned out it was Penny’s idea for Jagged to dye his hair purple, and she was the one to ask him out on Halloween all those faithful years ago. Her calm and collected demeanor was an impressive cover for the absolute weirdo she actually was. And Jagged had planned a proposal that was undoubtedly perfect for her. Regardless of how abso-fucking-lutely bizarre it was.

To each their own and let’s move on.

The set-up for the proposal started with Jagged, dressed as the Tinman, playing the part of Chucky, who begins the body-switching chant from the movie. Everything from that point on was resting on Penny’s love for the movie. Without hesitating, Penny, dressed as Tiffany, and playing her part, knew the lines by heart and immediately began reenacting the scene with Jagged. Her lines involved telling ‘Chucky’ to kiss her while she reaches for a knife that’s supposed to be in his pocket. Instead, as Jagged was still dressed as the Tinman, Penny pulled out a slip of paper. On said paper, the words ‘All the Tinman wanted was a heart’ were written in Jagged’s almost illegible chicken scratch. When Penny was distracted with the piece of paper, Jagged had gotten down on one knee and pulled out the engagement ring. The actual words of his proposal were never actually said because, upon seeing the ring, Penny flung herself into the man, clipping her chin into his metal-plated shoulder, but she wasn’t complaining.  

So that was how the proposal went.

Wedding planning started almost immediately since the newly engaged had already picked a theme. And this is where Marinette began to regret every life choice she has made since she was thirteen; starting with opening the mysterious box she found on her desk and ending with agreeing to being the main designer for the Rockin’ Wedding of the Century. One thing that wasn’t well-known but not a secret about Jagged was that he was a superhero fan. He grew up enjoying the fictional ones in his childhood comic books and he adored the real ones he witnessed in his adult life. His song that he dedicated to the teenage Ladybug was only one part of his… appreciation. His hero-worship went so far as to beieve that a hero-themed wedding was appropriate. Or he didn’t, but also didn’t care about adhering to societal propriety and went with that theme anyways. So the Rockin’ Wedding of the Century was now the Super-Rockin’ Wedding of the Century. And twenty-three year old Marinette was incharge of the entire wedding party’s outfits.

Perfect.

As a small mercy from some god, both the bride and groom to-be had a rather short list of people in their parties. Marinette was also able to design appropriate hero-themed outfits for all of them and scheduled them for fittings in the coming weeks. That, surprisingly, was the easy part as there were plenty of heroes to draw inspiration from. However, that wasn’t the cause of her current crisis right now.

No. Marinette was up to her neck in unnecessary designs and ideas because she’s been avoiding one particular contingency in her acceptance of the wedding invitation.

She needed a date.

She needed a date because she had promised Penny that she wasn’t overworking herself and to prove it, she would bring a date to the wedding. Rather than call any of the people who expressed interest in her at some point in time, she designated herself to wallow in her situation and distract herself with designs. In the midst of her one person pity party, her phone rang under the sea of ripped out pages. She scoured for the device and hastily answered before she could accidently send the caller to voicemail.

“Hello?” She didn’t check the caller ID and was delighted at the sound of her best friend answering her.

“Marinette! How’s it going over there?” Alya’s voice was mixed in with the busy street life of Metropolis. She had moved there immediately after high school, snatching an internship with the Daily Planet and attending the local community college. She and Marinette don’t call often due to time differences, but when they do it’s like they’ve never parted. She always looked forward to her calls.

“It’s going great, Als,” if she ignored her current dilemma, then yeah, everything was perfect. “But you wouldn’t happen to have an available bachelor willing to be my date to the ‘Super-Rockin’ Wedding of the Century’ in your back pocket, would you?”  

Alya’s answering laugh was both comforting and teasing and Marinette felt herself missing her even more. What she said next, however, took Marinette by surprise.

“Actually I do.”

“Pardon?”

“Well,” she took a pause to build suspense. “I know a guy who knows a guy. But it’s nothing shady, I swear.”

“That’s not comforting.” Oh god. What has she unintentionally signed herself up for?

“You know my coworker, Jon? The guy who does the photography for all my field work?” Alya had met Jon as soon as she had started her internship. Both of his parents were top journalists at the Daily Planet so he volunteered to act as tour guide for all the new interns. He and Alya, from the exasperated stories Marinette has heard from Nino, got along like a house on fire. If he was involved, Marinette was starting to doubt even further that this was going to end well for her.

“Yes, I know Jon. How is he by the way?”

“He’s fine, but I remember him telling me how he tried to set up his best friend on several dates over the years and how they all ended poorly. He’s as approachable as a brick wall; not just a prick but the whole damn cactus. Or so Jon says.” How does that sound like someone Marinette wanted to bring along with her to the wedding? “But he’s totally your type so I could ask Jon to wrap him up in bubblewrap and send him your way whenever you want.”

“How,” and Marinette said this with a lot of feeling, “is he my type exactly?”

“Green eyes with daddy issues.”

“ALYA!” Marinette was absolutely floored at her bluntness. She wasn’t even sorry about shouting into the receiver.

“Am I wrong? You have a type and he fits that type. Jon mentioned how this guy and his dad hit several roadblocks when they first met. And I’ve seen pictures of him so ‘green eyes’ checks too.”

“That is not my type of guy.” She can’t believe this was how this conversation was going.

“Adrien.”

“I didn’t even know who his father was at the time, Alya.”

“Felix.”

“His dad is dead! That doesn’t count as ‘daddy issues.’” She can feel her cheeks flaming as the call went on. Any hotter and she was going to set her sketchbooks on fire. “Besides, I dated Luka so he doesn’t fit the criteria.”

“He’s an outlier and that’s only because his eyes are blue.” Okay, fine she had a type. “And besides, you don’t even have to date the guy. You only need him to accompany you to the wedding and you both go your separate ways after. No harm, no foul.”

Right. That was true. No strings attached. She could do that.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this but,” she held her breath and let it out loudly, ignoring Alya’s chuckle at her dramatics.” Give Jon my number to give this guy. And send his number to me.”

“Wahoo! Look at you, girl,” Alya was hooting and hollering over the speaker and Marinette found herself going along with the theatrics. “Okay, I will. But I gotta go, my cab is here. Bye!”

“Bye! Stay safe. Oh before you go, what’s Jon’s friend’s name anyways?”

“Uh, Damian, I think.” The call ended before Marinette could respond, but it was okay she mused. Tossing her phone onto her couch, she flopped down onto her floor and stared at her ceiling contemplatively.

What could go wrong?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Alya had described this Damian guy as ‘not just a prick but the whole damn cactus,’ she was right. Marinette had been texting back and forth with Damian for a month, and the guy was making this idea seem less and less worth it by the day. Whenever Marinette tried to learn more about the guy, he would ghost her for days on end before replying with a half-assed response at best. She knew nothing about him other than that his first name was Damian and that he was from Gotham. She had no idea how the ball of life that was Jon was even friends with someone like Damian. She asked as much to Alya in their most recent call.

“How did they even meet?” She was pacing the floor plan of her apartment, ready to tear her hair out. “Did Damian bully him in school or something?”

“Apparently their dads knew each other and introduced them,” Alya sounded half awake, stifling a yawn; probably because Marinette had called her at 1 am, Metropolis’s time. “Their brothers being friends also forced them to get along.”

“And that’s another thing!” Marinette had paused in her pacing and was now staring intently at a potted plant in the corner of her living room. Any more rage in her glare and the plant would have wilted and died. “He doesn’t tell me anything about him. I don’t need to know all his personal information, but if he’s going to be flying out to Paris on my behalf, I think I at least deserve to know his last name.”

“Hey, M,” another yawn echoed through the speaker, “I love you, truly, but maybe this could wait for holier day time hours?”

“I guess,” a vindictive part of Marinette felt like this was payback for all those inopportune calls when Marinette was busy with clients. “Sorry for interrupting your sleep.”

“It’s no big deal. But have you tried talking to him about it? If he’s ghosting your texts, try calling him. If he ignores you then too then maybe you should try finding another person to be your plus one.”

“The wedding is in two weeks, Alya!” Marinette partially regrets waiting so long to vent her frustration about the situation but she had tried to tough it out. “I would have much preferred if you were my plus one. You sure there’s no way to convince your parents to skip out on the family trip?”

“Sorry, M. Once the news about the proposal hit the internet, I tried everything. I even tried to use work, saying that I could cover the ceremony for the newspaper. My folks won’t budge though. My dad’s aunt is important to him and he wants us all at the funeral.”

“Right, right, I forgot about that.” Now she felt like an ass. “Send you dad my condolences when you see him again.”

“Will do. Good morning, Marinette. And don’t worry too much about the guy. Everything will turn up great. I can feel it.”

“Thanks, Alya. Good night, get some sleep.”

The line went dead and Marinette let out a rather weary exhale. She had no idea how this was going to work. She pulled up her contacts and searched for what she had Damian saved as.

‘Douche’ flashed on her screen and she hit the call button without remorse. She didn’t care that it was also currently 1 am in Gotham. He didn’t deserve that much consideration from her.

“What?” His voice was gravely and deep. And also really pissed if his clipped tone was anything to go by.

“Damian? Hi, this is Marinette, the girl you’re accompanying to the wedding in two weeks?” Her voice was pitched as if she was dealing with an irritating customer. Fake and polite.

“I know who you are. Why are you calling me at this unreasonable hour?” Fair, but Marinette was still aggravated at him so she wouldn’t concede.

“I’m calling because we need to talk.” She heard him scoff over the line and she felt her blood boil even hotter. She took several calming breaths to reign her temper in. “Don’t hang up.”

“Look,” She didn’t give him a chance to refuse and kept talking, getting everything off her chest. “This wedding is important to me and I promised the bride I would bring a date. After that you can delete my number and we never have to speak to each other ever. You don’t have to like me, you just need to pretend you do.”

“Whatever,” he sounded less annoyed from when he first answered the phone. “I will act as cordial as the situation requires, and nothing more. I also have my attire secured for the wedding and accommodations in Paris already prepared. I will see you at the wedding.”

“Than—” The sound of the call ending interrupted her and her frustration was back tenfold. With a cry in anguish she flung her phone onto her couch and stomped into her kitchen to channel her rage into baking.

Three loaves of bread and a dozen eclairs later, Marinette felt calm enough to finish the final touches on her outfit for the wedding.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was the day of the Super-Rockin’ Wedding of the Century. The Rolling-Stone’s, as they were asking to be called, had kept the ceremony small. Relatively. Only two hundred invited guests, few of which were asked to bring a plus one. Marinette was over the moon at the array of outfits people were sporting. Some chose full-on cosplay while others, like herself, went for more subtle nods to the heroes. In honour of a previous Ladybug, Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, Marinette based her outfit off of Wonder Woman’s uniform, Hippolyta’s daughter. A navy blue sequined halter top bodice that flows into a blood red A-line skirt. She paired it with a thick silver belt, silver gladiator heels rather than boots and broad silver arm cuffs. It was simple but effective. Besides, all attention should be on the bride and groom today.

A tap on her shoulder caught her attention and she turned only to come face first with red with black spots. Ladybug. Someone chose her as inspiration. How flattering. Looking up to see who was wearing the Ladybug-themed suit jacket, she stared at a pair of deep forest green eyes and a sneer to ruin that ridiculously handsome face. She recognized him from the photo Alya had sent some time ago. Damian.

“Hi, Damian,” at least one of them had to be civil and Marinette knew it was going to be her. But the idea that of all the heroes for him to choose from he chose her sent her into poorly stifled fits of giggling. Images of him going ‘Lucky Charm’ and ‘Miraculous Ladybug’ were almost too much to bear.

“I don’t know what’s so amusing about my choice of attire,” his face was starting to flush in similar shades to his jacket and that made Marinette laugh harder. “Ladybug is a well respected heroine and I thought it appropriate to pay homage while in her home city.”

“No. No no. There is nothing wrong with it. I like your costume, you look very cute.”

“Are you making fun of me?” His irritation was rather cathartic for the still giggling woman.

“No, I just didn’t think you would have put that much thought into your outfit for today. You always gave me the impression that you were ready to back out at any time.”

“I made a commitment and I had all intentions to see it through the end.”

“Could have fooled me.” And her snark was back. Now was not the time to pick a fight with the guy, he did fly all the way to Paris on her behalf after all.

“I’ve been meaning to ask,” and Marinette wanted to know how he managed to sound so condescending with that statement. “How did you even get an invitation to this wedding anyways? You’re not a celebrity and you don’t look like family either.”

“Actually,” she said it with more force than what was probably necessary but his slightly accusatory tone was just so irritating. “I am the lead designer for the wedding party,” her chest was swimming with confidence at the chance to talk about her job. “I’ve worked with the bride and groom for years; M. D. Cheng, Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

Marinette will deny to her grave the rush of satisfaction at the absolute gobsmacked look on Damian’s face. A real fish out of water. Mouth open wide ready to catch flies. She wished she could capture this moment forever.

The moment was over too soon because Damian was regaining his composure and slipping into his default stoic expression. He cleared his throat and fixed a look at Marinette. It was rather intense.

“I believe I owe you an apology then.” He looked put-out at admitting something so menial. “I believed you were nothing more than a socialite chain climber.”

“A what?”

“When Jon reached out to me saying that a friend of one of his coworkers needed a date for an event, and when that event turned out to be the wedding of someone of such popularity, I figured you were only trying to increase your own social status by showing up with me on your arm.”

“And you said ‘yes’ anyways?” Marinette was confused but pieces of the mystery that is Damian were starting to fit in place. But something else stuck out as odd to her. “Also, how would you being my date increase my social status anyhow?”

He scoffs before answering. Bitch.

“What? It wouldn’t be the first time one of Jon’s set-ups ended that way. Besides, we’ve had an agreement that I can’t turn down an offer until meeting the person face to face.” Weird deal but some friendships are just like, Marinette supposes. “And being seen with me is enough to make anyone more popular.”

“...And you are?”

“Damian… Wayne…” He spoke as if he was talking to a small child. As if it should be obvious who he was like he was some celeb— Oh shit.

A name had flashed into her mind. On the finalised guest list, Marinette had only seen it once in passing, there was a name that belonged to someone Jagged was rather excited to see. He said the friend was an old college buddy. She remembered that much. She had completely forgotten that ‘a billionaire playboy’ was also attached to the name. Damian was the son of Bruce Wayne. Suddenly everything in the past few months made perfect sense. The cold shoulder, the ghosting, and his prickly disposition. He was overly guarded because he had justified reasons to be. Now she felt like an ass.

“Oh.” Real intelligent, Marinette.

“Oh? What, you didn’t know?” He sounded incredulous at the notion and he had every right to be. Marinette could only shake her head. Words were failing her now, her brain trying to rewrite the memories of every interaction the two ever had.

She was saved from further mortification by a call for everyone to find their seats. The wedding was about to begin.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The ceremony was beautiful. Penny’s dress was a silver grey, tied back with a golden belt. Instead of a long train, Marinette had attached a black cape that shimmered in the right lighting. Penny wore a tiara with two peaks to imitate the ‘bat-ears.’ A Batman-themed wedding dress was not something she ever saw herself making, but she was proud at how beautiful and confident Penny looked in it. Jagged was adorn in a royal blue suit with bold red lapels. He also had a matching red cape. His hair was styled in the familiar sleek way Superman wears it. The two made quite the pair.  

The reception was a lively affair. Jagged had dedicated several songs to his new wife and they dazzled the crowd on the dance floor. Marinette didn’t pay much attention to the speeches beyond a quick glance at Damian when his own father stepped up to the podium. He had buried his head in his hands, looking like he wanted the floor to swallow him whole. A courtesy pat on the back was all Marinette gave to him.

The two hadn’t really spoken much since the revelation that they had completely misjudged each other. The awkward tension was almost palpable. As Marinette was gathering the courage to speak to him, to try and officially clear the air, she was being dragged by one of the bridesmaids onto the dancefloor. It was time for the bride to throw the bouquet. All the unmarried women were being corralled into a tight cluster and Marinette got swept up in the tide.

Marinette wasn’t focusing on the actual game, trying her hardest not to get trampled, when she saw something move in her periphery. Years of being Ladybug had left her with finely honed instincts so she could not be blamed when she immediately jumped and caught the incoming object. The bouquet. She had caught the bouquet. Oh that was just her luck. Deafening squeals of delight brought her out of her own head and she was suddenly being embraced in Penny’s arms. She returned the hug, sharing in her delight, before breaking away to sit down.

“Nice catch.” His voice had surprised her, she hadn’t expected him to speak to her for the rest of the night.

“Uh, thank you. Just lucky, I guess.” Damian didn’t get the chance to respond because he was being dragged by his own father to join all the bachelors in catching the garter. Marinette was equally uninterested in this spectacle and had let her mind wander to other things.

A loud uproar caught her attention again and her eyes zeroed in on Damian holding the tossed garter. He made his way back over to her, dropping himself into his seat gracelessly. The two sat in silence, contemplating the implications of them both catching the garter and bouquet. The games were done purely for tradition’s sake, with total disregard of what it was supposed to symbolise. Still. One’s mind couldn’t help but wander. Minutes ticked passed and Marinette was beginning to wonder if someone was going to talk about the elephant in the room.

“So,” Damian’s voice was slightly strained, like he wasn’t used to being this flustered. It was kind of endearing. Wait what?

“So.”

“While marriage seems far out of reach for right now,” Oh god. He was going to talk about it. “How does dinner sound, next Friday?”

“Wait,” he wanted to spend more time with her? After their disastrous first impressions? “Really?”

“Really. I believe we started off on the wrong foot,” he let out a soft chuckle, almost self-deprecating. “Which isn’t really new for me, but it’s not everyday I meet someone who doesn’t recognise me at first glance. I think you’re someone who I would like to get to know better. If that is something you are also interested in.”

“Yeah,” Marinette knows all about wanting to get acquainted with someone who she’s had a bad first impression of. Just look at her past relationships. Wow, she really does have a type. Damning thoughts for later. “Friday works for me. Seven pm?”

“Perfect. I’ll text you the details then.”

“Wonderful, I can’t wait.”

The rest of the evening was spent in companionable silence with small bouts of conversation in between. They shared a couple dances on the floor and parted ways at the end of the night with budding anticipation for Friday.

As Marinette was preparing for bed that night in the comfort of her apartment, she sent a text to Alya that her friend would see later in the day.

You were right, I do have a type :(

#maribat #daminette #maridami #mgi trope tussle #mgi- server event #enemies to lovers #speedrun #i #like a dumbass challenged myself to use three prompts and i delivered #i hope #i hope yall enjoy #tumblr do me a solid #dont hide my posts #please #im begging #ml x dc #mlb x dc #tumblr please stop hiding my posts #no beta this is tussle

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: West Coast Avengers #3: Taking Care of BUSINESS!

November, 1984

This is a sad day for the fledgling West Coast Avengers. It’s a cool cover for the fledgling West Coast Avengers but a sad day.

Not only are they falling before Graviton but they’re falling perpetually.

Anyway, last time in West Coast Avengers: Hawkeye and Mockingbird were sent by the Vision to create a west coast branch of the Avengers. Since Wonder Man, Tigra, and Rhodey Iron Man were California based, they got the nod to be the West Coast Avengers, despite reluctance from Tigra and Iron Man.

Their first case was mistaking as a supervillain and beating up a friend of Tigra who had followed her to the Avengers Compound to make sure she wasn’t in trouble. So. That’s not great. Next, the West Coast Avengers tried to chase down a bank robber named the Blank. This is really overkill for a guy whose only power is wearing a slippery anonymizing force field but he manages to get away anyway. The charger for his force field also dunks Graviton back into the world.

And as you can see on the cover, this isn’t ideal for our West Coast Avengers.

But before that, there was an event that sort of happened between issues. In Avengers #249, Vision tried to contact the West Coast Avengers but only got their answering machine. And that’s because they were dealing with the local worldwide unseasonable winter.

If Avenging and stunt work doesn’t work out for Wonder Man, he should consider becoming the new Mr. Plow.

Anyway, the forever winter is over, thanks to the Casket of Eternal Winters being reassembled and shut over in the Thor book as part of a multi-pronged plan to take down Surtur.

The West Coast Avengers are still dealing with the remaining snow because its not like snow just evaporates! Without turning into water first! Look, it would take too much time, people have places to drive, or something.

The combination of snow everywhere but normal warm South California weather leads to some people taking advantage by going swimsuit skiing, mostly so Rhodey can wryly think that weird is a way of life for Californians as an excuse to not worry about why Wonder Man has been acting weird lately.

Uh, good rationalizing, Rhodey?

Some people who don’t care for skiing decide to instead rob Radio Shack because NOBODY WILL EVER KNOW!

But Mockingbird shows up and starts beating them up when they make the mistake of believing that they outnumber her. They are mathematically right and wrong in every other way.

Hawkeye also shows up to pin some others to the wall with arrows so one of the Radio Shack robbers runs to the getaway car and tries to get the getaway driver to help him getaway.

But cat’s got their car.

It sort of makes sense why Tigra has decided on this for her winter outfit and yet I’m still baffled.

If it had just been the boots, that’d be one thing.

She’s also the only one who has made a winter weather change to her outfit.

Bafflement.

The blond robber doesn’t even try running, saying “What’s the use? Just take me away. I wanna serve my time and forget this ever happened!”

Bad day when some electronics theft gets an entire superhero team on you.

By midday, the West Coast Avengers meet by the Hollywood sign (so that the audience knows that this is set in LA). At this point all of the snow is gone, as if it’s been whisked away. So I guess I was wrong. Earlier the casket hadn’t been repaired but now it has been.

Hawkeye: “Well, whatever happened to [the snow], you can all be proud of the job you did over the past week! You put in a lot of long hours and saved thousands of lives! I’d say we’ve all earned a little time to unwind! That’s why I propose we hold the first annual Avengers barbeque... commencing tonight at sunset, back at the compound!”

Oh ho, I see that Hawkeye is going to be the fun Avengers chairman. Don’t see Vision organizing a barbeque.

The rest of the team is pretty excited about this... except for Wonder Man, who is distracted, answers without any real enthusiasm, and then takes off.

Hawkeye wonders if he’s still upset about the Blank getting away but c’mon that was weeks ago! Surely no superhero ever obsesses over anything!

When the Avengers disperse, Tigra lies that Iron Man promised her a lift as an excuse to talk to him in private about Wonder Man.

Tigra: “Something’s bothering him, and I thought maybe you could get him to talk about it! After all, you’ve known him longer than the rest of us!”

Iron Man: “Uh... not really, Tigra! I hardly know the man!”

Tigra: “What are you talking about, Tony? You fought alongside him dozens of times!”

Iron Man: “Tony -- ?! Ohhh... you think I’m Tony Stark!”

Womp womp.

This is one of the exact things Rhodey was worried would happen if he joined a team with a bunch of people who knew Tony/Iron Man!

Rhodey isn’t about to just reveal his name to her over a case of mistaken identity but he does prove to a doubtful Tigra that he’s not Tony by showing Tigra the skin on his hand.

Iron Rhodey also suggests that Tigra talk to him for reasons of it’s always flattering when a pretty cat girl pays attention to you?

I mean, sure. Yeah. True.

Tigra is also the only person on the team who actually realized Wonder Man was bummed who didn’t immediately dismiss the idea.

I guess its up to you, Tigra.

Meanwhile, in the Santa Monica Mountains, our coverboy Graviton.

He didn’t sit idle during the big snow, oh no! He took over an estate. And then sat idle!

Dammit, it was cold out!

Graviton: I prefer starting my empire in a warmer climate!

With the snow cleared up though, he can get down to business........ of recapping his recent travails.

So, Graviton.

He comes from Canada because Marvel Canada is just like that. He was a researcher in Research City, working on a teleport beam, and accidentally gave himself gravity powers by increasing the power to see what would happen. People at the lab didn’t like him because he kept throwing stuff at them so he took over.

Then he fought the Avengers. He kicked their asses. But the woman he was trying to force to date him threw herself off his floating city rather than date him (its cool, Jarvis saved her) so Graviton accidentally compressed his floating city into a super dense sphere with him as the nougaty center.

He managed to get out of that sphere, but with AMENSIA, and tried to kidnap that female scientist again but was stopped by the Thing and Black Bolt. So Graviton imploded.

He showed up AGAIN and tried to kidnap an entire Bloomingdale’s and was stopped by Thor, who dunked him into an interdimensional void.

Now here’s where it gets slightly weird.

The Beyonder’s construct passing through the void on its way to Secret Wars woke Graviton up and let him find his way back to Earth by homing in on the energy field of the force field the Blank uses.

I don’t know why that specific energy field. We may never know. The scientist who made it walked into the street without looking both ways and got run over.

Graviton is actually fairly pleased about winding up in “this most hedonistic of world cities!” He’s decided he’s all about creature comforts now.

The Blank returns from delivering message for Graviton.

Graviton gets annoyed that the guy is nervous despite having a cool dude who never fails like Graviton as a new boss and takes REAL exception when the Blank points out that the Avengers have beaten him before.

As well he should! Because technically its not true. If you’ll recall my recap, the Avengers didn’t beat him. He imploded. And then when he reappeared to fight the Thing and Black Bolt and imploded again. Now Thor, solo, managed to beat him where Thor, plus Avengers, couldn’t. Don’t ask why. That’s just a rule of comics. Daredevil beat Ultron once.

Among other ways he shows the Blank what’s what, Graviton demonstrates his force field belt ain’t so slick by switching it off through the field. Which, yes, technically gravity could work that way?

Meanwhile, over on ye private Avengers beach because if you’re going to have a sprawling compound, why not get a beach while you’re at it? Tigra interrupts Wonder Man pacing on the private Avengers beach and offers to tell her DEEP DARK SECRETS if he shares his.

Wonder Man: “There’s not much to tell... mostly, I’ve been wondering if I did the right thing in joining Hawkeye’s New Avengers team. I sometimes wonder if I ever did anything right, where the Avengers are concerned.”

He recaps his ENTIRE LIFE STORY to her, as is the style. Got powers from some Avengers enemies, turned against them, died. Came back to life, uneasy as a superhero, quit to become an actor.

He leaves out the part where he embezzled from his own company and was arrested, the part where he was a competitor to Tony Stark, and retcons in that he’s always loved acting. Rather than seeing one (1) movie and deciding he wants to be an actor now.

Apparently, Hercules’ offer to set Wonder Man up with some sweet Hollywood contacts didn’t pan out.

Then Simon worked as hired muscle for some scientific research groups but decides not to go into that.

There’s no ‘see such and such issue of book’ so I can’t tell whether this is a thing that was published or is a noodle incident.

Then a former agent got Simon that gig on the David Letterman show. Remember that one? David Letterman knocked out the villain with a big door knob? It probably made more sense at the time?

Anyway, although the show got pre-empted for a news report in New York, it did air in Cali-for-ni-a and a director reached out to Simon with stuntman work.

And its not the acting he wanted to do but it is acting and being good at it has done wonders, man, for his confidence. Which is why he jumped at Hawkeye’s offer to join the west coast team.

But then he let the Blank escape and now he’s back to feeling out of place on a cool superhero team.

So now that he shared his not so deep, not so dark, secrets, Tigra shares hers.

She knows what he means when he says he feels like a blunderer. Her stint on the New York Avengers team was a disaster (although she managed to get Molecule Man to go to therapy! By calling him a big loser! That’s something!). And she feels like most of her life is just things happening at her without her ever really feeling in control.

She also demonstrates that she can use that little tiger amulet (a gift from the cat people that turned her into Tigra) to look like her old self but she’s more comfortable as Tigra.

Hm.

That’s two whole characters who can technically transform but prefer to stay ‘powered up’ at all times. Tigra and She-Hulk.

It’s almost a pattern.

Anyway, Wonder Man and Tigra both try to be the insecure one on the team complimenting each other and deprecating themselves but Tigra decides fine. Wonder Man is hung up on losing the Blank? They’re going to track down a goddamn the Blank.

SHE MOONLIT AS A PRIVATE DETECTIVE SHE HAS A TRENCHCOAT SHE CAN DO THIS!

Tigra: “All right, Mr. Wonderful, come on!”

Wonder Man: “Where are we going?”

Tigra: “To see a man about filling in the Blank!”

Damn, good turn of phrase. You really do have this private eye patter down, huh?

She takes Simon to the Cat’s Jazz Club, Shroud’s hangout, to see if he has a lead on the Blank but they find the joint has been busted up.

The club employees are reluctant to talk at first but the Shroud shows up and tells them its cool, the Avengers are his friends. Also: he would like to know himself.

Club employee Mouse says that the Galeno Gang hit the club but they had a message that they were under new managment and that anyone that wanted to do crime business in town had to do it with said management.

So they hit the Cat’s Jazz Club because Shroud is pretending to be a crimelord to infiltrate all the crime.

So far, its working out really well for you, huh?

Anyway, Shroud says it’ll be easy to track down the Galeno Gang and find out who the new boss is but Wonder Man insists that he tag along to help. Call it payback for cracking Shroud’s ribs in issue #1.

Shroud doesn’t want all the crime to think he associates with the Avengers but Wonder Man has a STUPENDOUS IDEA!

So at the former home of Lucky Max Galeno, where some people are getting down and maybe even boogieing, the Shroud’s black fog fills the room and out strolls Shroud and Definitely Not Simon Williams.

He used his extensive acting experience to put on a wig and a jacket, that wily Wonder Man!

(Also Tigra is hanging upside down outside the window so its a good thing that Shroud and NotSimon are drawing all the attention)

Simon hoists one of the Galeno Boys and tells him they want to see the boss so the Blank comes out from the back room.

Its a testament to Simon’s INCREDIBLE ACTING TALENT that “he doesn’t look any more surprised than the rest of the crowd” according to Tigra.

The Blank justifies having the Shroud’s people beaten by saying that he had to establish credentials to consolidate all of the West Coast mobs so Shroud tells Simon to rough him up.

I like Simon’s like BOING here.

‘Sick ‘im!’ BOING, hah.

Also, the Blank has been smoking on and off throughout this whole issue but like. How does the force field work if he can just stick things into it? I mean, obviously, its permeable to air since he can breathe and... oh I think I just explained it. Dammit.

The boing stalls out midair leaving Simon hanging there.

Obviously its Graviton. No surprise to the audience. But very alarming to the characters who must think the Blank suddenly has more powers.

Off-panel Graviton hits Shroud with Wonder Man, knocking off the wig which wasn’t even secured in place. Dammit Simon, I thought you were an actor!

The Blank recognizes him as Wonder Man so the cat out of the bag, Tigra jumps through the window and onto the Blank’s back.

Graviton finally shows himself, exasperated with how much hand-holding the Blank needs to do basic things like fight several surprise superheroes.

Wonder Man: “Tigra! Get back! That’s Graviton! He’s one of the most dangerous men the Avengers ever fought!”

Graviton: “Nice of you to acknowledge that, Wonder Man!”

See, all he wanted was some acknowledgement. And to crush Wonder Man under a localized gravity field.

The Shroud tries to obscure the room under the idea that Graviton can’t fight what he can’t see. But the guy just grabs everything in the room and spins it around.

Then he pins Tigra, Shroud, and the Blank to the wall. The Blank because he managed to get captured off-panel.

Wonder Man KRUNKs up from the floor and tries to grab Graviton, alarming him that Wonder Man is fighting through the effects of so much gravity, having to block him with a “column of gravitic energy.”

The Blank complains about being stuck to the wall when he’s supposed to be Graviton’s partner.

Graviton: “Wrong, Blank! Very wrong! At beast, you were a go-between, a figurehead in my plans to organize California’s criminal element!”

The Blank: “D-did you say... ‘were?’"

And then he yeets Blank, Tigra, and Shroud out the window and into the ocean.

That certainly is a way to deal with some party crashers.

Meanwhile, the barbecue is going on without Tigra and Wonder Man.

Imagine being dunked into the ocean instead of eating Hawkeye’s steaks.

Hmm. I like that apron but I can’t help but feel that a modern comic would have a hilarious apron extremely specific to Hawkeye. Something in the genre of Quentin Quire’s shirts.

I also like Rhodey realizing that he’s not going to be able to eat any of this barbecue through his mask and deliberating revealing his identity to his teammates SPECIFICALLY to eat a steak.

Priorities.

Mockingbird points out that Tigra and Wonder Man are late and she can’t reach them on the radio but Hawkeye dismisses her concerns since they’re both so capable.

Meanwhile, Graviton dunks Wonder Man into the pool and holds him underwater so he can watch him slowly drown.

He’s also acquired some sexy swimsuit ladies from somewhere. This is LA so I guess they just spontaneously generated.

How will our heroes get out of their various water-based predicaments??

I assume swimming will be involved.

Next issue is last issue of the limited series and for the West Coast Avengers for a while.

And since the West Coast Avengers show up in Avengers #250 with the limited series wrapped up, expect me to schedule posting the posts in that way too.

Follow @essential-avengers​ because I know the recipe to Hawkeye’s secret steak recipe and I’ll tell you if you follow. Here’s a hint: take meat, set it on fire for a while. Also like and reblog and I’ll tell you how many potatoes Captain America’s potato salad contains.

#Avengers #West Coast Avengers #Graviton #the Blank #Hawkeye #Mockingbird #Iron Man #James Rhodes #Wonder Man #Tigra #various water based predicaments #essential avengers #essential marvel liveblogging

[violethowler]

The Elephant in the Room

In my previous essays, I have covered how the Kingdom Hearts narrative follows Maureen Murdock’s template of the Heroine’s Journey, as well as how various characters and story elements tie in with the overarching themes of the framework. Before I can continue to dig further into other themes and archetypes, there is something I need to address first. While I have avoided directly touching on the topic in my previous essays, I have now reached the point where it is no longer possible to talk about the Heroine’s Journey in full without acknowledging the elephant in the room: 

Romance.

In ongoing serialized stories such as TV shows and video games, conversations about potential relationships in canon are often treated as inconsequential to the overall story. Something that is separate from the main plot. At worst, I have seen fans who openly center a ship in their analysis and theories be dismissed and criticized as biased - or worse, delusional. They are treated as being so obsessed with their pairing that they try to make everything about their ship and jump on any excuse to declare that it’s viable in canon. 

Among the Kingdom Hearts fandom in particular, this has often taken the form of someone trying to dismiss other fans’ hope for a ship to be canon by saying that the series is about friendship, not romance.

While friendship is absolutely an important theme in the Kingdom Hearts series, to insist that this is mutually exclusive from depicting the development of romantic relationships ignores the continued presence of canon Disney romances in almost every game in the series. In each “main” game where Sora is playable, he has directly or indirectly been involved in getting those Disney couples together in the KH universe. So it’s not out of the realm of possibility for the series to turn the tables and give some attention to his romantic interests for a change. 

A story having other major themes is not mutually exclusive from showcasing the development of a romantic relationship. There are many popular movies, shows, books, comics, and video games in which a romantic relationship plays a central role in the narrative but there are still other plotlines going on that are equally as important as the romance. This is especially true for Disney and Square Enix.

The reason why it’s impossible to fully talk about the Heroine’s Journey without acknowledging romance elements is best encapsulated by this quote from She-Ra showrunner Noelle Stevenson about her show’s endgame pairing in an i09 interview after the release of the final season:

“The show’s not a romance show. It is about a lot of things. It’s about choice, destiny, fighting, tyrants, you know, all of these other things. I grew up with so many stories—like sci-fi and fantasy—that I was so passionate about. And it would be considered no big deal to have the hero get the girl and to have a kiss at the end, without it suddenly becoming a romance or ‘Oh, the shippers got what they wanted.’ It was just a part of the story. And to actually see it be a central part of the plot and to fulfill the arcs of the characters in a way that felt satisfying. I really want to take it beyond ‘Oh, the shippers got what they want.’ Like, it’s not just a ship for me. It is a plot point. It is the necessary conclusion of each character’s arc, separate and together.[1]”

While not every story known to follow the Heroine's Journey features a romance for the main protagonist, those that do make the romance an integral part of the narrative. It’s not something thrown in at the end to please shippers, but a central component of the story. Therefore, when analyzing a Heroine’s Journey story, it is vital to acknowledge and discuss textual support for potential romantic relationships in order to have a full understanding of the narrative.

Even if one is not aware of the Heroine’s Journey, Sora’s repeated interactions with Disney romances indicate that there is a high probability that he will be in a romantic relationship himself by the end of the series. Every story I know of that follows the Heroine’s Journey broadly adheres to a pattern in regards to how the romantic relationships of a main character are set up.

By examining the series through these patterns, we can narrow down who Sora’s endgame romantic partner will be. 

Because the themes and character dynamics emphasize resolving internal conflict through balance, the Heroine’s Journey lends itself extremely well to Beauty-and-the-Beast, rivals-to-lovers, and enemies-to-lovers relationship dynamics. A major component of the Heroine’s Journey is the main character learning to accept themselves, and since the Animus as a Shadow figure can represent the parts of themselves that they haven’t accepted yet, it is simpler to symbolize that self-acceptance via a romance with the Animus rather than attempting to build a separate relationship on top of the existing story framework.

For these reasons, the Animus is more often than not the main character’s endgame love interest, their feelings for each other made into critical aspects of their respective character arcs. The only Heroine’s Journey stories with romance that I know of where this wasn’t the case are ones where executive meddling resulted in the finale being rewritten to kill off the Animus despite established narrative set up for them to have a happy ending together[2], while the protagonist was either forced into a relationship with a different character or left single.

And like I said in previous essays, the one character in the series who fulfills all criteria for the Animus role within this storytelling framework…. 

Is Riku.

[Image Description: Sora supporting Riku as they walk toward the ocean on the Dark Margin at the end of Kingdom Hearts II. End Description.]

As mentioned in my earlier analysis, this narrative framework emphasizes the importance of balancing contrasting attributes, which fits in extremely well with Kingdom Hearts’ focus on balance between light and darkness. For stories that follow the Heroine’s Journey in a visual medium, that dichotomy is often incorporated into the characters’ look. Height differences are common, while their color schemes and outfits are designed to make them complement each other. Further adding to the focus on balance between light and darkness, the visuals of the story frame the romantic leads with imagery associating each one with light or darkness to create Yin-Yang symbolism when they are finally in balance. 

In Re: Chain of Memories, Vexen openly calls Riku the “Hero of Darkness[3]” as a counterpart to Sora’s role as the “Hero of Light”, and their combination attack in Kingdom Hearts II utilizes moves that reflect both elements. In the Ultimania for the original game, Tetsuya Nomura said that Riku’s look was intentionally designed to balance Sora’s[4], and the contrast between their respective color schemes is maintained in each of their new outfits. In Kingdom Hearts II and Dream Drop Distance, Riku wears white and blue, while Sora in those same games wears black and red. Two different pairs of contrasting colors. Kingdom Hearts III has them both in outfits that are primarily black and grey, but still emphasize the blue and red that have been part of their respective outfits since the first game. 

In a Heroine’s Journey, the love interest is typically an active character in the story and usually serves as the deuteragonist. This fits with Riku having been a mandatory playable character in multiple games since 2004. In addition, series producer Shinji Hashimoto said before the release of the HD 1.5 Remix collection[5] that the main focus of the series is how Sora and Riku develop both as individuals and as a pair, which fits with how the central conflict of the Heroine’s Journey revolves around the dynamic between the Protagonist and their Animus. 

A common viewpoint held by many fans of the series is that Kairi is Sora’s love interest, and it’s not hard to see why people get that impression. He has sacrificed himself to save her in two separate games now. He’s charged enemies head on in order to rescue her whenever she’s been captured. He even got down on his knees and begged for her freedom when Saix demanded he show how important she was to him. Multiple characters have talked about how special she is to him, and Roxas refers to her as “that girl he(Sora) likes.” 

However, there are multiple elements in the narrative that point to them not being the endgame romance. Kingdom Hearts III foreshadows the final shot of them sitting on the paopu together at the end of the game with Sora disappearing from the cover of the 100 Acre Wood storybook, textually framing Winnie the Pooh as a parallel to Kairi. While many fans regarded their sharing paopu fruits in the base game as the beginning of a relationship between them, he still only refers to her as a friend in Re:Mind, and even compares his bond with her to the bond between Ventus and Chirithy. 

Sora also does not treat his promises to her with the seriousness he would if they were going to end up together. The promises to return her lucky charm and to come back to her that he makes in the first game are never treated as anything urgent when he awakens in Kingdom Hearts II. Instead, he declines the opportunity to return to the islands and check in with her in favor of searching for Riku. When Kairi says in The World That Never Was that they’ll be together every day, Sora agrees, yet he was content to spend the rest of his life on the dark beach at the end of the game as long as he was with Riku. 

Meanwhile, the most consistent theme regarding Kairi in relation to the Destiny Islands trio is the idea of childhood friends drifting apart as they get older[6][7]. This is particularly highlighted in Kingdom Hearts III, with Kairi writing letters to Sora that she never sends, thereby keeping her thoughts to herself. Merlin also emphasizes this when he talks about forging new connections after Sora’s visit to 100 Acre Wood. This parallel frames the ending of Re:Mind as the two of them recognizing they’ve drifted apart and choosing to put in the effort to renew their friendship by spending time together.

On a structural level, her portrayal does not fit with how love interests are typically depicted in the Heroine’s Journey, both as an individual and in relation to the main protagonist. There is no contrast between her and Sora’s designs or roles the way there is between his and Riku’s. Her color scheme is predominantly pink, which does not have the same contrast with Sora’s red as Riku’s blue. Because she’s a Princess of Heart, there is no dark and light contrast, and the combination attack she shares with Sora in Re:Mind only utilizes light-based moves. It took 17 years after her first appearance in the series for her to be made a playable character, and even then, playing as her is not mandatory. They are never portrayed as equals, and she is not an active force in his emotional growth. 

The Heroine’s Journey was crafted for narratives revolving around identities that have been Othered by society for one reason or another. Murdock designed her template as a tool to help women deal with being shamed by society for expressing and pursuing their desires. In a similar way, LGBTQ+ people also face stigma from society for expressing and pursuing their desires. So it makes perfect sense that a framework for narratives of people overcoming internalized stigma against important parts of themselves would be ripe for stories featuring LGBTQ+ protagonists of any gender.

As mentioned in previous essays, stories that follow the Heroine’s Journey challenge the biases and blind spots of the audience. A relationship between Kairi and Sora does not challenge anything because she has largely been regarded as the endgame love interest by default since the beginning. Meanwhile, a romantic relationship between Sora and Riku challenges players to recognize heteronormativity within themselves and in the media around them. It challenges people to examine the lens through which they perceive the story and rethink how they look at what’s happening in the narrative.

In summary, the portrayal of Kairi and her bond with Sora is not consistent with how love interests are commonly depicted in the Heroine’s Journey, while the portrayal of Riku and his bond with Sora is. If Sora’s story is going to continue on this storytelling formula to the end, the structure of the Heroine’s Journey narrative leaves Riku as the only thematically viable candidate for the role of endgame love interest. 

Now, as some people bring up in conversations about Soriku, there is a potential obstacle in the form of corporate executives. It is entirely possible that Disney will drag their heels and try to force the development team to downplay or remove any open same-sex relationship the series may try to depict. They do not have a strong track record of LGBTQ+ representation that isn’t a minor character who only appears for one scene. Given that their last IP to follow the Heroine’s Journey - the Star Wars sequel trilogy - crashed and burned at the end, executive meddling is my greatest fear for this franchise.

But the thing to keep in mind is that Tetsuya Nomura is stubborn as hell. One of the reasons the long gap between Kingdom Hearts II and Kingdom Hearts III was because he was holding out for permission to include Pixar movies in the game, outright refusing to start work on KH3 until they were given that go ahead[8]. If you want further proof of how stubborn he can be, this is how he described the meeting where he first pitched the series to Disney in a 2012 interview with the late president of Nintendo[9]:

Iwata: Their ideas were different from yours, naturally…

Nomura: Yes. They appeared to believe that we would make whatever they wanted us to make and came up with rather specific requests such as, "We'd like the game to feature this character." They were really excited, explaining their ideas... To be honest, though, I wasn't really interested in any of them. (laughs) 

Both: (laughter)

Iwata: You wanted to borrow Disney's characters in order to make a new game that could compete with Mario 64, and you already had a vision of what this game would look like. I suppose their ideas didn't fit in with this vision.

Nomura: They didn't, no. In the end, I actually stopped a presentation halfway through. We didn't have that much time, and it looked like it was all going to get taken up by various Disney presentations. So, I interrupted them and told them the conclusion by saying, "I won't make such games."

Talk about nerves of steel. This man basically said “we do this my way, or we don’t do it at all” TO MOTHERFORKING DISNEY, AND. HE. WON. If there is any human being with enough force of will to make the Mouse House cave in and allow the depiction of an openly LGBTQ+ relationship in the Kingdom Hearts series, it is Tetsuya Nomura.

I cannot say with 100% certainty how things will go. But everything I know about storytelling patterns and narrative structure is telling me that Kingdom Hearts is a textbook Heroine’s Journey with a romance between Sora and Riku at its core. A relationship between the protagonist and the Animus does not truly begin until the “Integration” stage at the end of the Journey, and we are rapidly approaching the point in the narrative where the two leads traditionally become aware of and acknowledge their feelings in order to be on the same page for the finale.

Sources: 

[1] “She-Ra's Noelle Stevenson Tells Us How Difficult It Was to Bring Adora and Catra Home” May 18, 2020

https://io9.gizmodo.com/she-ras-noelle-stevenson-tells-us-how-difficult-it-was-1843419358

[2] “Death of a Dark Youth, Desecration of the Animus”; December 20, 2018. https://www.teampurplelion.com/death-of-a-dark-youth/

[3] Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories. Square Enix, 2007. 

[4] “A Look Back: Kingdom Hearts Ultimania Gallery Comments Part 1″; August 30, 2019;

https://www.khinsider.com/news/A-Look-Back-KINGDOM-HEARTS-Ultimania-Gallery-Comments-Part-1-15519

[5] “How Kingdom Hearts III Will Grow Up With Its Players;” September 24, 2013.

https://www.ign.com/articles/2013/09/25/how-kingdom-hearts-iii-will-grow-up-with-its-players.

[6] “E3 2018: Tetsuya Nomura on If Kingdom Hearts 3 Is the End of Sora's Story”; June 14, 2018.

https://www.ign.com/articles/2018/06/14/e3-2018-tetsuya-nomura-on-if-kingdom-hearts-3-is-the-end-of-soras-story

[7] “Character’s Report Vol. 1 Translations”; Jul 16, 2014

https://www.khinsider.com/forums/index.php?threads/characters-report-vol-1-translations.195560/

[8] “Edge Magazine Features Kingdom Hearts III Cover Story”; January 9, 2019. https://www.khinsider.com/news/Edge-Magazine-Features-Kingdom-Hearts-III-Cover-Story-14331

[9] “Iwata Asks: Nintendo 3DS: Third Party Game Developers, Volume 12: Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance], Part 2: It’ll definitely be fun”; April 2012. 

https://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/3ds/creators/11/1

#kingdom hearts meta #kingdom hearts theory #kh speculation #kingdom hearts analysis #kingdom hearts and the heroine's journey #soriku

[logical-little-lies]

{Chapter Three- Not A Baby}//Soft, Cute, and Far Smarter Than You (Sanders Sides Agere/CGLRE)

A/N: Before we begin with this chapter, I want to show some art that @english-chips made for this fic! The first one is inspired by the last chapter, logan the science kid!

And this next one is based off of Teenspace!Logan (which is officially introduced in this chapter). Don't ask about the braces, that gets tied into the story later.

Anyways, enjoy the chapter!! feel free to leave comments/send asks (Wattpad/Tumblr) with any questions you have or your reactions+thoughts on the chapter/story in general! I also wanted to credit the people from my discord server for a lot of the ideas used throughout this fic, so I will probably be repeating this a lot bc they’re creative and help me a lot when it comes to this story!

--

"I mean, I personally only really go to baby and toddler ages. From less than one to five. But you're still figuring your range out, right?" Virgil was talking to Logan as they washed the dishes. Virgil and Logan were getting into the habit of mentioning age regression related things in normal conversations, so they could normalize it even when they weren't in the headspace.

"I guess so. There's sometimes where I don't feel little, but I'm not exactly an adult either? I don't know how to explain it." Logan was honest with him, taking the plate he handed to him and putting it into the dishwasher.

"Maybe you're a middle?" Virgil suggested.

"Middle?" Logan repeated him, a confused tone laced in his voice.

"A middle is someone who regresses to pre-teen and teenage ages. It's still regression by definition as long as it's younger then your bio age," Virgil explained, rinsing out a bowl before handing it to him.

"I didn't know that was a thing. I sorta thought age regression was just baby, toddler, and young kid. I never really considered the fact that people might regress to an older age then that..." he trailed off.

"I don't know a ton about middles, or middlespace, but I know that some just find comfort in acting younger. That doesn't always mean a cute baby voice and stuffed animals, that can mean video games and they're old favorite books. Whatever makes you most comfortable." Virgil shrugged, using a sponge to scrub at a plate.

"That's kinda cool, actually. Um...anyways, what did you do today?" Logan changed the subject, keeping the term in mind. The idea that he could regress, but just to teenage years, made sense to him. He felt as if he might've been in that headspace before.

He'd want someone to look after him, but only to a certain extent. He'd be moody and get frustrated easier, he would want to indulge in old dorky hobbies, like video games or reading comic books. When he got like that, he told himself he was just being immature, and that he wasn't little, because it wasn't the same feeling. But now, knowing that regressing to teenage ages was a thing, he'd have to rethink things and maybe let himself indulge in this new feeling.

Not bad, just different.

--

"Good morning, Logan!" Patton knocked on Logan's door, waiting to hear a reply before opening it.

"Morning, come in." he remarked simply, seemingly distracted by something.

"Virgil isn't little right now, but as always, I just wanted to check up on you to check if you were." Patton closed the door behind him, coming over to Logan's bed and sitting down.

"I'm not little," he replied quickly, flipping a page in whatever he was reading. Upon closer inspection, it was a comic book. When Logan saw Patton looking at it, he shut it and pulled it closer to him. "Can you get out of my room? I'm busy." he said, speaking in a very annoyed tone.

Patton looked shocked, and a bit hurt. "Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah, I'll leave. Um, breakfast will be ready soon, let me know if you need anything..." he got up, going to leave when Logan spoke.

"Sorry for being rude, or whatever. I didn't mean to make you sad." he promised, speaking softer and in an apologetic way.

"It's alright, Logan. Are you feeling okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be, I'm fine?" he questioned.

"You're acting a bit..different? It's not bad!" Patton defended quickly before explaining himself, seeing Logan's skeptical look, "You're just...acting younger? But not quite little, y'know?" he tried to explain what he was thinking, but it was difficult.

"Patton! Come help me do this!" Roman called Patton from the kitchen before Logan go the chance to respond. Maybe Logan should've told his carer that he had a teenspace before going into it. Right after he heard about it from Virgil, connecting the dots was easy. So letting himself do what he wanted, and act slightly 'immature' was easier, because he knew it wasn't some weird thing. It was just a part of his personal regression.

But just because he accepted it himself, didn't quite mean that he wanted to explain it to his caregiver. Once Patton was gone, he made a motion with his hand and the door slammed shut.

You'd think he wouldn't break his own rule, but a lot of things you wouldn't expect were happening recently. Logan made a rule for the core sides, avoid using powers (both summoning and physical) because apparently it made them more "realistic". He had claimed that if they lived a life that was closer to an actual persons, in a mind palace designed to mimic the real world, they'd understand Thomas's problems and emotions more.

Roman hated those rules, and the fact that creating the realistic town and staying there sort of made it so that he couldn't escape to the mindscape for fantasy adventures. Logan even went so far as to make it so they got a limited allowance each week, as pay for doing your job for Thomas. Big Logan managed this whole system, but he said that if they just continued to be able to buy things without limited money, there was no point in trying to live more like people.

He groaned, shutting the comic book and abandoning it on his bed. He went over to his closet, looking inside of it for something to wear. Some things were to adult, and some things were to childish. He didn't have anything for in between, and that was frustrating. He almost considered summoning something for himself, when he was actually fourteen, they still lived in their separate rooms and just summoned things they wanted or needed.

He knew that he shouldn't, if he starts breaking his own rules regularly, then everyone else will and it'll be chaos. He looked through the part of his closet that had pajama shirts. Most of these were random t-shirts with graphic designs that adult Logan would never wear in front of the others (without the excuse of "it's an old shirt that I kept for sleeping."). He found a dark gray shirt that said "Game On", with a white game controller on it. He deemed it acceptable and he tossed it over to his bed, looking for jeans to go with it.

"Aha!" he cheered when he finally found simple dark blue jeans, taking the outfit and disappearing into his bathroom.

--

"You said that he's acting weird? Is he small and trying to hide it?" Roman suggested, passing Patton a plate to set on the table. Virgil was serving the food, dividing it between their plates.

"No, I don't think so? He said he wasn't little, but he just seemed really annoyed and...I don't know." Patton seemed confused, taking the cluttery Roman handed him and going around the table, setting it down. Patton was the one who suggested that they start eating breakfast, along with other meals together when possible. It was common that someone would skip out on famILY meals, but that didn't meal he wouldn't put the effort in  to made the meals for everyone.

"You think he's just stressed and he needs to regress?" Virgil spoke up, setting a bottle of syrup on the table.

"I don't think he was stressed, just annoyed."

No one got the chance to reply because Logan came down the stairs, clad in a dorky t-shirt, dark blue jeans, and a beanie. Virgil seemed to have a realization upon seeing him.

"Hello?" he broke the silence after a few seconds, "Why is everyone staring at me?"

"Oh, um..." Patton spoke first, trying to come up with an excuse.

"Did I walk in on you guys talking about me?" he immediately questioned with suspicion.

"pshh! No, surely not!" Roman lied, Logan giving him a look.

"Hey, Logan? How old are you, like mentally, right now?" Virgil asked hesitantly, Patton seeming confused.

"He already said that he wasn't little?" he restated, looking over at Logan, who blushed a bit.

"I never said that I wasn't regressed at all..." he trailed off, stratching the back of his head awkwardly before looking at Virgil. "And um, fourteen." he replied quickly, shuffling over to the table and taking a seat.

"Oh! Why didn't you tell me that when I asked you if you were little?" Patton asked, taking his seat next to Logan.

"Because I'm not little. Little is like, baby and toddler, y'know? I'm just...not an adult for now." he explained, not looking at his caregiver much.

"Oh...I didn't even know your range went that far, sweetheart." Patton seemed to be processing this, lightly grabbing his fork as Roman and Virgil took their seats.

"Sorry I didn't tell you, Dad." he apologized quickly, starting to eat his food.

Patton smiled, both from the fact that Logan called him "dad" while he wasn't six years old, and as a source of comfort. "It's alright, Lo." he assured. Logan gave him a little awkward smile, going back to eating.

"So...what is everyone planning on doing today? I'll probably work on brainstorming for Thomas's next project." Roman tried to start a conversation.

"I'll probably just chill, I finished the work I had to do yesterday." Virgil replied, looking to Patton and Logan to talk next.

"I might play video games, or watch something. I don't know," Logan shrugged a bit.

"Have you ever really been in teenspace before? Do you know what you want to do?" Patton asked in curiosity.

"I..um," he paused, thinking. "I kinda have been before, but I thought it was weird so I pushed it down..."

"Regressing to teenage ages is not weird, at all! I actually think it's fitting for you, because you can regress without having to be babyish, which is what you're most shy about when you do go little!" Patton immediately defended, Logan holding back a small smile.

"I knowwww, but I thought this was just me being immature. Not like, a part of my regression. It feels different then when I'm a toddler or a kid." he explained, seeming like he didn't want to be talking about this. He'd felt like a teenager, and addressing the fact that he was simply just thinking like one made him second guess him choice to allow himself to go into that headspace.

"Okay, okay. Would you like me to spend the day with you, sweetheart?" Patton offered. Logan quickly shook his head in rejection.

"Nope, I'm good. Actually, I'm gonna head back to my room now." he scooted his chair back, standing up before pushing it in.

"Bye, Logan!" Roman called after him. Logan didn't respond, but you could hear his door shut from upstairs. Patton simply pushed his plate forwards, putting his head down on the table in his arms.

"You good there, padre?" Roman questioned.

"I'm fine, kiddo." he replied weakly.

--

"Hey, kiddo! I just wanted to check on you," Patton knocked on Logan's door, opening it after a few moments. Logan wasn't on his bed, so he shut the door and found the boy at his desk. There was sort of a dip in the wall where his desk inserted, perfectly fitting. There was white shelving above the desk, with mostly books on it. Under the desk, there was a portable dresser with black and gray drawers.

He was watching youtube on his laptop, leaning back in his office chair with headphones on. Patton realized Logan didn't hear him, tapping on his shoulder. Logan flinched, quickly pulling his headphones off. "Helloooo? What's up?" he questioned, reaching forward and pausing his video.

"I just wanted to check on you, that's all." Patton replied, coming closer to him and standing behind his chair.

"Well, I'm fine. Just watching youtube," he shrugged, motioning to his screen.

Patton read over the channel name, along with the video title. "Markiplier, who's that?" he asked.

"Just a youtuber, dad. Do you need something?" Logan reached forward, shutting his laptop and looking up at Patton.

"Not really. I just wanted to know what you've been up too,baby."

"I'm not a baby." Logan replied simply, sounding a little annoyed.

"But you're my baby," Patton teasingly. Logan's face went pink, and he gave a mostly-playful glare. Patton was glad he was getting him to be playful to some extent, because so far it felt like Logan just wanted to isolate himself while in this headspace.

If he was going to be Logan's caregiver, he wanted to know at least a little bit about how Logan acts in each part of his headspace, so he knows how best to care for him. But it currently seemed like Logan didn't want any care.

"No, I'm a teenager. Not a babyyy," he whined, not in a baby voice, but in a 'dad you're embarrassing me please stop' type of voice.

"Yeah, yeah, okay. I'll stop teasing you." Patton smiled at him. Logan crossed his arms, but both of them knew he wasn't actually upset.

"Are you sure you don't want to go watch a movie in the living room or something? You said you might play video games, I know you can't do much on your laptop." Patton was silently pleading to spend some time with him, but Logan shook his head.

"I think I'll stick with Markiplier vids. But I'll see you at dinner!" he reminded, which did cheer Patton up a bit. Patton nodded.

"Alright, Littl-" Logan gave him a look, "Not little. Uh, bye Logan!" he corrected somewhat awkwardly, leaning down to kiss Logan's forehead quickly before leaving. Logan rolled his eyes, slowly opening his computer back up. He pressed the space bar button, and readjusted his headphones on his ears before leaning back in his seat.

Maybe this wasn't so bad after all.

--

"Dinner's ready, baby." Patton peeked his head into Logan's room, to see him watching something on Netflix at his desk.

"Kay, Dad. I'll be down in a sec," he replied, without missing a beat. "Also, not a baby."

"Alright, sorry Lo. Just head down soon, okay?"

Logan nodded,already starting to pause his show and log out of everything. Patton gave a slight smile, leaving his door open and heading back down stairs.

"So...how's teenage Logan?" Roman asked quickly as he came downstairs, already sitting down for dinner. Virgil looked at Patton.

"He keeps getting embarrassed when I call him baby. But I think he's good, he seemed pretty content with just hanging out in his room and doing whatever." Patton replied, pulling out his chair to take a seat.

"Oh, Logan! Hey!" Roman called when he saw Logan entering the kitchen. He held his phone in his hand.

"Hey. What are we having?" he asked, pulling his chair out and sitting next to Patton, as usual. He glanced down at his phone screen and tapping it a few times. Virgil came and sat some containers on the table. "Oh, spaghetti. Question answered."

"Can you put your phone down at the dinner table, sweetheart? Dinner is time for us to spend time as a family," Patton tapped his shoulder softly, instructing him to turn it off. Logan rolled his eyes, shutting off his phone and hovering it an inch above the table before dramatically dropping it. The attitude wasn't appreciated, but at least he listened.

"So..Logan, what did you do today?" Roman asked after a few moments of silence, reaching forward to server himself some food. He grabbed a piece or garlic bread at Logan started to respond.

"I watched Youtube and Netflix." he replied, quickly loading his plate with food. He seemed somewhat tense, like he wanted to leave.

"That's cool! What did you watch on Youtube and Netflix?" Virgil asked. Virgil was picking up on Roman's tactic of asking simple questions to hopefully start a conversation.

"Markiplier and The Floor is Lava." Logan kept going like this to every curious question they had, responding in short sentences before going back to eating. Soon enough, his plate was clear and he attempted to leave.

"You didn't even ask to be excused, young man. Sit back down." Patton instructed, Logan immediately listening and sinking back into his chair.

"C-can I go?" he asked, looking at Patton with a nervous look now. He didn't mean to upset him, he just wanted to go back to his room and be by himself again. This was a new headspace for him, and being around other people for long periods of time made him anxious. What if he did something stupid? What if they thought he was weird?

Patton didn't mean to scare him, so he softened up his face before talking again. "How about you tell us about your day, sweetie?"

Logan shifted from nervous to annoyed in maybe two seconds. "I've already told you everything! I watched Netflix and Youtube. There's nothing to talk about, dad!" he snapped, grabbing his phone from the table. Patton's eyes went wide, he definitely did not expect Logan to snap at him.

"Hey, kiddo..." he spoke softly to the annoyed regressor, who just want an escape. Logan took a few breaths while Virgil and Roman watched in silence. Patton hesitantly put his hand on Logan's arm in a simple attempt to comfort him. "Why don't you just walk me through what you did after breakfast, whatever you remember?" Logan looked at him now, nodding. He seemed a bit nervous, he did not mean to snap or shout or anything. But it seemed as if Patton wasn't upset with him.

He thought back to that morning, beginning the story. "So I went up to my room after breakfast. I read comic books for a little bit, and then-"

"What did you read about?" Roman interrupted. This didn't seem to annoy Logan, just shock him. He wanted to hear about whatever dorky comic book he had read? The last of dinner went on like that, Logan walking through his day up until the meal, and the other three inturrupting to ask curious questions.

Logan would go on side rambles about whatever it was. A question as to what The Floor Is Lava was about lead him into a ramble about how the game works. But no one else minded, because learning about this part of Logan, neither a baby, nor completely big, was really nice. Every few minutes, he'd stop his rambling, and ask if someone else wanted to talk.

But every single time, they'd share a few thoughts and assure that they didn't mind his excited rambling. He revealed that he also watched documentaries and information youtube videos, so he started sharing a bunch of random facts.

The anxiousness, the awkwardness, and even the extreme want to go away, faded as they encouraged him to keep dorkily discussing his favorite teen-ish things to do.

They hoped teenage Logan would come back again sometime soon.

#ts agere #logan agere #littlelogan #lillogan #little logan #middlespacelogan #middlelogan #middle logan #teenage regressor logan #cg patton #cgpatton #logicality slowburn #logicality agere

[marypsue]

So, I finished Stranger Things season 3. The show canonically involves a shadowy government agency abducting and experimenting on children, so, when the shadowy Russian government agent who had captured Steve and Robin started talking about getting Steve a doctor, my mind did not go to conventional means of torture. And that, combined with the credits scene, gave me an idea for a post-canon fic.

Diverges slightly from canon at the point where Steve and Robin are being interrogated. Dustin and Erica take a little longer to rescue them, and when they do get there, something is Wrong with both Steve and Robin. It seems to wear off, and they all chalk it up to the drugs - but that doesn't explain why, when the Gate closes, both Steve and Robin drop like stones. They wake up fine a few minutes later, but...

Fast forward. The Byers and El have moved. August isn't quite over yet, but school and further partings are looming. Somewhere in the background, there's a news report about a nuclear power plant meltdown in the vicinity of the secret Russian lab from the credits scene, the one where they'd been keeping a captive demogorgon. 

And, around Hawkins, people's pets have started to go missing, mangled animal corpses have started to turn up, and Steve's started to catch glimpses of something tall and pale lurking in the woods behind his house and following him in the dark. Something that looks almost human, but doesn't seem to have a face.

The demogorgon seems to be back, and stalking Steve - and, according to how nervous she's been and how she won't walk to her bike alone after dark anymore and how she keeps asking if the Russians could've come back for them, Robin. 

Steve decides that he needs to do something about this before it starts eating people - eating him, and his friends, specifically - and, selfishly, that it'd be nice to be the big damn hero for once, maybe even without getting the snot beaten out of him this time. Using himself as bait to draw the monster out and then hitting it with a bat with nails in until it stops moving may not be the smartest plan anyone's ever come up with, but nobody ever claimed that Steve Harrington was smart.

Surprisingly enough, this stupid plan actually works. Up until the part where Steve actually starts hitting, and very quickly discovers that he hits a lot harder than he ever did before. And can take a lot harder hits than he ever did before. And holy shit what the fuck is going on what is happening to his body what the fuck is happening to his TEETH - 

The fight doesn’t last long. Steve has to take a quick minute to have a mental breakdown, and when he pulls himself together (figuratively and, horribly, literally), the demogorgon has basically rolled over and shown him its belly. 

Turns out, it’ll listen to him. And it’s hungry, but willing to stick to cattle and deer and the occasional unfortunate cat. And actually kind of cute and pathetic, in a horrible-monster-that-tried-to-eat-my-face kind of way. And perfectly happy to just chill around Steve, and he’s training it to not eat people and it’s working, okay?

It’s hard to keep a secret monster pet from an alternate dimension a secret for long. Robin and Dustin both very quickly figure out that Steve’s hiding something (well, a couple of somethings), and, after extracting solemn promises that they will not freak out, he takes them to meet his new...project.

Robin freaks out.

Just a little bit. Just for a second. Just because the demogorgon sees her and goes rocketing straight at her, ignoring all of Steve’s commands. Just because she doesn’t feel like getting eaten - or nearly eaten - by monsters from another dimension. Again. 

Why she freaks out is not as important, though, as what happens when she freaks out. Because the demogorgon goes flying like it got hit by a truck. Only nobody’d touched it. 

So, maybe Steve and Robin didn’t get out of the Russian base with no lasting damage the way everybody’d thought. 

After a few false starts (and a lot of Dustin attempting to explain things through comic book references that Steve insists he doesn’t get), they figure out that Robin can share ‘impressions’ with the demogorgon in a similar way to when El ‘found’ it and it saw her in the first place. It’s lost, and hungry, and lonely, and homesick, and happy to think it’s found two other, stronger, if a little funny-looking demogorgons. 

Oh, and it’s dying.

They immediately tell the others, because if three seasons’ worth of Upside Down-related shenanigans have taught them nothing else, it’s to share information up front. 

(This involves talking to Nancy, which Steve seems to be more scared of than walking into the woods with a bat with nails in to confront a monster he thinks has been stalking him with every intention to eat him. Robin will never let him live this down.)

Nancy remembers that when she and Jonathan went hunting the first demogorgon, it came out of a portal in the woods that closed up after it, not the Gate in the facility. Mike remembers it coming out of the wall at the school, which corroborates Nancy’s idea that it can open its own portals. Will (via walkie) remembers that Brenner&co. had sent Hopper and his mom in after him in hazmat suits, because apparently the atmosphere of the Upside Down is toxic to humans. And they all remember how the Russians’ Gate blew. 

They come to the conclusion that maybe their atmosphere is toxic to the demogorgon the same way the Upside Down’s is to humans, and that it can’t find its own way home because, by closing the Gate, they severed all connections to the Upside Down.

(It seems like somebody on the Russian side of things was smart enough to not put all their eggs in a giant Key-shaped basket, and was looking into ways to open a Gate that would take less power and be less prone to exploding. Since the demogorgon is naturally able to open its own portals, and to tolerate the Upside Down’s atmosphere without needing specialty gear, it’d make sense to try to give a human those attributes.)

(And the two American teenagers in stupid outfits were probably telling the truth about not being highly trained covert operatives, but they still couldn’t be allowed to escape to tell the world what was going on. And their deaths would be no great loss to anyone if the tests went...badly.)

So now they’re faced with a dilemma. If they find a way to open a Gate to let the demogorgon go home, however small and however briefly, they risk letting the Mindflayer back into their world. But if they don’t, their new buddy will die - and, it’s starting to look like, so might Steve and Robin. 

Also, El’s powers still haven’t returned, and she’s half a country away now. But, maybe...maybe Robin can open a Gate.

Some additional thoughts:

Somehow, the solution has to involve Kali or one (or more) of the other nine experiments.

There are now no responsible adults over the age of eighteen who know what’s going on within a reasonable driving distance - except, perhaps, for Murray. This is going to go about as well as could possibly be expected.

Tommy and Carol appear as secondary antagonists, who find out what’s going on, try to take it to the papers, and end up scooped up by the government and interrogated.

This leads to the demogorgon and Steve and Robin all being shuffled off to some top-secret facility that they then need to be broken out of in the climactic episodes. Maybe this is where Kali comes in - she’s been hunting Brenner’s men for years, she’s familiar with the locations of their bases and bolt-holes and with how they operate. Whether Owens is involved or not, I haven’t decided. 

There’s a scene where Steve and Nancy finally fucking talk to each other, and while they don’t get back together, they do clear the air and leave off on a better footing so they might actually be able to be friends.

Also, Nancy and Robin start to become friends, and then Nancy finds out Robin likes girls and is weird about it at first, and has to get her head straight and her act together.

El as the wise old mentor training Robin on psychic abilities. Robin has to try to ‘find’ El, because El still doesn’t have her powers, but El’s practiced enough that she can tell when someone else is trying to get into her head and to let her in. Long-distance communication is a lot easier with psychics. And a supercharged walkie-talkie. 

The B-plot/emotional arc is about growing up and apart while trying to maintain relationships that are important to you, and grieving for the person you were with certain people at a certain time and have now irrevocably lost, while learning to look forward to the versions of yourself and the people you care about that are yet to come and may be better than you could possibly imagine. And also about maintaining long-distance relationships.

Dustin names the demogorgon Gizmo.

And there are many, many E.T. references. 

#stranger things #i have several things on my plate at the moment and do not need to start another longfic #so I will not be writing this (at least not right now) #but...here it is

[cornholio4]

Smoking!

Author’s note: this is based on the Mask from the violent Comic but it doesn’t get really violent here. The Mask has the origin from the movie though. Some of this is just me indulging.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng sighed as she was with her class at the field trip to the museum where Alix's dad and brother worked, things wereworking well with her and her class despite the fact that Lila kept up with her false stories with the class eating them up. She was on better terms with her class though she refused to indulge in listening to her lies or forget the threats that she had made.

Alix's brother Jalil was giving them a lecture at their Norse exhibit and was excited to tell them they were the first visitors to get a look at a new artefact sent to their exhibit. This got the class excited but it quickly died down when he took out an old plain looking wooden mask with eyes and a mouth hole.

Jalil stated they studied the connections between it and the Norse God of Mischief and Lies himself Loki but everyone had drawled out when they saw the mask. Lila began whispering to the classmates about some made up trip discovering lost artefacts of a probably made up nation. This got Marinette a bit annoyed but then found Tikki peeking her head out of her bag and was shivering with fright.

Marinette whispered to her asking what was going on not noticing Adrien running to a nearby pillar, before the Kwami could say anything Jalil asked if anyone would want to try it on for fun. Chloe pretty much pushed Marinette out to be in front of the group.

Marinette glared at her but then Jalil went to her asking if she was volunteering, Marinette jumped but then found her friends encouraging her. She slowly walked up to the table and picked up the mask. She put it to her face but then found it seaming like it was pulling herself to it.

Everyone immediately grew concerned and terrified as they saw the mask jump on Marinette's face and looked like it was expanding itself to cover her face while turning green...

Adrien Agreste had been watching the lecture with his class and was about to make a joke with Nino about how plain the mask looked but then had Plagg whispering while in his shirt pocket. Adrien then sneaked to a nearby pillar to ask Plagg what he was doing risking himself being seen. However he was taken aback by how uncharacteristically terrified Plagg looked.

"Adrien, listen to me... You have to transform right now and Catacalysm that mask right now! It's dangerous and I will never forget when a Norse warrior I was with at the time had to fight a Viking who wore it. It was awful and the nearby villages pretty much would have preferred Ragnarok! I curse the day Loki created that awful thing! Never did like those Norse gods! Still Odin's trickster brother was pretty much better than that Cronus guy from the Titans but that's not saying much!" Plagg told him and Adrien looked at him in disbelief.

"Plagg, that things looks like a cheap prop and you say it is some sort of dangerous artefact? That it's like Miraculous?" Adrien asked unconvinced as Plagg looked at him dead serious but then Adrien noticed something. "Wait did you say brother? But isn't Loki the son of Odin?" Adrien asked and Plagg slapped his face.

"They were brothers, I can assure you! Despite what those comic books and movies would have you belief, but let's focus and prioritise!" Plagg snapped right back and Adrien found this hysterical. Plagg lecturing him on priorities, this was something for the history books.

"Now, we have to transform and do something before anyone gets close enough to that mask that..." Plagg told him but then heard a whirling sound and then looked and saw that Marinette was standing there with a crazed look on her face. She was wearing a yellow suit version of her usual clothes and her face was a bit bigger while colored dark green. "Too late..." Plagg muttered and then realised the implications of Marinette in particular wearing the blasted mask, Adrien now realised too late that Plagg may have been onto something.

"Plagg, Claws Out!"

*PB*

Marinette had transformed and found herself feeling... free! Her friends looked at her all worried wondering if this was some weird Akuma and they just didn't see the butterfly. Marinette then found herself smiling gleefully.

"Look, Dupain-Cheng finally got a makeover and I think it was an improvement..." Chloe started only for Marinette to take out a big glass cage out of seemingly nowhere and put her and Lila in it while shutting it tight.

"Wow, my two biggest tormentors together at last! They really deserve eachother as friends, to think that fanfic writers thought Chloe you would be the lesser of the two evils despite you know never even apologising for almost getting my parents killed!" Marinette said with a big smile looking at them both trying to force the door open. Marinette then continued her tirade "yes I am breaking the fourth wall like that mouthy merc and I don't care. He wasn't even the first Marvel character to have the gimmick, She- Hulk (big fan as a green faced heroine myself) did it before him! Besides Deadpool will have no chance to complain as he is too busy writing his will before his end is met when Ipkiss wearing the Mask takes him down in Deadpool's 3rd Death Battle!" Marinette then noticed the class and staff heading for the doors.

Marinette then pulled out a lasso and then roped them into it while dragging them back, "come on friends, as you're Everyday Ladybug I can't let you miss what is a good show! I can promise you it will be something, there are fanfics of me Akumatized to deal with Lila but this is something special! This is not the Mask from the funny movie starring Robotnik from the upcoming Sonic movie (which you should see when it comes out) or the funny cartoon that spun off from it but the original Dark Horse comics! I promise you, they were not for the faint of heart! They were basically a reverse of that stupid Banana Splits movie or the upcoming Fantasy Island movie: so instead of taking something light hearted or at least nice into a horror property, they turned a horror property into a family friendly comedy! Can't say I disapprove but I got the powers from the comics, where the cartoon physics extend to only me. So if I fed you a bomb then well..." Marinette stated but then noticed Chat Noir was there.

"Sorry Princess, but can I ask please ask if you can handover that mask and sorry but I don't think the green face look suits you." Chat Noir told Marinette charging with his staff only for Marinette to take out a large mallet and send Chat Noir flying right through the door.

"Marinette girl, please! This isn't you! I don't understand a word of what you are saying or what happened to you but please! Give the mask up and get help!" Alya asked but Marinette shook her head as she looked at her.

"Wow Alya you are trying to be a good friend unlike in other salt fics, like those recent ones pairing me with Damian Wayne. I dont really understand that as...I am just not into Gotham City guys!" Marinette exclaimed pretty much singing the last part of what she just said. She then smirked as she just got an idea about what to do with her two prisoners.

She then got out a dressing cubicle and skipped right in. Not a second later she was now in a stag magician's outfit complete with a cape and a top hat. She then got out a box for the 'sawed in half' trick.

"Now, the first trick of the Great Big Head will be familiar to those you watched that Banana Splits movie I mentioned, the one where they took an old and highly underappreciated cute fun variety show and turned it into a lame FNAF rip off! But I will be pulling it off better because the movie version didn't use this!" Marinette said pulling a chainsaw from her cape.

She then got form the cage and pulled out Chloe before locking it again, she put Chloe in a box as she looked terrified and Marinette said with glee "remember what I said about the cartoon physics only affecting me? I guess you can also see this as a rip off from the trailer for that Fantasy Island movie? The one about getting revenge on a childhood bully? A scene in a trailer of a movie that wants to use the name for it's stupid horror movie? A show that was parodied by a Daffy Duck movie and an episode of Teen Titans Go that were better adaptations of the show!" Marinette asked darkly and Chloe was now screaming in terror as Marinette's classmates closed their eyes fearing the worse.

Marinette then dropped it and used another lasso to barely catch Chat Noir, "You know now that I mention it, I somehow seem to know a whole lot about a comic book and a TV show that were both made before I was even born! I mean Fantasy Island is decades old and I am just acting as a mouthpiece for the author at this point and hopes this works by acknowledging he is doing this." Marinette shrugged pulling Chat Noir in.

"You have been a great sparring partner and partner in general Chat Noir; here is a free copy of the first issue of my new comic!" Marinette told him patting him on the head like a kitty and then tucking into the lasso the first issue of I Pledge Allegiance to the Mask.

Then Marinette went to the box where Chloe was still in but then had Lila scream out "Marinette please let me out! I am sorry for the threats i made to you in the bathroom! I am sorry for threatening to steal all your friends away! I will stop lying, I promise! I will help you with anything! I will even tell you what I know about Hawk Moth when working with him! I promise please!" Lila was now in tears but everyone in the class were now speechless as to what she had just said.

"Lila admitting to save her own skin; would be funny if it wasn't so pathetic... It's thanks to you and your anonymous posting that the anonymous comments on the AO3 version of this story will have to be disabled! I will get to you in a second but first I already have a volunteer..." Marinette said picking her chainsaw back up again.

"Marinette, this isn't you! I know Chloe is a pretty terrible bully and I don't know what Lila had been saying to you behind our backs but you are better than this! You go through with this I know you will hate yourself when you are back to normal! This will scar you and destroy you! Think of your parents and us, we care about you! My brother Luka thinks of you as the song in his heart!" Juleka suddenly shouted and this gave Marinette pause.

"Using not only your brother but my parents to convince me to drop this. Low blow Juleka but I can't argue that like a good Pokemon move... It's super effective!" Marinette said quietly as she managed to force the mask off her face. She then suddenly shrieked as she then let everyone out of the lasso and they hugged her greatly.

However an Akuma came akumatized Chloe into a villain called Jack in the Box. Marinette helped get all her friends, classmates, the staff and Lila through the exit and then transformed into Ladybug to help Chat Noir once he was free.

*PB* Hawk Moth was in his lair observing what happened and was in shock and a bit scared, something other than his Akumas were capable of creating powerful villains it seemed. Ones he doubted he could control even if he was wearing that Mask. That Mask took one of the nicest girls in Adrien's class (the one he had yet to Akumatize) and turn her into a twisted cartoon.

He took a while before sending out an Akuma; too busy contemplating everything that this could mean. This Mask could destroy everything he had worked to achieve and if his Akuma brought it to him, he would have it thrown into the farthest waters.

*PB* Marinette was pretty horrified and scared about what happened when she saw the CCTV footage and heard the stories from her classmates. Ms Bustier personally escorted Marinette back home and she was forced into a big hug by her parents. Once she got a chance to be alone Tikki explained to her about Loki's mask.

The news broadcast said that the Mask would be taken to a secure facility outside of Paris, so hopefully she would not have to deal with it again. She had gotten a few days off from school as unlike most Akuma villains, she had to deal with the knowledge she was close to murdering a classmate with a chainsaw.

What she had almost done terrified her as she never wanted this on either of them, she can't say she had much positive feelings towards them but this was overkill. She doubted she could even use any lethal action against even Hawk Moth who was an evil Super Villain of his own volition.

She got messages from her friends checking in to make sure she was alright, her grandfather Roland came by with a special cake he had made from an old family recipe and there was Luka who looked more worried than she had ever saw him.

In the mail she ended up getting a letter from an American police officer by the name of Kellaway inviting her to join an online support group for those affected by the Mask. Apparently it had gotten around in the US ever since it was bought by a man called Stanley Ipkiss. Hopefully that Mask doesn't bother anyone again...

#ladybug #miraculous ladybug #chloe salt #lila salt #ml salt fic #ladybug salt fic #ml salt #marinette dupain cheng #the mask #the mask dark horse #the mask comic book #oneshot drabble #ml oneshot #also on fanfiction.net #also on ao3 #also on ao3 and fanfiction

[kathyprior4200]

BML Livestream Reaction 6/9/2020

To my lovely H.H. viewers, listeners, readers:

Wow! The livestream today on Ashley's channel was incredible. The fandom raised more than 60,000 dollars for the Black Lives Matter charity. (I was one of the unnoticed ones who donated). I'm just as amazed as the show staff at the sheer generosity and talent of this fandom. There were a lot of hilarious moments and very good improvs as well. (ex. Bosco saying in Alastor's voice: "I'm an unstoppable death machine!" And all the "Oh Ashley," running gags.

Onto theories and clip reveals:

There appear to be at least five episodes for Helluva Boss (maybe) and perhaps for Hazbin Hotel as well. When would episode 12 + come out? 2027? I'll happily wait if I can live and last that long.

The first clip revealed showed Blitzo taking to Loona, him saying "have a treat" and then eating the biscuit. Millie appears to be there with Moxxie, drawing a pentagram symbol on a wall. Perhaps a gateway to the human world?

Blitzo (yells at a shy imp): "You set fire to my fucking office in front of a goddamn client you dipshit, now someone please tell me that hocus pocus book is still intact?"

Loona (holding the Satanic book): "Our only ticket to the living world? Grabbed it."

Blitzo: "That's why you're my favorite, Loony! You get a treat."

Loona: "Ew. Stop."

Blitzo eats a treat with a happy look on his face. An imp in a dress stands in the background. Millie draws a pentagram on the wall.

Blitzo (to Loona) "Oh stop it, I get enough of that from my therapist. Now lets get to it, gang!"

They prepare to enter Earth.

Second clip: We are introduced to Loo-Loo Land, an apple-themed circus/amusement park. Loo-Loo is another term for sh*t or bathrooms, so a fitting name for one in Hell. Loo-Loo is a large creepy apple mascot who appears overly cheerful toward the imps and presumably Octavia, who's not impressed. Stolas then takes Blitzo to the rides. He can be seen in a themed outfit, with an apple on his shirt, sorts, and a balloon in his hand. Lucifer has a bar/land called Loo-Loo Land that the theme park is a bad spinoff of it.

Millie (both wear glasses): (Moxxie) "Come on, it's fun! You've never been here?" Moxxie: "No. Theme parks always disturb me. Especially (shakes) the mascots."

A creepy mascot dressed as a red apple appears behind them. He's a red apple with a missing tooth in a wide grin of teeth and one of the eyes hanging from string.

Loo-Loo (in a southern accent) "Well, hey there!"

Millie and Moxxie scream.

Loo-Loo: "I'm Loo-Loo! Welcome to Loo-Loo land!"

Stolas talks to his daughter Octavia by a dinosaur carousel.

Stolas: "Look, Via, it's Loo-Loo!"

Octavia is not impressed with the childish theme park and the lack of more modern rides and features.

Octavia (British accent): "I have a question."

Loo-Loo: Well ask away, little girlie! (Goofy laugh)"

Octavia: "Is it true that this theme park is really a shameless spin-off of Lucifer's more popular Loo-Loo World?" (Disneyland vs Disneyworld)

Loo-Loo: No."

Octavia: "This place reeks of insecure corporate shame."

Stolas: "Why don't we go check out the rides."

Third clip showed what appears to be a rival company to Immediate Murder Professionals. It's called CHERUB, consisting of flying singing sheep with halos and angel wings. It can be assumed that they come from Heaven. Do they save lives (like the alternate E.L.F. in Heavenuva Boss) or do they grant miracles while scamming people? One things for sure, they are super cute. Hmm...maybe they are part of brainwashed sheep who want to spread Heaven's culture so others can mindlessly follow it? Or maybe just as a way to bring down I.M.P. to prove that they can be the best demon killers around? Blitzo blows up a TV in frustration. Now I.M.P. has to find a way to save their company and stop their rivals.

Based on the song, they save people's lives on Earth! (Guess what Hazbins: I thought of the AU E.L.F. characters before this was cool!)

If there is a rival company in Heaven to I.M.P. in Hell, it can only mean one thing: a (Haven) hotel in Heaven may also exist. (Except it would be used to give angels freedom to cause trouble and sin/to be themselves in defiance to the strict rules.)

The sheep angels save people from a car accident, and lift up a rock from a crushed person. They do the work for free, as one of them denies money. With I.M.P. killing humans and C.H.E.R.U.B. saving people, it brings the world in balance. (Though poor sheep: too many people are dying from Covid 19.) Both of them do their part to influence the living world (strangely enough, the Hazbin Earth humans seem accepting of the random creatures who arrive and then leave.

C.H.E.R.U.B. saves people so they have a chance to go to Heaven. I.M.P. kills people for money so the humans wind up in Hell.

Christ's Heavenly Efficient Revivers Under Bless

Christ's Healing Employees Revive Unlimited Bodies

Creators Host Efficient Revival Under Belief

Creating Happy Earth Routines U Believe

Sheep/faun one female: "Luckily for you..."

Sheep two male: "There is something we can do..."

Both: "We can help you feel alive, so you can save some time!(waste and drive?)" (two sheep stand beside a baby angel and all smile)

"Cause here at C.H.E.R.U.B., we can save your honey butt from dying violently. " C.H.E.R.U.B. (R mark) "We never even ask a fee." "Because good people spread the love, "And we're here for all above. "We do the paperwork for you "And the heavy lifting too." (Female sheep is shown exhausted in a pile of paperwork and later shown lifting a boulder from a man.) Both sheep witness a dying man from a car accident and wipe the scene away. "So sit back and let us bless a soul... for you." (all three sing). "Oh we, are the C.H..."

Blitzo blows up the TV in anger.

Random names: The cherub is Blitzo's opposite, Millie and the female sheep and Moxxie and the male sheep.

Blitzo's name is German for lightning. Moxxie means aggressive energy. Millie means mild strength/industrious

Donner= German for thunder Jalen= peace Ardel = industrious

Theories based on the song: 1. Heaven has animal-like Zoophobia characters like Hell 2. C.H.E.R.U.B. saves lives while I.M.P. kills them, thus keeping the world in balance. 3. The cherub leader would be Blitzo's rival. Male sheep vs Moxxie, female sheep vs Millie 4. If I.M.P. had their way, everyone would be dead. If C.H.E.R.U.B. had their way, the earth would be overpopulated. 5. C.H.E.R.U.B. have access to Heaven and Earth. They probably use the Bible to access the living world. 6. C.H.E.R.U.B. would save anyone, even criminals. 7. C.H.E.R.U.B. might have another Loona counterpart. 8. Could I.M.P. and C.H.E.R.U.B. have access to all three realms?

Clip number four: Blitzo and Stolas talk in bed. Stolas goes under the covers and stares seductively at him. He gets the idea to take Blitzo to a Harvest Festival with him as a bodyguard. Blitzo gets suspicious, claiming he won't go if Stolas uses him for sex and his purposes. Soon, Blitzo decides to come along. Stolas then says "sorry about you leaving behind your clients," while Blitzo retorts "Oh fuck my clients!" Best line. Stolas' wife will not be happy when she hears of Stolas and Blitzo's relationship.

Stolas (smokes a cigarette): " It's shocking to it to be seen, Blitzy. My grimoire is incredibly vital. And it isn't supposed to be let out by little imps like yourself." He puts out his cigarette on Blitzo's horns and pinched his cheek. Blitzo sighs and shoves him off. Both appear to be topless.

Stolas: "The Harvest Moon is a very special occasion. It's been my annual duty to celebrate it in the Ring of Wrath. It's a charming little festival with games and music..."

Blitzo: "A wrath ring, huh? My employees are from there. Haven't really been, but it sounds like a place of imprints."

Stolas: "Oh! Why don't you all accompany me to the festival as our special guests?! I'll give you all... (goes under the covers and lies near Blitzo's privates. "...special access." (chuckles)

Blitzo: "Look I told you, we're not bodyguards, alright? It was a one time thing we did and guess what? We did it badly!"

Stolas stands up with the cover over his head.

Stolas: "I'm simply offering a fun work-free day of fun! I feel quite safe at the Harvest Festival. I go every year. Nothing has changed."

Blitzo: "Okay, look if you promise this is not some fuck-fest invite... it does sound like it could be fun. Alright, I'll run it by the others. It sounds like we can work without the book anyway."

Stolas: "I do hope to see you there. I'm sorry your clients will have to wait."

Blitzo: (waves his hand) "Oh fuck my clients!"

We are introduced to new characters: Loo-Loo the creepy apple mascot, the shy imp, owl princess Octavia, "Melodia" the queen, the CHERUB sheep and Robo-Fizz, a robotic jester demon colored black, yellow, white, and light pink-red. It can be assumed that he is red and black and dangerous in his true form. Could Hell's circus be one big conspiracy? Anything is possible in the inferno.

Thank you to all who supported Vivzie's charity and those who continue to show their love for the show and concern for what's going on in the world. Protests, Police, Pandemic, Personal Rights. I donated earlier and I do all I can to keep the fandom together, trying to tapper down the "shipping wars." I don't feel like a hero at all, but I feel good that I'm showing support.

My work is unknown in comparison to all the marvelous Charlastor fanfictions out there:

MuseValentine's "Smiling Man" Angelus19's "Taxidermist"

and many more.

Please don't forget to show support to Hazbin Madness and Radio Hazbin on YouTube. Some people may disagree with me on this, but I think those two voice actors and comic dubbers have better potential than Markapiler and JackdaSepticeye. Yes, the latter two may be famous and well-known, but in my opinion, only HalusaTwin and InSaiyans capture the uncasted Lucifer and Lilith so well. A king and queen of the fandom.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVkr2V_Y-sIzBH01AbPcufw

But don't fret. This fandom has given me ideas that keep skyrocketing through my head and into the world. I've made fanfictions since 2014 and have only made more after being exposed to DBZ and H.H. My long projects seem to take months to update but as long as I'm alive, inspired and have free time, I won't cease doing what I love. Indeed, Viv's words inspired me toward the end of the stream. She said to a person who donated a lot and the viewers to share their creativity with the world, as it can inspire others. Vivziepop is a role model for me, as are so many of my friends/content creators (artist Ady Laine, theorist BlueRaven666, musician Ashboyo, my close friend Sumera Paleema (DBZ artist) and many others.

Very soon, I'll be expanding upon my rewrites/remixes of Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss. Indeed, the future episodes may be closer than we think!

Stay safe out there and treat each other well.

-Kathy Prior 42

#hazbinhotel #helluvaboss #newepisodes #livestream #blacklivesmatter #hunicast #cherub #imp

[shaydeoffical]

Bright as a Diamond. Hitoshi Shinsou x Fem Reader: Chapter Six

Warnings: Violence, Stalker, Drugged, Reader Injury, Blood

Series Summary:  When (Y/N)’s co-worker decided to send a picture of her making a diamond to the paper, her life was over. Gemstone based quirks weren’t all that rare, but being able to make a diamond put a target on her back. After years of hiding in the city, it’s time to hide in the countryside with her Uncle Shota Aizawa and his more than ‘roommate’ Hizashi Yamada. With the promise of training her to be self-sufficient, she’s ready to learn.

Chapter Summary: (Y/n) goes into town to meet up with her co-worker, but things do not go to plan.

Chapter Five: here or https://ambershaydeoffical.tumblr.com/post/612522066443436032/bright-as-a-diamond-hitoshi-shinsou-x-fem-reader

Chapter Seven: Seven. (I finally figured out the hyperlink)

Chapter Six

This Day was Going to be Perfect

   My morning bike ride had been refreshing. I had a chance to watch the sunrise, then make it to a café for breakfast. With my cat backpack from grade school, as the only purse I could find, I had my money tucked away safely. I looked ridiculous, but I wasn't trying to impress anyone. This was just two buds hanging out and mending the past. There was nothing for me to worry about, least of all my appearance.

   With my bike firmly chained to the gate, I ducked inside the quite cafe. The lobby wasn't super busy, and I found a booth to rest in while I prepared myself for the week. With my pastry and hot chocolate, I began reading over the requirements for my next project. School had been on the back burner for far too long, and it was time I try to get ahead.

        Taking a long swig of my hot cocoa, I choked it down. What shocked me wasn't the temperature, but Kira plopping down on the other side of my booth. I was supposed to see his apartment later in the day, but this wasn't planned. Damn it.

   "Good morning," he sang, holding two cups of coffee. "I say you drank yours, so I got us both one. You seem like a sweet girl, so I made sure there was extra sugar for you." He pushed one cup towards me, then pushed his long black hair back. His sullen eyes glancing at my bruised knuckles.  

   "Umm, good morning." I nursed my half-full hot chocolate and put my phone away. "My drink is still good, thanks though."

   "Oh nonsense, I paid for the premium blend." He pushed the cup to my side of the table. Leaning his elbows on the table, he propped his head on his hands and cocked it to the side. Waiting for me to drink.

   "Not a coffee girl," I admitted pushing it back, looking at my textbook. Maybe I could multi-task. "What are you doing here?"

   "Oh, this is my go-to shop." He pushed the cup across to my side. "What has you here so early, princess?" A shudder went down my spine.

   "Just studying." I pulled out my phone, trying to act unfazed. He was just trying to be nice. Stay calm, you have to work together, and he has always been odd.  

   "It's a good thing I ran into you; we can spend the morning together too." He sipped his own coffee, spitting some back out. His thin brows knitted together before he giggled. "Hot"

   "I really have to focus on this assignment, so t-" Pointing to my next book, he smacked his hands against the table.

   "Wait, there's this super cool comic book store down the street you'd love." He grabs my hands and pulls me up.  I grab my cup and he takes his, pulling us out of the café.

   He tugged me down the street like an excited child. He had lived in the city center and knew it better than me on any good day. The shop he had taken me two was filled with hero merch. Ground Zero, Deku, Allmight, Urvaity, Froppy, Chargebolt littered the walls and aisles.

   "You like that Eraser guy right, they have some vintage posters in the back." Never letting go of my hand, he caught the eye of several people. Some gushing at the cute couple, it made me want to peel back my skin and scurry home. "Here, I'll get whatever you want."  

   Tuning him out for a moment, I saw a small pin set on sale. It was the debut merch for Shinso. His little mask covering most of his face. I picked it up and turned it over to read the back. It was snatched from my hand before I could see the details.

   "He's a little too young for you to be fawning over." Kira sat it back on the shelf, taking my coffee cup, and placing a Midnight plushie in my hand. "You and Midnight have a lot in common. Beautiful, full-figured, and fierce."

   "I think you confuse curvy and full-figured. She's just blessed with a rocking body." I sat the plushie back down, now insecure of my outfit. It was just a long sleeve dorky otter tee shirt, a loose denim mini skirt with a peplum bottom, and some black legging. But I wished I had a sweater on and some jogging pants. I didn't dress like it was a date, but the way Kira's eyes wandered over my form, I felt exposed. This wasn't a date, why was he acting like this?

   "Oi, you're that girl," a shopkeeper came over and looked me up and down. "The one who can make crystals." With those words, the situation got that much worse.

   "You're got the wor-"

   "She is. Why ya want to know." Kira slung an arm around my shoulder, and I froze. He squeezed me to his side and shaking me a bit.

   "He's got it all wrong, I- I get confused for her a lot, but that's not me."I tried to smooth it over to no avail.

   "She makes the best gems in the world. The only known diamond crafter to be born." Kira grinned like a cat, sliding his hand down my back, dangerously close to my ass.    

   "I'm not her."

   "Can you make a replicate of kryptonite for me?" The boy asked, grabbing a comic like I didn't know Superman. "Like its green and glows. See, it's an organic shape or can you only do fancy shapes."

   "She can, but she doesn't make freebies." Kira kept talking for me, blood rushing through my ears. "Depending on the size, quality, and time frame, we'll need compensation." We? I stomped Kira's foot, and he lost his grip. Darting out of the store and back up the street, I paused, forgetting where I left my bike. I downed the rest of my drink but coughed, realizing it was Kira's coffee. Being a good citizen, I tossed it in the trash and went back on my way. What a fucking bastard.

   "(Y/n), please wait. Come on, I didn't mean to make you mad." He blocked my path and held up his hands. "Your quirk makes you special. You should get some perks for it. I was about to score us some free merch."

   "I don't want free stuff, I want to be safe. People knowing that I can do that sort of stuff makes my life harder." I snapped, crossing my arms, staying vague as possible for people on the street.

   "I like you," He blurts, reaching out to touch my cheek. "If we were together, I could protect you. I have a powerful quirk." His fingers turned to razor blades, and he pointed them at me. "Look at how special I am. No one would ever touch you with me around." He fisted the air, trying to show off.

   "Listen, I don't want a relationship right now." I pulled out my phone and sent my location to Shota, with a danger symbol. After I hit send, my phone was knocked to the ground.

   "Look at me." He grabbed my hand and dragged me into the alley. The urge to run coursed through me, but I couldn't do it. He was my work friend. He was frazzled and may be unstable, I had to play my cards right. "Good girl," he held my head up, the blade just under my chin.

   "I don't like you like that. Listen, let's pretend this didn't happen, and we go back to work like normal." I slurred my words, holding to the wall for support. "You need to let me go." An exhaustive fog spread over my body.

   "Make me one of your diamonds." He ran his blade down my throat, resting at the edge of my shirt. "Make it one of a kind, like our love."

   "I won't." My knees gave out, and he shoved his knee between my legs, but he wasn't strong enough to catch me. My knees busted against the concrete. "What- what's happening to me…"

   "You're sick, you need to rest darling." Kira returned his fingers to normal. Resting them against my chin, pushing my hair back. "Make me a diamond, and we can go home."

   "Fuck off," shoving his hands away, I clamored to my feet and staggered towards the street.

   "Wrong answer," his blades were on my throat again, he had his face buried in my hair. "Come on, walk with me."    

   "Stop-p it," I couldn't keep myself together, bending with his will, I followed him deeper into the alley. Small nicks against my skin. "Le-tt go."'    

   "You're almost home now." He purred. "We'll have a room of diamonds, you can display your best for me. You can cook and clean for me as thanks."

   "No," Stomping his foot again, I lurched forward when his hand went back. He cut my forehead while grasping for me. "Help." This time Kira pulled me up by my hair, a scream erupting from my throat.

        "Shh, darling," he cooed in my ear.

   "Who do you think you are?" A new voice entered the alley. Kira froze in his place and let me down, so my hair was slack again.

   "Shinso," my vision was blurry, but I could see his purple mop.  I reached out for his form, and a finger went across my arm. A searing pain throbbed over my body, but I refused to scream. I nursed my wound, trying to stop the bleeding. My eyes pleading for Shinso to save me.

   "Answer me, asshole," Shinso remained calm, walking closer. He wouldn't look at me, but I knew he was a pro that these situations. Even if this went down poorly, we'd be okay. Shinso was a pro, and I was banking on that training.

   "You're mine," the blades were resting on my throat. Kira was whispering in my ear. He jerked me up by hair again. Hot tears streaked my face as I tried to stay awake. The haze was starting to block out the sun.

   "What do you think you're doing with (Y/n)?" Shinso's voice was louder this time. He wouldn't let me die. He was a hero.

   "Let me go, Kira," I whispered, unable to keep my head up, dangerously close to falling on his sharp hand. "Shinso, please…"

   "Speak up, coward!" Shinso growled, tossing a rock at Kira.

   "She's m-"

   "Deactivate your quirk," Shinso ordered, and Kira retracted his blades. "Let her go. Then walk to the police station and turn yourself in."

   Crashing to the asphalt, I tried to stay upright but failed. Landing in my own blood. "Shinso?" I whimpered, closing my eyes. Kira hoovered over me a few moments.

   "Walk to the police station." Shinso spat, and this time he went.

   "Hitoshi?" I pulled my sticky arm from my chest and held my head up. Everything was spinning so fast.  

   "I'm right here." His boots crunched the earth; it sounded so much louder than the blood rushing in my ears. His shirt ripping echoed through the alley, and the fabric was tired around my arm. My body being pulled upright.

   "I don't feel right. I can't focus." His chest was so warm as he pulled me in his arms. He was more robust than I expected, so strong.

   "Did he offer you a drink? Could he have slipped you something?" Lips right by my ear, whispering. His fingers tied things over my injuries and worked to apply first aid.

   "Coffee," I was scooped up and carted back to the street. Was he always so strong? "I thought he was just kind of weird. I didn't t-" I shut down, ashamed it happened.

   "It's going to be okay. You did nothing wrong. " I could see his car hazard light still going, parked right in front of the café. He fumbled for his car keys and sat me in the passenger side. Buckling me in, then glancing around the street.

   "Don't leave me, Hitoshi." I clenched his shirt when he tried to go back to the driver's side.

   "I won't. I promise."

#shinsou x reader #shinsou hitoshi #hitoshi x reader #hitoshi shinso x reader #my hero academia #bright as a diamond #ambershaydeoffical #blood #violence #stalker #durgged #trigger warning #enimies to lovers #series #bnha x reader

[the-awkward-outlaw]

A New Adventure

Warnings: None

Word count: ~2300

**Author’s note - This takes place in Utah (for my own reasons). This one shot is to set up my modern reader x Arthur Morgan head cannons. I am open to requests and ideas! If you like what you read, leave a comment!**

Masterlist

Read on AO3

You’re walking in the park by your home. It’s something you like to do every day with your dog, not only to give her exercise but so you can get some too. After all, working in an office at a desk doesn’t allow you to walk around much. 

The park is pretty and you’re lucky to be living just down the street from it. It sits at the foot of a mountain range in your home valley. Right now, there’s some snow on the ground from a big storm that came through a few days ago, but it’s already melting. Perks of living in the west. Sure, winters are cold and long and the snow sucks worse, but at least it only sticks around for a few days. You love living out here though. The mountains are beautiful, you wouldn’t trade them for hardly anything. 

You walk along the west side of the park right at the base of the mountain. There’s a small cave there, it only goes back about twenty feet and the local kids like to go play in there, and sometimes the older kids go in there to smoke or drink. Luckily because you live in a small neighborhood that isn’t close enough to the big city, kids smoking is about the worst that happens out here. You’ve been inside the cave once. There’s a weird drawing on the back wall, but several people have left their artists marks behind in it, so you’ve never thought anything of it.

As you begin approaching, Sage, your Bernese mountain dog, begins barking at it. Strange. She rarely barks and she’s been past this cave pretty much every day since you’ve had her. Maybe there’s a racoon or a skunk in there tonight. 

You tell Sage to shush and continue walking towards the cave. She settles down but still growls. You begin thinking of other things and forgetting about her behavior when a man steps out of the cave. You recognize him, not by his face, but his outfit. He’s dressed as Arthur Morgan from your favorite video game Red Dead Redemption 2. You smile at him. Cosplayers are a pretty big deal in your state, thanks to the rise of your local comic book convention. However, he’s dressed up for the wrong time for the con, it’s not until September. It’s only February. And why the hell would this cosplayer be in the cave dressed up? Weird. 

You keep walking. Sage wags her tail at him but continues on with you, no longer growling. She probably could smell him and not see him, explaining the barking. She’s an overly friendly dog so you’re not worried about her. 

The man looks around as though he’s no idea where he is. Maybe he’s on something. As you get closer, you think he’s an exceptional Arthur Morgan. He looks just like him. Not only are his clothes exactly like the character’s, even worn and dirty in the right spots, his face is exactly like him. Broad shoulders, tanned skin, light stubble on his jawline and unkempt hair under his iconic hat. You can even see the bald spot on his chin where Arthur has a scar. 

He continues looking around, confused, and then he spots you. You’re too close to just ignore him so you smile. 

“Nice cosplay!” you say. 

“Excuse me?” he says. Man, he even sounds like Arthur!

“I said, nice cosplay! You going to a costume party or something.” 

“A what? Lady, I ain’t got no clue what you’re saying.” 

You’ve stopped by this point to look at him, giving him a confused smile. “Man, you’re really in character too! I gotta admire that. I’m a cosplayer too but I can never stay in character. Kudos to you though!” 

You’re tempted to ask for a picture, but it seems perhaps a little inappropriate. He’s looking at you like you’re a freak, as if he wasn’t the one who just popped out of a cave. 

“Well, have a good night,” you say, walking on. 

“Uh, sure I guess. Hey, ma’am?” he jogs up to you and stops a few feet from you. He’s beginning to weird you out. Just because you live in a small neighborhood doesn’t mean you don’t know how dangerous people can be, particularly men. Besides, if he’s on something, he could be even more of a threat. You keep a tight leash on Sage. She’s not likely to attack him, but you don’t want him to know how much of a pushover pooch she is. 

“Sorry, ma’am, guess I’m just a little lost. Um, maybe ya can help me?” 

“Sure, I guess. What you wanna know?” 

“Well, where the hell am I, for starters.” 

You tell him the name of your town, keeping a hard eye on him. 

“Where is that exactly? Are we in New Hanover? Or West Elizabeth maybe?” 

“Oh boy, you really are selling this cosplay, ain’t you? Well, okay. I’ll play along. Mr. Morgan, you are in Utah.”

“Utah?” he says. He looks away and mouths the word. You know that Utah wasn’t a state until 1896, three years before Red Dead 2 takes place. Boy, this guy is really selling this. 

“Yeah. Come on, dude, quit playing. Your cosplay is on point, in fact everything about you is on point. But… come on, man what’s your name?” 

“Well, seems you already know my last name, miss. Name’s Arthur. Arthur Morgan.”

“Still playing, huh?” you say with a sigh. “Fine, have it your way.” You wonder if he’s one of those people with an illness that makes him believe he’s someone else. Like Teddy from Arsenic and Old Lace, who firmly believed he was Theodore Rosevelt. “Well, come on,” you say, wondering if you need to call the police or have him checked into a hospital. 

“Ma’am, I promise you I ain’t crazy and I ain’t playin’ whatever you think I’m playin’. Tell me, is it still 1899?’”

“What? Dude, come on. It’s 2020.”

“2020!” he cuts you off. “What the hell?” He looks around again and towards the east side of the park where the rec center and playground is, and beyond that the main road, busy with cars heading home for the night. His look of confusion and even fear is so genuine that you wonder what’s really going on. 

“Look, mister. What was the last thing you were doing before coming here?” 

He looks at you for a moment before answering. “I was in Big Valley collectin’ orchids for some crazy feller. I walked into this cave and saw a dinosaur bone. Some lady, don’t remember what she called herself, said she’d pay me for locations of bones. I went over to mark it and I saw this weird symbol on the wall. I touched it and the mouth of the cave got wickedly bright, it got hot, and when the light went away, I stepped out here.” 

He looks around again. “You seen a horse anywhere?” 

You look at him sadly. This poor, deluded man. Truly believes he’s Arthur Morgan, picking flowers for that collector in Saint Denis and finding bones for the paleontologist lady. You wonder who this man identified with before Red Dead 2 came out in 2018. 

“Mister, only rich people own horses. There’s some about a mile north, but they don’t belong to you I don’t think.” 

He looks at you, confused again. 

“Come on, mister,” you say, beckoning him to follow. “Let me, um… I think you need to see someone.” 

You begin walking again but he calls to you.

“Still don’t believe me, do ya miss?” 

“Listen to yourself!” you say. “Arthur Morgan is from a video game. A video game! He’s not real, but you are. Please sir, I think you need help.” 

“Lady, I don’t know what the hell a video game is, but I can prove I am real and I am Arthur Morgan!” 

He reaches into his satchel and pulls out a slightly ruffled looking orchid. The kind you know from playing the game grows in Big Valley in West Elizabeth, in the forest where the pigs and cougars spawn. He then pulls out a newspaper and hands it to you. 

The newspaper’s called “Saint Denis Times” and it’s dated June 18, 1899. The top headline is reporting the bloody massacre of the Grey family in Rhodes. You’ve read the newspapers in the game once before and you remember the article. It’s exactly the same as the one from the game. He then pulls out his pocketwatch. It’s worn and dirty just like the one from the game. 

He continues pulling out more objects, even some dried meat. As he shows you more things, you inspect the guns in his holsters. They look real. In his holster on his right hip, you see the double-action revolver with its gold barrel and white handle. You see the engraving of a stag’s head on it. 

The more he shows you, the more you find it hard to believe he’s not the real Arthur Morgan. But how in the hell is this possible? It can’t be and yet here he is. He even pulls out his journal. He doesn’t open it, you’re not surprised. You’ve played the game enough to know he’d never show you what’s inside (even though you’ve already seen it). Everything he’s shown you seems so genuine, so real. Something inside you says he’s not making it up, but how in the hell can it be real? There’s no logic to it! 

You tell him to put his things away as you try to think how this could have happened. Arthur, or whatever his real name is, asks to show you the drawing he touched in the cave. You say okay, but keep a firm grip on the pepper spray in your pocket (you never go anywhere without it). The man leads you to the cave and you pull out your phone and turn on the flashlight. 

“What is that?” he asks to the slim device in your hand, trying to stare into the light, flabbergasted by it. 

“It’s a phone,” you say, continuing on in the cave. Sage sniffs along the ground happily, but as you approach the back, she starts barking. The same way she was before the man came out of the cave. 

“That’s it,” he says, pointing to it. The drawing looks like some strange symbol. Although you’ve studied some anthropology and symbolism, you’ve never been able to place the culture or meaning of the symbol and just assumed some kid did it. However, getting closer to it, you see it’s been carved into the rock and looks like it’s been there for a long time. 

Arthur grabs your shoulder. “Don’t get closer to it, miss. I ain’t too sure what it is, but… well, it ain’t good I think. It’s what I touched and that’s how I ended up here.” 

You heed his warning and take a few steps back. You take a picture of it so you can do some research. You aren’t too sure what to do at this point. Something tells you that you can’t take this man to the hospital, and calling the cops wouldn’t do any good. However, the sun’s setting and you have to work in the morning. All your logic says he can’t stay with you, this isn’t a Disney movie after all. He might be playing an elaborate hoax or something. 

“You still don’t believe me, do you?” he asks. 

“How can I?” you demand. “I mean, listen to yourself! You can’t be Arthur Morgan! He’s from a video game!” 

The man sighs and walks over to the wall, placing his hand on the symbol. Sage begins barking like crazy and the opening of the cave becomes too bright to look at and the cave fills with hot air. After a few seconds, the light dims and it cools. 

You step outside the cave and find yourself standing in Big Valley. You’re in awe. Somehow, you’ve been transported to 1899 into the game of Red Dead. A pig somewhere nearby squeals and you see, maybe 50 feet away, a huge Ardennes warhorse. She snorts at Arthur. 

“You believe me now, miss?” he asks. 

You nod, still unable to speak. 

“Good. I… I have to admit, I wasn’t sure that’d work.” 

You finally look at him understandingly. “I’m sorry, Arthur. I didn’t think it was possible.” 

“I can understand why, miss. I wouldn’t believe it myself if it hadn’t happened to me.” He looks around and then begins to cough. 

“Shit, Arthur. You okay?” 

“Yeah,” he says, spitting into the grass and wiping his mouth. You see the small line of blood left away. 

“Arthur, you have TB, don’t you?”

He looks at you, shocked. “How… how do you know that? I only saw a doctor for it two days ago.” 

Where to begin with this, you wonder. “Um… it’ll take some explaining, but come on. Let’s see if we can go back and I can get you some medicine for it.” 

“You mean… there’s a cure for it where you come from?” 

“Well, sort of. We don’t have a cure, per say, but we do have antibiotics. They’ll kick your ass just about as much as the bacteria, but at least you’re more likely to live.” 

He looks at you and you see a glimmer of hope. “Okay. I’ll go with you, miss.”

You head back into the cave and touch the symbol. It surprisingly works again and you’re taken back to your time and your park. You’ll take Arthur to a doctor, but you have to drop Sage off at your house and get a car. You have to smile to yourself as you tell Arthur to walk with you. What an adventure this is going to be.

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