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clownprince · 1 year

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Batjokes Timeline

This is based in Rebirth/Infinite Frontier but it overlaps with other eras cause yk. Comics. Where possible I tried to put the original comic/arc instead of the Rebirth comic where it was referenced or shown in a flashback, since most of the Rebirth timeline prior to like Year 16-17 is shown via flashbacks or references. Cause again. Comics.

Also this is almost entirely based on info from the Batman Chronology Project I just pulled out the Batjokes bits.

Please correct me if any of this is wrong because I am Not going through every single one of these to double-check. Also lmk if there are any other comics that can fit in a certain place on this timeline.

YEAR ONE

Zero Year: Secret City

Zero Year: Dark City

Bruce adopts Dick as his ward (Nightwing Vol. 4 #32, Nightwing Vol. 4 #69, Batman Vol. 3 #54, Strange Love Adventures #1 Part 6)

Dick begins training, which lasts six months (Detective Comics #1000 Part 9)

Batman: The Man Who Laughs

First instance of the monthly birthday present ritual occurs in early December (Detective Comics #1027 Part 3)

Bruce visits Arkham to meet with Joker and shows him the playing card he found in the Batcave, revealing his identity to Joker (Batman Vol. 2 #17)

Note: Dr. Harleen Quinzel has been Joker's therapist since his first stay at Arkham Asylum

YEAR TWO

Dick debuts as Robin (Batman Chronicles: The Gauntlet and Batman and Robin Vol. 2 Annual #2)

Batman saves Joker from Deathstroke (Batman Vol. 3 #122-123)

War of Jokes and Riddles

YEAR THREE

Dr. Harleen Quinzel, having fallen in love with the Joker (gotta love the horrifying medical malpractice), breaks him out of Arkham Asylum, becoming his girlfriend and sidekick Harley Quinn (Harley Quinn Vol. 3 #17, Harley Quinn 25th Anniversary Special #1 Part 4, Batman Vol. 3 #42)

YEAR FOUR

In March, for Batman’s monthly “birthday present,” Joker sends a crudely drawn picture of himself and Batman with the words “Best Friends” written on it (Detective Comics #1027 Part 3)

I Am a Gun

Note: Batman admitted he underwent those sensory deprivation tests in an isolation chamber so he could experience hallucinations and psychotic states to see a glimpse of how Joker's mind worked (Batman Vol. 1 #673)

YEAR FIVE

Barbara debuts as Batgirl (Batgirl Vol. 4 #0)

Batman chases Joker down to Blüdhaven, Gordon and the GCPD shoot their way through their former co-workers into a warehouse filled with piñatas. Inside each piñata is a corpse (Joker Vol. 2 2021 Annual)

Note: for the past year, Joker had only been pulling pop-crime pranks and small time heists

YEAR SIX

An escaped Joker decides not to commit any crimes for once, instead following Batman around, simply trying to get the grim Dark Knight to laugh (referenced in Event Leviathan #2)

YEAR SEVEN

In February, an escaped Joker defeats the Teen Titans (Robin, Cyborg, Starfire, Beast Boy, and Raven), leaving them bound, unconscious, and underwater as Batman’s monthly “birthday gift" (Detective Comics #1027 Part 3)

Dick turns 18 and quits as Robin (Robin 80th Anniversary 100-Page Spectacular Part 1)

Bruce meets Jason Todd and starts training him (Batman #408-409)

Dick debuts as Nightwing

Joker unveils his "Laughing Fish" gag (Detective Comics #475-476)

Jason Todd debuts as Robin (Truth and Justice #10)

YEAR NINE

Batman: The Killing Joke

A Death in the Family

Tim begins training as Robin (A Lonely Place of Dying)

YEAR TEN

Tim debuts as Robin

Knightfall

Rock of Ages

Batman fights Onomatopoeia and saves Joker's life (Batman: Cacophony #3)

YEAR ELEVEN

Cataclysm

Aftershock

No Man’s Land

Tower of Babel

Note: Batman appoints Cass Cain as Batgirl during No Man's Land

YEAR TWELVE

Under the Hood

Tim stops being Robin, Stephanie Brown takes over temporarily before she is fired and Tim is reinstated (Robin Vol. 2 #124-130)

YEAR THIRTEEN

Batman R.I.P.

Bruce meets Damian for the first time (Batman and Son)

YEAR FOURTEEN

Harley breaks up with Joker for good (Gotham City Sirens #1)

Bruce makes Damian his full-time official partner (Batman & Robin Vol. 2 #1-8)

Joker buries Simon Hurt alive, which is the same way Hurt tried to kill Batman. Hm (Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #6 and Batman & Robin #13-16)

Joker removes his face and goes into hiding (Detective Comics Vol. 2 #1)

Death of the Family

YEAR FIFTEEN

Endgame

Superheavy

YEAR SIXTEEN

Duke joins the Batfamily (Batman: Rebirth #1)

Batman locates Joker (presumably still amnesiac at this point) and apprehends him, incarcerating him in Sub-Cave Alpha. in exchange for information about Dionesium, Batman tells Joker about his “dark energy” investigation and covert use of the Outsiders and “Black Sites.” He even shows Joker his cloning machine and the “Meta-File” on the Bat-computer (Dark Days: The Casting)

Batman proposes to Catwoman, presumably while Joker is still in his basement (Batman Vol. 3 #24)

Hal and Duke find Joker in the Batcave cell (Dark Days: The Forge)

Batman teams up with Joker to defeat the Batman Who Laughs (Dark Nights: Metal #4-6)

YEAR SEVENTEEN

Joker finds out about Batman’s engagement (Batman: Prelude to the Wedding Part 2 Nightwing vs Hush #1)

The Best Man

Batman and Catwoman call off the wedding but stay engaged (Batman Vol. 3 #50)

YEAR EIGHTEEN

The Batman Who Laughs #1-7

YEAR NINETEEN

Their Dark Designs

Joker War

YEAR TWENTY-ONE

Failsafe

The Man Who Stopped Laughing #1-4

#this is mostly for me tbh #i wanted to see if their relationship had like #a visible Pattern #and yeah #laying it out chronologically was interesting for sure #anyway #batjokes #also this is like mostly just titles #bc i am too tired to write summaries for everything #might make an extended version later #not rn though #uuhhh #my stuff #meta #ig #text post

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darklydeliciousdesires · 11 months

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The Dream - Chapter Twenty One.

Huge thanks to everyone for their continued support :)

Previous chapters - Prologue One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Nine Ten Eleven Twelve Thirteen Fourteen Fifteen Sixteen Seventeen Eighteen Nineteen Twenty

Tag list - In the comments, please DM to be added/removed (note: those not engaging will be automatically removed from the tag list, FYI)

Words - 3,294

Warnings - 18+ content throughout, minors DNI!

“Hello, Keri, my love! I am so sorry, a thousand apologies for calling you on a Saturday morning when I know you’ve likely been out last night getting very, very drunk!”

Those warm tones of a mostly Indian accent, punctuated every so often with little American twangs, were the last she expected to hear at 10am that morning, getting out of bed and heading into the bathroom so as not to wake Angel.

“Uncle Sunni!” she gushed excitedly, softly clicking the door shut and closing the toilet lid to take a seat.

“The one and only!” he chirped, Keri grinning widely. She swore, for every year that she’d known him, his accent had gotten stronger for returning to his parent’s homeland. “How are you, darling?”

“I’m really good! How are you and aunt Bee? And my cousins?”

“We are all very well, thank you for asking. Saanvi has decided she is a Miley Cyrus girl now, so this is all we have playing in the house, Sita is doing well with her dance classes, and Sanjay is awful. Please come and take him away!” His joke about their youngest had her in soft fits, Sunni continuing. “Listen, I was calling to get a hold of my brother-in-law, is he around? I cannot get through to his cell, your mother’s neither,” he spoke, hoping that all was okay with the family.

“Well, mom is in at work today doing some overtime, and I think David might be working on his truck. I don’t know, I’m not at home right now,” she revealed, finger combing her messy hair.

“Ahh, I shall keep trying him, then. He is probably listening to that bloody god-awful Rainbow music. Since you’ve been gone? Since I wish you would go, more like!” he exclaimed, snorting with laughter.

“That’s a classic!” she exclaimed.

“Oh, classic nothing!” Sunni yelled, his volume making her laugh. He always got louder by about twenty decibels whenever excited or trying to make a point. “That and his Boomtown Rats! I don’t like Monday’s? Nobody does, Bob Geldof! Bloody sit down and be quiet!”

She sat there in hysterics at his usual comic observations. Sunni was one of very few people who could legitimately make her cry laugh, her sides hurting. Usually from the hilarious banter he and Bee got into together, or the berating of her stepdad’s taste in music.

“So where are you, then? You say you’re not at home, are you in work? Did I disturb? I am sorry if I’m getting you into trouble,” he then asked, courteous as always.

“No, I quit my job recently. I needed more time at the weekends, plus with leaving college approaching and not wanting to have anything to tie me down so I can travel a little, I needed to do it soon anyway,” she began in explanation. “I’m at a hotel right now, my boyfriend is up visiting from Southern Cali.”

The noise of interest Sunni made had her in fits once more. “Oh! There is a new boyfriend on the scene! Have you been with him for long? Would I approve? What is he like?” She sat and gave him a brief outline of Angel to pacify his multiple questions, Sunni making little ‘umhm’ noises as she spoke.

“It sounds like you are very happy with this man, early days or not! I would fetch your auntie for you to have your obligatory girl’s talk, but it is her turn currently trying to get Sanjay to bed, and he is being an absolute horror about it!” Her youngest cousin Sanjay had just turned two and was most definitely living up to the term terrible two’s. “Anyway, I might as well tell you why I was trying to call David, share with you our news. I have been accepted for a post at Utah Valley Speciality Hospital, so good news, darling. We are returning to America.”

“Oh my god!” she screamed, suddenly clasping a hand over her mouth. “Oh my god, that’s amazing!” she then added much more quietly, drumming her feet softly against the tiled floor. “I can’t wait! When do you come back?”

“Not for another three months, just while we finish getting everything sorted at this end, selling the house, etcetera. We didn’t tell anybody, just in case it didn’t come through, but now that it has and there is also a chance that your aunt could have a job also opening up at the same hospital, now that Sanjay is of preschool age and she can return to work, we felt confident in sharing the news.” he explained, delighted at his niece’s reaction.

They chatted for a short time longer before ending their call, Keri absolutely ecstatic to have some of her favourite family members returning. Tying her hair up, she brushed her teeth and took a quick shower, coming out to find Angel checking his phone.

“What was all the excitement for? I heard a squeal of ‘oh my god’,” he grumbled, still sounding half asleep as he placed his phone back down, a hand sliding into her towel to stroke her hip.

“That was my uncle on the phone. He was trying to get a hold of my parents, but they’re not picking up. Anyway, he told me he and Bee are moving back over here, he’s got a job at a local hospital, so I’m over the moon that I’ll be able to see them regularly instead of once a year,” she shared.

“Yeah? That’s great, baby. I know you hated that they lived halfway around the world,” he replied brightly, just as his stomach began to growl. She raised an eyebrow, shaking her head as she leaned to kiss his abdomen. “I think I need feeding.”

An hour later and they were sitting inside a small restaurant, hard wood surfaces, Edison light bulbs and plants strewn over the large shelves that flanked the black walls, Keri bouncing in her seat with excitement at one particular dish on the menu.

Angel looked over at her with a smile. “You just saw the peanut butter pancakes, didn’t you?”

“I did!” she squeaked. How well he knew her. Anything with peanut butter, and Keri was on it in an instant.

Reaching for her hand, he squeezed it gently, thinking how adorable she was. “Y’all a hundred percent too cute, mamacita.” Her beamed smile made his heart skip a beat, sitting there feeling like he was the luckiest guy in the world. While the waited for their food, they sat and discussed her ever nearing departure from college, meaning that for the following three weeks they wouldn’t be able to meet with her workload going into overdrive in preparation to finish, but when she did, she had some plans.

“I’m going to book going over to Galway, but not for as long as I originally wanted to. If you could come then that’d be great, I think Aaron and Rachel are down, Frankie too. Jaime won’t be because of work. So yeah, we’re planning on that to be for two weeks. Then I was thinking of driving down to Santo Padre, maybe basing myself there for a while, travelling around Cali. If you don’t mind, that is?”

He put on a thoughtful face, scratching his chin. “Hmm, do I mind having my beautiful, sexy, funny, amazing girlfriend around more often? Hmm, lemme think on that.” She began laughing softly through her nose, leaning over to kiss him. “Of course, I don’t mind.” Despite the joviality of his statement, he felt a pit in his stomach at hearing her plans to travel. He pushed it down, though, reasoning that she wanted to stay with him in her time between.

“Good, because you’re stuck with me now.” There was truly nobody he’d rather be stuck with. Their weekend went by in a blur, Keri holding him tightly before he departed, crying in his arms at how much she anticipated she was going to miss him. He hated leaving her behind whenever he had to go home again, but the buzz inside of knowing he’d get so much more time with her over the spring and summer alleviated the sadness of being separated from her.

While they were parted, he took his mind off it by putting in some serious time around the yard, taking on extra shifts, deciding to re-decorate his bedroom and make it look a little better than the mismatching bare essentials vibe, seeking some advice from a certain lady.

“You need a theme!” Sharise exclaimed, taking a cart from the front of the local homeware store, buzzing already. If Mrs Reyes thrived on anything, it was a decoration project.

He viewed her with mild disgust, his nose crinkling. “A theme? Nope. I saw a picture online and I want that. Dark green walls, white ceiling. I got new furniture on the way, too. I just need things to make it look less empty.”

“Rug, lamps, artwork, candles,” Sharise began to list.

“No candles!”

“Yes, candles!” she stated emphatically. “Keri likes them, she told me which is her favourite. Black coconut by Yankee, and they sell them here.”

He took a pause for a moment, his brow creasing. “Are you two making plans behind my back? Is this a little scheme you’ve cooked up to get some damned chick litter all up in my space?”

Sharise threw her head back, entertained at the chick litter term. “No! We were chatting the other night, she replied to one of my stories I put up with my candle collection all burning, and she mentioned she liked Yankee candles about as much as I do. Us girls talk about things like that, you know.”

“Hmph.” His mutter was then followed by a speedy swerve around the cart, Sharise attempting to put some large cushions into it. ”No cushions! My couch is fine as it is!”

“These are for the bed,” she clarified, gently slapping his arms, grabbing two more that were slightly darker.

“I got pillows, I don’t need ‘em!”

“They’ll finish the bed nicely, add a little depth of comfort.”

His face was a picture of confusion. “They add... what?”

“And when you’re having sex, you can pop a couple underneath your lady and they’ll tilt her hips in a way that means you get to hit a whole other host of different angles.”

He nodded, gesturing to the previously frowned upon items. “Alright, they can stay.” She grinned, tossing her braids over her shoulder as they continued, smug that she knew exactly what to say in order to get around his protests. He was, as she expected, still difficult, though.

“Sharise! Put it back,” he ordered, pointing as she wrestled with a giant, white sheepskin rug from the rolls gathered at the back of the store.

“You’re going for bare floorboards, right?”

He groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I am.”

“Then you need a nice rug to tie the room together!”

Depth of comfort and tying the room together. Her chosen language was completely lost on him. “But then I gotta vacuum the damned thing!” His complaint was accompanied by a little show of drama, folding his arms over the cart handle, resting his head down and regretting his decision to involve his sister-in-law.

“No, because the fleece is too long, it’ll get caught in the rollers. You just go shake it outside, et voila! Done.” Into the cart it went, Angel muttering in mild despair. Fluffy rugs. Was this what his life had become?

The rest of the store was browsed rapidly, Angel actually being able to make his own choices, loading up on photo frames he planned to put some of Keri’s photographs into after he’d had them blown up, a set of white plaster skulls that looked remarkably like the real thing, Sharise adding bits and pieces as she went for both him and herself. The large, black and grey vase with black birch twigs was not one of his choices, but he allowed it. Begrudgingly.

“So, you seem to be very content with Keri, then, with this talk of her coming to stay for a while,” Sharise observed, finishing the large mouthful of Cuban sandwich she’d just taken at a bar she’d driven them to, telling Angel she’d at least buy him lunch in apology for terrorising him in the home décor stakes.

He smiled, thinking of her. “I really am, she’s cool. Can’t wait to have her come kinda live with me, even though I think it’ll only be temporary.”

She noticed he sounded a little dejected by that. “Because of her travelling? You two are so sillily in love with one another, I can see her making Santo Padre her base when she isn’t, you know. I know it’s still early days, but you two fit together so well.”

He scratched the back of his neck, his brow furrowing. “I sometimes wonder if I’m the one who’ll be temporary. She’s so ambitious, and young still, too. Makes me wonder if we’ll last.”

“Well, just see how it goes, but don’t write off a future with her just because she has ambitions!” she gently suggested, reaching to squeeze his hand. “She doesn’t have to be around you all the time to be in a committed relationship with you.”

He snorted softly, looking uncomfortable, clamming up as she predicted he would. She would press, though. She’d heard of this before. “I did wonder, when you’d have your wobble.” His frown prompted her to continue. “Lucy told me, that back when you guys got together, you had a little bit of a freak out over whether she’d meet anyone else, and I suppose that’s rearing its ugly head again, with talk of Keri going off travelling around. You think she’s going to meet someone you assume to be better, don’t you?”

He grunted.

“Angel,” she spoke softly, reaching to stroke his face, tilting his head up. “You need to start putting to bed these feelings that you aren’t good enough. You are. Did Lucy find anyone else? Nope. So, there’s no saying Keri is going to. She’s crazy about you, for heaven’s sake! And I know what you’re gonna say, that other women in the past have only seen you as a short-term fling, but my love, that’s because it’s all you’ve offered to them, whether consciously or not.”

“Yeah, yeah I guess you’re right," he finally admitted, realising that it was his self-sabotage coming back to haunt him. As soon as he fell in love, it was only a matter of time before it came bubbling up to the surface, his fears of loss, of not being good enough.

He’d been pushing it down into his darkest depths for the last two weeks, ever since they’d confessed their love. It had been festering a little closer to the surface since her talk of travelling over breakfast the last time he’d seen her, though. The little pit in his stomach he’d felt? It had predictably taken root, no matter how much he didn’t want it to.

Looking over at Sharise, he felt his little padlocked gate begin to strain. If there was one woman he always opened up to, it was her. “I don’t want to wreck it all, but I’m kinda scared I will. I can’t just be happy. My fucking brain has to freak out and cause drama. Which I usually then fuckin’ thrive on.”

It suddenly clicked with Sharise, the sprucing up of his home. He wanted to hopefully make Keri feel as if it was hers, too. He wanted to find more ways to entice her return, hence doing away with the bachelor pad look, albeit with slight reluctance. Oh, he was too adorable, in such a beautifully, partially broken way. From what Keri had told her in exchanges messages, chatting online in order to get to know each other more, he had no reason to feel insecure. Of course, that didn’t mean he wouldn’t. People were rarely so simple.

“Angel, the only way you’re going to wreck it is by listening to that toxic little voice in the back of your head instead of Keri. Have faith. She came into your life for a reason. There’s no way that dreaming of her before you even met her is anything less than destiny. Believe in it. You were doing great until you let the panic creep in.” Taking another bite of her sandwich, she winked, Angel determined to take her advice on board.

It didn’t help that he was only a week into a three-week separation from her, but he did work hard to keep Sharise’s advice in mind. As if the universe had heard his doubts, he received a notification one night, painting well into the small hours after returning from dealing with club affairs, wiping his hand on a spare piece of cloth as he crawled over the painting sheets to grab his phone. Keri had tagged him in an Instagram post.

‘I don’t even know how one man can be so amazing. He’s the sexiest, the funniest, the loveliest, the best. I miss you, gorgeous. Can’t wait until this is us again.’

He smiled at viewing the image, one Keri had taken in the hotel room on the bed as she’d sat astride him, her hand reached out cupping his cheek, Angel smiling up at her as the sun shone in through the window and bathed him in bright light. He remembered just how happy he’d felt, when she’d taken it, his heart fluttering at the memory, scrolling to his call list and tapping her name.

“Hey, you free to talk?”

“I am, I have a few spare minutes,” she replied, waiting for her coffee to pour, prepared to work right on through until the morning and then sleep for a few hours before she started again. “How are you? I hate that tomorrow is Saturday and I won’t have you here. Sucks.”

He was surprised to hear she was still up doing her work, since she’d mentioned earlier when they’d messaged that she’d be spending the entire day doing such. “You got some serious dedication there, for it to be 1am and you’re still working. As for me, yeah, I’m alright. Missing you like fuck, though.”

She made a soft noise in her throat, picking up her large mug of coffee (a two-pod creation) and turning the machine off. “I miss you too! Two weeks and I’ll be free, though, get to come and spend ten days with you before Galway. Did you ask Bish, if you can swing that kind of time away?”

“I did,” he sighed, “and I can’t. I could come for a week, but he can’t lose me for two.”

She was bright in her reply, all optimism. “Well, that’s better than nothing! Come out with us for the week, then head home. How about that? I’d rather at least have you there for a short time rather than not at all. These places I want to travel to, having you there by my side would mean so much. I know it’s corny, but the whole making memories thing is important, you know?”

Her words made him smile, the more rational side of him seeing clearly how stupid his self-doubt was. He knew he wouldn’t likely overcome it immediately, but what she told him had helped. “Yeah, querida, I know. I love you.”

“And I love you too. Listen, I have to hit the laptop again, but I’ll call you tomorrow, after I’ve had some sleep. Night, gorgeous.”

“Night baby.” Ending the call, he looked around at the half-painted walls. They weren’t the only work in progress.

#angel reyes #Angel reyes fanfiction #angel reyes fanfic #angel reyes fic #angel reyes smut #Angel reyes imagine #mayans mc #mayans mc fanfiction #mayans mc fanfic #mayans mc smut #mayans mc imagine

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cassi-llusion · 1 year

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Pure rambling, sorry if this doesn't make sense I wrote it at like 2 in the morning. But silly little Anakin character analysis (used lightly)

I've decided I am the only person allowed to talk about Anakin(/j). People either only make him a poor suffering soul who didn't know what he was doing, or a man who was truly born evil. Technically neither is wrong but they aren't mutually exclusive. You can't have one without the other.

I think to fully understand this, we would have to focus on the relationship between the Jedi, the Republic, and Palpatine. The Jedi, over the course of the Clone Wars, became pawns in the Rebpulic’s game. They lost so much of their own freedom, trying to fight for others. They also had to deal with Palpatine constantly interfering with Jedi affairs and vetoing their wanted means of tackling the war. They became so involved with this, they were oblivious to just how serious Anakin and Palpatine’s friendship had become.

With the Jedi aside, Palpatine began to capitalise on Anakin’s fears and wants. Anakin wanted nothing more than for his mother to be free, and for himself to be free. That could happen if he turned to the dark side. Anakin didn’t want to lose more people he loved, he wanted to be fast enough, he needed to be enough. He can bend the forces of life and death with the dark side. There Palpatine was, whispering in Anakin’s ear, fueling his furnace heart, and pushing more fear into the dragon that had scared Anakin for so long.

If Anyone was to blame for Anakin’s failure, for his fall to the dark side, it would be Palpatine. So many people blame the Jedi, blame Obi-Wan, blame Ahsoka for leaving, but that’s missing the point. In Matt Stover's “Revenge of the Sith” novelization, Palpatine speaks “You are the chosen one.” Palpatine leans toward you, eyes clear. Steady. Utterly honest. “Chose by me.” This is insanely important because it shows how Palpatine had been manipulating Anakin, grooming him since he was a child. In the comic series “Obi-Wan & Anakin”, we the reader, see Palpatine oversee Anakin’s training as he takes an interest in him. People talk a lot about how if "Ahsoka didn't leave Anakin wouldn't have fallen", "if Padme was more open", "If Obi-Wan was more understanding", and "if the Jedi were good people". But the person who coaxed him over to the dark side was Palpatine.

Then we have the topic of Padme, Ahsoka, and Obi-Wan. Why didn’t they do anything? First off, I stand by the fact that Ahsoka not leaving the order wouldn’t have fixed anything. Anakin and Ahsoka’s conversation before she ended up leaving, was more so him talking to himself. Anakin had contemplated leaving the order since he was twelve. In the comic “Obi-Wan & Anakin”, they travel to a planet that has been destroyed by war. Within the first issue, Anakin expresses disdain over the fact that neither the Jedi nor the Republic stepped in to help and left the planet to participate in endless war. Anakin mentions leaving the order, and Obi-Wan vocalizes how he would support it.

However, I think Anakin realized, leaving the order would mean returning to life as a slave on Tatooine. His overall goal was to return home and be able to free his mother, but we will touch on that later. Anyways, that being said, I think Ahsoka leaving only added to his abandonment issues, as he viewed her leaving the order as her leaving him. This plays into so many of the interactions he had with other characters.

With Padme, it’s a whole other topic. Was their relationship actually a healthy one? I think most people would be inclined to say yes, they are! They love each other and that’s true but also you have to look at them outside of their love. They didn’t necessarily understand each other. Padme in the later seasons of “The Clone Wars” was becoming more aligned with the separatist ideology. She began to see the flaws and corruption that ran deep into the Republic that Anakin couldn’t see. But they were so obsessed with each other that they chose to ignore these differences. I think one of the main examples of this was probably in “Attack of the Clones”. Padme rather than being concerned over Anakin’s outburst with the Tuskens supported him and “understood” why he did it. She loved him too much to let this get to her. It was why she was fully ready to give up her position as a senator just to be happy with him. In the “Revenge of the Sith” novelization, Matthew Stover writes about their relationship in a different light. It reads much more uncomfortably than it does in the movies. He writes “Anakin couldn’t breath. She wasn’t here, hadn’t come to meet him, over some debate? The Senate. He hated the Senate.”(156-157). Padme is written the same way, on page 161, “For Padme Amidala, saying I am Anakin Skywalker’s wife is saying neither more nor less than I am alive.”. I think this is extremely important in showing the fact that they loved each other so much, that they were each other's downfall. This happens again on Mustafar when they meet their tragic end. Padme was saving him by not joining him, and Anakin was saving her by joining the dark side.

We move on to Obi-Wan and Anakin now. They are two sides of the same coin, they were brothers and Anakin’s most notable betrayal. One of the most notable things about their relationship is two passages from the “Revenge of the Sith” novel. The first reads, “Anakin and Obi-Wan would never fight each other. They couldn’t. They’re a team. They’re the team. And both of them are sure they always will be.”(40). This one is important because it shows that, Obi-Wan and Anakin are important to each other. In their mind they are brothers, they are best friends. They couldn’t hurt each other, they are comfortable with that fact. Now the second passage comes from page 402 and reads, “This was not Sith against Jedi. This was not light against dark or good against evil; it had nothing to do with duty or philosophy, religion or morals. It was Anakin against Obi-Wan. Personally. Just the two of them, and the damage they had done to each other.”. Now, this quote is the total opposite of the first and happens a whole 362 pages later, and it's just as important. It shows Obi-Wan couldn't have said anything to change Anakin’s mind, no matter how hard you wish he could’ve.

In conclusion, so many factors went into why Anakin fell to the dark side and there was genuinely nothing that could’ve been done to stop it. Not only was it the way he interacted with other people but also just his environment. While Anakin may have been a boy who longed to be free and defeat the “dragon” that plagued his nightmares, he was still a man who made his own decisions, selfish or not.

#i am so normal about him #anakin skywalker #actually autistic #austism #star wars #character analysis #star wars the clone wars #star wars prequels #ahsoka and anakin #obi wan kenobi #obi wan and anakin #anidala #anakin and padme

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unboundwanderers · 1 year

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1 , 17, 29, 36 & 37 (to any of the doctors!)

MUNDAY ASKS.

1 A.) Technically, this is a two part question because I started writing when I was like... ten. I started in SCHOOL, actually, in fourth grade. I wrote these DOG ass DBZ fanfics for show and tell, and a friend group formed a whole expanded universe for me. We made characters, wrote their stories, and drew comics. Not only was it the birth of my creative passion, but those friends would help me meet my brother, and their enthusiasm would lead me on to make my more prolific muses later down the line. I fostered my writing by making dog ass Doctor Who Minecraft videos with my friends. I still keep up with them, and our passion for writing is still at an all-time high.

1 B.) I started roleplaying when I was twelve. I joined tumblr back in early 2010 - 2012? I interacted a LOT with the Superwholock fandom and the Sonic fandom, as those were the most prolific fandoms on the platform at the time. Tumblr was a wasteland back then, and poor little Alex had no idea how to make any blogs or do any fancy artwork. I joined when ASK BLOGS were the biggest thing on the platform. Once Undertale got popular, I got roped into that fandom and by proxy some discord servers (as Discord was starting to become popular around that time).

17) This is a contentious topic. I have no idea who my FIRST muse REALLY WAS. I think it was The Doctor. I remember making them all their own seperate blogs that were interconnected because I had no idea you could do multimuse blogs when I was a wee shitlord. These versions are just... matured/refined versions of the Doctor's I made when I was a kid. I was super into Doctor Who when I started roleplaying, so I just kinda got easily absorbed into the fandom. I remember there was this guy who made a deadpool version of his muse, and he kept trying to send me Magic Anons that turned my Doctor's into canon versions (I DO NOT miss Magic Anons. Some of them lasted for months.) I remember young Alex being upset about being turned into canon Doctors. Made his feel unwanted. However!! Now I am god! I make the rules!!! No magic anons.

29) Complicated. I don't hate Doctor Who's current canon - it's just CONFUSING as all balls. I think I really just wanted to try something new, as I'd been writing just villains nonstop up to this point, and that got really bad for my mental health. I wanted to get back into the swing and do something that gave me a lot of creative freedom. I used to be group roleplays only, and that was hard for my mental health. There was a lot of drama and a lot of hate, and it was pretty cliquey. I decided I wanted to build my pipeline, but with a character I could really get into with it. Did I think I'd fall down the Genshin Rabbit hole??? No, but The Doctor has given me the opportunity to make all sorts of friends (shoutout to @kemikorosu @lunaetis @terestris, @verdantstride and all my muttuals for putting up with all my crazy time travel horseshit---) and I've never been happier with an RPC. It feels like I've crafted a really fun experience for myself by writing my own canon? Is it MESSY? Yeah. Is it fun as HELL?? For SURE. Doctor Who changes so much, and it's canon is fucking balls to the walls. In that chaos, I've crafted something really fun, and the friends I write with are what make me come back to this hellsite :>

36) I sure hope so. They're based on my own personal experiences. Every doctor here has been crafted and molded with inspiration taken from my own life. I feel like every character, whether it be canon or original - always had a tiny part of it's writer imbued within them, and for The Doctor - that's never been more relevant than with these five. How do you write these many Doctor's, who are ageless, emotional, and complicated individuals? Even some of The Time War, The Doctor's relationship with his people, family, and the ways his incarnations change? They're based and rooted in different stages and styles of anger, depression, warmth, recovery, and humor. I try to put a lot of what people tell me they enjoy about what I bring to a room. Of course, they're still heavily being playtested and actively developed-- but I like the friends and relationships they have so far--

37) Yes. The doctor is smart, and I am dumb. He's also like 5000 years old and can travel in time. He fought in a huge war and watched the universe burn. Also his personality changes like... every day. He's hard to keep up with. He's also an Alien. There's more I could list but Vee asked all the complicated questions and my brain juice is depleted.

#faulty circuits (out of character / ooc~)#MUNDAY QUESTIONS

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spooky-ghostwriter · 2 years

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Sentinels Stuff from 2021 and Beyond

Sentinels of the Multiverse has really taken over all of my hobbies...

In 2018, I finished a custom hero deck for Tsukiko. Next was Gold Dragon in 2019. Then Escarlata in 2020.

I kept intending to take breaks from Sentinels and work on other hobbies, but these have been so fun and rewarding that I’ve just kept making cards... without posting them to this blog. Until now.

The Alesia Circus

My first three decks were all heroes, but Sentinels of the Multiverse also has Villain decks and Environment decks. Instead of having a player control them, these decks act on their own.

Battles in Sentinels can take place anywhere from a generic superhero city to an intergalactic prison for supervillains to crazy time vortexes. Alesia Circus is one of the most important locations in my writing, and with Tsukiko already part of the game, I figured it was a perfect time to try my hand at an environment deck.

Dressed to Kill’s story focuses heavily on the performers and their acts, but to make the environment more interactive, I added a set of circus games that players can participate in, called Contests.

Around the time I was finishing up Escarlata, the custom Sentinels community really started expanding, and in particular, creators started featuring each others’ characters in their own cards. I decided I’d use this opportunity to see just how many cameos I could include. Some were front and center, others were buried in the background. The answer, as it turned out, was twelve - there are twelve characters made by my friends among the art!

When a player fulfills a Contest’s condition, the card gets flipped facedown. The back of all cards from the Alesia Circus environment have a ticket on the back:

Tickets let you visit Circus shows and get a bonus in the game as the performer helps you out. If you can’t visit a Circus show, the villain of the game messes with it, and throws some penalty at you.

The Alesia Circus was a pretty frustrating deck to make, to be honest. The art took a really long time, and since the Shows deviate from the normal Sentinels card template, I had to do a lot of work by hand. BUT I love how it turned out.

Digital Implementation

Sentinels of the Multiverse has a digital version on Steam, and recently, the devs added workshop support. Luckily for me, I have a programming background. So I spent an inordinate amount of time coding each and every Sentinels card I’ve designed (around 80), and now all four of my decks are available for free on Steam. (Though Sentinels itself is around $10, or $1 if you can catch it on sale!)

If you’ve got the game, get Spooky Ghostwriter Comics here: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2436888590

The digital implementation was ALSO a lot of work but ALSO very rewarding. Heroes in the PC game have extra art beyond the cards - a few different poses depending on whose turn it is. I wanted to keep up the pattern for my heroes, which meant a lot more drawing. But considering how disappointed I am (now) with how I drew Gold Dragon’s character card, I enjoyed seeing how much I’ve improved since then:

Tsukiko Rework

Speaking of being disappointed with old work... the deck I posted for Tsukiko was not great. Since calling that deck complete, I’d learned a lot about art and how to design good Sentinels cards.

Generally, I don’t like reworking things. I’d rather take the lessons I’ve learned and apply them to new things instead of making countless revisions to something I called done. But Tsukiko was rough, and it got to the point where even I didn’t like playing as her anymore.

Luckily, in the grand scheme of things, most of her cards were fine, or at least good enough. There were only a couple absolutely dreadful cards. I won’t dwell too much on the card changes, since I know most people looking at this blog don’t play Sentinels. Instead, I’ll just show off one of the cards that got brand-new art. Because WOW, the original version of Escape Artist was bad:

1920s Cartoon Promos

Some time ago, I posted an old-timey cartoon version of Gold Dragon, saying how much I loved the rubberhose art style and wished I could do more with it. So I did more with it!

All of my heroes will or are going to have a variant character card in this style. Or in Gold Dragon’s case, two:

These are in the digital game too! (Other than Tsukiko’s which is still in the playtesting phase)

Silhouette

And finally, my current art project is yet another Sentinels deck. I hope to have it finished sometime this year. Her name is Silhouette, and she’s an edgy goth vampire with some of the best art I’ve drawn yet:

With Silhouette, I’m switching from Flash/Photoshop to Clip Studio Paint. It’s a fantastic program and I wish I’d made the change sooner. But there are still a lot of things to figure out.

More on Silhouette later, when her deck is complete!

Wrapping Up

If you’ve read this far, thanks for indulging me! Sufficed to say, I’m still pretty fond of Sentinels and making content for it. Of all the nonsense I’ve spent my free time doing, this has been the most rewarding by far. Hopefully my creative energy keeps up!

#sentinels of the multiverse #my art #super duper long post #gold dragon #escarlata #tsukiko #dressed to kill

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squidhominid · 1 year

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New Year's thread, 1/1/2022

It is currently 12:06 AM, January 1st, 2022. We made it. A whole 'nother year.

I'm sitting here, full up on green grapes, herring, black-eyed peas, and champagne, and I'm thinking about how strange things are and have been.

I make no secret of how my mother wasn't a good person. But something that stuck with me was her New Years traditions. Champagne, black eyed peas, herring, and green grapes. I never questioned it.

It's only now, just after my 29th birthday, that I decided to Google it.

It turns out, it's an amalgamation of traditions. The American South eat black eyed peas and collard greens on New Years, to symbolize luck and money in the new year. Poland and parts of Scandinavia eat herring on New Years to bring bounty and prosperity.

And Spain has 'las doce uvas de la suerte', or 'the twelve lucky grapes'. They eat twelve green grapes, one for each month, to ensure good luck in the coming year.

She wasn't Spanish, she wasn't Polish, she wasn't even from the South.

She was 100% New York Italian.

I have to wonder how these traditions came to her, and how she came to follow them. A strange mixture of traditions, distorted over time and space, until they became embedded in my mind, something I do with the passing of every year, for, no reason, really.

It makes me think of all the happenstance to get me to where I am. Bee introducing me to V-tubing. Minty and Anthem making my model. But, let's go even farther back.

Let's talk about a canceled Pokemon fangame and a forgotten sprite comic.

Pokemon Internet Online: Rising Sun, or 'PIO:RS', was a fanmade Pokemon MMO in the early 2000s. And Kid Radd was probably the greatest sprite comic ever made. One was given a cease and desist, the other forgotten.

Without either, I wouldn't be myself.

Without PIO:RS, wouldn't have been the forum post that led me to both Homestar Runner and the sprite comic Bob and George. Both formative for my sense of humor.

Without Bob and George, I wouldn't have seen the ad for GameCheetz, the comic whose community formed the impetus of my tween-age social circle, and would cause aftershocks through my life for many, many years.

Without Kid Radd… I wouldn't know about EarthBound. Kid Radd was a comic that lovingly parodied games and the act of games preservation, in an original setting, from the perspective of when it was made, 2002-2004.

In it was a game parody called 'MOFO'.

I was unaware Kid Radd was an original work. But its parody of MOTHER enraptured me in concept. A game with an unkillable boss, and a secret ending if you hacked past it?

I set to Google. I did not discover MOFO. But I discovered EarthBound, and Starmen.net.

Starmen.net became, of course, Fangamer. And the community begat many facets of internet culture... Of course, Undertale, but even Homestuck owes its name to a parody of the name 'EarthBound'. And I was there, not posting, but watching. Absorbing.

There were, of course, other influences. The Protomen. Splatoon. My experiences as part of a plural system, and my interactions with the plural community at large. My growing and ongoing obsession with media preservation. Desert Bus. Innumerable influences.

All of those things brought me here, now. If even one thing changed, who would I be?

I would not be myself.

I don't really know where I'm going with this. Just… Think on your past. Treasure the things that made you 'you'. Treasure the people you have, and the life you live, if it's one you enjoy.

Happy new year.

To get back on topic… New Years resolutions.

I want to foster a more healthy relationship with content creation and content consumption. I want to find things that make me happy again that aren't just streaming.

But I also want to be able to take those passions and put them back out into the universe. TikTok. YouTube. I want to finally start executing on the plans I've laid but never followed up on.

I want to share myself with the world.

Streaming is not all that I am.

Of course, I want to keep growing. But I'm blessed to have the following I do already. The friends I do already. I can only hope 2022 lays the foundation for me to chase my passions for the rest of my life.

Lacking any other topics, I'd just like to thank a few people.

Touka: thank you for being a friend and an inspiration. I know I keep saying it, but you are a shining light in this community, and I hope that you continue to burn, long and bright.

Pepper: thank you for being you. Your presence is invigorating, your passion for the things you love is intoxicating, and you're just a wonderful person to be around, and a most excellent host.

Mike Choi: thank you for everything. Your presence stabilized me and many others during early 2020, and you've continued to be a force for good and a source of joy well into 2021. Never change.

Lanie: thank you for always being there. You were one of my first supporters on Twitch, and I am eternally grateful to you for always believing in me as a creator and as a friend.

Dooper: thank you for...god, so much. You're one of the kindest, most outgoing people I've ever met, and one of the most talented streamers I've ever seen. Twitch doesn't deserve you, and you deserve nothing but the most profound success, in everything you do.

I only have two tweets left so I'm gonna just tag as many people as I can who I left out.

(following this was a litany of people, listed below)

Clyde Mandelin, Heidi Mandelin, Reid Young, lalalei2001, PBYukiOnna, BubblyOasis, Kai, Obskyr, Venort, Max D., Casey, Bee, Minty, Maple, Paddlesnake, Cyanrabitt, Zemixy, Rockwell, Matt (CapnCocoCharms), Lav, Mio, Vid, Ulner, Friend, Monarch, Tannyerz, Skully, Emery, Sylvianas, Anthem, Mike Chi, Dee (not that Dee), crc, Saxy, Rassicas, MJ, Skye (Cynthe), Madi, and Spiry

#rambling #reminiscing #long post #Twitter thread archive

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glowingsand · 3 years

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Petition to turn my friends texts into Sam and Bucky themed comics please these are too chaotic to be kept hidden from the world

#I swear to god I have rejected her marriage proposals about five times now #that’s it it’s twelve am and I have decided to turn these into comics #god help me #and my friend #tfatws #sambucky #art inspiration

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avaritia-apotheosis · 2 years

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Crossover Danuary Week Day 1

Day 1: ATLA

Summary: Rumors of a wayward spirit reach Aang's ears. Desperate for a break in his duties as an intermediary between nations, Aang answers the call.

Inspired by @chasingrabbits-art amazing comic for day 1! I had no plans to join the event but this comic was just so good that I had to write something for it.

The end of the war was a celebration, but after that, there came restoration.

The people rebuilt their houses and reclaimed their dead. The land breathed and nature continued on. The leaders of the four nations— three nations— came together to discuss what needed to be done.

War reparations, the process of decolonization, territories to be reclaimed, treaties to be negotiated. There were talks of refugees and of war criminals, of who was to be pardoned and who to be tried. Hours of discussions of sanction, of demilitarization, and enough rough drafts tossed in the trash because of disagreements over certain words or turns of phrases.

Zuko would inherit a nation on the brink of collapse. One whose culture and people were decimated by the propaganda and perils of war. The Fire Nation were a proud people brought low by a war they were raised to believe was right and destiny divine, and now they must learn to rebuild themselves from the ashes of their leaders’ folly.

But, Aang thought, Zuko would be just fine. The newly crowned Firelord may have been young but he was also tenacious and honorable and kind. He would bring honor back to his beloved homeland even if it would take the work of six lifetimes.

Aang would be there to help him if Zuko needed it. And so would their friends.

But even Aang’s patience would wear thin after weeks sitting at the negotiating table. As the Avatar and the only remaining Air Nomad, he acted as the intermediary for the conference. His presence was more symbolic than anything, still a child of twelve no matter that he spearheaded the war and saved the world from untold destruction from a madman. He would pacify when needed, be firm if he must. Most of his time was spent trying to make sure the other leaders didn't try and crucify Zuko and his people, and that the Fire Nation would not be bled dry from war reparations.

Aang was tired. So, so tired of politics. So tired in fact that when rumors reached the conference of a spirit haunting a nearby village, Aang had leapt from his chair and all but jumped out of the nearest window to escape.

“Sorry, guys, duty calls!”

The Avatar was human, sure, but he had obligations to the Spirit World, too.

Riding Appa, the village was only a few hours away. The sun had started to sink into the horizon by the time he arrived, bathing the world in vibrant hues of red.

The villagers greeted him enthusiastically, pointing him to the far eastern reaches of the village where the houses tapered off into a flat clearing and the dense forest beyond it. It was cordoned off. The few that lived in that area decided to stay with nearby friends and family, fearful of accidentally angering whatever spirit wandered there.

Aang left Appa at the village center and went to the eastside alone, his trusty glider in hand.

“Wayward spirit!” He called out. He could hear his voice echoing into the emptiness. “I am the Avatar, the link between the Human and Spirit world! I’m here to—”

A cold autumn wind blew. Aang held up an arm to shield his face from the bits of dirt and dust the wind kicked up.

He opened his eyes.

Aang wasn’t alone.

“Link between the Human and Spirit world, you say?”

On the house next to him, lounging atop the roof, was the spirit.

The spirit’s mouth stretched into a wolfish grin, all teeth and bared fangs. His eyes—an unnaturally bright green—glowed in the darkening sky. “Well, isn’t that interesting?”

The spirit’s hair was paler than even princess Yue’s and seemed to float in an unseen wind. His skin was nearly as dark as hers too, covered in a smattering of freckles that glowed a faint green. (Did spirits have freckles? Aang didn’t even know that was possible. ) He was wearing a strange black and white garb, and a dark ermine cloak hung off his shoulders. One of his knees was bent, arm rested atop it and cradling his cheek. A ring gleamed on the spirit’s right hand, and floating atop his head was…a crown? It didn’t look like any crown Aang had seen before, anyways.

And was it on fire?

Zuko’s crown never did that and he was the Firelord.

“Um…yeah.” Aang rubbed the back of his neck, not really sure what to do next. “Listen, I don’t mean to offend, but I’m gonna have to ask you to leave this village alone!”

“As far as I’m aware, I haven’t done anything.”

“You haven’t?”

The spirit shrugged. “Nope.”

Well then…

“So…have the villagers done anything to displease you?”

“No.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yeah.”

“So you haven’t hurt any of the people here?”

The spirit raised an eyebrow. “Why would I do that?”

Aang shrugged, throwing his hands up in the air. “I don’t know! Why are you here, then?”

The spirit shifted his position, now sat cross-legged on the roof, hands clutching his ankles. He looked…kind of sheepish. “Trust me, kid, I’m not here because I want to be. I’m just here because I needed a place to rest and figure stuff out. I didn’t mean to scare all these people but—”

In the space of a blink, the Spirit was looming above him, eyes boring into his own, searching for something. The spirit must have found it as the corners of his mouth quirked up in a smile.

“It’s a good thing I did stay,” the spirit said. “I think you might be able to help me. Something of mine was stolen; a map. I have to get it back.”

This sounded like trouble. Like, ‘finding the remains of an ancient civilization and then getting captured by said ancient people’ kind of trouble. Or “waking up after a hundred-year coma to find out you have to master all four elements in under a year and defeat the Firelord” trouble.

Hmm…

But considering that the alternative was sitting back at the negotiating table again letting this spirit go unsupervised in the Human world…

Yeah, why not? Aang could use a vacation.

“Avatar Aang at your service!” He gave a bow with a flourish, a cheeky grin on his face.

The spirit answered in turn. “Danny Phantom.” The name sounded oddly foreign to Aang’s ears. “Feel free to call me Danny. I have a lot of other names, too, though I guess in this world I would be known as the Spirit King.”

“Well It’s great to meet you— I’m sorry, what?”

Danny pointed at the crown floating above his head. “This thing isn’t just for show, you know.”

Aang picked his jaw up off the floor with as much dignity he could muster. “I didn’t know spirits even had a king. Uh, no offense, of course.”

“They do and they don’t.”

“What does that—”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“O-kay then…” Aang pondered for a moment before coming to a decision. “You know what, if you don’t mind making a couple of stops, I have some friends who would be really helpful with this quest.”

“Hey, the more the merrier.”

Now that Danny stood next to Aang, he finally registered just how human the spirit looked. He looked young— around Zuko or Sokka’s age— though considering he’s a spirit he must have been way older than the rest of them combined. He’s the Spirit King! Of course he was going to be ancient. He probably knew all of the past Avatars and everything about the Spirit World. Maybe he could teach Aang a thing or two.

Aang broke out into a grin, tugging the spirit by his (oddly solid) hand. “Come on then, no time to waste! Appa’s already waiting for us in the village square.”

“Appa?”

“My flying bison!”

“A flying what now?”

As Aang would later learn, Danny may have been the Spirit King but he was woefully uninformed about anything in the world. He didn’t even know what bending was!

“You know,” Aang said. “If you’re a king and all, shouldn’t you be able to just get someone else to try and find the map for you?”

Danny, who was looking over the side of Appa’s saddle and at the ground thousands of feet below, turned to him. There was a sense of wonderment in his eyes at the sight of the clouds spread out like a never-ending blanket before them. “Are you kidding? Sure, I could have passed it onto someone else. But if I did, then I’d have to sit around and do paperwork.”

They both shuddered at the word.

Aang thought back to an incident that happened at the conference three days ago where nearly every single leader got up in arms about which word to use in some section of the treaty. “Yeah, I know the feeling.”

Ugh. Politics.

#Crossover Danuary Week 2022 #danny phantom #atla #avatar the last airbender #danny fenton #aang #dp fanfiction #my writing.txt

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bucky-bucket-barnes · 2 years

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a rainy day in with bucky headcanon

after weeks of planning, bucky and you finally get to go on that picnic you had been planning

just as you're leaving your apartment, though, the weather decides to hit you with the nastiest rainstorm you've had in months

dejected, you both decide to spend the day in

seeing how down you are, bucky makes it his personal mission to make the day brighter

"we can still eat our sandwiches here" / "i know, it's just not the same :(" / "you know. . . i can eat other things too ;]" / "james" / "just trying offering solutions, love"

as you're moping, putting your treats back in the fridge, you feel a thick blanket thrown over your head

turning around, you're met with bucky, a comical amount of pillows and fluffy things alike in his hand

"babe. . . what ya got there?" / "we're going to make a pillow fort" / "you want a make a pillow fort?" / "no, i want to make you happy and everyone likes pillow forts. i have no personal interest in forts."

despite what bucky may have said, he was very clearly into building a fort, neatly setting up your stuffed animals in the tent by height order

after pushing chairs together and draping many blankets over yourselves, you had built a nice little hut

bucky and you were laying down now, side by side, admiring your creation

making eye contact, you can't help but laugh at how silly you must've looked

"wanna play truth or dare, buck?" / "i'm not twelve" / "oh, so you're scared?" / "i am not" / "fine, you ask me first then" / "okay, do you have a crush on me?" / " :/ " / "who's scared now?" / "bucky, we've been together for over a year"

for hours you sat there, chatting back and forth, spilling secrets and random thoughts with one another

once you got hungry, you both retreated to the kitchen to eat your what should have been picnic lunch

"you know, food has a lot more flavor now then it did in the 40s" / "thankfully" / "okay, well it wasn't that bad" / "the first time you made us dinner it was boiled chicken with salt" / "hey, it also had pepper." / "eat your turkey sandwich and hush, old man" / " >:[ "

after disputing bucky's cooking skills, you opted to climb back into bed and take a nap together

the rain added a nice background sound as you cuddled together

"in hindsight, we should have saved some pillows for bed" / "lay on top of me" / "buck, i don't want to suffocate you-" / "i said get on top of me" / "hmmmm" / "you have nice tits" / "?" / "fine, pecs" / "did you call my muscles tits" / "and i'll do it again, goodnight"

after a brief nap on bucky's chest, he slightly nudges you awake

"hi, sleepy" / *incoherent grumbling / "it stopped raining, we can still catch part of our picnic" / "i'm good. . . i think i'm quite happy where i am" / " :) "

My masterlist, my most recent work

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metalheadkells · 2 years

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the first 700 words of this 3k-word WIP. tell me if worth continuing bc i am FLAKY(!!!) rn

Colson seethes at himself as he’s being escorted to his suite in the private terminal at LAX, a headache building at his temples and a light sheen of sweat drying uncomfortably over his stress-warmed skin.

He’d woken up that morning to ten missed calls from his new personal assistant and a series of berating texts from both Slim and Baze. He’d foregone his much-needed shower and breakfast in his panicked rush to get to the airport, and ended up missing his flight by an hour and a half anyway; the congested traffic and his infuriatingly cheerful Uber driver actively working against him.

Now, he’s stuck at the airport by himself for the long twelve hours until the next flight that his team managed to rebook him on. In moments like this, he sorely misses the conveniences of flying private, but it’s an expense that his accountants have assured him he can no longer afford, so he consoles himself with the fact that he can at least bypass the noise and invasiveness of the public terminals before he’s forced to face the unglamorous reality of his commercial flight.

Colson’s tension eases significantly once he’s opened the door to Suite 13, shutting it firmly behind him and exhaling a gust of relief. He’s deciding between trooping back outside to use the adjacent shower spa or cramming some semblance of food in his face, when he notices a stranger’s abandoned carry-on suitcase to the right of the entryway. He frowns, wondering if he should let security know that someone had left their luggage behind.

And then a more foreboding idea occurs to him.

“Hello?” He calls, trepidatious, “Is there someone else here?”

Colson hears rustling around the corner, and a voice muttering something like, who the fuck, and suddenly all the blood in his body is congregating in his face, and his heartbeat is making a valiant effort to choke him to death.

No, no, no, no. This can’t be fucking happening. Colson grabs the door handle reflexively, fully intending to run away before -

“Kells?”

Fuck!

Colson’s shoulders slump. He continues to stare at the door, not wanting to turn around until he feels like he’s at least gotten his breathing under control. When he does turn to face the proverbial music, it’s with a plastered-on smile that he’s sure looks as painfully fake as it feels.

“Um,” he says, the right words knocked out of his head the second he meets Em’s eyes, finding himself breathless once again.

The sight of Em, after so many years since they parted ways, is a shock to Colson’s system. He must have gotten here a while ago, because he isn’t wearing a hoodie or a hat or anything else to obscure his face. His features are drawn in a tight expression that Colson isn’t entirely confident he can interpret, given how out-of-practice he is. He lingers on Em’s features in search of a clue; cataloging his bunched eyebrows, and the slope of his mouth, and the ever-captivating depths of his eyes behind his soft wire-frame glasses. There’s the slightest bit of gray glinting in his hair, temporarily freed from the injustice of the dark dye he always uses. The thin lines kissing the corners of his eyes are a little more pronounced than they had been when Colson saw him last. His arms, crossed over his chest, are bare and enviously well-toned. He’s wearing socks that had to have been a prank gift from someone in his life; baby blue with teddy bear faces embroidered on, clashing comically with the spartan black of his pants and T-shirt.

It’s this last detail that abruptly breaks through the dam in Colson’s chest, flooding him with a crushing tide of feelings that is impossible to safely wade through. He aches to touch, to outwardly express a fraction of the pressure drowning his heart. But that would be a monumentally stupid thing to do, even for him. So he reinforces his fake smile instead, and tries to rally his thoughts.

“Um,” he says again, after much deliberation.

Nice one, genius.

Em blinks, looking - thankfully - like he’s at a bit of a loss himself, and says, “What’re you doing here?”

“I, uh, I… I think you’re in the wrong suite.”

#emgk #mine #m: fic #a lil late-night gift 4 u #whenever i start spoiling shit im writing it's bc im in the middle of a slump lmao #and my brain's shrill screams for external validation r no longer worth ignoring #still proud of myself for not spoiling any of TKoH on here it was such a struggle #rough draft hell

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the-sound-of-her-wings · 3 years

Text

I Am Not Starfire, And That's Okay

I recently read I Am Not Starfire and I had lots of thoughts, which are under the cut. It is spoiler-heavy and an analysis of the main character, who I find to be a charming, flawed, and incredibly human character.

Mandy is a fascinating character and a great look at a teenage girl who feels ostracized by the people around her and who feels disconnected from her parent. Mandy is by no means flawless, and that's what makes her very interesting. It also makes her relatable.

Mandy starts by talking about how she's noticeably different from her mom, being the "Anti-Starfire". She's a regular kid, can't fly, and doesn't own a swimsuit, while her mom is a superhero, can fly, and always wears bikinis.

On page 11 she mentions "her mom hasn't liked how I looked since I was twelve. She wears less than a yard of fabric every day, yet somehow, I'm the one who's dressing weird". While I understand people who call this slut-shaming, and I'm inclined to agree, but I think it's a little more nuanced than that. The next page reads, "My friend Lincoln convinced me this is the cultural divide that happens between family generations born in different countries or universes. His parents were born in Vietnam." This tells me that the authors intended to point out the difference in dress more as another difference between Starfire and Mandy, and less as a reason to blatantly slut-shame Starfire. I think there's absolutely a conversation to be had about why the authors decided to use this language instead of conveying the point differently. I also think it speaks to how Starfire has more or less been sexualized from inception, and how people look down upon her character because of that. In the context of this book, though, it's one of Mandy's character flaws that I think fits her both as a character and reflects what I've seen from actual teenage girls. Our society coaches us to view women who dress a certain way as less than women who don't and unlearning that takes time and effort. I don't think this comment about her mom should have been put in there by the authors, but I do think it fits in with the values American society in particular teaches about women.

Page 15, 16, and 17 all point to a far more complicated state of existence than Mandy points out within the first few pages. For one thing, Mandy has to deal with people who love her mother and only want to use her to get information about her mom and the other teen titans. This is shown by the "Titan groupies" who ask her to tell Starfire what they say about her. Another thing she has to deal with is the expectation to be a superhero and have powers like her mom, and the questions about who her dad might be. She gains her first real friend, Lincoln, because he tells the people asking about her parentage that they are assholes.

It is revealed that Mandy has a crush on Claire after she gets assigned a group project with her. Mandy is in denial over the crush. She thinks about the fact she's meeting Mandy at the end of the day throughout the rest of the school day, causing her to explode something in Chemistry Class. I find this to be highly relatable and gives her character a softer side to the edginess she desperately tries to portray herself as.

While talking about the project with Claire, it is revealed that Mandy ran out of her SATs and didn't complete them. While Mandy tries to paint this as a cool badass moment, the way the comic artist portrays the scene makes me think Mandy had an anxiety attack. Mandy didn't run out of her SAT because she's some kind of alternative badass who doesn't need to take them. Mandy ran out because she got overwhelmed by the sounds of people chewing and the pressure of the test. While she frames it differently, it's clear to me that Mandy is avoiding taking the SAT again because she doesn't want that to happen again.

When Claire invites her to hang out with her friends, Mandy gets treated like she isn't there, or as some kind of unwanted outsider. The topics they discuss seem to be specifically made to make Mandy uncomfortable, like mentioning how stretchy jeans are only made for fat people, and asking if aliens don't go to college. Jaded by this, Mandy makes up that aliens actually have to go through this huge blood right and battle to the death, but tells Claire's two friends she was joking before leaving. This tells me that Mandy deflects her pain by using humor to cope and has no issue clowning on people who are trying to belittle her for being an alien.

Starfire tries to bring up going to college after this, and Mandy just flees to her room. She hasn't told her mom she didn't take the SAT yet or that she isn't going to college. She feels distant from her mom, which is explained further through a montage of birthdays where she never got her powers. Her mom expects a lot from her, and Mandy thinks Starfire is disappointed about her lack of powers.

Later, Mandy invites Claire over to her house to complete the project they are working on. The Titans are still there when Claire arrives, but she seems to ignore them, as they leave shortly after. Mandy and Claire bond as they continue the project. Mandy reveals to the reader that she's never had a girlfriend, except for one time at sleep-away camp where she kind of dated a girl for four weeks. She didn't tell her who her mom was because she was tired of living in the shadow of a superhero. But the relationship ended because Mandy had lied about who her mom was, and the girl she was dating didn't understand why she would lie. I think this really shows just how much Mandy actually wants to be a normal girl like everyone else, to the extent that she'd lie about who her mom was. Her edgy demeanor at school and around town where her mom is known to be her mom is a defense mechanism to having lived under the shadow of a superhero her entire life.

When it's revealed that Claire took a photo with the Titans at Mandy's house, Mandy is understandable heartbroken, and furious. She thought she had been making a real connection with Claire, but this photo makes her think she's been used, again. Claire seems genuinely baffled by Mandy's reaction to this, thinking little of it. But to Mandy, it is a breach of trust from someone she thought cared about her. I think her angry reaction to Claire makes sense because of this, even if it might have been disproportionate to the offense.

On top of this, Starfire has discovered that Mandy walked out of the SAT and doesn't plan to go to college. After a heated conversation, she runs away, but her mom finds her. And then Blackfire finds her. Turns out the fake story she told Claire's friends earlier in the story was actually true, even though Mandy didn't know it.

Since Claire actually cares about Mandy, she tracks down Lincoln who explains to her why Mandy reacted badly, and that she should probably apologize for taking the photo. Claire also admits that one of the friends from earlier, Deb, actually dared her to take the photo. Claire is a good person at heart, but this action shows that she can still be influenced to do something that would hurt another person. And while she might not have known it would hurt Mandy, Deb probably did.

Starfire and Blackfire fight since Mandy has no powers, but Starfire gets injured causing Mandy to realize just how much she loves and cares about her mom, even though they don't see eye to eye on most things. This finally unlocks her powers, as she's let go of most of the resentment she's held against her mom. She even gets asked for an autograph by someone in the audience after the battle.

The story ends with Mandy training her powers, studying for the SAT, and reconciling with Claire, sharing a kiss, and becoming girlfriends.

I've seen a lot of discourse that frames Mandy as being "not like other girls". I don't believe this framing actually fits Mandy very well. The only girl Mandy ever says she is not like explicitly is her mom. She is the only woman she compares herself too, and the only person who she seems to have a lot of resentment for, aside from people who use her to get to Starfire. Additionally, Mandy falls for someone who is what a stereotypical, normal popular girl is often portrayed as. She's preppy, wears makeup, gets good grades, has friends, and runs a fairly popular Instagram account. If Mandy was extremely into the "Not like other girls" rhetoric, she would've made fun of Claire for all those things. Instead, she admires her for them. Mandy is fat, has acne/freckles, dresses goth, and wears a nose ring. If this is the reason people are identifying her as a "Not like other girls" girl, then they don't understand that trope. Simply dressing differently from your peers, being fat, and hating your mom does not make her the "not like other girls" trope. It actually makes her like other, real-life girls who dress and act similarly, because that's who they are, not because they somehow think they are better than other women.

I'd also make the argument that, fundamentally, Mandy IS different from other girls on the account of having a superhero mother and potentially a superhero father. Her life is completely altered by Starfire's existence as her mom and is likely only relatable to the children of other superheroes and celebrities. She is not like other girls because of her mom, and that still doesn't make her someone who falls in line with the conception of being "not like other girls".

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and hope others do too. I read Mandy as a flawed character who was trying to figure out how to exist outside the Shadow of her mom- and eventually succeeds, by learning to embrace her mom. I would've preferred if Mandy had a slightly darker skin tone, as her features seem black-coded to me and Starfire is also often black-coded. Otherwise, I do think this was one of the best DC Graphic Novels for Young Adults I've read, alongside Teen Titans: Beast Boy and Teen Titans: Raven.

#i am not starfire #mandy koriand'r #mandy anders #i am not starfire spoilers #starfire

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appleflavoredkitkats · 3 years

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Songs from Barbie Movies as Dream SMP Events

I saw a post by @/keigotakamihawks using Barbie as the Island Princess for a comic about Puffy, showed it to my friend @/1-michibiki-1, and proceeded to have a brainstorming session on what each popular Barbie movie songs could pertain to in the Dream SMP.

So... you know... this is what has come out of that discussion... JLKJGLKTGJL

(pspsps reblogs appreciated bc... well idk i just think it’s funny, go do it /lh)

𝟏. 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐎𝐧 𝐌𝐲 𝐈𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 → 𝐁𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐌𝐏

Here on our island, the days are a dream. Hanging together we work as a team. And the magic extends Through our family of friends Here on our island the fun never ends! - Barbie as the Island Princess (2004)

𝟐. 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐅𝐮𝐧 → 𝐋'𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐠'𝐬 𝐁𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠

Here I am, Being who I want! Giving what I got! Never a doubt now. Here I go, Burning like a spark! Light up the dark again! - Barbie: The Princess and the Popstar (2012)

(Since this list has 20 items, everything else will be under the cut!)

𝟑. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐌𝐞𝐨𝐰 → 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐲 & 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐛𝐮𝐫

There is not one hair of you That I would rearrange. I love you the way you are And that will never change. That will never change. - Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper (2004)

𝟒. 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞 → 𝐃𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐛𝐮𝐫'𝐬 𝐃𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐕𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐬 𝐨𝐟 "𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐨𝐦" 𝐃𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐒𝐌𝐏 𝐖𝐚𝐫

Duty means doing the things Your heart may well regret. But I'll never stop believing, She can never stop my schemes. There's more to living than Gloves and gowns And threads and seams, In my dreams, I'll be free! - Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper (2004)

𝟓. 𝐈 𝐀𝐦 𝐚 𝐆𝐢𝐫𝐥 𝐋𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮 → 𝐃𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐄𝐫𝐞𝐭'𝐬 𝐍𝐞𝐠𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

I'm just like you (I think that's true) You're just like me (Yes I can see) We take responsibility! We carry through (We carry through) Do what we need to do. Yes I am a girl like you! - Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper (2004)

𝟔. 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐎𝐧𝐞 - 𝐋'𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐠 𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐭-𝐄𝐫𝐞𝐭 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐚𝐥

Don't try to stop us, or keep us down and out. The power of four forevermore, And now there is no doubt. Answering the call, breaking down the wall. All for one it's true, Together we know what to do. Strong hearts, strong minds, Fighting for what's right every time. United... Decided, we'll never be divided. All for one, one for all! - Barbie and the Three Muskateers (2009)

𝟕. 𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞 → 𝐋'𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐠'𝐬 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞

And we dance and we dance in an endless flow In the grace of a perfect design... Stepping out of the dark and into the glow , And the whole world will see when we shine. We can shine! - Barbie in the Twelve Dancing Princesses (2006)

𝟖. 𝐓𝐨 𝐁𝐞 𝐚 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 → 𝐃𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐄𝐫𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐁𝐞 𝐚 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠

Do a pliй and never fall. Don't ever stray from protocol. All through the day There's just one way You must behave. - Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper (2004)

𝟗. 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐈 𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐞? → 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐭𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟎

I’m returning home a hero Who’s discovered mighty wealth, And what better husband could a princess choose? I’m the suitor who will suit her, Bring the kingdom back to health, And I’ll wear the crown for How could I refuse? - Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper (2004)

𝟏𝟎. 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 → 𝐓𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐨 𝐏𝐫𝐞-𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬

I feel connected, Protected. It's like you're standing right with me all the time! You hear me, You're near me, And everything else is gonna be alright. 'Cause nothing can break this, Nothing can break this tie. Connected... - Barbie & The Diamond Castle (2008)

𝟏𝟏. 𝐖𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐈𝐭 - 𝐏𝐨𝐠𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐚'𝐬 𝐁𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠

Here we are, far from home, A little bit hungry and a little alone... But it's alright, Yes, it's alright. 'Cause in this room, there might be friends. Can't see how the story ends. But it's alright, Yeah, it's alright! We can start anew... Can't go back so we gotta go on. We'll stick together, staying strong. There's a diamond castle in my mind, And someday soon, We're gonna find it! - Barbie & The Diamond Castle (2008)

𝟏𝟐. 𝐇𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐇𝐚𝐬 𝐖𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 → 𝐍𝐨𝐯. 𝟏𝟔𝐭𝐡 𝐖𝐚𝐫'𝐬 𝐄𝐧𝐝

Cause hope has wings to carry you. Anything is possible, Just might be a miracle, Waiting to come true. So I lift my eyes and see the sky, Feel my heart begin to fly, I will be carried by my dreams 'Cause hope has wings! Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus (2005)

𝟏𝟑. 𝐎𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐚 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐲 → 𝐆𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐛𝐮𝐫

I'm gonna see what I've only dreamed... I'm gonna fly on the lightest breeze. It's gonna be like the books I read, I'll write the pages to my story. It's a brand new day, Only a breath away. - Barbie Mariposa & The Fairy Princess (2013)

𝟏𝟒. 𝐈𝐟 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐌𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐌𝐞 → 𝐏𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐲 & 𝐍𝐢𝐤𝐢

Once a lass met a lad, "You're a gentle one" said she In my heart I'd be glad If you loved me for me. You say your love is true, And I hope that it will be. I'd be sure, if I knew That you loved me for me. - Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper (2004)

𝟏𝟓. 𝐓𝐰𝐨 𝐕𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬, 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐧𝐠 → 𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥 & 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨

If I could wish for one thing, I take the smile that you bring! Wherever you go in this world I'll come along! Together we dream the same dream, Forever I'm here for you, you're here for me. Oh oh oh, Two voices, one song! - Barbie & The Diamond Castle (2008)

𝟏𝟔. 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 → 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜 𝐖𝐚𝐫 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐞

Though you may not know Where your gifts may lead, And it may not show at the start, When you live your dream, You'll find destiny Is written in your heart.

- Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper (2004)

𝟏𝟕. 𝐀𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 → 𝐊𝐚𝐫𝐥 𝐒𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐕𝐢𝐚 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠

In your heart there’s always more. It’s magic... the more you give it away, The more love comes back to you every day. - Barbie as the Island Princess (2007)

𝟏𝟖. 𝐖𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐔𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐀 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫 → 𝐁𝐚𝐝 𝐋𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐤𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐲

Remember when I said I won't miss you, The truth is that I do. I never stop thinking about you (about you) We are meant together, the two of us our bound, And now it seems like forever. I can't get you off my mind... If I could wish upon a star, Then I would hold you in my arms (hold you in my arms) And I know we could love once again (we could love again) If I could turn the hands of time, Then you would love me, still be mine. Baby, I would be right where you are, If I could wish upon a star. - Barbie as Rapunzel (2002)

𝟏𝟗. 𝐑𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐌𝐲 𝐀𝐫𝐦𝐬 → 𝐑𝐚𝐧𝐛𝐨𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐨 𝐓𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐌𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐞𝐥

Sun goes down, And we are here together. Fireﬂies, Glow like a thousand charms. Stay with me, And you can dream forever Right here in my arms tonight... - Barbie as the Island Princess (2007)

𝟐𝟎. 𝐈 𝐍𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐊𝐧𝐨𝐰 → 𝐏𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐲'𝐬 𝐎𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲

I need to know these answers, I need to find my way! Seize my tomorrow... Learn my yesterday. I need to take these chances, Let all my feelings show! Can't tell what's waiting... Still I need to go, I need to know. - Barbie as the Island Princess (2007)

#dream smp #mcyt #captain puffy #dreamwastaken #wilbur soot #tommyinnit #tubbo #ranboo #badboyhalo #karl jacobs #technoblade #philza

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beifongsss · 4 years

Text

playing with fire pt. 7 [sokka]

Pairing: Sokka x reader

Summary: You’re a Fire Nation citizen who saves Sokka and Katara from some angry villagers. Aang “convinces” you to come along with them, finding your knowledge of the nation useful. Not everything is smooth sailing though as both Water Tribe siblings have their doubts about you.

this will be a series :D this is a filler tbh set in the serpent’s pass

w.c.~3.1k

prologue. one. two. three. four. five. six.

.masterlist.

if you want to be added to the taglist PLEASE use the taglist form in my bio!

It had been a few days since the truth had been revealed and things had only gotten rougher.

As you trudged through the desert with the rest of your group, you couldn’t help but think about just how twisted the relationships between you were. Tensions between you and the Water Tribe siblings were still sky high and the only people talking to you were two twelve year olds. Things on Toph’s end hadn’t gotten any better considering Aang blamed her for losing Appa. During the sky bison heist, you had been outside the library with Toph but had been knocked unconscious before the fight even began. As pissed as the group was with you, this was something that they couldn’t blame you for.

You still couldn’t help but feel guilty, knowing that blaming Toph wasn’t the right thing to do. She was so young, she definitely didn’t need that type of pressure placed upon her. Aang had been so upset that he had flown off to who knows where, claiming that he would be able to find Appa on his own.

Things had come to a head when you all encountered the sandbenders again and Toph had told Aang that she recognized one of their voices. After finding out that they had muzzled Appa, Aang had entered the Avatar State and attacked before Katara managed to calm him down. It was then decided that the group would travel to Ba Sing Se and look for the sky bison there.

And that’s how the five of you found yourselves at the Full Moon Bay ferry station, tagging along with a family as you tried to get to the famed city.

“I can’t believe how many people’s lives have been uprooted by the Fire Nation,” Katara commented casually, shooting you an unreadable look before glancing at the people who were anxiously waiting to escape to Ba Sing Se. You looked down uneasily, clenching your fists as you tried to ignore her words.

You all approached the ticket lady, cowering slightly when she snapped at Aang and Sokka before Toph stepped forwards confidently. She placed something on the counter before glancing up. “My name is Toph Beifong and I’ll need five tickets.”

The lady’s eyes widened at the sight of the flying boar before glancing at all of you. “Ah, the golden seal of the flying boar! It is my pleasure to help anyone of the Beifong family.”

“It is your pleasure. As you can see, I am blind and these three imbeciles are my valets,” Toph stated plainly before turning to point to you. “And she is my most trusted companion.”

“But the animal-”

“That’s her seeing eye lemur,” you quickly interrupted, ignoring Aang’s snort. “She needs him with her at all times.”

Momo chittered quietly, nuzzling against Toph’s neck to add dramatic effect.

“Well, normally it's only one ticket per passport, but this document is so official ... I guess it's worth five tickets,” the lady commented, stamping five tickets and handing them over.

“Thank you very much,” you said, smiling softly as you gathered the tickets and guided Toph away.

You all walked away, Sokka commenting on how cool it was that Toph was able to scam the lady. You were trying to tune out his words before silence ensued and you turned to see Sokka being held back by a guard.

“Tickets and passports please.”

“Is there a problem?” you asked politely, catching Katara’s panicked gaze and giving her a simple nod. You stepped up next to Sokka, avoiding his surprised gaze. The girl looked at you briefly before turning back to Sokka.

“Yeah! Is there a problem?” Sokka asked, repeating your words as he tried to stay calm.

“Yeah, I got a problem with you! I've seen your type before. Probably sarcastic, think you're hilarious and let me guess, you're traveling with the Avatar,” the girl said. You exchanged a scared glance with Katara.

“Do I know you?” Sokka asked, leaning in slightly to get a better look at the girl.

“You mean you don’t remember? Maybe you’ll remember this!” the girl leaned in suddenly, placing a brief kiss on Sokka’s cheek. His eyes widened almost comically and he casted a panicked look at you, only to see you looking down as you turned and walked away.

“Suki!” Sokka exclaimed, rushing forwards and gathering the Kyoshi Warrior up in his arms.

“Sokka! It’s so good to see you,” Suki replied, hugging him back tightly. Greetings were exchanged as the Gaang reunited with their old friend, with the exception of Toph. Noticing the way you had abruptly left, she went after you, finding you seated alone as you stared off at the water.

“What’s wrong, Princess?” Toph asked, coming to a stop next to you. “Are you really moping over him?”

You smiled softly at Toph’s words. “I don’t know, shortcake. I guess so.”

Toph sighed dramatically as she leaned against the railing, turning to face you. “If you really like him you can go talk to him. Or fight for him.”

Copying Toph’s actions, you turned around, your back now against the railing. Your gaze landed on the pretty girl standing in front of Sokka, watching her as she smiled widely. “She’s pretty.”

“And?” Toph replied, crossing her arms and huffing lightly.

“I’m not going to fight for him,” you muttered. Toph opened her mouth to argue but you quietly shushed her. “They’re right, Toph. I’m Fire Nation and I can’t change that no matter how hard I try. I’m going to try and do my part to help Aang defeat the Fire Lord but when the war is over, I can’t simply go on and live my life. I’m either going to have to return to the capital and claim the throne or I’m going to be hunted down as a traitor to my nation. I can’t be focusing on my dumb feelings when there are bigger things at stake.”

Toph hummed lightly before she punched you in the arm. “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve heard you say but whatever. C’mon let’s get going, Princess.”

You rubbed your arm before trailing after the small girl, noticing that the family that had arrived with you was frantically talking to Aang. The group moved over to the ticket lady and you could faintly hear Aang arguing with her before turning and walking back over to the family dejectedly.

Five minutes later, you all found yourselves walking back the way you had come from. Nervous glances were exchanged all around as Aang declared that he was going to lead you all through the Serpent’s Pass, and you found yourself lagging behind in order to make sure that no one was getting left behind.

“Hi.”

You looked over to your left to see the girl from before: Suki. She had joined the group after changing into a green dress, makeup covering her face in a style reminiscent of Avatar Kyoshi’s. You nodded softly, acknowledging her presence as you came to a stop.

“We haven’t met yet,” she continued, shooting you a wide grin as she stood next to you. “I’m Suki!”

“I’m (Y/N),” you introduced yourself before bowing deeply. “It is an honor to meet a Kyoshi Warrior.”

A blush spread across Suki’s cheeks, partially hidden by her white face paint.She smiled bashfully, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as she started to walk slowly. “You’re too kind. Really, there’s nothing special about us.”

“I beg to differ,” you replied quietly, walking next to her. “Kyoshi was a powerful Avatar. Your group is equally as amazing.”

Suki opened her mouth to reply only to be cut off when the ground underneath Than, the man you were traveling with, gave away. Toph reacted instantly, bending a piece of the cliff out in order to catch the man.

“I’m okay!”

“They’ve spotted us!” Sokka yelled, pointing to the Fire Nation ship that Suki had pointed out earlier. “Let’s go!”

Aang took off into the air on his glider, deflecting the fireball that was coming your way. It crashed into the cliff behind you, sending multiple large chunks of rock flying everywhere. You heard Suki yelp lightly and looked over to see multiple chunks of earth heading her way. Without thinking twice, you threw yourself at her, tackling her and sending the both of you out of harm’s way. You landed roughly, your body curling around Suki’s to protect her from any wayward debris before Toph came in to save the day. Suki was the first to sit up, throwing her arms around you as she muttered multiple ‘thank you’s’. You hesitantly wrapped your arms around her waist, helping her up before separating and brushing yourself off.

“It was nothing,” you replied quietly, shooting the girl a small smile. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Suki! Are you okay?” Sokka asked worriedly, rushing over and wrapping the girl up into a tight hug. “You have to be more careful! Come on!”

Suki gave you a warm smile as she was pulled away by Sokka, leaving you standing alone with Toph. The earth bender turned to you, opening her mouth to make a comment that you had no doubt would be sarcastic. You quickly spoke before she could. “Thanks for saving my life Toph.”

“Now that’s what I like to hear, Princess.”

The group had settled down for the night, exhausted after running from the Fire Nation. You were unrolling your sleeping bag, sighing softly as you searched for a decent spot to set up in. Your eyes drifted to Suki, who was placing her sleeping bag down a little aways from you before it was pulled away by Sokka.

“Suki, you shouldn't sleep there. Who knows how stable this ledge is, it could give away at any moment!”

Suki looked at Sokka with concern, following him as he walked away from the ledge. “Sokka, I’m fine! Stop worrying! Besides, (Y/N) no doubt had a bigger scare today. Fuss over her instead.”

Sokka ignored her words and you looked down, setting your sleeping bag down close to where Suki was originally going to place hers. Ignoring everyone else, you slipped into it, curling into a small ball as you stared up at the moon. You felt all your worries subside as you fell into a deep sleep, a small smile spreading across your face as you mentally thanked Yue for being there for you.

When you woke up, you felt well-rested and refreshed and ready to reach Ba Sing Se. Once again, you trailed behind everyone else, keeping an eye out for any Fire Nation ships that could be tracking you. You were so distracted that you didn’t notice everyone coming to a stop, causing you to bump into Sokka’s back before tumbling to the ground. You muttered out a soft sorry, picking yourself up when he ignored your words.

“Everyone, single file!” Katara called out, her eyebrows furrowed as she noticed that the path in front of her was underwater. “Aang I need help!”

Katara proceeded to bend the water out of the way, clearing a path for your group as Aang conjured up a large air bubble to surround you. You chuckled softly when you noticed Momo’s curious gaze aimed at the water, a full blown laugh escaping you as he dived into the water to chase the fish. Your laughter died down when he leapt out of the water, clutching onto you as he curled himself around your neck.

“What’s wrong, Momo?” you asked, softly scratching the back of his ears. He was trembling, chittering softly as he hid his face in your neck. You glanced at the walls of water surrounding you, flinching when you saw a large shadow pass you on your left. “G-Guys?”

“What is that thing?” Katara whispered, also noticing the large shadow. The thing in the water broke through the walls Katara had created, forcing Toph to bend the earth and send you all back up above the water level.

“I think I just figured out why they call it the Serpent's Pass!” Sokka yelped, stumbling as the serpent sprung out of the water with a large screech. “Suki, you know about giant sea monsters, make it go away!”

“Just because I live near the unagi doesn’t mean I’m an expert,” the girl retorted, panic clear on her face.

Sokka walked over to you, taking Momo from around your neck and holding him up. “Oh great and powerful sea serpent, please accept this humble and tasty offering. Thank you.”

“Sokka!” you and Katara cried in unison, irritated expressions on both of your faces.

“I’ll distract it!” Aang yelled. “Katara, get everyone else across!”

Katara nodded, creating an ice trail for all of you. Everyone sprinted across, leaving only you and Toph standing on the chunk of earth she had sent up earlier. You took a deep breath and began to walk across, pausing when you realized Toph wasn’t following.

“Toph!” Sokka yelled from the other side. “Come on, it’s just ice.”

“Actually, I'm going to stay on my little island, where I can see!” Toph replied. You turned back, noticing that the serpent was approaching. You quickly lunged for Toph, grabbing her hand and tugging her behind you just as the serpent hit the earth she was previously standing on.

“Sorry, shortcake,” you said quietly, gripping her hand tightly. “We need to get across. I won’t let you go.”

Toph nodded meekly, gripping onto you as you proceeded to move forwards. You were moving slowly but surely, trying to focus on not being taken by surprise by the serpent.

“You’re doing great! Just follow that sound of my voice,” Sokka yelled, watching the two of you closely.

“Well it’s kind of hard to ignore!” Toph yelled back, causing you to let out a snort.

“You’re almost there!”

Just as Sokka said those words, the serpent reappeared and crushed the ice trail. The impact separated you and Toph, sending the two of you flying in opposite directions. Toph fell into the water unceremoniously and you found yourself landing on the tough rocks that the rest of your group was standing on. You scrambled to your feet, ignoring everyone’s worried looks before frantically searching for Toph. You could see her bobbing up and down a bit away, struggling to stay afloat.

“Help! Help! I can’t swim!” Toph yelled out, causing everyone to panic. You noticed Sokka taking off his shoes and Suki getting ready to jump but before they could, you launched yourself into the water, desperate to reach Toph in time. Everyone watched with bated breath as you reached the small girl, grabbing onto her and pulling her up so she could breathe.

“I got you,” you whispered, already starting to head back to the group. Toph clung onto you, gasping for air.

“Thank you, (Y/N)” she whispered back, hugging you tightly. You smiled softly, glad that she was now safe. You reached the rocks quickly enough, being helped up by Suki. Aang and Katara quickly rejoined the group, having taken care of the serpent for the time being. With a small cheer, you all kept going, smiling widely when you saw the walls of Ba Sing Se.

Of course, nothing ever goes according to plan and you soon found yourself sitting alone while Katara and Suki helped Ying give birth. Hope was born soon enough, all of you cooing over the newborn as Aang stepped away from the group.

“I promise I’ll find Appa as fast as I can,” you heard Aang say as you approached him and Katara. “I just really need to do this.”

“See you in the big city,” Sokka whispered.

“Say hi to the big fuzzball for me,” Toph chirped.

“Stay safe. Please,” you said, stumbling back when Aang threw himself at you and hugged you tightly.

“You’ll find him, Aang,” Katara said, smiling sadly.

“I know. Thank you, Katara,” Aang said, letting you go. “You ready, Momo?”

With a chirp from Momo, the two of them took off. It was silent after their departure and you suddenly felt more awkward than you had in a long time. Without Aang, you were left with Toph and two people who you were sure hated you. Sokka stood off to the side, talking quietly with Suki. You couldn’t help but watch them, not noticing Katara sidle up to you. Your heart fully broke when Sokka lurched forwards, connecting his lips with Suki’s as the girl wrapped her arms around him.

“They’re cute together, aren’t they?” Katara asked quietly, turning to face you with an unreadable look. “She’s good for him. Don’t ruin it.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” you breathed, trying to ignore the tears that wanted to well up in your eyes. “You have nothing to worry about, Katara, I know I don’t deserve someone like him.”

Katara’s expression softened as you walked away, gathering up your stuff before you continued to walk along the path. You had barely gotten more than a few steps away before you were stopped by a hand on your wrist. You turned slowly to face Suki, a determined look on her face. You looked at her curiously, tilting your head to the side as you waited for her to speak.

“Come with me,” she breathed, taking you by surprise.

“W-What?”

“Come with me,” she repeated more confidently. “The Kyoshi Warriors could always use someone like you. You’re strong and care about others. Join me.”

You paused for a few seconds, looking around at your companions (who were pretending to mind their own business) before facing her once more. Toph was the only one who would miss you and you knew that the Water Tribe siblings wanted you gone. Aang would find you eventually; they would tell him you had joined Suki. You nodded once, causing Suki to smile excitedly and pull you away. You dug your heels into the ground, stopping her before you could get any further.

“Suki. Before I go with you, you need to know-”

“That you’re the Fire Nation crown princess?” Suki interrupted. You looked up at her, bewildered. “I’ve seen the family portraits, silly. I know you’re the princess but I don’t care. You saved my life and you saved Toph and you’ve been helping Aang out for a while. I don’t care about your family. You’re a good person and I want you to join the Kyoshi Warriors.”

Overwhelmed by her words, you hugged her tightly. You nodded once again, tears dripping down your face as you laughed lightly.

“Okay. I’ll join the Kyoshi warriors.”

taglist!

atla: @musicalkeys, @mywigglybaby, @aangsupremacy, @iguessthefloorislava, @dekahg, @boxofteenageideas, @bottledcostcowater, @butterflycore, @coldlilheart, @the-firebender-girl, @ajediherowitchrunner, @lammello, @a—-rag, @astroninaaa, @samsmultifandomblogs, @sadskater25, @oddment-niwit-blubber-tweak, @eternallyvenus, @emberislandplayers, @sunflowerazula, @moonnei, @stilllivindue2spite, @knaite-solo, @riespage, @wastelandbbyg, @edgy-hufflepuff-bro, @a-monsters-love

pwf: @ilovespideyyy, @binaryssunsets, @existing-but-nonexistent, @milk-n-cheese, @itsthatsadbitch, @nin-tendou, @honey-ruel, @reclusive-chicken-nugget, @teenbiology, @davnwillcome, @fandomarchiveilyd, @minninugget, @sukifans, @nugget-barnes, @vintageroses1014516, @donteatmycookiesplease, @fanficdepot, @birdlovinghyena, @cipheress-to-k-pop, @my–shitty–art, @woohoney, @castalette, @lozzybowe, @spacelesbianfanclub, @macymafia, @deadsunflower01, @olsenholic, @thia-aep, @loganrwebb, @porkbumh, @awkwardnesshabitat, @romanticraccoon, @jackbamexpress, @marievanleeuw, @lunariasilver, @francesciak, @alive-ahahah-fuk, @reillykwatson, @naanlianid, @on-jah-bruh, @celia-not-cecilia, @lanie103, @heavensgaymenace, @dairy-peach, @ryryryleigh, @natsbelova, @kyoshiwcrriors

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wonder-womans-ex · 3 years

Text

See It In Your Eyes

The sequel to ‘Cause Boy I was Made for You

When Finn O'Hara was eleven years old, he got two things for Christmas: an Iron Man action figure and a telling off. There were probably other things, too, but in ten years (or eleven, or twelve, or even thirty for that matter) he wouldn't be able to remember them.

But the action figure had been the one he'd eyed in the toy store window for the past seven months, and the telling off had been from his Aunt Isla.

"There are two things you must never ask a lady," she had scolded. "Her age, and to see the mark on her wrist. Remember that, Finnegan."

(For the record, he hadn't asked to see her wrist. He had asked her to pass him the stuffing, and he'd said "What's that?" when her sleeve got bunched up around her elbow.) (Not like she cared.)

***

When Logan Tremblay was eleven years old, he nearly broke his jaw. One of the boys on his team tied his shoelaces together after practice and he fell and smashed his face on the locker room bench.

After three and a half hours in the ER, he met his own eyes in the bathroom mirror, cheek swollen comically huge, and thought, don’t let it get to you, even though it already had.

***

When Leo Knut was eleven years old, he got his first job. Sure, it was only a paper route, but to Leo, it was everything. Not only was he making money (real, actual money; his dad couldn’t tell him his Monopoly skills were just pure luck anymore) but he was the first in his family to learn anything interesting. One morning, halfway through his rounds, he flipped to the sports page. The words Local Team Manager Loses Job over Sexuality glared up at him.

At lunchtime, when his parents asked about the news lately, he merely shrugged and took another bite of his taco.

***

When Finn O’Hara was fifteen years old, he fell in love for the first time. Not with a person, no, but no one could deny that he was in love—by the fourth rewatch of Mamma Mia, his mother was resigned to promising him extra dessert if he would please, for the love of God, just sing anything else.

***

When Logan Tremblay was fifteen years old, he and his sister Noelle woke up at five in the morning on April Fool’s to rig their house. Noelle, admittedly, was behind most of it, but Logan came up with five spectacular (if he did say so himself) pranks: baking soda in the cereal and vinegar in the milk, which caused his father’s breakfast to fizz and explode the moment he poured it out; semi-permanent hair dye in his mother’s shampoo (her hair kept the blue tint for almost a month); all the hard-boiled eggs in the fridge swapped out for raw ones and vice versa; glue in his father’s shaving cream; and, just because he felt like it, all the toilet paper in the house hidden in the downstairs freezer. The day was a bright spot in a patch of darkness—it had been only a week before that he had found the tumblr post about anxiety symptoms and thought, maybe…

***

When Leo Knut was fifteen years old, he quit baseball—for good this time. His coach was confused as to why anyone would give up an 84 mph fastball and a glove that could catch any pop fly in favour of the ice, but Leo was sure. Hockey was his destiny. The pitcher’s mound had nothing to offer him, not anymore.

***

When Finn O’Hara was eighteen years old, he met Logan Tremblay. His first thought—though he would not accept it until years later—was, He has very nice lips. I would like to kiss them. His second, mere moments later, was, Wait shit no fuck no dammit shit fuck.

***

When Logan Tremblay was eighteen years old, he began to wonder who his soulmate was. Maybe she would have coffee-brown eyes and a gap between her front teeth, the perfect height for him to rest his chin on top of her head. Maybe she would be taller, with wide hips and sharp elbows and long eyelashes.

He tried to shake his fantasies of fiery red hair and gorgeous grins, because Logan was a hockey player and hockey players weren’t queer.

***

Leo Knut is eighteen years old, and he is being pulled down a dimly lit hallway by Finn O’Hara. His wrist is warm beneath Finn’s grasp, his heart beating a little too fast for his liking.

“Where are we going?” Logan asks from his place at the end of Finn’s other arm, but he gets no answer.

Finally, they reach what Leo assumes is their destination: the…. Well, Leo isn’t sure where they are, actually. Some sort of storage room, he guesses, judging by the net in the corner.

He still has no idea why they’re there.

Logan is looking at Finn expectantly, a curious expression on his face. He looks like he knows what’s happening, and the thought bites at Leo’s heart. Great—he’s the only clueless one here.

Finn takes a deep breath, and then another. “Hi,” he begins, and then stops.

Not sure which of them he should look at, Leo focuses on a spot on the wall between Logan’s and Finn’s heads. He senses one of them watching him. He doesn’t check which it is.

“So,” Finn tries again. “Ugh. I’m bad at this.”

“What exactly is ‘this’?” Logan’s brow, when Leo sneaks a glance at him, is furrowed, only a sliver of green eyes visible beneath his squint.

There’s a thunk as Finn lets his head fall back against the wall. “This is me finally deciding to man up and tell you I’m in love with you.”

Leo’s head turns to look at Logan so fast his neck hurts. He sees Logan blink once, and then twice.

***

Finn meets Logan’s eyes. He can practically feel the electricity crackling between them.

Because Logan knows.

He has to.

He has to know that Finn’s heart nearly beats out of his chest every time Logan smiles. He has to know that sometimes he’ll be talking to someone, anyone—Cap, or Coach Weasley, or the press—and he’ll think about Harvard and he’ll forget how to breathe. Logan is half of Finn’s heart.

But whether or not Logan knows it, the look on his face says he feels the same. Finn feels his lips start to curve into a smile.

And then Leo says, “Why am I here, then?”

There are a hundred ways Finn could answer that question. One of them is ‘Why wouldn’t you be?’ and another is ‘I don’t know.’ He could be passionate. He could be tactful. He could be poetic or blunt or gentle or any of those things.

What he goes with, in the end, is philosophical.

“Who decides it’s wrong?” Finn says to the floor. “Any of it. The feeling. The wanting. The having, even. If it’s real, then how can it be wrong?”

He can’t see Logan’s face, nor Leo’s, but he imagines they must be confused. He goes on, not entirely sure he knows what he’s saying and not entirely sure he cares. “And maybe it’s destiny. And maybe it isn’t. Why does it matter? If it’s real and painful and there for the taking, why bother about whether it’s supposed to be?”

Finally, he looks up. He senses that one of them is going to say something, and whichever it is, he cuts them off.

“Maybe it’s not you. Fuck, maybe it isn’t either of you, and maybe I’m the only one who thinks it should be. But it has to mean something, doesn’t it? Because if it doesn’t… why bother at all?”

And maybe, Finn thinks, I’m going to start crying.

***

Logan, mind still wheeling, is the only one who gets an inkling of what Leo is going to do before he does it. Finn certainly doesn’t, and he’s not quite sure Leo does either.

He grabs Finn by the collar and pulls him up, their faces smashing together, red and gold curls tangling between their foreheads. Logan watches them slowly break apart, far enough away to lock eyes, yet still so close they’re breathing into each other’s mouths. His heart surges—with jealousy, yes, but also with something fiery and sweet. Something akin to excitement, or—dare he say—love.

“Whoa,” he says out loud, not realizing it until Leo and Finn both glance over at him. His cheeks start to colour.

Then Leo places a hand on his shoulder and leans down to kiss him, too. This one is more gentle by far that the previous; a dance rather than a battle. It makes sense—Finn’s always been the brash one, the impulsive one, while Logan is tentative, sturdy—and it seems fitting that Leo is the one to remind them of that.

Logan still doesn’t know what they’re doing there.

Well, he knows what they’re doing, of course. They’re kissing. But he doesn’t know why Finn picked now to haul them halfway across Hogwarts arena and make it happen. Maybe if he really thought about it, something would come to him.

But of course he’s not going to think about it, because Leo is still kissing him.

When one of them finally pulls away—Logan isn’t sure who—Leo reaches one hand up and touches Logan’s lip. They stay there for a long moment, neither of them moving, before calloused fingers carefully skate across his waist. He turns towards Finn.

They surge forward together, meeting in the middle. One of Finn’s hands fists in Logan’s hair, the other slipping under his shirt, as they kiss for the first time in nearly four years.

He can taste salt. One of them is crying; it’s probably him.

When Logan starts to break away, desperate for air, Finn chases his mouth. Within a few seconds, though, he’s pulled back, too. It’s almost simultaneously that they remember there’s another person in the room.

Leo’s lip is between his teeth as he worries at it. He doesn’t speak for a long moment; the silence, before it shatters, if practically tangible. “You two have history,” he says, like it’s a question he already knows the answer to.

“We do,” Finn answers easily. There’s something fierce in his eyes. “But it’s the future that matters.”

Logan wishes Finn would stop sounding like Plato. Or Socrates. Or Aristotle. One of them, anyway. Finn is an American in his 20’s, not a 2000-something-year-old Greek. In any case, mystery is decidedly not Finn’s colour.

Leo shakes his head. “That’s not what I meant.”

“What do you mean, then?”

“I mean you guys are—you’re practically—” he breaks off. One of his hands moves towards Logan, only stopping when it hovers mere centimetres from his wrist. “May I?”

“I—sure.” Logan’s heart skips a beat when their fingers brush. Leo gently turns his hand so Logan’s palm is up, and it’s not until Leo starts to push his sleeve away that Logan realizes what he’s doing.

But by then it’s too late—those three paw prints he spends so much time agonizing over are on display, no longer private, no longer just for him. For a split second, he considers covering his wrist again and leaving. But he does no such thing.

Because if he can’t trust Finn and Leo, he can’t trust anyone.

Finn’s mouth opens slightly in surprise. “It’s—” he says, and there’s barely any hesitation before he’s pulled his sleeve up, too.

It takes a moment before Finn’s soulmark registers in Logan’s mind. When he does, he starts to smile.

They’re soulmates.

***

Leo feels his jaw clench. He knows he should be happy for them—and he is, really. They’ll smile at each other, and they’ll kiss again, and they’ll go on with their lives as that one couple who are so in love it hurts to look at them.

He turns away when tears start to pool in his eyes. He’ll go back to the locker room; they obviously want to be alone right now. “I’ll just… yeah.”

Just as soon as he takes his first step towards the door, Finn grabs his arm. “Wait,” he says, and Leo stops.

“Logan and I are soulmates,” says Finn, all in one breath, “But there are three prints. Not two. And I know that it’s rare, but Re—but I’ve been told it’s possible. That it’s happened before.”

Leo thinks he knows, but he has to make sure. “Do you mean—do you think we’re—”

“I know you’re only eighteen,” Finn continues. “And I know there’s no way of knowing for a while. But does it matter? Even… even if I’m wrong? I love you—I love both of you—soulmates or not.”

Leo waits for one of the others to say something more. When neither does, he wonders why, and quickly comes to the conclusion that it’s because they’re waiting for him to say something.

“Who told you?” he asks the moment it pops into his head. It’s not the best thing he could say, but it’s not the worst, either.

“Told me what?”

“You said someone told you it was possible to have two soulmates. Who was it?”

There’s a pause as Finn cracks one of his knuckles, deep in thought. “Loops,” he whispers, but not until Leo has decided he’s not going to say anything at all. “I was talking to Loops yesterday, and I told him I thought… anyway, he said I should tell you.”

“You told him we’re soulmates?” Logan’s eyes are wide and fearful. “He knows we’re…?”

“Not you guys, no. Well, Leo, maybe. I just said you were both on the team, that’s all.”

“But you would have had to say something about my age,” Leo concludes, the dots starting to connect in his head. “And I’m the only one who’s not nineteen yet.”

“Yeah.”

Logan swallows, the almost comical gulp audible in the quiet room, and he crosses his arms over his chest. There’s something about the gesture, however, that tells Leo it’s an act of protection, not defiance. “He’s not going to… tell anyone, is he?”

“No. And if he doesn’t, I won’t.”

“What?” Leo thinks he might be missing something.

“He won’t tell anyone we’re… gay.” It’s the first time any of them have said it—that three-letter word that, in their profession, could ruin everything. “Because he has his own secrets. There’s a difference between being ashamed of something and wanting to keep it private.”

Logan’s eyes widen slightly. “You mean… we’re not the only ones?” His voice is incredulous, choked with emotion, and Leo reaches out a hand to him.

“I don’t think we ever were.”

***

Finn feels as though he’s floating. No—this is better than floating. This is dreaming. At any moment, he’s going to wake up staring at the ceiling of his bedroom with Leo asleep just a wall away. A mile away.

It’s like he’s watching, not experiencing, the way Logan’s fingers twine with Leo’s, love overflowing from the gaze they share. He’s imagining the kiss Logan leans forward to plant on his cheek. Leo’s arm wrapping itself around his shoulders is all in his head.

But it isn’t. Without having to speak, the three of them make their way out of the storage room and back into the hall—blond and brunet hand in hand, blond holding redhead so close it seems he’ll never let go. Finn leans into the warm body to his side, and he feels Leo stagger slightly as Logan does, too. They seem as though they would be perfect on the cover of a book, or a movie poster—Three’s Company, his mind provides, and he files it away just in case he ever decides he wants to sell the rights to his life story.

He’s a long way from that, though. After all, it’s been barely half an hour since they started to unravel this knot they’ve spent so long tangling themselves into, and right now all Finn needs to do is try his best to make sure they don’t get tied up again.

The locker room is almost abandoned. Pascal’s packing up the last of his stuff, and he smiles when they enter. Logan, for one, stiffens slightly in fear, but it doesn’t seem like there’s any need to. Indeed, the only thing Pascal says as he does up the zipper of his bag is, “Be good to him,” and none of them knows who he’s talking to, so they all nod.

Finn waits until they have the room to themselves to pull Logan close to him. “It’ll be okay,” he says. “I promise.”

“But if people find out—”

“Then we’ll have to deal with that—all of us will. But you don’t have to be afraid. The team’s family. And family means no one gets lost behind or forgotten.”

Logan nods, chewing his lower lip. It’s obvious when the gravity of Finn’s words clicks in his head—the expression on his face twists into one of confusion. “Wait a second—why does that sound familiar?”

“Because it’s from Lilo and Stitch.”

Swiveling his head towards Leo, Finn stage whispers, “Shhhhh!” This gets a smile out of Logan.

“I knew I’d heard it before somewhere. Shame on you, Finn—plagiarizing the words of an innocent blue alien!” He stops, blinking. “There’s something I never thought I’d say.”

Finn smiles. This is his life now. He thinks he’ll have a lot of fun getting used to it.

***

Skates swishing over the ice, Logan lets the world fall away. He stops thinking about everything—even Finn’s contagious laughter and Leo’s broad grin fade from his mind as he gets closer and closer to the goal.

Almost there, almost there—

He shoots. The puck whizzes past Kasey’s elbow, only barely missing him.

“Nice one, Tremblay!”

Moody is nodding in approval. Logan feels a rush of pride—it’s an easy, everyday drill, something he’s been able to do in his sleep since he was a kid, but praise is always a good thing. When he can’t have a cheering crowd, he might as well have a coach who admires his talents.

“Merci!” he says, beaming, and then, on second thought, adds, “I’d be surprised if it wasn’t!”

Out of the corner of his eye, he notices Finn and Leo bump shoulders. His heart swells—they love each other, and he loves that they love each other. Somehow, he finds it hard to believe it’s only been a day since the storage room and the kissing and—

“Tremblay!” Logan is shocked back out of his thoughts by Coach Weasley’s (albeit slightly amused) shout. “Stop daydreaming and take another shot!”

“Yes, Coach.”

He’s sweating by the time he’s finally allowed to sit down again. He takes a swig of Gatorade, watching Finn try and sneak up behind him.

“Boo!”

“Hi, Fish.”

“Dammit.” Two red eyebrows lift and fall again. “How’d you know I was here?”

“I saw you. You’re not inconspicuous.”

“You don’t just love me so much you could sense me from halfway across the world?”

Logan can’t help it—he glances around furtively, heart pounding, hoping desperately that no one heard Finn’s comment. “Well, that, too,” he adds, once he’s sure everyone else is sufficiently distracted. “But mostly that ginger head of yours just sticks out like a sore thumb. I call you mon rouge for a reason, you know.”

“Fuck you.”

"Peut-être plus tard.”

“In English, please?”

“...Maybe later.”

“But I want to know now.”

(If only he knew.)

Logan feels giddy as he realizes they really do have time for ‘maybe later.’ They have time, and they’ve earned it. After all, it’s been a day. It’s been eight years.

It’s been forever.

***

It’s almost a year later that Leo wakes up in an empty bed. He yawns, stretches, arches his back and hears his joints pop. For a moment, he wonders where his boys—even now, the thought that they really are his boys makes him unbelievably happy—are.

Then he hears the voices from the kitchen. A smile spreads across his face at the exclamation of “Oh, shit!” and he swings his legs over the side of the bed, placing his feet on the floor and preparing for whatever disaster may greet him.

(Honestly, who thought letting Finn and Logan cook was a good idea?)

And true enough, the moment walks into the kitchen he’s greeted by two things: the grinning faces of his boyfriends, and the smell of smoke.

“What’s burning?”

“The bacon.”

“Of course it is.” He reaches over, taking the pan from Finn, and scrutinizes it. “Salvageable,” he declares, “But please never try to make anything other than instant ramen again.”

Logan nods sheepishly. “Sorry,” he says. “We just wanted to make you something special. Y’know, for your birthday.”

Right.

His birthday.

He’d actually forgotten about that.

He’s not sure how—it’s all he’s been able to think about for almost a month now it’s here and he knows all three of them have the same thing on their minds. Sure, he’s excited, but right now, he’s leaning a little more towards terrified. Today’s the day.

But he knows, when he lets a very real grin spread across his face, that they won’t pressure him. They know it’s his choice, and they’ll respect that. He has nothing to worry about except for the fact that the smoke detector is around six seconds away from going off.

“Here,” he instructs Logan, putting the frying pan down on the stove. “Grab the fan from the bathroom—the little portable one—and bring it in here if you don’t want the fire department racing lights-and-fucking-sirens down our street.”

“Oui.”

“Finn… just try not to set anything else on fire.”

The hustle and (incredibly mild, all considering) panic only lasts for a few minutes. Finally, Leo presses a kiss to the top of Logan’s head, ruffling Finn’s hair, and opens the fridge. “Thanks for the breakfast, by the way.”

“Anytime.”

“...Or not.”

They all laugh at this, and when Leo grabs the milk and pours out three glasses, he watches them. He sees Finn pull out Logan’s chair with an exaggerated bow, glancing over and smiling when he and Leo lock eyes.

It’s the classic movie dilemma. Will he, won’t he. Won’t he, will he.

He waits until they’re all seated to bring it up. In the meantime, he rubs his wrist through the long-sleeved shirt he wore to bed yesterday for this very reason. It meant he was warm last night, but at least he gets a choice this morning.

“So.”

Finn and Logan both look up. “Yeah, Peanut?” one of them asks—probably Finn, but Leo’s mind is too far away to give it much thought.

“Are we going to talk about it?”

This time, it’s definitely Logan who responds, shrugging and poking at his bacon before saying, “Do you want to?”

“I think so.”

Here Finn cuts in. “I only have one thing to say, and that’s that whatever’s on your wrist? It doesn’t change anything. You’re mine—you’re ours—no matter what. We don’t have to be soulmates to be in love.”

“I know that. I just… I used to feel like I was missing something, you know? It’s been ages since I did, but at the beginning I felt like this was your relationship, and I was just an extra part of it.”

“I… I didn’t know you felt that way.” Logan’s eyes are earnest, emotional. Leo thinks he might see tears there. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. No, really—I felt that way, sure, but I don’t anymore. I know you guys love me. That’s what matters. I’m just tired of having the ability to tell myself I don’t belong, and this… this is what confirms it either way.

“I want to know. I really do. But I can’t help being afraid of the answer.”

Finn opens his mouth to speak, but Logan beats him to it. “It’s your choice. Whatever you decide to do, we’re here for you. You can do it today, you can do it tomorrow, you can do it in a year, you can do it never. Je t’aime, mon amour. Toujours.”

Time seems to slow down in the instant it takes Leo to reach into the deepest recesses of himself to gather all the courage he can find, take a deep breath, and pull up his left sleeve. His hands are hidden under the table, so neither Logan nor Finn knows what’s happened until Leo’s face spreads into the widest smile he’s ever worn and a choked, happy sob escapes his lips.

He can see in both their eyes the instant they realize—Finn first, Logan following mere instants later—and he rubs a thumb over the golden print. Somehow, he knows that one’s his.

He’s already seen this mark a hundred thousand times, but it feels so much more real there on his skin, blue and golden and green and—

“Yeah.” They know what he means. He wants to shout it out loud, sing it boldly as he walks down the street, because they’re his soulmates, and the only thing that matters more than that is that they’re in love.

thanks to @peggyrose19 for betaing and @lumosinlove for the incredible characters <3

#o'knutzy #finn o'hara #logan tremblay #leo knut #I made finn and logan that same age because what? even? are? timelines???#soulmates au #they're in love!

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lovely-v · 3 years

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LOTR (films) Review

So I finally watched the LOTR films (20 years later). I’m super excited to review these because I read the books very recently so I feel at least a little prepared to voice some opinions. Overall I loved the films, here’s a very long (but by no means exhaustive) compilation of my thoughts, which are of course, totally subjective:

(Warning: a lot of me saying “well, actually, in the book...”)

THINGS I LIKED

- Casting! not much to say here, I thought the casting was great. One of my favorite actors that I didn’t think i’d have a huge opinion on was David Wenham as Faramir. I was kinda ambivalent on him when I saw pictures but i thought he did a great job. he showed his quality.

- Music. so much has been said about the films on the music front. I can’t offer too much original insight but when a bit of the Shire theme started to play as Frodo tries to make his way up Mount Doom I cried a little.

- Boromir and Aragorn. I liked the scene where they interact a little in Rivendell. I also like how Aragorn saves Boromir in the Moria battle and gives him this little nod of friendship. I think the films did a great job portraying the dynamic they have where Aragorn is clearly suspicious of Boromir’s motivations but grows to respect him to the point where he doesn’t even blame Boromir for being corrupted by the ring because he understands that, at heart, Boromir is a good person.

- Sam and Frodo in Osgiliath. I expected to be kind of annoyed with the way this plot point played out (I knew ahead of time that it strayed from the book), but I actually liked it a lot. As I’ll say later, there’s some gripes I have with the way the films extremely play up the disagreements between Frodo and Sam, but I loved the scene where Frodo pulls the sword on Sam and then seems so defeated when he realizes what he’s done. I was pleasantly surprised by how emotional this scene made me. It’s admittedly A Lot, but it was done nicely, especially in conjunction with Sam’s “there’s good in this world” speech.

- Treatment of the ending. I almost think I should dislike the ending as it is in the movies, but my heart is soft and I like that they sugarcoated it a bit. I know the whole point of the Scouring of the Shire and Frodo’s depression conveys a lot about war and trauma and I think that is important, but after watching these things for twelve hours I just wanted Frodo & co. to be happy and I was kinda relieved that they cut the Scouring. Does that make me weak and perhaps bad at film analysis? yes. do I care? no. I was also very glad that the movies didn’t portray how depressed Sam was about losing Frodo in the end. Yes, he cries, but when he walks home to his family he seems happy and in the books that scene came off so much bleaker. I definitely liked the lighter tone.

THINGS I WAS NEUTRAL ON/DIDN’T LIKE

- Arwen. (Neutral) I don’t hate her, I don’t love her. I think the story she and Aragorn have is compelling and I 100% get why the filmmakers decided to add it to give her character more depth, but it felt misplaced at times. maybe it’s just because it was the only storyline I didn’t know in depth, but the scenes with the Arwen/Aragorn flashbacks felt a bit confusing and disorienting. Don’t have anything against Arwen as a character though, I think she’s pretty alright.

- Gimli. (Complicated thoughts) I want to start off by saying I don’t dislike Gimli. I like him a lot! I just think the movies did him a bit dirty. He had some good movie-exclusive moments, but I think his character really fell into this place of being the butt of too many jokes. Would have liked to see some more serious Gimli development, especially with his relationship to Legolas. Their friendship felt too much like subtext here, whereas it’s explored far more in the books.

- Two Towers Pacing. (Didn’t really like). The pacing of TTT was...weird. maybe I’m going into this with a closed mind because of the books, but it was odd to have the movie begin with Frodo and Sam and then have them only appear for a few rapid scenes after that. I think the fact that a WHOLE LOT of what happens to Frodo and Sam in TTT is moved to RotK is what makes it feel that way? In the books, Two Towers ends with Sam discovering that Frodo isn’t dead from Shelob’s sting, and I was surprised by how long it took the movies to get to that part. However, I will give the films a little leeway because I think they needed Frodo & Sam content for RotK, since most of what happens in that book is them walking through Mordor basically starving and dying. Doesn’t make for great cinema I guess, so they had to put the whole Shelob/Cirith Ungol saga into the final film. Still, I think there’s a weird lack of Frodo and Sam’s presence in TTT.

- The go home/missing bread arc. (Full of rage abt this one) yeah. so. my criticism of this is gonna sound pretty tired because people complain and complain about this part of RotK. but I’m gonna complain some more!! I don’t think the split between Frodo and Sam does anything for the plot. I really don’t. I guess it emphasizes the fact that Sam doesn’t understand how much Frodo is projecting onto Gollum, but it’s just. unnecessary angst? They had enough angst in the Osgiliath scene! Which I actually liked! And it simply doesn’t make a lot of sense for Frodo to suspect Sam of eating the bread when Sam had already offered Frodo his own food and made it clear that he would very much starve if it meant making sure Frodo could eat. But what I hate most about this scene is not that Frodo gets mad and tells Sam to go home. No. It’s that Sam actually... thinks about doing that? he actually? goes down the staircase? emotionally this is bad because Sam clearly cared enough about Frodo to follow him this far, to nearly drown for him, so why would he leave now. Practically this is bad because 1. how would Sam get out of Mordor alone and 2. where would he go. He turns around almost immediately, yes, but what was his plan. where was he going. why.

THINGS I LOVED

- For Frodo! This line, and every other shoutout to Frodo. In the books, they didn’t really actively talk about/worry about Frodo (and Sam) as much as they do in the movies. I like that they talk about Frodo more in the movies! I like that they’re thinking about him! I know it was implied that they were in the books, but I really like how it’s shown here. I think it gave a more complete picture of how much they all care about him on a personal level in addition to just needing him to succeed from a pragmatic standpoint.

- Merry and Pippin! I feel like Merry and Pippin were so well rounded in the films. I’ve heard criticism about them being turned into comic relief characters (which they always were a little bit) but it honestly didn’t feel that way to me. They had a bit of a rough start because the films didn’t make their motives for going with Frodo as deep as the books did, but I think that by TTT they were absolutely amazing characters in every scene. In RotK their respective arcs hit really well and the scene where Pippin is singing to Denethor? *chef’s kiss* poetic. beautiful. sad. idk man I just feel like I have such a newfound appreciation for Merry and Pippin.

- Parallels! people have pointed out the parallel of Frodo and Sam’s hands before (drowning scene/mount doom scene) and I love how the movie did that. Just stunning. Also! The moving of the Smeagol & Deagol scene to RotK surprised me because in the books it was like,,,at the beginning of Fellowship, but I think the placement of it in the movies really helped emphasize the similarities between Smeagol & Deagol and Frodo & Sam (and how much Frodo fears this similarity.) There were a lot of other well done parallels between storylines and a few bits of dialogue that were repeated with great timing, but I can’t remember all of them at the moment.

Edit: here’s one I remembered! when Frodo wakes up after being rescued and sees Gandalf, he says Gandalf’s name in a very similar tone to the one he used at the very beginning of Fellowship. It was a nice little subtle connection.

- I can’t carry it for you...alright this is self-indulgent. everyone knows I love this line. I’m just so glad it made it into the movie intact. Sean Astin’s delivery was amazing. I cheered. My mom cheered. It’s a raw line and it makes me feel secret emotions...like if shrimp colors were feelings. that line makes me feel shrimp feelings. idk i’m so tired i just watched twelve hours of movies this review is decreasing in quality by the minute but i’m about done for now anyway

Various silly afterthoughts

- I would have liked to see Sam kiss Frodo’s hands at least once. This happens 50 thousand times in the books, they could have given me one scene. one little extended edition scene. Please Peter Jackson I’m dyin’ out here

- They literally made Gollum so hateable. kinda the point yes, but I was so on board with Sam’s murderous rage. I know why Gollum’s a profoundly complex character, I know why Frodo pities him, I know why murder is bad, but I too would throw hands with that creature. also he literally body shamed Sam so much what was that skdjksdjksd. Sam is lovely. let him commit a small homicide.

- the scene where merry and pippin drink the tall boy juice (as someone once referred to it in the tags of one of my posts)... not accurate to the books (since they don’t ever drink it with the end goal of getting tall) but so accurate to life. if I found some water that made me taller than my friends? let me at it

- Frodo panicking when he falls into the spider webs. so real bestie. i felt just as panicked watching that. i am terrified of spiders and Elijah Wood did an amazing job doing exactly what i’d do in the situation. yelping a lot and falling down.

- I feel like it’s never stated that Sam’s a gardener (or at least that he’s specifically Frodo’s gardener) until he tells Faramir he is. Did I miss this. Or do they really never say. are you just meant to know. are you just meant to pick up gardener vibes from him.

This has been a very chaotic lotr movie review. Thanks for reading.

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