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edgarsabandonedrocketship · 3 years

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I liked your take on the musical episode. Honestly, it does make sense, and truthfully i think it that’s the case then its actually a good thing for the main ships. If they finish this season all trying to be ‘perfect’, then next season they’ll be able to realise what they need ISN’T perfection, but to be themselves and love who they really want, not who they think will help them achieve their ideal perfect life.

Hi Anon, thanks for your message about this post. I held off from responding until after the finale aired in order to have more information to work with. I have lots of thoughts about this and related topics, so I'm using your message as a jumping off point for what follows.

Normal, perfect, and the lies we tell ourselves One thing that strikes me about all of the new ships is how for everyone involved, the person they're with is the most convenient choice. B/A are neighbors, J/T and V/R work together, T/F are cohabitating co-parents. Alice and Uncle Frank are also neighbors (and on a town council together). Does convenience lead to true and everlasting love? I'd say probably not, but of course it all depends on the whims of the writers.

Another thing that stands out is the sheer speed of it all (even by Riverdale standards). Why the hurry? Why not take the time to develop these relationships at a more satisfying pace? While it's no doubt primarily for plot purposes, there could be other motivating factors behind the rash decisions and largely OOC behavior.

Although there's much that could be said about any of the ships or characters, I'm going to focus on J/T since that's where I started and wound up writing far more than I expected to. I'm putting the rest below the cut since it's long and references sensitive topics like addiction.

While I don't personally feel that J/T came out of nowhere, I do think its development until 5x18 was slow, stilted and inconsistent (less of a slow burn, more like a box of bad matches that mostly don't light but occasionally flicker briefly before fizzling). There were episodes where it looked like they were just going to stay friends and occasional scenes where more seemed possible.

After episodes 5x10 and 5x11, I personally got the impression that Tabitha would ultimately reject any potential romantic overtures from Jughead. She basically got a tour of a bunch of red flags that piled on top of some big ones she already knew about. Some examples:

The financial problems (one of their first interactions involved his debt collectors).

The substance use problems (as well as his roping her into babysitting him while using hallucinogens, which she was clearly uncomfortable with).

The interaction in the bunker after which she explicitly told Betty he "made a pass at her" and how she couldn't stay to watch him because of that.

Other various issues that could impact satisfaction in a relationship (e.g. messiness, living situation, employment situation, reliability, etc.)

But the biggest red flag to me relates to Jughead's previous relationships and what Tabitha knows about them.

He explicitly tells her he "never recovered" from his breakup with Betty, and that his relationship with Jessica was "more toxic than nuclear waste."

She sees hints suggesting Betty isn't over it either. There's Betty's reaction to the unchanged passcode to his phone (and the fact she still remembers it), as well as her keeping the infamous voicemail (which she apparently knows by heart).

She witnesses Jessica's reaction to the voicemail, including the realization it was sent while she and Jughead were living together. What evidence does Tabitha have to suggest she wouldn't end up in a similar position?

Through 5x17, Tabitha has been presented as a smart, level-headed voice of reason in this crazy town. Although initially guarded, she's empathetic and protective of her friends. She's observant and can sense when someone's struggling (as shown with both Betty and Jughead). She's highly educated and from an affluent Chicago household, but declined a six-figure job to take over Pop's (much to her parents' disapproval), where she hopes to expand its scope while remaining fiercely protective of its brand and legacy. In addition, she has a nest egg of a size significant enough to ask for Veronica's help with investing it. While Veronica was unable to help directly, she did connect her to someone interested in investing in Pop's.

So, what's driving Tabitha to suddenly agree not only to be Jughead's girlfriend, but to make the wildly irrational suggestion to move in together while on their first-ever actual date? Besides egregiously bad writing and some likely eleventh-hour script changes due to the looming special event, some things that could potentially be affecting her mindset include:

The recent deaths in her peer group (her friend, Squeaky, and Polly). For many people, the reminder of one's own mortality can trigger a "Life is short, I must do All The Things now!" response (tbh, I think this is a major factor behind all the characters' actions).

Her parents' visit. As I speculated before, dating Jughead could be a way to convince them (and perhaps herself) that she's truly happy with her life choices (even though it'd be perfectly natural to have some doubts).

In addition, she could just be lonely and looking for a connection (and who else even is an option for her in Riverdale?). That's very human, and could also easily be amplified by everything else going on.

Jughead, meanwhile, is acting incredibly OOC. He basically goes from wary ("why are you so nice to me") to declaring that he wants to be Tabitha's boyfriend. That's a significant label to throw around before the first date. Even in his teenage relationship with Betty, it took some development before using the boyfriend label (which was only prompted by a comment from Veronica, otherwise who knows how long it would've taken).

He's also making some other odd choices. For example, going to work instead of investigating (especially when the case involves the bombing of his new girlfriend's business)? Restarting the Blue and Gold alone and renaming it (to the Riverdale Choice, hmm)?

So, what are some possible reasons for this?

I think the biggest driver might be Jughead's newly achieved sobriety. Per the (very vague) timeline, I'd estimate that he's roughly three to (maybe up-to) six weeks sober. We know he's already relapsed once, after seven days. He's been shown attending AA meetings and going through some of his steps (the so-called apology tour). It's unclear whether he has a sponsor, which is troubling (I fear he'll lean on Tabitha as his sole support, which is not okay).

Early on in his journey, Jughead's probably feeling pretty good, even confident. Since the start of the season, it seems like he's been desperately seeking a fresh start (he's used the phrase here and there), and views a new relationship as a means to achieve it. We know he's not over Betty (even hallucinating her as a savior figure), and the show hasn't given us any indication of this having actually changed. But perhaps he hopes dating Tabitha will help him move on and even have a nice, "normal" life. Dating Jessica obviously didn't, but maybe he's convinced himself that this time will be different. That he'll somehow manage to happily wedge his square-assed self into a round seat to be "perfect" for Tabitha (which isn't fair to either party).

In order to do so, it's almost like Jughead's trying to erase/replace old memories by forcing new ones. People have noted the similarities between two arson scenes, for example. Also, renaming the Blue and Gold seems symbolic to me. This is a paper with a long history under that name. It was also what brought Bughead together in season one. That history won't go away with a new name, but it could be what he's hoping to achieve (even if he's unaware of it).

He's also jeopardizing his fledgling sobriety by entering not only a new relationship, but one involving the major life change of moving in with a partner. This situation is often stressful under the best of circumstances, but these two hadn't even finished one date before broaching the subject.

I've said it before, but it's worth stating again: there are very, very good reasons behind the advice to not start new romantic relationships during the first year of sobriety. Dating tends to divert focus and energy (finite resources) away from recovery, which can wind up derailing the process.

Related to this is the risk of a new partner becoming the newly sober person's "higher power" (this is described a bit in this article, which makes some good points that are easy enough to understand). We've already seen that Jughead may view Betty in such a manner. Is he trying to transfer this role (of his savior or "light") to Tabitha? If so, that's a terrible position to be placed in and one in which she's guaranteed to fail. What happens when they fight (or worse, does she suffer in silence, choosing to walk on eggshells in order to protect him)?

There's also the danger of substitute/replacement addictions, one example of which is romance/love and the euphoria associated with a new relationship's so-called honeymoon period. Trouble is, the honeymoon always ends.

Beyond all of this, Jughead recently suffered what is perhaps the biggest blow to his identity when he lost his status as a writer (managing a small town paper isn't the same as what he'd had). I'd say it's actually been a gradual loss. He relied on drugs in order to write as an adult. This resulted in his YA novel (which is completely respectable, but doesn't seem aligned with his earlier dreams). But in 5x16, it accelerated after he submitted another's work as his own before admitting it and accepting that he'd be blackballed by the publishing industry. There's a lot to unpack here, but he's probably trying to find something to hold onto, or some way to reshape himself (I'd say that the term "identity crisis" probably applies here).

In any case, I'd imagine all of this stuff could eventually lead to a lot of built-up resentment for both parties. Can Jughead really sustain (and be happy doing so) this facade he's taking on? And to what extent does committing to this relationship and all of its "baggage" impact (or completely derail) Tabitha's goals and vision for Pop's (especially with the set back caused by the fire).

If this were a well-written show, I'd anticipate an interesting journey may lie ahead. Unfortunately, it is not a well-written show and it's quite possible that nothing I've said will be any sort of factor, or will but in a very minor way (like, I can totally see Tabitha dumping Jughead after stepping in three-day-old pizza left of the floor one-too-many times).

I guess we'll see, huh?

#riverdale negativity #riverdale speculation #riverdale spoilers #anti j*bitha #cw addiction #anon response

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phoenix-before-the-flame · 2 years

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Hello! I keep forgetting if I already sent an ask here but if I did, well, hello again! (I wanted to try and send a message with my side blog which is more Fairy Tail oriented but tumblr refuses to let me do so...) Just wanted to know your opinion on the Dragon Cry movie and if you're part of the 'I refuse to acknowledge its existence' club (I am as of now its only known member...) as I know you have the same position on the sequel as I do. Also wow can't believe we have the same fav character!

Well, the second movie does exist i'll give it that lol. But it's not really for me.

First off i am just not a fan of the overly bright colour palette and just how shiny everyone and everything was. Just, not for phoenix. Much prefer the duller colours of the first film.

Plus the plot just felt so, unorganized for lack of a better word? Feels like so much happens in it-

Our squad is recruited by the royal family to do a covert mission to find this military guy who defected to another country with some rare dragon artifact (seriously what is the legal limitations of what a guild can and cant do in universe. Why can they do so many things. Its like going down to your local community club and recruiting people to spy on Putin).

Also the military dude who defected likes to kidnap chicks and keep em in a dungeon? For some reason? And he's into feet? Why did we need to know this?

The super rare dragon artifact has the malice of all the dragons Acnologia killed and is basically a weapon of mass destruction (how did such a thing even come into existence?)

Actually theres a dragon wearing a girl as a skin puppet and wants the staff so he can regain his full power once more.

END shows up for like, 2 minutes for some reason.

Theres an Acnologia scene at the end giving him a back story that was no where to be found in the original series. (EDIT , ok got reminded that the Acnologia ribbon scene does show up in the manga 3 chapters before the series ends but its there in the OG thing. Still don't like it tho lol)

It felt like a bunch of ideas stitched together awkwardly instead of a smooth transition of events. Comparing to the first movie where the squad was just helping out a stranger and accidentally walked into a bigger plot, where whatever questions it brought up it answered (what was the phoenix? Answered. Who made it and why? Answered. Why was Eclaire immortal? Answered.)

I feel like, if instead there was a focus on one of the plot points things would've gone a bit better. Like for example-

shift focus fully onto the dragon artifact plot line.

Instead of having the squad be recruited (because i believe in limits to what a guild can do) have them kinda walk into the plot.

On the return from a mission sees a group getting attacked, jumps in to help leading to the inciting incident.

The group getting attacked is a small group of council spies who have the dragon artifact to return to be destroyed and with the squads efforts help fend of the attackers (mages from other countries trying to steal the artifact).

The 2 groups spend the night together and the spies explain their mission and the artifact they have (complete with flashbacks of what it is, how it was created and why and the guy who smuggled it out of fiore). There's animosity between the 2 groups(wizard vs council) but its ultimately decided that theyll make the journey back as one group for safety and such.

Clashing views of each other leads to arguments and possible understandings here and there alongside a few more minor attacks as the journey goes on. Also to note the dragon slayers act weird when in the presence of the artifact a la flashbacks and phantom pains and junk

Around 3/4 of the way through the film the major event happens and the artifact gets stolen away, plus the 2 dragon slayers present cause i dunno. Reasons. So now its a race to get em back.

Showdown with the movie bad guys. While main bad guy monologues his evil plan to use the energy (i dunno like absorb the energy in the staff to make themself a monolith of unstoppable power and bring the world to its knees). Wendy and Natsu warn him of what they feel from it and the dangers.

Squad reaches big bad just as he activates the artifact and releases the energy. Artifact breaks, energy disperses but doesn't all go to the big bad. Some goes to Natsu & Wendy forcing them into dragon force (well one into dragon force anyways).

Big bad is driven nuts and out of control by all the negative energy. Natsu and Wendy are struggling to keep control. So its the full squad vs the one big bad for the climatic fight.

Big bad gets defeated, energy is dispersed, Wendy powers down. Natsu takes significantly longer to come down from the energy and almost reached a point of breaking but turns back to normal (this is basically a backdoor introduction to E.N.D.)

There's a moment of calm with someone cracking a joke about how to explain this to the higher ups at the council. They all leave to finish the journey back. Credits rolls with a montage of pics between the squad and the council spies both during the events of the movie and after.

Ok I swear i didn't mean to rewrite the second movie. This was an accident

But even though i much prefer the first movie the second one has its perks. The animation is pretty decent, the backgrounds are lovely and the voice acting is solid. So not a complete loss i guess.

Except for the jiggle physics and that club dance scene with Lucy, those are unforgivable.

Like seriously the swang on those thangs is crazy

#fairy tail #fairy tail headcanon #also yes hi👋#fprgot to say hi lol

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wiypt-writes · 3 years

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Stark Spangled Banner

Ch29. The Sokovia Accords Part 2: No, You Move.

Summary: Whilst discussing the proposed accords, Steve gets some bad news which makes everything pale into insignificance. And then, another ghost from his past comes back to haunt them.

Warnings: Bad language, Smut! (NSFW, Under 18s) Bad Language words.

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

A/N: Elements of this have been reworked/rewritten…for reasons which will become apparent at some point! And I’ve also added in the scene with Natasha at the church. I love the banner and edit too from @angrybirdcr.

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Katie Stark and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Chapter 29 Part 1

Stark Spangled Banner Masterlist // Main Masterlist

Steve had hoped that the more casual setting would defuse the seriousness of the situation. But that went out of the window an hour or so later when Rhodey and Sam started going at it. Steve was sat in the arm chair carefully reading through the accords packet with a deep frown, Katie perched on the arm of the chair reading over his shoulder. Tony was reclined on the chaise to their right with his hand covering his face as Sam and Rhodey argued, Natasha sitting patiently down by Tony’s legs waiting for them to be done. Vision and Wanda were on the sofa to their other side, neither having said much.

“Secretary Ross has a Congressional medal of Honour,” argued Rhodey from behind the chair. Katie turned to look at them both. “Which is one more than you have.” He mocked Sam.

“So let’s say we agree to this thing. How long is it gonna be before they Low-Jack us like a bunch of common criminals?” Sam shot back.

“A hundred an seventeen countries want to sign this. A hundred and seventeen, Sam, and you’re just like, no, that’s cool. We got it.”

“How long are you going to play both sides?” Sam snapped.

“I have an equation.” Vision spoke loudly before Rhodey could reply, causing both men to quiet down and everyone to look at him. Steve lifted his head from the packet bringing his arm up to rest on Katie’s thigh.

“Oh, now this will clear it up,” said Sam sarcastically.

“In the eight years since Mr Stark announced himself as Iron Man, the number of known enhanced persons has grown exponentially. During the same period the number of potentially world-ending events has risen at a commensurate rate.” Vision steeped his fingers together as he looked around a everyone.

“Are you saying it’s our fault?” Steve asked tensely, his hand on Katie’s leg became heavier.

“I’m saying there may be a causality. Our very strength invites challenge. Challenge incites conflict. And conflict breeds catastrophe. Oversight isn’t an idea that can be dismissed out of hand.”

“Boom,” Rhodey exclaimed, believing that Vision had solidified his point.

Katie shook her head sighing,

“Sorry Vision, I disagree.” Everyone’s attention now turned to her. “Being supervised is one thing. But from what I’ve read these Accords want us to give up total control of what we do and when we do it.” She paused as Steve’s arm slid from her leg to wrap around her back. She then turned her attention to Tony and looked at him as he remained still, hand over his face. "Clearly this has been in the pipeline for some time now, so why are we only just hearing about it?”

Tony glanced at her from underneath his hand, not offering an answer, as she continued.

“And less than a week to come to a decision on something like this? They’re trying to back us into a corner without giving us any proper time to discuss or negotiate the terms and its wrong.” She finished simply, shaking her head and crossing her arms.

“Boom.” Sam repeated from behind her.

“Tony.” Natasha addressed him as he removed his hand from his face. “You are being uncharacteristically non-hyper verbal,”

“It’s because he’s already made up his mind,” Katie raised her eyebrow.

“Kiddo, you know me so well.” Tony scoffed then groaned, standing up and moving over to the kitchen area with a sigh "Actually, I’m nursing an electromagnetic headache. That’s what’s going on. It’s just pain. It’s discomfort.” Another frustrated sigh escaped him as he faffed with something in the sink. “Who’s putting coffee grounds in the disposal? Am I running a bed and breakfast for a biker gang?”

Tony moved to the other countertop slapping down the coffee mug and coffee pot before pulling his phone from his pocket and dropping it onto the fruit basket, then turning it on revealing the hologram of a young man.

“Oh, that’s Charles Spencer, by the way,” said Tony with fake carelessness. “He’s a great kid. Computer engineering degree, 3.6 GPA, had a floor-level gig at Intel planned for the fall. But first, he wanted to put a few miles on his soul before he parked it behind a desk; see the world, maybe be of service. Charlie didn’t want to go to Vegas or Fort Lauderdale, which is what I would do. He didn’t go to Paris or Amsterdam, which sounds fun.” He spat sarcastically, “He decided to spend his summer building sustainable housing for the poor guess where: Sokovia.”

He slammed his mug down as he stared round the room in anger, whilst Katie looked over at Wanda who bowed her head the moment her home was mentioned.

“He wanted to make a difference, I suppose. We won’t know because we dropped a building on him while we were 'kicking ass’.” Tony ran a hand down his face before taking a drink of his coffee. “There’s no decision-making process here. We need to be put in check! Whatever form that takes, I’m game. If we can’t accept limitations, if we’re boundary-less, we’re no better than the bad guys.” He concluded, walking around the counter to lean back against it holding his arms over his chest.

“Tony,” Steve began gently. “If someone dies on your watch, you don’t give up.”

“Who said we’re giving up?” Tony questioned.

“We are for not taking responsibility for our actions.” Continued Steve. “This document just shifts the blame.”

“I’m sorry, Steve. That is dangerously arrogant.” Rhodey interrupted “This is the United Nations we’re talking about. It’s not the World Security Council, it’s not SHIELD, it’s not HYDRA.”

“No, but its run by people with agendas, and agendas change.” Steve shot back, earnestly.

“That’s good.” Tony answered, re-joining the group. “That’s why I’m here. Look, Cap, me and Kiddo, when we realized what Stark weapons were capable of in the wrong hands, we shut it down and stopped manufacturing.”

“Yeah, but Tony, we chose to do that.” Katie jabbed at her chest as she blazed at her brother, her voice gathering momentum and volume. “If we sign these then the next time something like that happens we won’t have the right to choose!“

"What if this panel sends us somewhere we don’t think we should go?” Steve continued his hand gently rubbing at Katie’s back. He was glad they were on the same page, but he didn’t want her getting upset and falling out with Tony. “What if there is somewhere we need to go and they don’t let us?” He took a deep breath and shook his head. “We may not be perfect, but the safest hands are still our own.”

Tony looked down at the couple who both stared back at him. He rolled his eyes again. Of course they would be united on this, they were united on everything. But there were bigger things at stake here. If they didn’t agree, they’d be forced to retire, and the team would be split up. And he couldn’t let that happen.

“If we don’t do this now, it’s gonna be done to us later. That’s the fact. That won’t be pretty,” Tony explained, his tone almost pleading.

“You’re saying they’ll come for me?” Asked Wanda quietly.

“We would protect you,” Vision added placing a gentle hand on Wanda’s shoulder.

“Maybe Tony’s right.” Natasha spoke, turning her eyes to both Katie and Steve, trying to get them to see her point. Katie looked at her incredulously, and Steve’s mouth fell open a little in surprise. “If we have one hand on the wheel, we can still steer. If we take it off-”

“Aren’t you the same woman who told the government to kiss her ass a few years ago?” Sam frowned, interrupting her in disbelief.

“I’m just…reading the terrain.” She sighed. “We have made some very public mistakes. We need to win their trust back.”

“Focus up – I’m sorry, did I just mishear you, or did you agree with me?” Tony looked at her.

Natasha rolled her eyes. “I want to take it back now.” She groaned but Tony was quick to cut in.

“No, you can’t retract it.” He said, waving a finger at her. “Thank you. Unprecedented. Case closed I win.”

As Katie shot some annoyed response back to Tony, something along the lines of him being ‘an egotistical, arrogant prick’, Steve felt his phone going in his pocket. He shifted slightly to pull it out and glanced down. It was a message from Peggy’s son, Michael.

‘She’s gone, in her sleep.’

As the meaning behind the words sunk in, his throat tightened, and suddenly the damned accords didn’t matter anymore. Taking a deep breath, his heart pounding in his chest, he felt the familiar sting of tears in his in his eyes but he didn’t want to break down, not here, not in front of the team.

“I have to go.” He breathed out, handing the Accords to Katie before standing and leaving the room quickly without meeting anyone’s eye.

He made it to the stairwell, leaning against the railings, pinching the bridge of his nose in an attempt to calm himself down but he couldn’t. The tears began to fall and he slumped down onto one of the steps. Which was where Katie found him a few minutes later, shocked to see his shoulders were shaking. She said nothing until she had made her way down to him, wedging herself on the step beside him between him and the wall.

“Stevie?” She asked quietly inspecting his face, seeing the tears across his cheeks. “Sweetheart, what is it.”

“It’s err..” He sniffed and wiped at his nose with a finger, not looking at her “It’s Peg. She’s gone.”

“Oh, no.” Katie muttered, dropping her head. Poor Peggy. She had been quite ill over the last few weeks and the Doctors had said it was unlikely she would recover, but the both of them had been hoping to get to see her to say their goodbyes. Katie felt the tears sting her eyes as she opened up her arms and Steve immediately fell into them. Sometimes it was much too easy to forget how young and inexperienced life wise he actually was at heart and Katie simply held him, as she felt his tears hit her neck. Gently she ran her fingers through his hair as they sat still, not saying a word.

"Will you come with me to the funeral?” His voice was hoarse and muffled but she heard him anyway

“Of course I will.” she said looking at him as he pulled away, his eyes red. She reached up to wipe his face with the back of her hand as he rest his forehead against hers. “Of course I will.”

***** London was caught in the middle of a summer storm when they arrived, four days later. The wind and rain whipped Katie’s hair about her face as they stepped from the StarkJet onto the tarmac of Gatwick Airport. They made their way towards the waiting car, Steve’s large hand taking her smaller, and somewhat colder, one in his as they walked, Sam pacing at his other side. The drive to the hotel was filled mainly with Sam and Katie chatting as she pointed out various landmarks to the man, Steve remaining silent on the whole apart from chipping in when he was spoken to.

His sombre mood continued through to the evening, and when Katie told him that Sam was meeting up with some of his old Air Force buddies and suggested that the two of them head out for something to eat, he was torn between wanting to go out and try to enjoy some time with her, and this strange urge he felt to simply curl up in the relative safety of the hotel room with her, alone. And then there was the war which was raging inside him, an internal battle in the depth of his conscious and mind. He was married to Katie, he loved her, more than he’d ever loved anyone. And yet, here he was grieving so much for a woman who, when all was said and done, he hadn’t actually known for that long. Peggy was his past, Katie was his here and now, his future, his forever. So why did he feel this way?

“Stevie.” Katie’s voice gently shook him from his thoughts and he turned away from the view of the Thames he’d been observing through the floor to ceiling window of their suite and faced her. “We don’t have to go anywhere to eat if you don’t want to.”

“I’m sorry.” He sighed, shaking his head. “I just, I feel…”

“Upset? Tired of pretending you’re okay?” She supplied and he gave a little huff of laugher, shaking his head as he looked at the soft, deep blue carpet of the room.

“You know, are you sure you don’t have some kind of secret mind reading power?” He looked at her once more and she smiled softly.

“No, I just know you.” She stepped forward and held out her arms and Steve moved to fall into them, his cheek resting on her head as he let out a shaky breath. “You don’t have to hide it in front of me, you know.” She pulled back to look at him, her hands cupping his face.

“I love you.” He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers in a soft kiss. “You know that, right?”

“Of course I do.” She frowned before her head tilted to the side as she considered what he had just said, suddenly understanding. “Wait, is that what’s bothering you? How I feel?”

His lack of response spoke volumes as he looked down once more, his large hands gently wrapping around her wrists, moving her hands to her side so he could lace his fingers between hers.

“Oh, Steve!” Katie shook her head and her fingers tightened around his. “You’ve every right to feel how you do, Peggy meant a lot to you.”

“She did, yeah, but so do you.” He glanced at her, his blue eyes shining with tears. “In fact, you mean more to me than anything else ever has. I just wanna be sure you know that.”

“If I didn’t know it, I wouldn’t have married you.” Katie shrugged simply. “But, Soldier, just because you love me the way you do, doesn’t mean that you never loved Peggy, or that you still can’t in some ways.” When he didn’t reply, Katie studied him for a moment, before she took a deep breath. “Steve, look at me, please.” He did as she asked and she gave him a soft smile. “It’s okay, I promise you I understand.”

He gave her another little smile as she stood on her toes to brush her lips against his. “Now, I’m gonna draw you a bath. You’re gonna get in, and you’re gonna relax.”

“Is that an order, Ma’am?” He smiled and Katie chuckled.

“Yeah, it is. And you know what else I’m gonna order? A fuck tonne of room service.”

It was Steve’s turn to chuckle as she smiled. “Then we can raid the mini-bar and bunker down for the evening. How’s that sound?”

Steve smiled, his hand reaching up to brush a piece of hair behind her ears. “It sounds okay, but would be a whole lot better if you said you were gonna join me in the bath.”

Katie smiled, her eyes flashing a little as he leaned down and captured her lips with his, the kiss slow and deep. Her arms slid up round his neck, fingers softly skating along his hairline and he let out a contented sigh as she broke away, his forehead pressing to hers, hands softly flexing on her hips. Without another word she pulled away before taking his hand, and gently leading him through the suite to the bathroom.

***** Steve didn’t sleep well that night. His mind was in overdrive, his subconscious showing him people he hadn’t seen in a very, very long time. He dreamt about Peggy, Bucky, Howard, the Howlies…and Katie. Even in dreams about his past she was there, ever present, just like she was in his life. When he woke up from a particularly vivid flashback about crashing back into the ice, he jerked bolt upright with a yell, his breathing desperate and ragged. Katie sat up beside him, her hand on his clammy back as she gently soothed him, her calm and quiet. Steve swallowed, turning to face her as she sat looking at him, concern etched on her face. She made to get out of bed to fetch him a glass of water but he stopped her, his large hand curling gently around her arm. He needed her, and he wasted no time at all in making sure she understood that. As she lay underneath him, her hands wrapped around his back, nails biting his skin, he fucked her, hard and fast, into the mattress, the relief washing over him like a tidal wave. When he evened out, he rolled onto his back, pulling her with him, his hand carding through her hair as hers traced random shapes over his chest. The pair of them lay still, gentle and loving touches and kisses being shared as they simply talking until the sun rose. And then Steve found himself back over his wife once more as he stuffed himself insider her again, only this time he made love to her, as softly and as gently as he could, needing to feel every single inch of her against him as he surrendered to that bliss that only she could ever make him feel.

They took a room service breakfast and at just before Eleven they met Sam in the Reception of the hotel and made their way to the church. Steve, who had been asked by Peggy’s family to be a pall bearer, hung back outside as Katie and Sam took their seats along the front pew of the Church. It wasn’t long before the choir began to sing and Katie turned as the procession walked down the aisle. Steve held the front right-hand corner of the coffin, carrying it with stiff steps, his cheeks wet, eyes red rimmed and full of tears. Katie felt Sam squeeze her shoulder, and she turned to face him briefly.

“My heart is breaking for him, Sam.” She whispered through her own tears as Sam dropped his hand to take hers, as they both watched the six men place the coffin at the front of the church. Sam released Katie’s hand with another gentle squeeze and they shuffled down to make room for Steve who took her left hand, seeking out her comfort and contact as he stared at the picture to the side of the coffin. It showed the Peggy he had known, back in the Forties, standing tall and proud in her uniform.

When the choir song ended they all sat, Steve staring down at his wife’s hand wrapped in his, and he began to play with her wedding and engagement rings, twirling them round her finger, his mind straying to his wedding and how he had told Katie at the toasts he was only strong because she made him that way. He was so glad she was with him now. Lost in his thoughts, he suddenly felt her hand contract around his, quite hard, and he looked up at her. When he did she nodded her head in the direction of the podium. Steve’s eyes followed then did a slight double take at who was stood there.

Agent Thirteen of Shield special service and his ex-neighbour.

“Margaret Carter was known to most as a founder of Shield.” The woman who’s name Steve recalled being told by Natasha was Sharon, began, sounding nervous. “But I just knew her as Aunt Peggy.”

Peggy’s Niece? Steve couldn’t believe his ears. All that time she had been living across the hall, spying on him…and she was Peggy’s niece?

“She had a photograph in her office, Aunt Peggy standing next to JFK. As a kid, that was pretty cool. But, it was a lot to live up to. Which is why I barely told anyone we were related.” Sharon glanced down at Steve, like she was offering him some form of explanation.

“I asked her once how she managed to master diplomacy and espionage at a time when no one wanted to see a woman succeed at either.” Sharon swallowed before she continued, her voice becoming stronger. “And she said, 'Compromise when you can. But when you can’t, don’t. Even if everyone is telling you that something wrong is something right. Even if the whole world is telling you to move, it is your duty, to plant yourself like a tree, look them in the eye and say, 'No, you move.”

Katie glanced at Steve then to Sam, the three of them sharing a knowing glance. Those words were powerful, especially given the situation with the Accords. And for Steve, it was almost like Peggy was speaking to him, still giving him advice even in her death.

Despite the utter sorrow he was feeling, Steve couldn’t help but smile at the sentiment.

Thanks Peg…

*****

Katie watched as Steve leaned against the end of one of the pews, lost in his thought. He’d by passed the part where they were actually putting Peggy into the ground, saying he didn’t want to see it so instead, Katie had given him a moment to pay his respects along, waiting for him to give her some direction as to what he wanted to next.

As always, he seemed to know she was there before she even made a sound and he looked up, giving her a small smile as she walked down the middle of the church aisle towards him.

“Hey, Sweetheart.” He smiled as she stopped in front of him, opening her arms to give him a hug.

“How you doing?” She asked softly, her lips brushing his temple as he pressed his face into her neck.

“I’m okay.” He assured her, pulling back. “Just, suppose it’s sunk in that she’s actually gone, you know.” Katie gave him a sad smile. “When I came out of the ice, I thought everyone I had known was gone. Then I found out that she was alive. I was just lucky to have her.”

“She had you back, too.” Katie looked at him.

“Yeah, and at least I knew where she was, unlike Bucky.”

“Don’t give up on him just yet, love.” Katie rubbed his arm as he placed a kiss to her forehead. Steve glanced once more to the front of the church and Katie followed his glance to look at the flowers placed on the alter.

“It was a nice service.” She said, her arm looping round his waist.

“Yeah, it was.” A familiar voice spoke and both of them whipped round to see Natasha strolling towards them. Steve let out a little scoff and looked down, shaking his head.

“You know, I thought I saw you before but convinced myself I was seeing things.”

“Well, I was sorta in the area.” She shrugged. There was a pause before Steve voiced what was on his mind since he’d left the compound a few days ago.

“Who else signed?” Steve asked.

“Tony. Rhodey. Vision.”

“Clint?” Katie asked.

Nat smiled slightly. “Says he's retired.”

“Wanda?” Steve looked at her.

“TBD” Nat answered. Katie looked at Steve before Nat took a deep breath. “I'm off to Vienna for the signing of the Accords. There's plenty of room on the jet.”

Steve sighed and bowed his head.

“Just because it's the path of least resistance doesn't mean it's the wrong path.” Nat continued. “Staying together is more important than how we stay together.”

“Are you trying to convince us or yourself?” Katie asked and Natasha merely held her gaze.

“What are we giving up to do it?” Steve shook his head as Natasha turned to him. “I'm sorry, Nat. I can't sign it.”

“Me neither.” Katie added. “Not as they stand.”

“I know.” Nat smiled.

“Then what are you doing here?” Steve looked at her.

“Well, like I said, I was in the area.” Nat’s eyes flicked to the alter. “Plus, knowing who she is and what she did. I might never have met her but, well, it felt right to pay my respects.” She then looked back at them both. “Plus, I wanted to see you, check you were okay.” She said the last part to Steve more than Katie and he gave her a little smile as she moved to give him a hug.

****

They decided to go to the wake, and Katie took the chance to seek out Sharon where she was standing among a group of people, making polite conversation but clearly looking for a way out, which Katie was happy to provide, squeezing her elbow gently, and gesturing with her head for the blonde woman to follow her.

“I really am sorry about Peggy,” Katie began as they settled at an empty table. “She was a phenomenal woman.”

"Thank you,” Sharon said softly. “That means a lot. You know she liked you?”

Katie chuckled “She told me once or twice.” “I think she was happy that Steve found someone.” Sharon smiled. “Someone that makes him happy.”

Katie glanced at where Steve and Sam were waiting at the bar. Steve shot her a glance over his shoulder and smiled softly, before Katie returned her attention to the woman opposite her.

“So this accords thing?” Sharon changed the subject “It’s really happening?”

“Looks that way, yeah.”

“And where do you stand on it?”

“I’m not signing” Katie shook her head. “Not the way they stand, that’s for sure. And seeing as they don’t seem to want to negotiate terms, it’s a non-starter.”

“Does Steve feel the same?”

Katie nodded. “And Sam.”

Before Sharon could question her further, Katie’s eyes flicked to a point over her shoulder and she gave a side smile as the boys approached.

“Ladies,” Sam baritone smoothly, sitting in the seat next to Sharon and setting down a drink in front of her. From the look on the blonde’s face, this surprised her, but she accepted nonetheless with a thanks. Steve sat next to Katie handing over another glass of wine, whilst pressing a soft kiss to her lips.

“You okay?” She whispered before he pulled away completely. He nodded and cleared his throat.

“Yeah. I saw just telling Sam about what Nat said.”

“And I was cheering to an honourable discharge.” Sam snorted sarcastically as he raised his glass. “Again.”

“Sorry, for jumping in but, if you’re not signing the Accords then what does that mean for you all?” Sharon looked round the table

“I dunno.” Steve smiled softly, shaking his head.

“Ultimate fighting?” Sam cut in, and Steve snorted as Katie laughed. “I told you, you’d be great at it.”

"More like an early retirement.” Steve stated, a small smile playing on his face.

“Not really that early though is it, Cap?” Sam continued his ribbing “I mean like you are hundred or whatever…”

As was natural with these type of functions, a few hours later people started to leave and eventually Peggy’s children headed over to the table to say their goodbyes. As they all stood to offer their condolences once more, something Michael said about Peggy being a woman of many surprises, brought back something which had been weighing heavily on Steve’s mind since he had left the church.

When Sharon stated that she was heading back to her hotel, Steve suggested that she walked with them, but for the most of the short walk, he remained silent, brooding over his thoughts. And it was only when they reached the door to Sharon’s hotel that he spoke, telling Katie that he’d meet her and Sam in their hotel bar in a couple of minutes.

She shot him a puzzled look but he had simply shook his head in a silent instruction not to argue. So, she merely shrugged, linked her arm through Sam’s and they crossed the road and headed straight inside, crossing the lobby.

“What’s all that about?” Sam asked as he held the heavy wooden door open for her. Katie shrugged and stepped into the room.

“Beats me, he obviously has something on his mind.” She said, walking into the large wooden bar which curved along the back of the circular room. “Can I have…” she trailed off as she spotted the TV on the wall behind the bar tender, which was programmed to the BBC news.

Her eyes widened and she felt Sam stiffen besides her.

“Is this…is this live?” She asked the guy who was waiting to serve them. He nodded. “Can you turn the volume up?”

He nodded again and obliged.

“…at the moment we know that over 70 people have been injured and that number is rising. At least 12 are dead, including Wakanda’s King T'Chaka. Officials have released a video of a suspect who they have identified as James Buchanan Barnes, the Winter Soldier. The infamous HYDRA agent, linked to numerous acts of terrorism and political assassinations.”

Katie swallowed as the picture of the suspect flashed across the screen. It looked like Bucky alright.

“Shit.” Sam said, from behind her.

“Go, get Steve.” She urged, “I need to call Tony.”

*****

“My mom tried to talk me out of enlisting, but, um, not Aunt Peggy. She bought me my first thigh holster.” Sharon smiled as they walked through the lobby.

“Very practical.” Steve nodded.

“And stylish.” Sharon smiled as she stopped by the elevator, pressing the call button before she turned to look at Steve.

“CIA has you stationed over here now?”

“In Berlin, Joint Terrorism Task Force.”

“Right. Right.” Steve nodded. “Sounds fun.”

“I know, right?” Sharon chuckled.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you.” Steve took a deep breath, finally voicing what was on his mind. “When you were spying on me from across the hall…”

“You mean when I was doing my job?” Sharon interrupted but Steve ignored her.

“Did Peggy know?”

Sharon considered him for a moment, before she let out a gentle sigh.

“She kept so many secrets. I didn’t want her to have one from you.” Sharon lay her hand on his arm, and Steve felt the weight lift off his shoulders. He had been so scared that Peggy had been lying to him for the past few years, to hear that she hadn’t was a relief.

“Thanks for walking me back.” Sharon nodded to the elevator “Tell Katie and Sam I’m grateful.”

She moved to give Steve a hug, and he obliged, but the broke apart when they both heard footsteps running towards them.

“Steve…you gotta see this.” Sam urged and Steve frowned, looking at him, before he spotted Katie running into the lobby, and looking round.

He moved instantly towards her, and she spotted him, hurrying straight towards him.

“Sweetheart, what’s wrong?” He asked, his hands gently curling round her upper arms.

“There’s been a bomb in Vienna.” She explained, taking a deep breath. “A deliberate attack on the signing ceremony.”

Steve felt himself grow cold. “Is everyone okay?”

“I got through to Tony and they’re all safe but the King of Wakanda. He’s dead, Steve” Katie took a deep breath. “And…” She trailed off licking her lips as she took a deep breath.

“Katie, what is it?” Steve’s voice wasn’t unkind but it was firm as he looked at her, and she threw her head back, looking at the ceiling for a moment before, with a monumental effort, she looked back at him, swallowing deeply.

“It’s Bucky, Steve.” Her voice was almost a whisper. “It looks like he’s responsible.”

**** Chapter 30

**Original Posting**

#stark spangled banner #steve rogers #Katie Stark #steve rogers fanfiction #steve rogers x ofc #steve rogers x original female character #steve rogers fic #mcu #mcu fanfic #chris evans #chris evans characters

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promptmaker · 4 years

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Sinfully Nalu Prompt suggestions.

Here are suggestions for the Sinfully NaLu event prompts! If you want to use one, let me know and I can cross it out if you want. If none of these work for you but you still want an idea for the prompt, let me know and I can try to help!

1. Biting/Fangs/Teeth: Now that Natsu and Lucy are together, Natsu has taken a liking to “marking” Lucy by leaving bite marks all over her. Though she enjoys it, it is a source of constant teasing from the other FT ladies whenever they bathe together. So she devises a way to get back at Natsu and leave some marks of her own. With research help from Levy, Lucy finds a spell that temporarily gives her fangs like Natsu. Next time they are alone together, they take great pleasure in marking each other up.

2. Biting/Fangs/Teeth: While fixing Natsu’s favorite spicy meal, Lucy spills some on herself after he sneaks up on her. Before she can get mad, Natsu is already licking the mess off of her. Liking the taste, he decides to make a meal out of Lucy instead.

3. Public Sex: (Post Series) Fairy Tail is participating in the Grand Magic games yet again and are doing well. Natsu and Lucy are participating this year and after a few successful wins, they decide to celebrate in the team locker room.

4. Public Sex: During a stay at a fancy onsen,Lucy and Natsu indulge in a night of drinking at the bar after a dip in the hotspring. Unsurprisingly, Lucy becomes a bit tipsy and starts becoming extra flirty and handsy with Natsu. So he decides to end their night of drinking early and take Lucy back to their room to give her what she wants. Or he tries too but the place is big and gets lost. Lucy loses her patience and kisses Natsu against a wall and says she can’t wait anymore and they could go at it right then and there if they need to. Natsu is surprised but thrilled at her suggestion. Since it's late and the hallway is deserted, they go for it and Natsu takes her against the wall there.

5. Public Sex: Natsu and Lucy sneak off during a break at one of her book signings to have some fun at the back of the book store.

6. Public Sex: After starting the latest bar fight at the guild, Natsu is tasked with cleaning the FT pool as punishment. He manages to drag Lucy along to help him. But they can only see each other scantily clad and working up a sweat for so long before they go at it right in the pool.

7. Public Sex: (Modern AU) Natsu and Lucy are enjoying a comic convention that they go to every year. Dressed up in cosplay the two wander the main hall and get quite a bit of attention due to their sexy cosplay. When Lucy gets a little too much attention, Natsu drags her off the main floor and finds a quiet place for a quickie.

8. Public Sex: When Lucy tells Natsu he can pick their next date location she knew she was asking for trouble and he confirms her fears by taking her to a nude beach. When she realizes he picked the location specifically to fluster her she decides two can play at that game and the two tease each other the entire time they are there. They of course get carried away and sneak somewhere hidden to go at it before they get caught. Afterward Lucy realizes that she really had fun there and is open to returning. Also works under the Secret prompt. (Old Prompt)

9. Dirty Talk/Texting Natsu and Lucy have been together for a couple of months now and can’t keep their hands off each other. It gets so bad that Lucy’s friends need to drag her away for some girl time at a spa/onsen. NaLu secretly keeps in touch via text and face time throughout Lucy’s trip but things escalate when a drunken and flirty Lucy starts sending Natsu risque pics and texts throughout her time there. Their escapades end with a video chat session that turns steamy. (Old Prompt)

10. Dirty talk/Sexting: After nearly destroying half a town during a mission, Natsu is brought before the magic council for the standard lecture. During which he mostly ignores them and texts Lucy under the table. To tease her, he makes the topic dirty and about the things they’ll do together when he gets home. But she takes him by surprise by making the conversation even dirtier and soon Natsu has another problem under the table.

11. Dirty Talk/Sexting: Lucy and Natsu want to spice things up their sex life and they think adding dirty talk will help. They both do their own research on what they think sexy dirty talk will sound like (Lucy from the library/Levy, Natsu from the older FT guys). After their research they get together to put it to the test with… interesting results.

12. Dirty Talk/Sexting: Lucy is away on a week long photo shoot while Natsu is at home recovering from an injury. When he complains to her that he is bored, she decides to start sending him pictures of her in various sexy outfits she is wearing for the shoot. The messages between them become sexier and devolve into Natsu telling her what he wants to do to her and Lucy sending even more sexy/nude pics to instigate him (Optional: Lucy has a lady friend help her take the pics.)

13. Wedding night/Wedding: Natsu and Lucy’s dream wedding is not going as expected. Natsu sees Lucy too early, the half the guests are delayed by a storm, there are issues with the food ect. So Natsu and Lucy find an empty room at the venue (or wherever the wedding takes place) and have a quiet moment together and are just glad they have each other. The tender moment quickly turns mischievous when one of them suggests a quickie to take the edge off. They are of course accidentally caught on camera by the wedding photographer.

14. Wedding Night/Wedding: NaLu have just gotten married and have just arrived at their hotel room to “celebrate”. Throughout the day, Natsu has been teasing Lucy that she looked great in her dress but he was going to burn it off her once they are alone and to his surprise she does encourage him to burn it off. Revealing that there was a spell on the dress that burned it off without hurting her and that she was wearing flame themed lingerie underneath. Now the fun can really begin. (Lucy can switch out her actual wedding dress with this one before the scene takes place. I doubt she would burn the real thing.)

15. Snowed in/Trapped: Natsu and Lucy are stuck at home after several days of heavy snow. With Natsu crawling up the wall from boredom, Lucy makes a suggestion. With the help of Virgo and Natsu’s magic, they use the excess snow to create an impromptu hot spring in their backyard. As a challenge from Natsu, they two streak nude across the rest of the snow in their yard to get to the spring. An extra excuse to cuddle for warmth once they get there. Which of course leads to other things.

16. Snowed In/Trapped: A huge snow storm has blocked all the roads and has made a mess on the Dragneel household, so Natsu and Lucy spend their morning clearing the surrounding snow. Natsu of course starts a snowball fight that ends with him putting snow down Lucy’s shirt and her using Aquarius in retaliation. Now both thoroughly soaked, the two head inside, strip down, and must think of some creative ways to “warm up”.

17. Marking/Mating/Ritual: An attempt to get Natsu’s DS mating cycle under control backfires when the spell that is supposed to calm him down, just gives his mating urges to Lucy instead. Now he must tend to her every need for 72 hours until the spell passes.

18. Marking/Mating/Ritual: After Lucy and Natsu get married, they are offered a rare honor by the Celestial Spirit King to perform a special mating ritual in the Celestial World. During this ritual their souls temporarily merge and it's supposed to be a deep bonding experience. Other future benefits is that they can share magic when they need to and can sense where the other is any time. They are given their own special villa to stay at where they can perform the ritual and not have to worry about their energy draining or losing time while in the Celestial World.

19. Starting a Family: (Edolas) Lucy Ashley is pregnant with her and Natsu Doragion’s first child and her sex drive is through the roof. So before he goes on his next solo mission, she is sure to get as much out of him as she can. He is more than happy (and a bit scared) to help.

20. Starting a Family: Natsu and Lucy have been in a friends with benefits relationship for quite some time, too afraid of ruining their friendship if they were to take things further. But when Natsu gets Lucy pregnant, they must figure out what their new relationship is going to be and how they are going to start a family together.

21. Massage/Masseuse: (Modern AU): Lucy has been visiting a massage parlor frequently lately (either for stress relief or for Physical Therapy). But mostly she goes there to flirt with her favorite masseuse, Natsu. He likes to flirt back too but attempts to be professional about it. Until eventually the sexual tension between them snaps and they go at it then and there. (Roles can be flipped)

22. Massage/Masseuse: When Natsu takes a bad hit during a mission, he needs healing ointment rubbed onto his body regularly for a week. His girlfriend Lucy is happy to help him with this and they both indulge in a Nurse/Patient role-play they’ve been wanting to try.

23. Massage/Masseuse (Minor Hero’s/Edens Zero crossover): Lucy and Natsu are visiting the Edens Zero crew on their ship. When the crew becomes preoccupied with something, they encourage Natsu and Lucy to indulge in the bath and massage room. Which they gladly do. After their bath the two head to the massage room where Natsu plans on giving Lucy the rub down of her life!

24. Magic: (Whip) Lucy has gotten a new electrical whip. When Natsu puts them in the red again for being too destructive on a mission, she decides he needs to be punished. So next time they are intimate, she introduces the whip in the bedroom (Natsu is into this. She uses it to tie him up, lightly shock/stimulate him, and spanking (or whatever the writer wants.)

25. Magic: (X-Ray Glasses) Lucy gives Natsu magic glasses before a mission, telling him it's important that he wears them and it will help find what they are looking for. What he doesn’t know is that they are actually Magic X-Ray Glasses. As revenge for an earlier prank done on her, Lucy enchants them to only work on her so Natsu can see through her clothes throughout the mission. But he can’t do anything about it with their teammates there (glasses could also be magically stuck to his face for a while), so he has to suffer his mate intentionally teasing him throughout the day until they finally get some alone time at an inn, where he pounces her and they both get some much needed release.

26. Magic: (Pleasure) NaLu are exposed to a “Pleasure” spell from a dark mage during a mission. They are forced to leave the dark mage in the care of their teammates as they scurry off to find a secluded area where they can work off the spell. (Pleasure spell like Laracade’s, that sends a person into a heightened pleasured state until they reach completion with someone.) (Old Prompt)

27. Magic: (Clones) When Lucy makes the mistake of asking Cana what to get Natsu for his birthday, Cana crudely reveals that she has a new multiply card that can multiply anyone she touches with it and she convinces Lucy it would be a great bedroom surprise for Natsu. (Can also be given to Natsu) (Old Prompt)

28. Magic: (Transform) NaLu are at home practicing transformation magic for a mission. Once they get the hang of it they start having some fun with it. But once one (or both) of them find a transformation that the other finds too desirable for the other to ignore, the real fun can begin. (Bunny or Cat girl Lucy? Dragon Lord Natsu? Whatever the writer wants!) (Old Prompt)

29. Magic: (Invisibility) Natsu convinces Lucy to use a leftover invisibility potion to help him with some pranks at the guild. They quickly realize what other sexual mischief they can get up to at the guild now that they won’t get caught.

30. Magic: (Unison Raid) While Natsu and Lucy are having an intense intimate moment, they activate a unison raid by accident. But instead of causing destruction, it amplifies everything they are feeling together.

#natsu dragneel #lucy heartifilla #nalu #smut #fanfic #prompts #sinfully nalu

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ichika27 · 3 years

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Mairimashita! Iruma-kun s2 ep20

Another light-hearted episode! We’re not yet in the next big arc, I guess.

Ameri’s dad came over to personally tell Iruma that the reporters have gotten restraining orders and can’t bother him for an interview about what happened at the park anymore. Iruma is relived to hear this as it meant he could go home now.

He asked about Ameri but her dad angrily replies that Ameri is busy studying.

lol She’s studying alright - studying on how to create the perfect date for her and Iruma!

This girl is using manga as reference material. Haha well, her powers involve imagination and will power after all.

Ameri was too nervous to actually ask out Iruma (even though Iruma had told her that they could go somewhere with just the two of them before). Iruma made the first move and messaged her about their day out himself.

She happily tells him of where they’d meet (but kept the location of the place they’re going to a secret) and also reminded him that this time, it’s just supposed to be the two of them (so no friends tagging along).

Ameri's dad was passing by and catches her picking out clothes she’d be wearing on her date. He immediately realized what it's about. Dad instincts right there! He’s totally not ready for his little girl to grow up.

The day of the trip is here! This is where they’d be spending their time: an aquarium + pool combo.

Ameri basically planned a pool episode with just the two of them. Also, Ameri, that line is supposed to be for Iruma! You got in there first.

Iruma is happy seeing her current appearance by the way hehe. He's a teenager after all, it can't be helped (he's not the only one who thought so cause other visitors were certainly mesmerized by her beauty).

Oh no! How could this go to lewd territory so quickly! lol jk. Her plan involves this as a first step (after the surprise date setting) and her main goal is to get bridal carried... and maybe even get a kiss if she’s lucky. She's having trouble easily getting a hold of Iruma's hand though because if you haven't noticed yet, they have this big height difference and his hand isn't easy to reach. With that, she hasn't given up but says she'll try harder.

She’s just too tall and he’s too short lol.

This is also part of her plan cause in the manga, the couple did this with the guy holding on to the girl while they go on the waterslide. Actually, since she's the one pursuing and she's the taller one, she had been taking the guys role in her plans. Their supposed moment in the slide doesn't last long though since the ride was too fast and so it was over quickly.

They got their hearts racing but because it was some kind of thrill ride.

Next is playing in the water. She was nervous about this but Iruma initiated by splashing her with water. It was supposed to be fun but she's too strong and ended up splashing a little too much water on Iruma.

I mean, I knew it was gonna happen but I didn’t expect how powerful the attack would be. That was a tsunami she hit Iruma with and not a splash of water.

Beach volleyball time! *Fly High by Burnout Syndromes plays in the background*

Ameri tries holding her strength back this time around but she's just too powerful. Fortunately (or not), this doesn't affect Iruma and he decides that he'd play seriously. It ended up not being for purely for fun anymore haha. On the other hand, I’m glad to see Iruma being competitive and not panicking anymore about demon-related stuff.

The next part is eating a parfait like a couple!

The food in this world is weird though. I kinda saw this coming after seeing all of the food in the show so far but really... what the heck is that? It’s still alive lol.

The parfait attacked them and ended up feeding Iruma itself... which is weird. This was the last of her plans and now she's kinda unhappy none of them went as well as she hoped.

Souvenir shopping next!

Iruma picks out stuff to get for his friends and family back home. Above is a picture of Ameri feeling jealous when Iruma was picking something out for Clara. Don’t worry Ameri, you’re way ahead of Clara in the race.

Aww Iruma was worried that Ameri is working too hard in the Student Council and today he wanted to help her relax and have fun for once. He noticed that Ameri doesn't seem to be having a lot of fun though.

Iruma makes Ameri realize that the time they had was fun but Ameri isn't satisfied. She had fun but it's not enough. After all, she has bigger goals!

She has one more thing up her sleeve - watching a divination show. The creature (that looks like some kind of water dragon thing) has the ability to find a good couple with great affinity. She’s hoping that she and Iruma would be picked as a good couple cause that’s romantic, right?

Of course, this is a comedy shounen anime. You shouldn’t expect things to go so well.

Mako-chan is hungry and immediately grabs onto Iruma. She's hungry from her diet and quickly found the only member of the audience she can eat - the human. Iruma realized that the perfume he uses to hide his human scent might have been washed off by the water and so Mako-chan was able to single him out (surprisingly, other demons hadn’t).

Ameri saves Iruma from being eaten by delivering a powerful kick on poor Mako-chan. And with that, she got to be part of a bridal carry... just in reverse like everything else lol.

The staff apologized to Iruma and Ameri and gave them year round passes as compensation.

Aww... Mako-chan is sorry about what she did, too and Iruma tells them it's okay and that he's not mad. Ameri is sad though and Iruma also noticed she's injured.

He asked if she could walk and she answers "If I say I can't... will you carry me?" Oooh! Ameri is really going for it! She tried taking her words back but Iruma tells her that it’s okay, he’ll carry her.

And after that he used his powers to adjust her weight and then he actually did it! While carrying her, Iruma tells Ameri that he had a lot of fun the entire day. Honestly, I thought Iruma was gonna change his own looks to be like, big and hunky to carry her but he just changed her weight. Surprising but not bad.

Despite all the setbacks, this turned out to be a successful date after all!

Okay... so I guess this means Ameri really is the endgame? She’s the one Iruma will end up with some day? Because this entire season had been hinting at it. There were scenes and episodes dedicated to the romance blossoming between them (at least, mostly on Ameri’s side). And now there’s a date episode. Unless the author gives focus and development around Iruma the other characters who like him, then this is gonna be the only ship that would make sense. This is the one with on-going development that story-wise, it should get a pay-off or it’d feel like everything set up was a waste.

Honestly, I’m not a Iruma/Ameri shipper. I did mention before that I ship Iruma with either Azz or Clara so shipping moments between Iruma and Ameri doesn’t really do much for me. I do think it’s cute and this show gets wholesome when it has to be that it’s impossible to hate even parts of the story I’m not really into. I did enjoy this episode a lot cause it was cute and I am happy Ameri’s hard work paid off.

I guess I’m just disappointed? I mean in a way, why bother giving Iruma alternative love interests (a harem, actually since there’s more than one girl and so it’s not just a love triangle) if they’re all gonna be shot down this quickly.

On the other hand, I feel kinda bad for Ameri’s dad cause he can’t stop this development lol. His little girl is growing up! He should at least be happy that she fell in love with probably the nicest guy in the demon world (and he’s also the future demon king hehe). I was actually expecting him to follow them in their date or something but I guess he does respect his daughter’s privacy which is nice. Would’ve been funny to see his reaction though.

Next episode is about Grandpa Sullivan! Hmm... another relaxing episode again, I’m guessing?

Thanks for reading! I’m excited for the next episode.

#Mairimashita! Iruma-kun #welcome to demon school iruma-kun #sana_post

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trashboatprince · 3 years

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I’m working on a main story for my Reverse Omens au, but for right now, I really wanted to do something with Aziraphale the Demon opening up his shop.

So, here’s a little something while I work on the main story for Sour Blessings. I had to do a bit of research for this, so you’re welcome.

Summery: The opening for A.Z. Fell’s Antiquities and More is on Friday, however, the demon Aziraphale may have to put that opening on hold, indefinitely, due to an unexpected promotion.

Not if the angel Crowley has anything to say about it!

Warning: Reverse Omens, the other demons and angels are not swapped, these two fools are in love but they won’t admit it so it’s getting the ship tag.

Aziraphale (formally Azrafel) is a half-deaf, white cat demon, Crowley (formally Samael) is a rainbow boa angel and the one who tempted Eve (There is a reason for this!).

Rewrite of the infamous Bookshop deleted scene.

On with the fic!

Can’t Have That Now, Can We?

Aziraphale, formally known as the demon Azrafel until he stole back his original name, was more excited than he had been in years.

Finally, after so many hiccups, missions, and simply being absentminded about his goal, he was opening up his shop! Well, not officially, he planned on being open to the public on Friday, but he was allowing for guests today!

So far, the only person invited is his dear angel, Crowley, who he knows will be here promptly at a quarter past eleven, the redhead was also so good with time.

Proudly, Aziraphale looked up at the sign that had just been installed this morning. A. Z. Fell’s Antiquities and More, it read with a shine of silver paint on a dark blue background. It was beautifully fitting for the man-shaped being, fitting his color aesthetics. He practically purred in delight as he stepped through the doors, happily hearing a jingle of a bell above his head.

The demon hummed to himself a song from an opera he had attended a few days ago, carefully lining up some of his collection he had noticed he bumped out of place. His shop was going to house his massive collection of antiques, a term he had adored using for the collection since it was first coined during the 1400’s in references to ancient artifacts.

He finally had a place for all his stuff, things he had hidden all over the world, bought, traded, stolen, made himself, gifts from his favorite snake, all in one place now! Sure, it took him centuries to finally settle down, but 1831 was a good enough time, right?

Well, there had been an attempt a few centuries ago, back in the 1500’s, but it had been a bookshop next to a printing shop that had printed a book he really had wanted, but a mission to China had prevented that. And had also resulted in him not paying rent on the shop and having gotten in trouble with Hell for something stupid, he couldn’t pay the rent and lost the first shop.

Anyway, he happily likes to forget that happened and has instead tried again! Same location too, second time’s the charm!

Aziraphale wasn’t finished setting up though, he still had more stuff in storage that he needed to bring in, but his angel had said he’d help up with bringing that in. He wouldn’t help with the organizing though; Crowley knew from experience that Aziraphale had a way of organizing his clutter in a way that worked for the cat. Especially when it came to certain collections, like his massive library and his collection of rare snuff boxes.

As he carefully aligned a bronze statue of a rather specifically detailed and accurate horse he got as a joke gift from Crowley, he heard the jingle of the bell above his front door. He cupped his hand over his left ear, trying to hear who it was, couldn’t be Crowley, it was too early still.

Then he smelled the scent of festering mold and swamp scum, along with other unpleasant things, and he felt his skin prickle.

With a held back sigh, Aziraphale put a fake smile on his face, turning to face his fellow demons, hoping his beard hid the fact that his mouth twitched. “Hastur, Ligur, to what do I owe the pleasure of two Dukes of Hell in my shop?”

The two demons stood by the open doors, dressed in rather shoddy clothing, meant more for the lower class than the higher, as Aziraphale himself was dressed to blend in with. However, it was good to note that this time they actually wore clothing that would help them blend in, rather than how they dressed the last time they ‘visited’ Aziraphale. He would never forget those sins against nature.

Neither of them smiled, they just stared, before Hastur stepped forward. “We’ve orders from Below for you.” He ground out, making Aziraphale raise an eyebrow.

“Orders? Strange, normally Hell just burns a message in one of my books or screams at me from an envelope nowadays, don’t usually send messengers to tell me what my next job is.

“It’s not really… orders.” Ligur spoke up, waving a hand, completely bored of this already. “’s more like you’re getting somethin’.”

Aziraphale blinked, cupping a hand over his ear again. “Come again?”

Hastur made a face. “Think of it as… bad news, but not really bad news, more like good news, but we can’t say that shit, so it’s bad news, but not that bad-”

“I… I got it.” The cat sighed, holding up a hand. “Is it about the second revolution in France?” He had sent in a wordy letter to Hell about how he had helped kickstarted that event, even though he hadn’t actually done so. He and Crowley had taken a trip to the south of France and got dreadfully wasted and somehow ended up on the Isle of Capri.

“More like a bunch of things you’ve done, Azrafel.” The chameleon demon spoke and ignored the face Aziraphale pulled, hearing his old name. It has been centuries, and no one cared that he stole back his angel name, they just ignored him, thinking he was edgy or something. “Apparently, you’ve done your job to such extremes that Hell is oddly impressed.”

This can’t be good.

“And because of this, you’re going down to Hell, promotin’ you back to Downstairs. Heard you might get a cushy job runnin’ the torture department, lucky bastard.”

Aziraphale blinked, trying to register what this meant. “But… I’m opening this antique shop on Friday. If Master Hatchard can make a go of it, then I think I can really…”

“Hm,” Hastur pondered for a moment, “actually, I think that’s an idea, whoever replaces you up here can use this place as a base of operations.”

This got a look of disgust from the cat demon. “Use my shop?” The nerve! No one was allowed to use his shop; this was for him! And maybe Crowley, because he knows that wily angel will also laze about wherever Aziraphale is staying.

Neither demon seemed to give two shits about what Aziraphale thought of this. “You’re bein’ promoted,” the frog demon shrugged, “you get to go back home.”

“Can’t imagine why anyone who wanna spend more than five minutes on this waste of space.” Ligur commented, look at a bell jar on a shelf, containing a taxidermized scene of insects dancing at a ball. The chameleon on his head licked its lips.

“Azrafel’s been on this shithole for almost six thousand years,” his companion replied, “that’s some impressive patience, I can’t stand doin’ tasks up here that take longer than a day. Just plant bad ideas in a human’s head and let ‘em do all the work. Still, gotta give kudos where kudos is due…”

He dug into the pocket of his grubby coat, pulling out a box, covered in stains that Aziraphale really didn’t want to know the origins of. “Apparently, this is for all your bad work.” He said in a tone that clearly didn’t hide his jealousy and bitterness.

Hastur opened the box and Aziraphale stared at a rather lovely, shiny medal. He had seen this kind before, proudly worn by members of the Dark Council.

When they said he was being promoted… oh, oh bugger, this was a Promotion.

“I don’t want it.” Aziraphale spoke without much thought. He glanced up and nearly screamed, because right behind Hastur and Ligur, was a redheaded angel, giving a cheery wave.

The grandfather clock off to the left happily showed that it was exactly a quarter past eleven in the morning. It was the worst possible time for Crowley to show up.

With a skip in his snake-skinned step, Crowley turned a corner down a street in Soho, a box of the finest chocolates under his arm. He had dolled himself up for today, putting on his finest dark gray suit, his pink shirt clear and ironed, and a new hat sat happily on his head, decorated with a gold-plated apple blossom.

It was over-the-top, but the snake-eyed angel was known for being flashy and showboat-y with his appearance.

He spotted the shop at the corner and picked up the pace, mentally counting down the seconds. He loved being exactly on time, but he also loved putting Aziraphale on edge when he was a few minutes late.

Crowley got right up the steps at exactly 11:15, noticing that not only were the doors opened, but two figures were standing in the doorway, with Aziraphale stared past them. And right at Crowley, with a look the screamed ‘oh bugger’.

The demon licked his lips, stammering as he tried to speak to the two strangers, who Crowley hadn’t quite realized were demons. “B-But only I can properly thwart the good deeds of the angel Cr-Samael!”

Crowley stopped smiling, tilting his head, eyebrow raising over his dark shades. He held up the package, smiling, and mouthed ‘chocolates’ at his best friend.

“I don’t doubt that,” the blond-haired demon spoke, “whoever replaces you will be as bad an enemy to Samael as you are. Baphomet, maybe.”

The angel looked horrified and disgusted. He looked towards Aziraphale and mouthed ‘Baphomet?! Baphomet’s a wanker!’ The gray-haired demon shifted on his feet, trying to ignore Crowley to not draw attention to him.

“Samael’s been here just as long as I have, and he’s wily! And cunning, and brilliant, and oh…” Aziraphale was a bit flushed in the face and Crowley perked up, smiling brightly.

“It almost sounds like you like him.” Hastur spoke in a tone that was clearly not pleased with this.

“I loathe him!” Aziraphale shouted, though his face still burned red. “And, despite myself, I respect a worthy opponent! Which he isn’t because he’s an angel, and I cannot respect a demon. Or like one!” He tacked on quickly.

Hastur actually smirked, crossing his arms. “That’s the attitude that Hell likes to hear. I can see why they’re bringin’ you back.” He stepped forward, pinning the medal to Aziraphale’s dress jacket, the shorter man holding his breath at the bad smell coming off of Hastur. A quick glance over the other’s shoulder let Aziraphale know that Crowley was out of sight, hopefully he knew to stay away until these two were gone.

“So…” Aziraphale started, “we’re going straight back, now? Before the grand opening?”

“Ehh… soon.” Hastur waved a hand. “Got a job to do, then we’ll be back for you.”

The job was a simple corruption on, convince a human in charge of a respectable pub to take in bribes, sell illegal content under the counter, and convert his pub into a drug den in later years, that should do the trick.

And to help with that, they decide to plant things in the backroom of the pub for the owner to find, miracled with a temptation to put the pieces together. Ligur stood outside the backroom’s door while Hastur moved to remove the contents of his pockets in the room.

He pauses, however, hearing voices outside of an open window.

“Are you certain that we are unobserved,” it was the voice of the angel Samael, “of glorious being of God’s divine will?”

There was a strange, echoing voice that followed right after, layered as if multiple voices spoke at once. “No one is listening, oh angel Samael, the Lefthand of God.”

Blinking, Hastur steps onto a crate under the window and, using his true eyes, peeks out the window, only the top of the head of his frog looking into the alley behind the pub. He could see Crowley, standing before a cloaked figure in white, the latter having their back turned to the window. He slipped down a bit to not be seen, but still remained close to hear.

“Curses.” The angel hissed. “If only I could understand why my blessed plans are always so brilliantly thwarted! It’s as if the forces of Hell have a champion here on Earth who contaminates my blessings! Who overlaps their own dark influences on my own good ones! Who thwarts me… thwartingly…”

Unbeknownst to the demon on the other side of the wall, the cloaked figure that Crowley was speaking to was actually just a tailor’s dummy from the tailor shop just next door. Crowley was practically tickle-me-pink with delight of how much fun it was doing this. He absolutely loved when he got to flex his acting skills.

He continued the act, putting on the heavenly voice once more. “Why, Mister Crowley, you must not be downcast. I hear news that will bring joy to you and all the powers of Heaven! They do say as how the demon Azrafel, your nemesis, is being sent back to Hell!”

Crowley knew he was acting slightly to broadly, but it was the style of the time, so it was necessary.

“Can this be true?” He continued in his normal voice. “I was going to throw myself into a pit of Hell Fire in my despair at once more being beaten by the demon Azrafel! But such excellent news! Only Azrafel knows my ways well enough to…”

“Thwart them?”

“Exactly. Now, let us retire to church, and pray to the success of good on this Earth, thanks to Hell’s foolishness!”

Hastur heard the other walking off before he moved out of the room, well, he might have to have a conversation with Aziraphale it seems.

“So, I’m… not going anywhere?” Aziraphale asked, mismatched eyes staring at the two other demons, the pupils growing with possible hope.

“Change of plans.” Hastur grumbled. “We need you here, in this shop, battling good.”

Ligur slapped the Aziraphale on the back a few times, nearly knocking him over. “Carry on battlin’ that pain in the ass angel. I’m sure Hell’ll understand that you’re needed here more than down there.”

“Keep the metal.” Hastur poked at it against Aziraphale’s chest, making him wince at the pressure of the jab.

“But I don’t understand…” The cat demon blinked, suddenly realizing he was all alone in the shop now, the scent of sulfur starting to mellow out. With a snap of his fingers, the shop suddenly smelled of flowers, thanks to the lovely potted plant that just showed up next to him.

With a heavy sigh, he shook his head, moving around a shelf to try and return to his previous task of worryingly set up his collection.

“Well, that was fun.”

Aziraphale yelped, jumping a foot in the air as his hair and beard puffed up from the shock. He turned, finding a certain angel, basking happily in a chair that had been swiped from the King of Spain in the late 1300’s. “Crowley… w-what are you doing here?” He asked, approaching the redhead, who just smiled, holding up the box of chocolates from behind.

Aziraphale chirped in joy, taking the box. “Oh, yes, thank you, darling!”

“’s nothin’, kitty cat. I think you deserve them now than you did before those two idiots showed up.”

“How… much of that did you see?”

Crowley shrugged before getting out of the chair, stretching. “Well, I arrived to see that you were stuck dealin’ with two idiots, and that you needed help. So, I may or may not have helped you out of a bit of trouble, again. Nice medal, the Dark Council kind? Wow, that’s a hell of a promotion, kitty cat.”

Aziraphale frowned and removed the metal from his jacket, tossing it towards Crowley, who caught it with ease. “I’ve done so well at my job that I was promoted to join them! I mean, it’s not the worst promotion I could get, in fact, any demon would give up their whole… well… everything to be part of that group! But I must admit, it would be too much, I’d be allowed to do whatever, but I wouldn’t be able to work and stay on Earth.”

“Sounds like a shit job to take, Aziraphale.” Crowley commented, looking over the metal before dropping it into a clay pot. “But hey, you get to stay here!”

“For some reason…” Cat eyes turned, staring directly at snake ones, hidden behind dark lenses. “What did you do?”

Crowley grinned brightly. “Oh, just pulled off some theatrics.” He wiggled his fingers and Aziraphale groaned. “I told you I was good at this! I should join a theater, get my name out there! I’ll even do those boring, sad Shakespearean plays you like so much!”

“Uhg.” Aziraphale rolled his eyes before looking at Crowley, smiling. “Still, thank you for helping me today, darling. Now, how about the two of us enjoy this delectable box of goodies you got me, I have a lovely red that we can drink alongside them in the back, found it while bringing things in the other day.”

“Sounds delightful, kitty cat.”

END

Well, this was a lot of fun to write!

In case you wanna know what they look like, Aziraphale looks like Martin from Prodigal Son (except well dressed in a light gray and dark blue Regency outfit), and Crowley looks like David’s portrayal of Richard II (in a dark gray and pink Regency outfit).

Hastur and Ligur look like characters from Oliver Twist haha.

In case anyone was wondering why Aziraphale owns an antique shop, it was because as much as I love the bookshop still being part of a Reverse Omens au, I also really loved the idea of going off the little fact that book Aziraphale also collects old snuff boxes and it went from there that he just collects all sorts of things.

Oh, and Hastur left Aziraphale on Earth cause if he's really the only one who can 'stop' the Heavenly might of Samael, the angel with the title of Destroyer, well... yeah, might as well leave him to deal with that mess.

Thanks for reading! As always, drabbles are open!

#good omens #reverse omens #aziraphale #anthony j crowley #ineffable husbands #hastur #ligur #john's drabbles

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shinygoku · 4 years

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Liar Revealed! A Bug’s Life Essay

A Bug’s Life is my favourite Pixar movie and thus, it turns out I have a lot of thoughts about it. In this case, what was originally my interpretation soley in response to points I’ve seen raised on YouTube and TV Tropes has spun off into this mega essay.... all focused on a single scene.

But hey, it works with one of the film’s main messages; that something big grows out of a small idea!

The scene is the most notorious in the movie, at least from what I’ve seen, and I’m inclined to agree it’s the weakest part of this giant clock. But why is it like that and how could it have been handled better?

As I’ve said, this is actually my favourite (albeit not what I consider their very best) of Pixar’s output, and I wouldn’t have been able to go into such depth without a huge amount of love for the finished product, flawed as it may be.

It’s also possible I’ll write a more generalised thing on what I love about the film in the future, but I won’t promise anything o7;; 🐜

The Lie is ...laid

Actually, I should talk about two scenes. First is where the Lie is established:

After the humourous mutual misunderstanding between the Circus Bugs and Flik, the former are quite horrified to discover they’re expected to fight the Grasshoppers off themselves instead of putting on a show. Ahh, that old classic~

But no, they want out and Flik, who has just been informed by them during the welcoming shindig, is understandably rattled and despairing over this addition to his list of failures. He says the fallout will not only brand him, but his hypothetical grandchildren as a Terrible Loser and even says he’s as good as dead as soon as the other ants find out. Owch.

Before things get too heavy, the focus shifts around until The Bird becomes the main immediate threat. The whole Bird scene leads the ants to become convinced the Circus Bugs are really amazing warriors and, as this is the first time in what could be years that they have a crowd cheering for them it’s the success and Flik’s later idea to make a Giant Mech in the shape of a Bird instead of planning any actual combat that convinces them to play along.

So, that’s the lie set up and solidified. Now for the eventual fallout:

During a fun party after the Bird has been built, an ominous force arrives... PT Flea, the Jerkass ringmaster who had fired the Circus Bugs. This local bug promptly ruins everything by literally shining a light on the Circus Bugs and their nature as such, and then Flik is accidentally outed as the Guy Who Thought Up The Bird.

The Liar Revealed Trope

I would link the TV Tropes article here, but as tungle doesn’t like external sites I’ll just quote the more relevant parts from it:

“Liar Revealed in the Internal Reveal of The Lie, the facade maintained by a protagonist which provides the primary dramatic tension for the plot. This usually sets up the third act where the protagonists are forced to deal with the consequences of the lie on top of any external threats.

There are a few usual ways this ends up. If the lie was for selfish reasons, the protagonist will doubtless face the wrath of those he lied to, but along the way end up having a change of conscience, and try to redeem themselves through good acts and An Aesop about "what really matters". If the lie was well-intentioned, the protagonist may still find that others turn their backs on him, but go on to carry through with what they said they'd do anyway, proving themselves a hero after all.

It's worth noting that this trope is particularly easy and common to misuse, either in the tendency of the protagonist to Maintain the Lie for reasons that make no sense except for dramatic tension or of the deceived to turn against the protagonist for the deception in spite of other considerations that should by all rights absolve him.”

And in the folder there’s a specific entry for this film:

A Bug's Life has Flik supposedly finding "warrior bugs" to save his colony after misconstruing a situation. When he realizes his mistake (that they're circus performers rather than trained warriors), he's forced to keep the lie going in order to not cause panic among the other ants. Once the colony finds out, it inevitably results in one of the most painfully Played Straight examples of this trope in animation history...

As you can see there, the dislike for this scene has seeped into the entry. Of course, TV Tropes is pretty informal and I like that, but it’s telling that this is a general perception.

Continue reading below the Cut! ✂

What I don’t like

So, I think my main issue with the scene boils down to... it’s very nebulous and unclear as to what’s so bad about Flik lying. Between the Council, the Queen and Atta, there seems to be a jumbled, confusing motive traffic jam that somehow results in what TV Tropes refers to the Liar Reveal Trope being played “Painfully Straight”.

But uhh, what’s the problem? Yes, Flik lied, but we know that wasn’t something he’d planned on doing, it was his attempt at damage control. The other ants don’t know that part, but still, what are they objecting to, specifically? That the Circus bugs are Circus bugs? That the Bird Plan was Flik’s? That.... lying is treated at an absolute moral failing regardless of the circumstances??

The council dudes are like: “OH WHAAAAT, the defence plan was by Clowns??” [No, it was Flik] “OH WHAAAT, we don’t have our mafia money prepared what if Hopper finds out we nearly sicced a fake bird on him!?”

The part about objecting to Clowns drafting the defence plans is actually the more reasonable explanation, but I guess they presumed warriors habitually made Decoy Bird plans instead of fighting themselves? There’s already a hole in their objections but it only gets worse.

The Queen is like: “Wow Flik evidently you’re a self serving prick. Anyway the best thing to do is pretend this never happened and no we’re not going to tell Hopper.”

Why the fuck would that happen? ‘Oh sorry Hopper we got sidetracked doing a ...thing... so we’re still picking your food no please don’t break my legs’

But also, why THE FUCK is this the plan? Some ruler you are, you old prune. ‘We have the bird all made and ready to go but oops the idea came from a DIRTY LIAR so we’re going to return to the doomed harvesting racket even though we’ve been set an outrageous amount and we can’t possibly hope to catch up and even if we had been picking the food the entire time it was established earlier on we won’t have time for our supplies on top of all that.’

Fucking.... astonishing lack of logic. YOU MORONS HAVE NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE, GO WITH THE BIRD! Flik himself says something to a similar effect lol

But noooooo, his arguably selfish lie [which is more Omitting the truth once he knew it, really] has forever doomed everything, apparently. Honestly it comes across more like they just hate Flik and see anything he invents as doomed to fail, so the second the truth emerges that he spearheaded the Mech Bird they dismiss it as a lost cause. Even though everyone worked together to build it, and Flik’s inventions weren’t the issue but him being awkward and clumsy. But seeing how Flik’s mere presence in his first scene seemed to drive the Council members into a quivering fury, it really does feel like their objections are from them refusing to give him a chance.

And then there’s Princess Atta. Hoo Boy.

In this scene, she comes off as being ridiculously vindictive, petty and hypocritical. This applies to the Council too, but it’s more galling coming from Atta as by now she’s realised that Flik gets a lot of flak [yay wordplay] from the others and she had resolved to give him more credit. BUT OOPS, that didn’t last!

She takes the Lying thing so personally, acting like he was cheating on her or something. “You lied to MeEeEee” well golly gee whiz, was there any particular reason why he would tell you the truth? Other than his rather obvious crush on you, that is? Cause that would still be a weird reason, seeing how the ‘lie’ was after he’d finally got a bit of decent treatment from the others, why would he wanna upset the apple cart?

He probably feared coming out and confessing to Atta [or anyone else] that they’d lose all faith in him and scrap a valid plan that was the only way out of the grasshopper racket mess. Which would be a bit silly and probably the result of someone with low self esteem and confidence issues overthinking the situation but it’s Exactly what actually happens!

It wasn’t a personal slight against you, Princess! To quote Helen Parr: THIS IS NOT! ABOUT! YOU!!

And wooow, you must be awfully chilly up there on your high horse, Miss “Lied to Flik to get rid of him earlier in the film”! Did you ever feel like fessing up? Like ‘hmm I’ve grown much fonder of this doofus, maybe I should be honest with him before engaging with some more light flirting’ ? Maybe if you had, he woulda been honest in return!

I don’t even see why she and the Council bothered lying about their Snipe Hunt ploy, seeing how now they act like he crossed a moral event horizon. Why even bother making a phoney baloney decoy idea to get him away, when they clearly dislike him enough to play the Brutally Honest card without fretting over his feelings. They coulda just ordered him to stay in a corner away from interfering but instead they’re willing to risk his life on a wild goose chase.

...And she then Banishes him! For what?? Lying? About what, the circus bugs or the bird plan? Both?? It really feels like her taking undue personal offence and the Council hating him and the Queen being old and senile.

So yeah, wow, this scene has what I think is the Unintended side effect of making me hate the stupid jerkface Ant colony as every named ant in it except for Dot fucking suck and throw Flik under a bus the second they deem him to be untrustworthy. In spite of, like, that the plan itself was solid and that the Circus Bugs have all been proven to be Good Eggs. They don’t give him a chance to explain and made their own bed to lie in, so I feel dark joy and satisfaction when the grasshoppers do arrive and kick them around some more.

Wow gee, if only you dumb ass ants had some sort of already made contraption to fall back on?

Why is it like this?

I can only make guesses here, be warned!

From what I’ve gathered of an older version of the story, mostly via Wikipedia, I kinda feel like the exposing would have fit that take better. In the beta version of the story, instead of Flik the lead would have been “Red”, who was a red ant and circus bug from the start. The first draft Circus lot woulda been out to scam the ants initially and I guess would have grown genuine fondness with time. The idea of an outsider flim flamming his way into the good books and later being exposed makes the overblown outrage a lot more understandable. But that’s my hypothesis for the direction they ultimately didn’t go in. Also look at how Red looks like a fuckboi here:

But in the final version, Red doesn’t exist! Flik is a part of the colony from the get go, but also apart from it cause no one likes him as, again, his ideas were good but poorly executed and he seemed to be a hindrance. But the ants should at least see that Flik is genuine in his attempts, that he’s trying his best and they should maybe cut him some slack.

The way the ants have their knickers in a twist doesn’t gel so well with the “Well meaning screwup” angle, especially compared to a possible “Opportunistic so-and-so who doesn’t have real attachments to the colony” route.

Also it may be worth noting up there where I put a TV Tropes excerpt, I bolded the relevant half of the run down, but it seems the other half applies much more to this first draft. Interesting...

So I don’t know, but I got the idea that the scene in the movie is basically a holdover from earlier that didn’t get sufficiently updated. The Liar Revealed Scene is the first thing I’d change if I were rewriting the script, and I might go back and change it again after other parts had been redone too, cause the story needs to flow from point A to point B etc. smoothly or else viewers will get annoyed and point it out in Youtube videos or overly long tumblr text posts.

How could it be fixed?

I’m not saying I’m sitting on the perfect idea of a rewrite. But the main thing is what I already touched on, the jarring disconnect between what happens and how the stupid ants respond.

Like, Atta’s sudden grabbing of the Jerkass and Idiot Balls in this scene. Wouldn’t it have been better if she was instead unsure and conflicted? She had lied to Flik earlier and, unlike the Council, was shown to actually realise Flik Has Feelings Too and apologised for the general lack of faith. She didn’t come clean about the Snipe Hunt Lie, so that could be weighing on her during this scene, maybe she would have been the only Council member to Not want to kick him out but felt pressured into it and hasn’t got into the groove of being the Future Queen enough to pull rank and talk them down from being hate filled twats. Maybe someone will mention the flirting that had been happening as muddying her judgement?

That’s my main idea, compare that with her barging in and taking undue personal offence and shooing him off. She’s supposed to feel like she’s doomed to fail too, so her facing a moral dilemma and falling on the wrong side of the fence could tie into that! (To be honest, her arc is kinda undercooked so hey, I’m killing two birds with one stone here!)

Flik being banished at all is a casualty of The Narrative, that he and the Circus Bugs have gotta go away temporarily for the finale to be cooler and more exciting. It’s a Necessary Weasel of writing and you’ll find them in every story ever made. Sometimes things have gotta happen cause Story Structure. The trick is having them more organic and concealed.

So yeah, have the Old Fogeys be in the wrong [which is so far unchanged] but also the majority of the ‘voting’. Make it difficult for Atta to choose between loyalty to the colony as a whole and her sense of duty versus trusting in Flik, who she now knows to always have his heart in the right place. She comes close to standing up for him and herself, but ultimately falters and gets pressured into the call made in the movie. She’s still ultimately responsible as leaders are, but in a much more sympathetic way.

Summation

This got way longer than I had initially imagined, and that’s even after I cut stuff in the editing process! Let’s quickly review the three main points I’m trying to make.

The Issue with the scene - A big song and dance is made over The Lie, but no reason why it’s such a terrible thing is offered. A perfectly sound plan is dismissed nonsensically.

Suspected reasoning for the writing - The tone matches a potential alternate story much better, where someone would have lied for self serving purposes instead of for the greater good.

A suggestion for a rewrite - Make it much more nuanced and fitting the character arcs. Give the characters a reason to react the way they do and have different responses per person. If the ants are going to drop the Bird plan, at least offer a more viable alternate route than going back to what wasn’t working before.

Does it really matter?

Well, I don’t expect a 22 year old film to suddenly get a rewrite, no. And I maintain that it’s a real gem which deserves much higher praise with the other Good Pixars instead of being so constantly overlooked.

Part of what spurred me to think about the scene and what I’d alter is seeing it referred to as ‘Kinda Bad’ in a youtube video that was talking about another Liar Reveal scene in another movie, and that is a bad take, but the point about how clunky this part is isn’t wrong. I don’t want people to dismiss the whole, beautiful image cause one section of it doesn’t vibe!

It doesn’t ruin the picture, but when people have something negative to say it’s this which is the magnet. And I’m kinda guilty of doing the same thing here, haha. But I wanted to really dissect and examine it, to figure out why it’s like that and to guess how simple it may be to rework. It’s bittersweet, but there ain’t such a thing as a perfect movie.

This has been fun for me to go into though, and it’s nice to get thoughts out from just swirling around inside my head, so even if barely anyone sees and makes it through this whole dissertation, I’m glad I wrote it out. It’s a funny way to derive enjoyment from the bumpy part of a beloved movie, but hey, I’ll take it~

#A Bug's Life #Liar Revealed Trope #Pixar #Disney Pixar #Disney #CutCat writes a very long essay

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greyias · 4 years

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FIC: Smoke and Mirrors - Chapter 1

Title: Smoke and Mirrors Fandom: SWTOR Pairing: Theron Shan/f!Jedi Knight Rating: T Genre: Pre-Relationship, Slow Burn Synopsis: Something's rotten on Carrick Station, and Theron won't rest until he finds out what. But picking at the frayed threads of suspicion quickly unravels a conspiracy much larger than even the Republic's top spy can handle on his own. (A mostly canon-compliant retelling of the Forged Alliances storyline, as seen through the eyes of Theron Shan.) Spoilers: Forged Alliances. SWTOR Lost Suns and Annihilation. Some things in the Vanilla storyline, including the Revan flashpoints. Author’s Notes: Out of necessity, parts of this story will contain scenes from the game itself. Whenever possible I’ve tried to rewrite them so that they hopefully remain fresh and interesting, while still retaining the essence of the scene itself (so hopefully it doesn’t feel like you’re reading a transcript). This one is also going to be a bit slow to start, but it’s going to be a long one.

When the Supreme Commander of Republic Forces called — it was generally a good idea to answer. Even if he just so happened to be your father.

However, this was official business, so Theron Shan decided to ignore that fact as he strode into the large office located in one of the corners of the Senate towers. The receptionist had waved him through without any fuss this time around.

Perhaps she had gotten used to him at this point — she hadn’t even glared at him this time. He supposed that was progress. It was nothing he had done, of course, just a bit of guilt-by-association. She and Marcus Trant, the Director of Republic’s Strategic Information Services had gotten quite chummy a little while back, but alas, she was not to become the third women to hold the title of “Mrs. Trant”. Easy come, easy go as the saying went.

Come to think of it, maybe the lack of glares this time around had more to do with the fact that Trant hadn’t accompanied Theron. It was a mystery for another time, though, as his gaze fell on the figure seated behind the desk in the center of the room.

Jace Malcom was an extraordinarily tall man, he towered over Theron by at least a foot or so, and between the height, his deep gravelly voice, and the gruesome scars crisscrossing his face, the man could come off a little imposing. Theron wasn’t easily intimidated though, and he had a… unique situation with Jace. — considering the fact that the man was his father. Biologically at least, or… whatever.

It was complicated.

Theron hadn’t even known who Jace was, outside of his military record that was, until they’d met during the mission to take out the Ascendant Spear. Their first real meeting as father and son hadn’t exactly gone well, it was awkward, Theron had just wanted to leave, and most of their interactions outside of a professional setting had just been a bit like that. On the job, they were good. Despite popular opinion, Theron could take orders (when they made sense), and off the clock they… well, they were trying to settle into something resembling familiarity. The “father-son bonding sessions” were thankfully few and far between. Theron liked Jace well enough, and they certainly got along better than he and his mother, but it wasn’t exactly like they were going to go out and throw the gravball around any time soon.

However, this meeting request had come through official channels, so thankfully that probably meant things would be less awkward and weird. At least he hoped.

Theron cleared his throat, pulling the older man’s attention away from the datapad he was reviewing. Seeing his visitor, some of the deep lines on Jace’s face smoothed into a smile. “Ah, Theron, you’re early.”

“Traffic wasn’t as bad as I was expecting.” He folded his arms in an effort to look casual. “Trant had a Senate briefing, so you get me instead.”

“That’s all right, I was hoping you’d be here for this. We can loop the director in later.”

“Your message was a bit vague,” he said, “just that you had some intel you wanted to discuss?”

Jace nodded. “One of my men came to me with something he picked up in the field — regarding Korriban. And a way we might be able to strike back.”

Theron’s eyebrows shot up. “Hitting Korriban? You can’t be serious.”

“I am.” The elder man looked at him grimly. “This all started on Korriban, it would be fitting for us to start the death knell for the Empire there.”

Korriban had been one of Jace’s first stations, and where he had met the future Grand Master of the Jedi Order, Satele Shan — who just so happened to be Theron’s mother. Theron shifted the weight of his feet, a habit he’d unfortunately picked up in these conversations when the subject of his mother came up, even indirectly as it was now. He hated having a tell, even something so minor and with someone like Jace who while sharp, probably hadn’t picked up on it.

A change of subject from ancient history back to the present was probably in order — and a lot more comfortable. So Theron addressed the deeper issue at hand. “SIS has been trying to get a mole on Korriban for years, and everyone we’ve tried to embed there winds up dead. That place is a death trap.”

“I’m not asking anyone to go undercover,” Jace assured him. “I’m thinking more smash and grab. But before that, I want you to look over this intel and let me know if you think it’s viable.”

“Me?”

“You were the one who cracked how to take out the Ascendant Spear — if anyone can do the same with Korriban, it’s you.”

It was a high compliment, and genuinely based on his skillset, rather than a form of nepotism. After their success against the Ascendent Spear, Theron had been tapped as a resource more and more for Malcom’s office. It had kept him out of the field more than he liked, but the tangible results of his work on the overall war was satisfying in its own way.

“That seems simple enough,” Theron said, trying to focus on the task at hand. “Any reason for all of the cloak and dagger?”

“Considering the target I don’t want to take any chances. I want someone I can trust taking point on this.”

Theron couldn’t quite decipher the look on Jace’s face, but nodded a thanks all the same. It was… odd having someone be so complimentary and open about that kind of thing. Trant’s usual way of expressing gratitude was a cutting sarcastic remark. Which he was fine with — it was familiar. Easy. But the mark of a good spy was adapting to the situation at hand.

Even if that meant a little bit of inadvertent father-son bonding.

Jace handed over a small data chip. The fact that he wasn’t trusting any of this on any network channel spoke volumes about the need for discretion.

“I’ll look this over and get you an answer as soon as possible.”

That seemed to satisfy Jace, but as Theron made his way out of the office and out into the streets, he was unsettled. The reason for that feeling wasn’t readily apparent, but hopefully once he had a chance to dig into the data he’d figure it out. He tended to trust his gut on these things, but a chance to strike as rich of a target as this was too good to pass up on a mere bad feeling alone.

The more he dug into the intel that Jace had given him, the more Theron had to admit that the Supreme Commander was right. A strike on Korriban not only seemed viable, but had the potential to yield invaluable information that could finally lead to an end to the war.

A Jedi named Jensyn had come away from an encounter with an apprentice to a member from the Dark Council, revealing that they had databanks in their main chambers with some of the inner-most secrets to the Empire. A literal goldmine of information that could turn every future battle and operation to the Republic’s favor. It was almost too good of an opportunity to pass up, and so Theron kept digging. Every intelligence report surrounding the encounter checked out, and just because he liked being paranoid, Theron looked into the Jedi too. The man had served aboard the Telos in its campaign in the Albarrio and Relgim sectors, and had an exemplary service record. The closest thing he found to a red flag was the copious amount tea Jensyn liked to consume.

As far as Theron could tell, the intel seemed clean.

That just left the minor problem of storming Siths’ the inner-keep. Just getting on the ground would have been an issue, except that apparently a SpecOps commander named Rian Darok had found a gap in the patrols on Korriban. It wasn’t a large one, and they’d never be able to launch a full-scale assault… but a strike team could make it through and perform an extraction.

Theron filled a large mug to the brim with caf, settled into the most comfortable chair he could find at SIS Headquarters, and got to work mining everything they had on Korriban. He had to cobble the data together from a variety of sources to even get a close picture if it could be done. They had old schematics of the ground layout, but due to the age he had to cross-reference it with a report from an escaped acolyte to confirm the probable obstacles facing a strike team on their route from the landing zone into the Academy. This, coupled with bits and pieces of security information scraped from the almost-defunct Imperial intelligence, yielded an access point for someone on the ground that could allow a talented slicer to insert an exploit. It was technically doable, but the resistance the ground team would face stacked the deck against the op’s favor.

“Viable but a logistical nightmare” was how he summarized it to Jace and Marcus the next morning, gratefully accepting the giant mug of caf the Supreme Commander had ready for him the moment he walked in the door.

“Pay up,” Marcus said, and Jace grudgingly handed over a credit chip.

Theron narrowed his eyes at the both of them suspiciously over the rim of his mug. “And what was that for?”

“Just how quickly you’d go for caffeine,” Marcus said casually.

Theron fixed his boss with a glare before taking a very long drag of the zippy brew. Apparently being Supreme Commander came with some perks, because if the spy wasn’t mistaken, this was the more expensive Alsakan Mountain roast. The director just shook his head and turned to the datapad with all the findings, letting out a low whistle at the potential yield if the operation was successful. As both of the older men perused the data, Theron barely suppressed a yawn. The all-nighter had come at the tail end of an op, and as much as he hated to admit it, he was probably needing at least a few hours of sleep.

“You could have taken two days to look at all this,” Jace said lightly, “but I appreciate the enthusiasm.”

“Intel can go stale quick.” Theron shrugged off the paternal concern easily.

“All the reason to act quickly,” Jace said, “if Trant can spare you for a little bit.”

“Please, take him. Much less of a headache for me.”

“I’m really feeling the love here,” the agent muttered.

“You’d feel more if you turned your expense reports on time.”

“You have to get a thrill somehow since you’re not out in the field anymore,” Theron shot back easily. “I’m just trying to help.”

“You see what I have to deal with?” Marcus pointed the question at Jace, who just shook his head.

“Well, I’m happy for the loan, Marcus,” he said, turning the subject back to the matter at hand. “I can see how logistics can get sticky, but I think I’ve got someone who can help with that. Colonel Darok has a knack for this kind of thing.”

Having spotted the hole in the patrol route, Theron had to admit the man had a keen eye.

“You’d need a small army just to get through that many Sith. No way to get that many troops in,” Theron pointed out. “I don’t even see how even a master tactician is going to navigate that. ”

“What about a small strike team?” Marcus asked.

“Might work, but they’d need to have hides of durasteel.”

Jace looked thoughtful for a moment, before he headed over to his desk and pulled up a few dossiers on a datapad. He paged through a few, before handing it over to Theron. “Have you ever heard of the Coruscant Aegis?”

“Never met them personally,” Theron paused to take another sip from his mug before continuing, “but one of them provided cover fire on an extraction for me once.”

Marcus snorted, apparently remembering the incident in question. “Is that what you’re calling it now?”

“I needed to make a hasty exit, and the lady was kind enough to clear a path. At least I think it was a lady—there was a lot of blaster fire. Pretty sure she called me insane.”

“That sounds about right.” Marcus heaved the heavy sigh of the wearied soul.

“I suppose I owe whoever it was some thanks,” Theron said. “Probably wouldn’t have made it out without the assist. Some nice flying and shooting.”

“They’re good at what they do,” Jace agreed, “the best actually.”

“Are any of them lightsaber-proof?” Theron asked sarcastically.

“They haven’t let one stop any of them so far.”

Theron juggled the mug and datapad, skimming through the personnel files as he continued to sip from the sweet caffeinated nectar. He tried to school his expression as he skimmed through the major highlights of each name, but the laundry list of heroic deeds associated with each individual was quite impressive. A notorious smuggler who had taken down the Voidwolf. The commander of Havoc Squad. Even a member of the Jedi High Council. It was the last one that made Theron stop and frown.

“Is this last one even real?” he asked.

Jace nodded solemnly. “She is.”

“It says she killed the Sith Emperor.”

That got Marcus’s attention, who leaned over Theron’s shoulder to read the dossier. Not liking the crowding, he handed the datapad over to his boss, and proceeded to prop his hip on Jace’s desk, still nursing the mug of caf.

“You asked for a small army,” Jace pointed out. “Any of them would be able to perform the extraction.”

“I’d say in that case we should get them all,” Theron said, “but they’re probably pretty scattered.”

Their window of opportunity to strike for this was going to close fast, though, so time was of the essence. It was probably also best to keep the number of those aware of the operation on the lower side too. Even if they were going to take on the entire Sith Academy, and maybe even the Dark Council.

Jace nodded. “You probably can get one in all likelihood.”

“Me, huh?”

“Colonel Darok will be in charge of the operation,” Jace clarified, “but I want the SIS involved on this. This is too big of a target to not bring in our best.”

Theron caught the backhanded compliment, but instead of responding verbally, he just nodded. “I can do some recruiting if you want. You have a preference?”

“Surprise me.”

Jace flashed him a brief knowing grin, and Theron checked the urge to roll his eyes. He was fairly certain Marcus wasn’t aware of the familial connection, so showing disrespect to the man who was technically his boss’s boss probably wouldn’t help things in the long run. Knowing the way his luck tended to run, Theron would probably need to appeal to the director’s better nature in the next month for some reason or another. Theron didn’t intentionally cause diplomatic and inter-departmental incidents, they just tended to… happen. Sometimes. And by sometimes he meant like clockwork.

“I’m going to need a little time to dig into the files if that’s the case,” he said instead of rising to the teasing.

“That’s fine.” If Jace was disappointed in Theron’s utter professionalism, it didn’t show, and the moment of levity slipped away. "It will take me some time to get Darok caught up and for us to put a battle plan together.”

Theron nodded and pocketed the datapad from Marcus. “Exactly how much time are we talking about?”

“Enough that you can sleep on it,” Jace tried to keep his tone light, but Theron still caught a hint of paternal concern threading underneath.

“Sleep?” Marcus snorted derisively. “I’ll believe that when I see it.”

“I sleep when I’m bored,” Theron shot back.

“Good. Then you’ll be out before you even get through the first dossier.”

“Are you kidding? This is better than a holo-drama.” The spy tapped his pocket where he had stowed the datapad.

Jace just shook his head, amused, and the discussion turned to other matters of intelligence. Theron let himself out once he finished his mug of caf, the weight of the datapad in his pocket a reminder of the upcoming mission. Despite the caffeine, he could feel fatigue pulling at him. Either the long hours were getting to him, or the unsettled feeling from the previous day was still eating at him. Maybe after he was able to study the personnel files some more, he could take a moment to review his notes and pinpoint what was bothering him. And then he could get some sleep.

Next Chapter

#swtor fanfiction #theron shan x jedi knight #Theron Shan #Female Jedi Knight/Hero of Tython #oc: greyias highwind #otp: adorkable #smoke and mirrors #SoR Fic O Doom #fanfic #greyfic

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nad-zeta · 4 years

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Match up ༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ

hey love ! may i have a ikesen match up please? (*´꒳`*)/ i’m not the best at these, so i apologize if i rambled !

about me ;

( fem. isfj. gemini. hufflepuff. )

i’m generally pretty quiet & reserved, but depending on the person, i can be social ! i tend to look very serious, but i swear i’m just an awkward dork who cares a lots about the random things ?? i’m generally like that worried « mom » type friend in my group— idk how many times i’ve been told « okay/yes mom » ; i think i’ve just accepted it at this point. i like to think i’m pretty kind & hardworking. i try to be very polite & courteous around people– patience being my main thing when interacting with others. with people i’m close with, my humors ranges from horrrible puns to sarcastic comments.

for some of my interests/hobbies— i really enjoy writing, reading, drawing (from time to time), playing sports (i have a competitive side lol!), learning, and listening to music. i adore cats, rainy/stormy weather & those late night conversations with close friends for some reason?? i dislike hot weather & when people cry (bc honestly i’m so bad at helping & i feel bad). i honestly am the person to go to for someone to listen to you as i’m not that confident in giving advice askadftjdsk.

thank youu for taking the time to read this- i appreciate you spending time on these !! ＾＾

Hi hi, love!🌻❤ Thank you so much for the request and for waiting sooooooo long!🔥 I hope you enjoy it and I hope you have the best day!🌻❤

So I match you with............. Yukimura

The first time you meet Yukimura was when he saved you from falling to your death while you were running away from the Oda forces. He pulled you by the waist back to safety, and soon both of you realised just how close you were. Yukimura still had his arms around your waist, and the two of you were nose to nose, it wasn’t until Shingen made some flirty comment that the two of you instantly jumped away from each other, both blushing profusely. When you were with Yuki, your guard had dropped momentarily, but it was now straight back up, and your shy reserved demeanour returned.

Soon you were surrounded by yet another group of men, and these lot really did look like a mixed bag, you had the cold ice price, the flirty hunk, the extravagant artist, the forest ranger and then someone whom you instantly recognised, a nerdy-looking scientist. Just as your eyes met his, you could see that he, too, had recognised you. He pulled you aside and told you what had happened and that you had been flung back into the past. You were shook. Never in a million years did you think this was possible yet here you were surrounded by some of the worlds greatest warlords, 500 years in the past. Just then, the ice prince glared at you, and after seeing your frightened expression, his softened a bit, and he asked you if you would like to come and stay with them. This, of course, caused the whole group to gasp in surprise.

You made your way back to Kasugayama Castle, riding with the feared God of war. Once you returned you were named princess of the Uesugi clan and Kenshin basically adopted you as his little sister. Even though you were a princess, and you didn’t have to lift a finger, you didn’t want to feel indebted or take advantage of the warlord's kindness. So you started helping out wherever you could. You worked incredibly hard for the castle and its people, and soon you were loved by all the warlords and maids. Everyone adored your kind, courteous, polite manner of speaking, and you would basically get on well with everyone. There was one person in particular that you got on very well with, and that was Kasugayama’s blushy boy himself, Yuki. You couldn’t put your finger on it, but when you were with him you felt at ease, and you were yourself

Yukimura would often make aloof and blunt comments toward you, which would spark, the two of you to playfully bicker for hours and hours. Like one time you were running in the halls to deliver an important message to Kenshin when you almost ran straight into Yuki. After you had delivered the letter, Yuki caught up to you on his way to his next meeting, “Careful where you run wild boar, you almost knocked me over.” “You calling me a boar is rich considering we both know, who is the most stubborn between the two of us is, and just so there is no confusion, that would be you, wild boarman.” This little light bickering and banter was an everyday occurrence with you two, as one of you always had some goofy, sarcastic remark or comeback to strike up conversation with the other.

Yuki had come to love your awkward, dorky personality, and the two of you would often talk about the most RANDOM topics. He also really liked your competitive side, as you would often give him a run for his money. The two of you are always making a competition out of everything. “Hey race you to the tea house, the loser has to pay!” Yuki would always smile his boyish smile at you, whenever you would challenge him to a contest. “Oh, it’s on dummy, hope you are ready to pay for tea and lunch, cause there is no way I’m going to lose.”

And of course, he lost…. “Next time I’ll definitely win,” he would always say with the biggest grin and a slight blush. But of course, racing each other wasn’t the only thing the two of you cuties did together, after Yukimura found out that you loved playing sport, he taught you some self-defence/fighting moves. This, of course, would spark a wrestling/fighting contest between the two of you, which always ended in laughs. As just before Yuki would proclaim your defeat, you would bring out your secret weapon, which was the knowledge that this blushy boy is incredibly ticklish. And so a match would start anew.

It was a good thing that you are a mom friend because Yuki had a bad habit of pushing himself too hard for too long. He wanted nothing more than to get stronger so he could return back to his home town one day with Shingen. Whenever you would see him start to look dreary and tired, you being the classic mom friend that you are, would take him by the hand and lead him to your favourite spot in the garden. You would then sit down and pull him to sit down beside you, and before he even knows what's going on, you will guide his head to rest on your lap. He will legit be as red as a beet, causing you to chuckle at the sight of even the tips of his ears staining red in embarrassment. You will simply smile down at him and start lecturing him about needing to look after his health and needing to take breaks more often. You can't help but flick his forehead midway through the scolding session, as he rolls his eye and says; “yes mom.”

One day, while you were giving this boy yet another lecture about overworking himself, and pulling your fingers through his hair. Yukimura can't help but be lulled to sleep by the soothing feeling of your fingers gently massaging his scalp and at your gentle voice laced with love and concern for him.

The two of you sat like that for a while, you stared down at the handsome man's face, and your fingers drifted by their own accord from his hair, to caress the lines of his face. You thought Yukimura was fast asleep, “I really love you, you know that boar, man.”

You were startled when all of a sudden, he moved his hand to cover yours, as he twined his fingers with yours and he looked up into your beautiful eyes, “I l-love you to dummy.” He then placed his other hand at the back of your neck and pulled you down to meet in a kiss. Shingen who had been out on the balcony had seen the whole scene unfold and he was honestly so happy that his little vassal had finally found someone to take care of him. Plus the two of you had been dancing around each other for a while now especially, whenever anyone would mention that the two of you made a cute couple.

Cause Yukimura knows that you love music, he will often take you to a late-night festival, where the two of you will sit under the stars together and listen to some good music. When the festival is over, the two of you would leisurely walk home hand in hand just making the funniest jokes and worst puns. It is definitely not uncommon for the two of you to stay up late into the night just chatting and sipping on tea.

Yuki's favourite weather like yours is rainy, stormy days, even more so, now that he has finally found a lover to spend those days with. Whenever there is a storm or a light drizzle outside the two of you would cuddle up together in the fluffiest blankie and read. Sometimes it would be a book about the most random of topics, other times Yukimura would insist your read to him a piece of your newest writing. Sometimes the two of you would just be snuggled together each doing their own thing, you would read, and he would catch up on his reports.

Because you are a princess, you are always expected to attend every war council so that you could stay well informed about the happenings of the castle. You always found these affairs to be quite boring so you would sit and doodle. Once Kenshin saw how beautiful your little doodles were, he made sure to get you the best drawing pencils and papers to keep you entertained during councils. He especially loves the drawing you made of his little bunnies. This always made Yuki a little jealous, but soon that melted away as you would make him a drawing of his wolf pup. A drawing which he would proudly displays in his room for all to see.

Yuki really loves that you are more of a listener than a talker when it comes to giving out advice. He is often burdened with so much stress and responsibility that all he wants to do is just, be heard. He knows he can't go to Sasuke or Shingen cause they never really listen, just start to shoot off the most random of advice. But not you, you’re always there to lend him a shoulder to lean on and listen, as he unpacks his problems. Gently holding his hand and giving it a few squeezes during his story to indicate that you are still listening and there for him. After he is done unpacking his problems, he actually quickly finds his own solution. Just simply having talked to you was enough for him to see the problem more clearly. Of course, don’t fret cause this boy will do the exact same for you.

Whenever you are feeling down, he will pull you into his arms and let you vent out all your problems, quietly listening while kissing your temples to remind you that he is always there for you

The two of you honestly make the cutest couple, always joking and goofing around, whether it’s making horrible puns or flinging sarcastic comments at each other, it’s always a good time. When the two of you are together, there is always some or other competition or challenge underway. But don’t stress as the two of you also share plenty of quiet moment, where you can just simply relax and enjoy the presence and company of each other

Other potential matches……………. Mitsuhide

I hope you enjoyed this dear and I hope you have the best day! 🌻❤🔥

#yukimura #ikesen yukimura #yukimura sanada #sanada yukimura #yukimura matchup #yuki matchup #ikesen matchup #match ups #matchups #matches #perfect match #submission

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itsclydebitches · 4 years

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Hey, I wanted to say how much I love your RWBY recaps. There almost the only way I enjoy the show these days. Also, just wanted to ask if Qrow was aware that Salem herself was coming to Mantle and do you think it would have changed his reaction if he was?

Thank you! I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed them :D

The short answer to your question: Yes, he absolutely knew.

The long answer is that this is another excellent example of how the writing has characters go OOC/outright ignore information in order to achieve a very narrow and simplistic result:

We start the episode “With Friends Like These” with Ruby’s voice over. That’s the message she sent last episode to everyone in their comm group, including the rest of Team RWBY, JNR, the Ace Ops, Oscar, Robyn, and Qrow. The first thing Ruby chooses to say in this message is that Ironwood has declared martial law and is “abandoning Mantle.”

Which, to be frank, is a weird thing to prioritize imo. Yes, leaving Mantle is the ethical conflict in the works here, but it seems odd that you wouldn’t lead with the reason behind this decision: an immortal grimm queen is coming to murder us all. That... seems kind of important. The fact that leaving Mantle then comes second to telling everyone about the martial law is simply absurd. Oh, the military general has declared a state of emergency during an actual emergency. Everyone panic. We see in the construction of Ruby’s message what she---what the writing---thinks is most important. The fact that Ironwood now has more power is supposedly THE thing to pay attention to here, followed by the decision to leave Mantle. The reason why they’re leaving Mantle is relegated to third.

So yes, everyone knows Salem is coming, yet that’s not presented as a priority here. It’s not the main takeaway. It’s not even mentioned after this. And it’s not like we can claim that Ruby is simply panicking here, speaking quickly, throwing out things as they occur to her, etc. This hierarchy is reinforced the second the message ends and Robyn goes,

Robyn! You also know about Salem! Granted, she doesn’t seem to know about Salem’s immortality---something else I think the group majorly screwed up on, pressuring Ironwood to tell her and the council about an enemy before they’d even told him that said enemy is immortal. That kinda factors into who should know this information---but Robyn does know Salem is a crazy powerful antagonist who has been orchestrating all these horrors from the get-go. She just learned this. Like an hour ago. Yet she doesn’t care, choosing to bypass “Salem is coming” and instead get pissed about Ironwood declaring martial law. The why of his decision is completely ignored. It’s like someone yelling, “Omg you shot him??” and ignoring the context of “Yeah because he was about to shoot me first.” Robyn’s reaction works to paint Ironwood’s decision in a simplistically negative light and because no one but Clover pushes back against this (Clover who is another “bad guy” now) the audience is encouraged to buy into her views. By having characters not just get pissed about some things but actively ignoring others (Salem is coming) the audience is pressured to adopt this hierarchy of important stuff. Everything else is presumably more important than the Big Bad coming to murder an entire kingdom which... shouldn’t be the case. Especially when it’s that problem that’s driving all the decisions that they disagree with. Ironwood isn’t declaring martial law or leaving Mantle for funsies, but no one is acknowledging that. In the same way Team RWBY refused to acknowledge, articulate, or prove why their stand-your-ground decision wasn’t 100% suicidal.

After Robyn’s outburst they continue to ignore Salem’s arrival. It’s just not a factor in anything, apparently. Clover’s scroll chimes with the arrest warrant and from then on out that’s all Qrow cares about.

What stands out to me in re-watching this scene is how the animation frames Clover and Qrow as enemies before they have any reason to be. Clover’s scroll chimes, he sees the arrest, he stands up, and that’s all it takes for Qrow to reach for his weapon.

The dialogue of the story keeps insisting that Ironwood and Clover trustworthy, but as I’ve pointed out numerous times before, the actions of RWBYJNR + Q haven’t shown one ounce of trust lately. Qrow is taking his weapon in hand when literally all Clover has done is stand up and that’s just straight up OOC. It shouldn’t be happening based on the relationship we’ve seen from them this volume, which includes how much Qrow likes the guy and presumably trusts him. But RT decided that they’re enemies now and ran with that against all logic, even to the point where we see nonsensical details like this before Qrow even knows what he’s mad at Clover for. We see a far more egregious example in regards to Salem. They all know she’s coming, Ruby just told them this... and no one cares. It impacts them in no way because acknowledging that impact would mean changing the very simplistic RWBYJNROQ vs. Ironwood + Ace Ops that the end of the volume wanted. Having Qrow go, “Oh fuck. Salem herself? No wonder Ironwood thinks we need to leave” would undermine the “Ironwood is evil now” setup they wanted. So they sacrifice characterization in the name of making that happen. Qrow doesn’t care about Salem coming. Qrow is ready to fight Clover for standing up from his seat. Qrow is going to team up with Tyrian. Qrow is going to vow revenge on Ironwood for the death he helped bring about. RIP Qrow because Volume 7 did you so, so dirty.

Though I mean, we shouldn’t be surprised. This is the exact same thing we saw in Volume 6 when a big group of empathetic abuse survivors ignored 19 minutes of Ozpin’s trauma to focus solely on, “Salem is immortal??” Now we have the opposite: characters who know precisely how dangerous Salem is and who have been obsessed with her immortality lately ignore that threat to instead focus on, “Ironwood declared martial law??” RWBY has very little consistency nowadays. There’s no internal logic for why characters react the way they do. Asking, “Do you think Qrow would have changed is reaction?” is the work of a good writer because having that information should change his behavior...but as we’ve seen, it didn’t.

#rwby #rwby volume 7 #rwby volume 7 spoilers #mymetas #tatterdown

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comradesummers · 4 years

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top 5 moments of xander-provided levity

Wow, this is a really cool question. For as many issues that I have with Xander’s character, one of the main attributes of his that I really connect with (and a reason that I have such a love-hate relationship with him) is his desperation for levity in terrifying circumstances, if only to retain a level of calm and allow himself and others to feel at least somewhat grounded. I think that’s something we can all relate to in these apocalyptic times (like a lot of people on this website, I am currently in quarantine), so I really appreciate this ask.

5. “Say hi for me.”

This one’s during Innocence, and Willow’s in the library having a phone call with a panicked Buffy who still hasn’t found Angel, leading to this conversation:

Willow: No. Don’t eve say that! Angel is not dead.

Xander: Say hi for me.

It’s just so random and casual, and for some reason it never fails to make laugh.

4. “Does the council reimburse for that kind of stuff?”

This is from Enemies, an episode that spends most of its runtime trying to trick the audience into believing that Angel’s turned bad again. In that context, the entire scene of Xander describing how he bribed Willy the Snitch is especially delightful. But I love this part in particular, because with this throwaway line, Xander is officially the only character who ever suggests the Council should maybe provide the Scoobies some funding, which might actually make him the most sensible one out of all of them (it also might be telling that he’s the only one to do so given his working class roots, but maybe I’m reading too much into it).

3. “Just think of me as … as your … You know, I’m searching for supportive things, and I’m comin’ up all bras.”We really don’t give season 5 credit for just how depressing it is. Like everyone talks about season 6, but season 6 only exists because season 5 was so traumatic for everyone that they pretty much had to address the aftermath.

So, anyway, Buffy’s just dropped out of college in order to take care of Dawn, and Xander’s offering her his support, which is adorable. He says to Buffy “Welcome to the real world” because out of all of the young characters, he’s the only one with any real, adult career experience (not including Anya because she basically got a job by pestering Giles until he offered her one, which is amazingly on brand, but generally not how it works for people who aren’t Anya). But he doesn’t say it in a mean or superior way. He says that and then immediately tells Buffy that he’ll be there for her no matter what she chooses. He’s offering to help because he knows he can be helpful and it’s really lovely. Plus, it shows some of his own character growth in the confidence he displays about his life and career choices, which is also great to see.

And the line about bras is especially cute because it actually makes Buffy, who is understandably pretty upset at the moment, crack up a little. And you can tell that he says it specifically because he wants to make her laugh, and it’s just really cute and I love it a lot.

2. “If you have to go to the bathroom, it’s to your left. If you don’t have to go to the bathroom, picture what you’re about to face. Better to go now.”This one’s from Chosen and it’s just such a dad thing to say. I love it. It’s also definitely Xander passing on wisdom he’s gained from past experiences which makes it even funnier.

1. Xander proposing to Anya in The Gift

It feels kind of awkward to include this one, much less give it the top spot, since we all know how that entire situation played out. Also, this may not even count, seeing as it’s Xander providing levity in more of a meta way, as opposed to him actively making a joke in order to lighten the mood. But I kind of have to go with this one because of how emotional it made me when I first watched it. Which is funny, because I am by no means a Xander/Anya shipper. Like I don’t hate that ship like a lot of people do, but before Hell’s Bells (an episode that made me so viscerally angry that I’ve never once been able to bring myself to rewatch it), I rarely gave them much thought as a couple.

But I think this moment hit me so hard during The Gift because it’s an episode that really focuses on just how exhausted the Scoobies are. They’ve stopped so many apocalypses (still not sure if that’s the plural) and yet the world seems determined to end, and they don’t know if they can manage to keep their heads above water anymore.

So in that context, having Xander make that cute, funny proposal to Anya is already such a breath of fresh air. But more than that, Xander’s speech is pretty much the only genuine expression of hope in the entire episode. While he may have fucked it up in the end, I truly believe that he believes, in that moment, that the world won’t end, and that he will live a long and silly life, and that he will have a future with Anya. He believes that happiness is possible for them and he wants to pursue that, even under the circumstances. It just gets me that out of all them, he’s the one that manages to hold onto hope. It really makes me believe that he’s the heart of the Scoobies, and it’s also a message that I think we all need to hear every now and again.

#xander harris #anya jenkins #buffy summers #btvs #buffy the vampire slayer

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skidblast · 5 years

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The Villains of Transformers.

This seems like a basic non-question. We got Unicron as the world-ending threat, and various incarnations of Megatron doing the rest of the job to keep the threat going. However, there is another angle to it.

Often we hear the phrase “write what you know”. Which seems simple enough, that you got experience with something that you can write it pretty true. But what does one know about mechanical aliens that have been fighting a war for 4 million years?

But the various writers of the Transformers franchise throughout the years have written what they know. There is an overarching threat in each one of the transformers incarnations that is different from the Megatron the Tyrant or the Planet-eating Unicron. It’s more like background noise, providing the constant that is happening, a crutch when writing.

Unfortunately I won’t be touching on Japanese produced media, I haven’t studied the history of Japan to know the nuanced details of culture background noise or incidental historic events to comment on Headmaster, Victory, RID2001, Unicron Trilogy and any other that I have missed.

I will also skip the Marvel, Dreamwave and FunPub comics/media as I’ve not read them. Cyberverse and the second IDW release are skipped as they are pretty recent additions. Rescue Bots and Rescue Bots Academy is skipped as well due to simplicity.

The main theme of the G1 cartoon is energy shortage. Cybertron is out of Energon, they flee Cybertron to find more energy. The Decepticons set up base on Earth because the humans have begun to harness the energy of their planet, allowing easy access to said energy and to ship it home.

This doesn’t come out of nowhere. In fact, most people have heard of the precursor in passing. The time when cars were lined up at the gas stations.

1979 was a bad shock for the oil market. Iran revolted, causing oil production to shrink a bit and caused panic, which in turned caused the prices of oil to rise dramatically. This was also the year where the Three Mile Island Accident happened, so people got vary of nuclear power. Gas rationing was discussed, and in some states actually implemented. Then recession hit in the wake of this.

The effects of the oil crisis and the following recession were still felt, so a cartoon about an energy crisis was very easy to write.

Beast Wars is an odd one to analyse. It came as the Transformers franchise was dying, and Hasbro was desperate to reinvent Transformers for the new kids. The appeal of cars turning into robots was no longer around, but making them animals was the push Hasbro needed to refresh the Transformers.

So we end up with the beginning basically rehashing the Transformers cartoon, but when the overarching plot hits, when the threads get revealed after a whole season of basically filler, we find the inspiration that the writers had. This time, it is not energy crisis, in 1996 we had put that behind us.

We have Megatron leading a team trying to restore the Decepticons as rightful rulers via time travel. We then discover he had actually gone against the so-called Tripredacus Council, the fractured Predacon Alliance who were biding their time and see the usefulness of what Megatron is trying to accomplish. In order to gain more power without breaking the peace made with the Pax Cybertronia, they use secret agents and secret police.

This is very familiar to a lot of people who haven’t seen Beast Wars or heard of it. This is Russia.

In 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed, and with that the Cold War ended. Peace was had. But as Russia threw off the communism ties from them, the ruling body still needed to exert control over the nation, and to broaden their influence beyond their borders. Russia went from Communism to Mafia-like control, using secret police, subtle threats and various other shady things. People saw what was going on, and with the new fear they were facing, they made it known in the media.

Beast Machines is a bit easier to figure out compared to its predecessor. It’s mostly because the message of Beast Machines resonates strongly today.

Beast Machines came shortly after Beast Wars, as the toyline was trying to go away from the purely animal transformers and going for more mechanical look. But how do you really bridge those together?

At the tail end of the 80ies, environmentalism was on the rise. There was an undercurrent of that happening in Beast Wars, but in Beast Machines it had much more weight to it. With Megatron wanting to stamp out any biological influences from Cybertron, ready to eradicate any traces of it and mass-producing purely mechanical beings to repopulate Cybertron. While Optimus Primal was embracing the biological side of it, becoming sort of a guru through the Oracle.

The rise of industrialism is frightening prospect, seeing the nature retreat into near nothingness, and seeing the callousness of the industry just ignore it completely in favour for profits. But there was no denying that industrialism was there to stay, so while it is the main fear of the series, the message of the series was not to abolish it but to tame it, not let it out of control and make sure that the environment was put on equal grounds to it.

Animated is a strong reboot like Beast Wars was, coming at the same time as the Michael Bay films. Japanese production had taken over after Beast Machines finished, but Hasbro sought to retake the American market with media that they controlled. Importing Anime and dubbing it was all and good, but if they had complete control, they would have better chance to make it appeal to the market they wanted, the Western one.

It’s 2007. Following 9/11 the USA goes to war. And it is still going, with a certain hopelessness attached to it as people are getting more and more jaded by it. But most people never really felt the impact, only heard about it. There was no draft, there was no conscription. People joined the military, and those who came back came back either just a little bit off, or really suffering, and couldn’t get proper help.

Transformers Animated touches on civilians being basically forced into the war, against foes that were thought to be defeated long ago. It touches on the hardship of those civilians as they are part of it, feeling both the elation of being thought as heroes, and feeling the terror of the situation that they are in. A highlight of this is the episode Thrill of the Hunt, which came rather early, and touched on themes that are not common to see in media aimed at children, looking at Ratchet going too far, and suffering from some form of PTSD as well.

While the actual war had never visited the US or the spacebridge repair crew, the impact of it was felt on them, with all the horrors that entails.

Transformers Animated and first Michael Bay Transformers film came out on the same year. Yet the themes of the film series is far from what Animated did. One part of it is that Hollywood movies are more constricted as they have to appeal to a whole lot of audience in order to gain any return from the production cost. So everything is analysed in detail, making sure that nothing would alienate the vast majority of the Western World. We are in fact seeing it more obviously as China is growing stronger as a consumer market for Hollywood movies, and we see how the movies are made to appeal to that market as well.

So doing a commentary on the Afghanistan war like Transformers Animated did was out of the question. But it doesn’t mean that there isn’t a fear in the movie like in anything else.

Technology is on rapid rise. The rule of CPU power doubling every 18 months was still holding. New technology comes before anyone can really adapt to what had been introduced not so long ago.

The fear in the Michael Bay films is the rampancy of technology. We have severely advanced alien race make contact, and in fact made most of the technology based on one of them, found at the turn of the previous century. Technology that wasn’t even fully understood, that people thought they could easily control. But it goes out of control.

This concept is called Technological Singularity, where technology eventually becomes uncontrollable and we get swept up in the wake of it, having to deal with the new reality that we are no longer the masters of the world we are in. Grey Goo is one of the better known representation of this idea. Another is the idea of an overlord AI that either seeks to exterminate humanity, rule it with iron fist, or simply think of humans as we think of ants, insignificant.

IDW Publishing was on the scene two years earlier, in 2005. However given how long the first G1 iteration of it ran it gets mentioned after TFA and the movies due to that, allowing for Aligned continuity to come after it.

While TFA showed how the Afghanistan War impacted US citizens, who had not really experienced being at war while being so interconnected with the world and able to receive so much information, the IDW comics went for the other angle, the other fear that ruled in the USA at that time.

9/11. The fear of terrorism happening, the fear of foreign infiltration. The Decepticons had a plan on how the infiltration happened, every step of it planned, making sure that they could make the residents of the planet do most of the work of disrupting the peace, making it easy for them to swoop in and destroy the rest.

While things didn’t go as planned as the Autobots intervened pretty early, the Decepticons went public on full force, taking over New York City and almost dropped an atomic bomb on it. The connection to 9/11 is pretty hard to miss.

And then Phase 2 hits. James Roberts becomes one of the more interesting writers in the series. And this is where things go slightly off. James Roberts is more of a writer that knows what he’s writing about, instead of being influenced by current events.

And James Roberts has made known he has major interest in politics as he worked with politicians before picking up the pen for IDW Publishing. Write what you know, and James Roberts know politics, and political history.

In Phase 2 there is increased focus on the actual motivations behind the war. While Megatron Origins did go into how Megatron became the leader of the Deceptioncs, it was James Roberts that made it into the communism reflection that it became in the comics. It isn’t really some overarching fear in the background of the comics, it’s known quantity woven into the narrative of the comic.

Transformers Prime came in 2010, after Transformers Animated, seeking to remove the stylised aesthetics of the former toyline and try to be more like the movies.

And it wasn’t the only thing it changed. What was changed as well was the work that was actually put behind the actual lore of the series, making a true production bible that was used not for just the TV series but the accompanying video games as well, War For Cybertron and Fall Of Cybertron. And there was also a clear message along with that, this was a new continuity, new setting. Aligned, seeking to mesh together all the good from the various franchises into one good package.

But with all that background done on it, it’s easy to point out how Megatron went from a revolutionary to a tyrant and that would be about that. But it is not that simple.

What colors Transformers Prime is subtle and easily overlooked. In 2007 we experienced a dire financial crisis. Unemployment shot up, investments plummeted, there was no good safety net for people and a lot of them fell through the cracks. But these things are hard to really put into a show like this without it being explicitly about it. But there is another side effect of the recession that wasn’t that apparent in 2010, is more obvious now, but with the Transformers lore from the 1984 cartoon being similar, it blends into the usual Transformers noise.

Refugees.

Optimus Prime and his small team are simply refugees. Cybertron did run out of fuel, but the plots of harvesting energon and fighting over resources is more rehashing of the old cartoon plots. The focus is more on the Autobot team as they deal with being literal aliens in the US, escaping the tyranny that they fled. How they are treated by the locals, how they deal with the isolation of being in a culture different from theirs. They simply try to survive. Like how most people hit by the recession felt.

Robots in Disguise was released after Transformers Prime, going away from the expensive production and to more cheaper look. But with the so-called Aligned continuty having been a strong reboot of the “TV cartoons” series, Hasbro was in no hurry to abandon it, making Robots in Disguise a sequel to Transformers Prime.

Though with the war over, a new kind of threat had to be made. And Steeljaw steps into the role, not only as the main antagonist of the series, but as the representation of the fear theme of the series.

What isn’t really that obvious in Robots in Disguise is just how powerful Steeljaw is. Steeljaw isn’t just some generic Decepticon villain who escapes just so they can reuse his model instead of having to create even more Decepticons. He has fighting prowess, he is able to outwit the Bumblebee team. And the most dangerous weapons he has are his personality and voice.

Steeljaw is able to talk himself out of trouble. He has major ambitions, he knows what to do in order to recruit others. He wants power and respect, and if left unchecked, he will have it. And he knows that if there is some that he can’t convince, he can fight, and he will fight dirty.

Steeljaw represents a fear that people have experienced for a long time, but it wasn’t until recently that it really put into the spotlight. He is the abuser, the person in power that will make your life miserable. He antagonises Bumblebee and his team by causing them trouble, drive them off their safe haven of Earth and later drives them from their safe space, forcing them to go on the run. He finds power by leading a pack of Decepticons, then later by allying himself to the new council until he realises that he will not achieve his goals with him.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this massive post of mine.

#transformers #maccadam #megatron #robots in disguise #transformers prime #tfp #g1 #tfa #beast machines #rid15 #bay films #STUPID SPECULATION #long post #really long post #I'm sorry #literary analysis #analysis #fan analysis #8th grade english essay

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