#them both killed for his own nefarious reasons

[hopetorun]

10 SASHA BARKOV!!

framed for a crime they didn’t commit … kinda … this took on a life of its own. sorry sasha isn’t actually in it much.

“It’s a frame job,” Matthew hisses through the phone. There’s a long pause, dead air as his words process through all the layers of security and as the response filters back.

“You can’t be sure of that,” Darryl says. “You haven’t been working with him very long.”

“Long enough,” Matthew says. The phone’s a land line, corded and attached to the wall. It’s an old safehouse, but when he asked Darryl said it’s more secure this way. No chance of the phone being taken away from the room it’s supposed to be in, falling into the wrong hands. “He doesn’t kill people, not like this. He doesn’t kill the wrong people and then get caught.”

“Well, he did,” Darryl says, his voice flat. “You have a mission to finish out. Report now while I’ve got you on the phone anyway, and then go back to your apartment and get to work.”

Matthew reports. There’s not much to tell aside from Sasha being dragged away by the local police at the crack of dawn today. His next meeting with his mark isn’t until tomorrow, and he and Sasha hadn’t made much headway on the data from the extraction Sasha made two nights ago.

Sasha would have mentioned if he killed someone during that B&E. He would’ve mentioned it if there was even a chance someone died. He knows about cleaning up loose ends. He trusts Matthew to help him with that. Matthew decides not to mention the data, or the little progress they’ve made with it. Technically that’s Sasha’s mission anyway.

They set a deadline for Matthew’s next report, he tells Darryl he’ll head home, and then he locks up the safehouse and heads to Sasha’s apartment. It’s been ransacked, of course. Maybe by more than just the cops. If this was a frame-up to get Sasha out of the way, then whoever did it had plenty of time to get in here and look for evidence.

Matthew knows more than any of them, though. He finds the safe quickly, behind a false wall in the coat closet, and gets it open on the second try. The hard drive from two nights ago is still there — thank god — and so is Sasha’s phone. Not his cover phone, the important one. The one where Matthew can activate the voice control and say call Paul, and it does.

“Sasha?” the voice on the other end of the line says.

Matthew clears his throat. “It’s not — it’s Matthew. Sasha’s been arrested.”

Paul swears under his breath but otherwise seems to take it in stride. “Local police,” Matthew continues. “They say it’s for murder. He didn’t kill anyone.”

“I know he didn’t,” Paul mutters. “Fuck.”

Matthew stands in the closet, clutching the phone he can’t actually unlock, waiting impatiently for Paul to say anything else. He just swears again, and then says, “Is there anything else?”

It’s a long shot. It’s a risk. It’s possible Matthew’s about to make the biggest mistake of his career, including the time he dropped an armed charge off a roof and caused a city-wide lockdown in Bucharest. He doesn’t even know if Paul trusts him. Sasha was concerningly vague on the subject. But he spent years training to analyze a situation, and to trust his instincts because his instincts are honed by years of practice at this. His conscious mind is still working through all the pieces of evidence that are telling him to say it, but he knows they’re there. You don’t get to where he is in this job without good instincts and the ability to read the field.

“Darryl doesn’t want me looking into it,” he says. “He was insistent. Didn’t listen when I said it wasn’t like Sasha to leave a mess like that.”

Paul hums. “I don’t want to jump to conclusions,” Matthew continues.

“But you think it’s weird your handler wanted you to leave your partner in a former Soviet bloc prison?”

“Yeah,” Matthew says. “Yeah.”

“No fucking kidding.”

“I didn’t tell him about the hard drive,” Matthew adds. “That was strictly Sasha’s mission. Technically I’m not required to report to him about it.”

“Okay,” Paul says. Faintly, Matthew can hear typing. He’s holding the phone so hard his hand hurts. “I — okay. I need to get some balls rolling. Can you take this phone back your place and store it securely?”

Matthew can. But— “Darryl knows my safe code. He’s not in the country, but he could be.”

“Doesn’t matter. Take it anyway. I need to be able to reach you.”

Matthew does it. He gets a distracted goodbye from Paul, and then has to stand there trying to focus his mind for several minutes. He leaves the hard drive in the safe and locks it again, and then wipes down everything he’s touched. If the place gets searched again, his fingerprints here won’t help anyone.

With Sasha’s phone shoved in his pocket, he heads home and hopes to hell Darryl doesn’t decide he needs to check in on him in person anytime soon.

#ask meme #and then matthew breaks sasha out of prison and they go on the lam together because it turns out matthew’s handler is actually trying to get #them both killed for his own nefarious reasons #and they tenderly take care of each other’s wounds and fall in love

[buckybarnesss]

The reasons I get irritated by Peter and Jennifer using Derek's trauma against him are twofold.

Peter's tales are taken as absolute truth by people, and there's this reoccurring thought that Derek ask for Paige to be bitten. Peter attempts to use Derek's trauma (that Peter himself caused!) as a way to cause Cora and Stiles to lose faith in Derek.

Jennifer throws what she really looks like in Derek's face, accusing him of potentially being shallow after she RAPED HIM. She wielded his trauma like a weapon against him in order to manipulate him, and then tried to insinuate that he was in the wrong for not wanting to fuck a cenobite.

It's very interesting that the nogitsune is aware of how Derek feels for Stiles and vice versa, and comes to the same conclusion as Jennifer: Derek is a useful protector. However, the nogitsune is smart enough not to try to seduce Derek. He just pretends to be Stiles, knowing that being in possession of Stiles' mind and body is enough to effectively leash Derek.

the more i watch visionary the more i've decided that it's not so much the episode itself i had so much beef with but more fandom's reaction to it. the episode makes it pretty clear that the whole narrative conceit is that peter and gerard are manipulators and liars. they are not telling the full truth.

scott and allison are openly scornful of gerard and scott threatens him at the end. stiles explicitly tells cora that peter's told them a story.

yet fandom continues to cite peter's rendition of what happened with paige as gospel. like, yes, peter can tell the truth and does so frequently but he does so in a manner than benefits him. you often have to peel back the layers to see what peter's intentions are when he offers his help. there's usually a price of some kind. peter is a lot of things and not a single one of them is altruistic.

someone once argued with me saying peter wasn't angling for derek to give up his alpha power. i'm sorry the same dude who melodramatically was screaming about always being the alpha at the close of the season? that guy?

tell me this is not the face of a man who knows he's got his quarry on the hook. peter's always manipulating derek to some extent. it's his main hobby.

peter had an intention in telling the paige story to stiles but also in how he told it and the content of the story. he told it to stiles knowing that stiles feels a certain kind of way about derek. he tees up the story by comparing young derek to stiles's bff scott. he minimizes his presence and manipulations in what happened to paige and than closes with saying that blue eyes are an indication of killing an innocent.

he wanted to manipulate stiles's perception of derek. cora was just a bonus.

jennifer has an interesting view of derek. she definitely sees him as her savior due to him sacrificing paige which gave the nemeton enough power to sustain her life when kali almost killed her but he is also a tool. it's all conditional and all about how it benefits her the same as peter.

jennifer uses the memory of paige and derek's affection for stiles as a weapon against him. she perverts his love for them. kate did something similar in preying upon derek's grief for paige to sink her claws into him.

she uses her own victimhood to minimize her own victimization of him. she crocodile tears at him weaponizing what happened to her to manipulate him. she drops that façade quickly when it wasn't working as planned.

the thing that got him to not kill her once it was revealed who she really was? the location of stiles's father and her holding cora's life above his head.

both peter and jennifer are master manipulators and co-opt derek's traumas for their own nefarious purposes.

is it a wonder why derek guards his heart so closely? why he doesn't think he's good for people? with people like this constantly using him for their ends and manipulating him with his own heart?

the nogitsune is interesting because it doesn't even really bother with derek all that much. it wants him out of the way more than anything to the point of giving derek little distractions and than uses him as a protector when necessary.

the nogitsune was there in the cellar when derek mercy killed paige so i do wonder if it was aware while it was trapped in that jar.

it's possible that it could gain more glee from knowing how easily it leashed derek by simply possessing stiles and being aware of the distress it would cause stiles to force derek into a position of having to mercy kill another person he cared about. i would bet it had this as a contingency or a possible play if necessary.

the nogitsune fed off chaos, strife and pain. it clearly didn't have to be physical. it likes it's psychological warfare and it was playing with scott, lydia, allison and kira for all they were worth.

derek hale was probably reserved for dessert tbh. all that pain and trauma probably looked like an after dinner mint to it.

#my blog #thoughts on teen wolf #teen wolf #sterek

[everybody-loves-purdy]

This for sure has been thought of before but the Great Journey would have been better if Hawkfrost was on it so that he and Bramble could have more moments together that will make Hawk's downfall and death that much more impactful to him and to the audience.

They could have heart-to-hearts about Tigerstar, making the Dark Forest training more interesting....they could talk about Bramble's bond with Tawny, who's on the journey, and how it kinda matches Hawk and Moth (which is another thing that makes future events sadder) (and maybe he and Squirrel could bond here, with both their sisters being back home and being med cats).

Maybe the reason Hawk joins is because Tiger visits him in a dream to tell him to see what's up at fourtrees and he sees the cats meeting. Later he begins to think that maybe he should be leader of one of the Clans. He did help find the new territories, after all, and how bad can Tigerstar be if his father was the one to help him begin the journey to find it? (and maybe whispered advice throughout the journey).

(side note--maybe Tiger 'helping' the cats on the journey by speaking with Hawk and Bramble helps to convince him more realistically that Tiger wants to train them not for nefarious reasons, because Bramble believed him far too easily let's be honest).

I just think it was a missed opportunity. Instead of introducing him as a kinda obvious "this guy is gonna be a problem later" thing, he's introduced like a non-pov (or maybe pov) protagonist that is at first seen like a kind if not peculiar guy who falls lower and lower until he's killed by Brambleclaw.

And before this, Brambleclaw thought that he's not just his brother--he's like him, someone whose loyalties were doubted because of Tigerstar. He has a sister he cares about, a mother who, when he talks about her, reminds Bramble of Goldenflower.

And he thinks "he's like me."

And Squirrelpaw talks to him and learns that they have the same sense of humour, they both like bugging Bramble, they both have a sister med cat who they love and is back home worrying about them, they both live in the shadow of their father--good or bad. Squirrelpaw confesses that she's such a nuisance because she doesn't want to be compared to the great Firestar. Hawk tells her that he feels trapped by his parentage as well.

And she thinks "he's just like me."

That's what makes it so impactful in the end, because not only is he corrupted, not only is Bramble forced to kill him, but his evil isn't just a sign of his own downfall, but of how close it could have been Brambleclaw himself, or Squirrelpaw, or someone else who saw Hawkfrost in themself and who now has to wonder "will that be me?"

This is so good, I love this AU.

Hawkfrost is just a bundle of missed potential honestly. There’s so much more that could have been done with his character than what we got.

#residences of the darkforest #au #Hawkfrost

[seths-rogens]

HERE IS THE REPEATED IMAGE OF THE LOVER DESTROYED

AO3 | Part 2

The sounds of battle were almost completely quiet by now. It had seemed, for a while, that the clanging of swords and the screams of wounded and dying men weren’t getting any quieter, no matter how far away they walked from the battlefield.

It was slow going. Stephen was unsteady on his feet, steadily losing more blood as they continued on. He only remained standing because of the weight Edmund took, hoisting his arm around his shoulder and steadying him at the waist.

One of Stephen’s hands sat clutching at the back of Edmund’s armour, while the other pressed tight against the wound on his abdomen. He could feel the warm, wet red of his blood slipping down over his fingers and dripping onto the forest floor. He had been stabbed before of course - it came as part of the job - but never quite like this. He could feel himself dying, his life slipping through his own weak grasp.

It was no longer a case of ‘if’, but ‘when’.

He hoped no one was following them, as he was surely leaving a stark crimson trail behind, and he would hate for them to catch Edmund. He deserved his freedom, not a cruel death at the hands of a man who craved power over all else.

Despite their opposing crests and colours, Stephen had become quite fond of Edmund over the previous months. He had been wary at first, of the man in the deep purple cloak who came to his chambers at night whispering the secrets of his enemies.

That was treason, he could be killed for that, people had been killed for less.

And yet, in spite of this, every Tuesday, at 9pm on the dot, when the castle was dark and the wains were sleeping, Edmund would slip in through the cracked window. He would sit at Stephen’s small dining table, a goblet of wine in both their hands, sipping idly as he detailed King Henry’s next nefarious plan. An invasion here, an execution there. His cruelty was becoming far too normal.

Stephen couldn’t tell you when their meetings progressed to more. When they moved from the table to the bed, lying next to one another like parallel streams. When Edmund’s standoffishness became tender, gentle. When they finally bridged that unspoken divide.

Edmund fantasised of a better, freer future. A peaceful one. He would whisper about it at night, under the blankets like they could hide from the world.

He believed Stephen would be the one to start and lead the revolution, to build an army and fight back. Take the crown for himself.

Stephen hadn’t been so sure. He was only a Lord, after all, presiding over a small town of a few hundred since the deaths of his parents. He didn’t think people would follow him - didn’t think they had reason to - but something about Edmund’s ferocity almost made him try anyway.

Stephen was surprised when the townsfolk rallied all too quickly to follow him. He turned to Edmund with a confused smile, receiving a told-you-so smirk in return.

They had a war to fight.

Yet now, here they were, a crown traitor traipsing through the forest with the dying would-be king half hanging off his back.

Stephen dug his heels, bringing them to a stop. “You’ll have to go on without me. I don’t think I’ll make it much further.”

Edmund stumbled, nearly dropping Stephen from around his shoulders. Stephen winced, sucking in a breath as the action tugged on his wound.

Edmund searched his face, trying desperately to meet his eyes. Stephen denied him.

“No. I cannot. We must keep moving.” Edmund grit his teeth, readjusting his grip and taking another step forward.

“Ed-Edmund… You must leave me, I am only slowing you down.” Stephen spoke desperately, avoiding Edmund’s watchful eye. It was over for him, he knew that, but he couldn’t let Edmund get caught. “If you stop me here you can still escape before someone comes looking.”

Edmund dropped his hold on the arm around his shoulders to instead grip Stephen’s jaw and force eye contact. His touch was first but still gentle. Edmund was always gentle. “I will not leave you, my liege. There is still time for you yet. Okay?”

A pit opened in Stephen’s stomach, he felt a prickle behind his eye. “Okay.” He whispered.

Stephen ducked his head. They took another step forward, then another.

“We keep walking,” Edmund grunted. “If we walk to the edge of the forest, we’ll see it. Your manor is just over the ridge. We can make it.”

He spoke with a sick sort of desperation, a refusal to be swayed ran tight like a bowstring down the line of his body. It was only a matter of time, Stephen knew, but if his presence offered Edmund comfort, then for this short while he would allow it.

They were quiet for a while - the only sound the squelch of wet leaves beneath their boots - as they made slow progress through the forest.

Stephen could feel his eyes drooping, his hand falling limp from where it clutched his side. He stumbled, falling to his knees and dragging Edmund with him. He heaved in a gasping breath as Edmund dropped to his own knees in front of him. He felt warm, calloused palms cup his cheeks, a thumb stroking softly over his cheekbone.

“You have to stand up, Sire. We’re almost there. I can see the break in the trees.”

“Edmund, I am no king.” Stephen covered Edmund’s hand with his own, wetting it with his blood. “I never was.”

“You were mine.” Edmund whispered. “You are mine.” He sniffled, biting back tears. “Come on, if you just stand up I can carry you, and we can make it. We can get you help.”

“No.” Stephen heaved a breath.

“Stephen, please.”

“No.” Stephen smiled. “It is my time. I have accepted that.”

“No.” Edmund shook his head. “No. We can still help you. I can still save you.”

“Edmund. My love. I am not long for this world.” Edmund choked out a sob. “Lay me down. If I am to pass, I would like to be comfortable.”

Stephen could only stare, taking in every feature of the other man’s face as he laid him down, as he cried for him. He was set down on a bed of leaves, soft green moss and small white flowers. It was a beautiful place to die, he only felt sorry to mar it with his blood.

Edmund knelt beside him, running tender hands through the dirty strands of his hair. “I do not want you to go. I am not ready.”

Stephen reached up, caressing Edmund’s cheek, stroking away a tear. “You will see me again.”

“Not soon enough.” Edmund cried, forcing a shaky smile.

Stephen could taste copper in his mouth, though he could no longer feel the pain of the hole in his side. He felt drunk, his movements sluggish. He smiled, but at the way Edmund flinched, he assumed it must be gruesome.

“Sunshine, my love. If I am to die, would you kiss me? Just once more? I have a long road ahead of me.” His voice was weak. Each word trailing after the other.

Edmund smiled, a beautiful sight for Stephen’s tired eyes. “Of course, my sweetheart. One for the road.” He chuckled wetly, leaning down and pressing a hard kiss to Stephen’s red lips.

___________________

When Edmund pulled away, still cradling his lover’s face, he sucked in a harsh breath. Stephen’s bleary eyes gazed up at the sky, to where the sunlight dappled its way through the high leaves like stars.

“Can you see that, Edmund? The stars are out already.” A soft smile fell upon his face, his eyes awe-filled. “Aren’t they beautiful?”

It was daylight. Several hours from night. Stephen was fading fast.

Edmund could not pull his eyes away from the man beneath him. He held back a whimper. “They are. Just like you.”

“Oh, Edmund. You flatter me.” Stephen laughed, his breath whistling in his chest. “Would you get my dear Robin. She does so love the stars, and I think I can see a new constellation. I’m sure she would like to name it. Though perhaps I should, I did find it first after all…”

“Yeah? What’re you going to name it, my dear?”

Stephen smiled, meeting Edmund’s gaze. “Mîn frîge, sunnanscîma. For you.”

Edmund laughed, though it sounded more like a sob.

Stephen’s eyes glazed over, a gentle smile still tugging on his lips. He fell limp in Edmund’s arms.

“No. No!” Edmund near yelled, shaking Stephen’s body in his arms. “No, please, it isn’t time yet. I need more time!” His voice cracked, dropping to a whisper. “We didn’t have enough.”

Edmund curled over Stephen’s chest, as tears spilled down his face - wracking sobs that shook his whole body - and mixed with the red blood that still painted his lips.

He cried until he was tired. Until his body felt weak and empty.

He pulled away, adjusting Stephen’s limbs so he was lying straight, clasping his sword against his chest. He looked dignified.

If not for the blood, he would have looked as if he was sleeping.

Edmund surrounded his body in the flowers he found around the edges of the meadow - pink corncockle and pale bluebells. He weaved him a crown of yellow blossoms and white snowdrops, and laid it to rest upon his head.

He looked regal. Like the king he was never able to be.

Edmund wiped the blood from Stephen’s mouth and knelt back. It was easier to pretend he was asleep. That with a nudge, or a whisper in his ear, his lips would pull into a smile and he would open bleary eyes. That he would tackle Edmund into the flowers, pressing kisses everywhere he could reach.

But Stephen lay still. He would not awaken.

Edmund sniffed, wiping the tears from his face. He leaned forward, cradling Stephen’s face in his palms and pressing one last, lingering kiss to his lips.

He stood on shaky legs and turned, began to walk away.

He couldn’t turn back. If he did, he’d never leave.

———————————————

aaaa hello it’s been a long time since i’ve written or posted fanfic so i hope everyone likes this!

i don’t have many steddie mutuals but it would be very cool to kinda join the gang lmao

sorry for the MCD, this came from a writing prompt i was given in one of my classes and i couldn’t help myself!

Mîn frîge, sunnanscîma = ‘My love, sunshine’ in Old English

reblogs appreciated!! <3

#MAIN CHARACTER DEATH #MCD #steddie #steddie fic #steddie ficlet #steve harrington x eddie munson #steve x eddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #king steve #except almost literally #my fic: hitri

[woodsfae]

B5 s03e12 Sic Transit Vir table of contents - previous chapter

A two month break isn't too bad compared to my seven month break last year, right? hah

Ivanova seems to be having a naked-at-work dream?? Lol, yes it was. I am actually amused that even in her dream the staff had the nerve to act like anything was out of the ordinary.

Vir checking out his future throne! Get it.

Was Vir also having a dream? Interesting way to open an episode, if so.

Londo having a totally normal reaction to having a bug buzzing around your apartment. Maybe going after a bug with a sword is actually good enrichment for him? I'm impressed that he got it.

"Do you know that you are smaller than I thought you were?"

LOL

Ah, Londo's second-greatest weakness, a beautiful Centauri woman. (his first greatest weakness is someone offering to commit war crimes to elevate his political standing.)

Awww, Sheridan and Delenn are so cute nowadays I can hardly stand it. Just…oozing adorableness at each other at all times.

VIR. You are an ambassador in your own right. Don't be so deferent to Londo!!! You are peers!!

Who tf arranged this marriage?? I hope Lyndisty is nice if they do get married. Ah, answered immediately. One of Vir's uncles, and Lyndisty's mother.

She seems nice. I tentatively like her. And it seems that Vir does, too!

"If you give me a chance, I promise you: when we cross beneath the swords and boughs…it will be for love."

I hope so!! I don't like it when bad things happen to Vir. He takes it like a champ but it's like watching someone kick a puppy.

"Do you think I'm pretty?" "Oh, deliriously! But I always associated delirium with fever. So…there you are."

Wow! I feel like that was definitely his first kiss.

"If kisses could kill, that one would have flattened several small towns."

Lyndisty is coming on SO strong it worries me that she's going to be nefarious. But Vir probably would need any partner to be much more….bold than he is.

Sheridan made Delenn a Minbari dish!

Not well it seems. Their courtship COULD be so rocky, but both of them are so determined to be genial it's actually so smooth!

Well Sheridan did say that nothing stays calm on B5 forever. What instigated this attack, though?! And Zack Allen, if you wanted the attacker to survive, maybe don't shoot them in the head??

Personal grudge against Vir seems…unlikely. And makes me way more suspicious of Lyndisty.

As horrified as Ivanova is to be asked what ladies like in bed, she's definitely a better option to ask than Londo, Vir is right.

Well now idk what Vir is talking about and also don't want to know! Keep that cursed Centauri sexcapades knowledge away from me please.

Delenn is wildly good at speaking indirectly but completely clearly. Wow! If she flirted with me like that I would simply perish.

All two thousand Narns that Vir got off Narn are dead! That's a hell of a motivation for a revenge killing. And the immediate cut to Lyndisty, again, makes me very suspicious of her.

FUCK YOU LONDO. ugh. gross fucker.

Ahhh, Vir faked killing them. Good for him! But maybe he faked their deaths too well, since there's assassins after him now. Vir has been doing so much good work, wow!!

FUCK YOU LONDO. why does he always have to be such a nasty, power-climbing, fascist dick?

"They're Narns, Captain, they don't need a reason for murder." goddamn shut up.

Lyndisty is a "nice" racist. It isn't their fault they're an inferior species, but their inferiority is justification to genocide them!

oh god.

not such a "nice" racist after all, though none of them are, really.

Wow B5 always goes hard. this is dark as fuck. Lyndisty helped murder entire Narnuan villages to "curb aggression," She might be one of the most gleefully murderous characters that's appeared on the show so far. Perhaps second only to that panacea episode with the war criminal.

Here's the puppy-kicking. Stop, Londo. Fuck.

Someone else to be sad for Vir about! No more vacation on Minbar, and emotionally attached to genocidal fascist who has personally murdered hundreds of Narns with her bare hands. Yikes.

And we never found out what happened to the Narn that Lyndisty captured! Hopefully he got free and then snuck into her shuttle back to Narn so Vir can be a widower. He'd get over it.

time for some arthuriana

#babylon 5 #woodsfae b5 #vir cotto

[adamanteine]

VERSE INFO: BALDUR'S GATE III. quick note. while i can mostly see shams as a companion, i'm super flexible with making her a tav as well. to make this verse and plotting in general easier, i will be merging some of my own lore and the lore in baldur's gate iii surrounding bahamut and tiamat. a character from my own creation, one in shams' main story, will be mentioned, as well.

LORE:

⠀–⠀the story of bahamut and tiamat: according to the myths stated in races of the dragon, both bahamut and tiamat were born to io, the god of balance and dragonkind. they were created to compliment the other. while he had the best of intentions, this would not come to pass. both children were instantly antagonistic towards the other. it's unclear what spurred this dislike for the other, but every early tale of the two saw them as rivals at best and enemies at worst. their two's rivalry went on unchecked for years, much to io's chagrin, but the god would not pick sides. he loved his children dearly and refused to pick a favorite, no matter how much the two vied for his attention. it was this refusal, or perhaps his willful ignorance, that led the antagonistic interactions of his children to fester into something hideous.

⠀–⠀tiamat's betrayal: what many don't know is that they had an elder sibling. the first child was named vorel. tiamat, in her desire for his favor, concocted a nefarious scheme while simultaneously sullying her brother's name.  she killed vorel in cold blood and attempted to frame bahamut for his death. io, however, saw through tiamat's lies and was greatly saddened, not only by the loss of his firstborn but also by the betrayal of his daughter. and that is where everything began: she was banished.

⠀–⠀the fall: this only fueled the anger and hatred within her. she would fall into the practices of chaos and evil, creating the first chromatic dragons. bahamut, his sister's ever rival and opposite, would side with law and order and create the metallic dragons. but that is not all. the conflicting ideals of bahamut and tiamat, as well as their followers, became too much for them to bear and war was inevitable. the two factions clashed in a bloody battle. on tiamat's side, the dragoness created draconic aberrations to aid her followers in their quest to crush those that worshiped bahamut. meanwhile, the platinum dragon was not ideal. on bahamut's side, he came up with something as well. he did create warriors of his own, but he also sent down his magic and abilities to some of his followers. and while today not all of his followers are part of this subclass, a big fraction is.

SUMMARY:

as mentioned above, shams would be a sorcerer directly linked to bahamut, with a few differences. it would follow most of her canon arc, which i'll put in a few bullet points to make it easier:

daughter of a lord turned king after a huge rebellion in a country that is outside of the continent of faerûn, but still close enough to it. it is known for rich history, knowledge about dragons and good trade.

she is part of a group of people / subclass that was created by the gods for a certain reason instead of having existed before anyone could even remember.

rointan veval's father, an elven cleric that followed tiamat was the one who plotted the scheme of having shams' wings ripped from her back due to a feud with her father. his son is a cleric who is battling with his faith, who also struggles to channel his deity's power, which is where shams comes in. rointan is a huge part of shams' story, so he might be mentioned a few times in this verse.

before the events of the game, shams is going around, helping people in need all around faerûn, having made a name for herself other than just a princess.

shams has a dragon, the lady of the black, as a companion, that sometimes disguises herself as a dragonborn, named qaeker.

her ancestors were the first ever blessed ones and she is on a smaller journey to find out more about their true origin.

there are many similarities between the dragonborns and this subclass, there are a few distinct difference between the two.

shams has a proficiency within arcana and deception. she, like all sorcerers directly linked to bahamut, had the ability to fly before she lost her wings. due to her ancestors, she has a stronger connection to her spell casting.

VERSE ROUTES:

⠀–⠀companion: follows the same route explained in the summary. this can be plotted to fit with my partner's character better! due to her lineage and knowledge, it is also very easy to do something with any of the quests involving dragons.

⠀–⠀tav: almost the same as the companion route, but in this one, rointan is captured and turned by the mindflayers and shams is on a journey to find him, despite her many doubts about helping the son of her enemy. she does not get turned.

#&̲. ² baldur's gate iii — her lovely silken murmur‚ like an angel clad in wings. #HELLOW #finally posting this </3 its been on my mind for ages #i am still at the very beginnings so DO bear with me while i figure out more details out #but god bless <3

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

We’ve heard them all before. From Greenwashing and artwashing to veganwashing and funwashing — in the minds of Israel’s most ardent critics, there is nothing the Jewish state won’t do to distract the world’s attention from the Palestinians.

The most frequent bit of “washing” that Israel is accused of relates to its progressive stance on LGBT+ issues in a region where sexual minorities face widespread persecution — an imagined diversionary tactic that anti-Israel campaigners have dubbed “pinkwashing.”

As noted previously, the pinkwashing claim evokes historical antisemitic libels, specifically that anything Jews do that is good or beneficial must be a part of some nefarious ulterior motive.

However, the pinkwashing charge is now being used as more than just a cudgel to attack Israel. Today, the accusation simultaneously serves as a shield to deflect criticism from the widespread homophobia that is prevalent in Palestinian and Arab society.

The latest example of this was in an article in left-wing Canadian outlet Rabble, which published a so-called “analysis” that authoritatively announced: “Israeli pinkwashing: ‘It’s a facade’.”

In the piece, Rabble writer Yara Jamal and the founder of “Free Palestine Halifax,” Katerina Nikas, argue that pinkwashing “paints Palestinians as backward, racist and barbaric in order to justify the oppression and unequal treatment of Palestinians both straight and queer.”

Aside from the segue into a series of unconnected statements intended to demonstrate Israel’s profiting off pinkwashing, such as how the Jerusalem pride parade is supposedly held on land from which Palestinians were displaced, the writers struggle to prove their central hypothesis that gay rights in Israel are a “facade.”

The article continues:

Israel promotes its capital, Tel Aviv, as a gay friendly destination in the Middle East, while at the same time failing to mention that the city is built on top of several villages where Palestinians were expelled from their homes and are banned from entering the capital. Palestinians queers are also denied asylum in Israel while trying to escape discrimination in their own communities. In October 2022, a 25-year-old Palestinian gay man, Ahmad Abu Murkhiyeh, was killed in the West Bank after unsuccessfully seeking asylum in Israel two years prior to his murder.”

First, Tel Aviv is not the capital of Israel — Jerusalem is and always has been.

Second, the assertion that Tel Aviv was built atop several Palestinian villages (and how this even relates to pinkwashing) is risible. The city was originally founded on April 11, 1909, and was known as Ahuzat Bayit before its name was changed (a picture of the 60 families standing in the desert land that became the neighborhood can be seen here).

Third, it is manifestly untrue that Palestinians are denied asylum in Israel. Last year, the government announced plans to issue temporary work permits to LGBT+ Palestinians who were claiming asylum.

Fourth, the suggestion that Israel is somehow responsible for the death of Ahmad Abu Murkhiyeh is a disturbing distortion of what occurred. Murkhiyeh had been living as an asylum seeker in Israel for two years before — for unknown reasons — he traveled to Hebron where he was attacked and beheaded by a Palestinian.

Finally — and most importantly — why do Jamal and Nikas and indeed so many Western journalists have such trouble facing up to the simple truth that homophobic attitudes run rampant in Palestinian society and that this is not Israel’s fault?

#pinkwashing #palestinian homophobia #media bias #tel aviv

[screen-universe-official-thingie]

The Fallen Actor, whose reception shattered in half.

Click more for the lore beneath the undercut. ↓↓↓

Tw: Suicide mention

Here's another art work of Spunch. This time it's official. Like, official to the Screen Universe lore.

In the story line, his show declined in writing and so the internet realm classified the early and later era as "Old and New" SpongeBob. The former being loved and missed dearly by the internet, and the latter being, eeerrr, overdramatic and despised by the Internet Realm.

Of course, both "SpongeBobs" are played by the same eldritch bearer, from the start until the present day. But... The internet realm doesn't know that.

A particular mouse king wants the sponge lord dead for a mysterious reason. But it is against the law to kill another mascot with his own hands outside of war. So he took matters to another direction. He tried to drive him to suicide.

Think about it. It'd technically not be his fault if the victim does it with his own hands.

To pull this off, Mouse King cast illusion spells to speed up SpongeBob's depression process. One of them is making him see manifestations of the two personas the Internet Realm imposes. Both to make him feel guilty about "making his show shit and never be good enough ever again" and feel horrible about himself.

Shadow ink demon represent "new SpongeBob", which makes the bearer guilty of "turning his show into what it become" and to remind him of his failures/being guilty for receiving the Weblings' abuse.

The light thing represents "Old SpongeBob" and what it could have been if the bearer "wasn't a failure" or what successes he could've yield.

Of course, the mouse king wants to use the sponge lord's body for nefarious purposes

Tldr: Mickey wanted SpongeBob's corpse for a ritual spell experiment. So he tried driving SpongeBob to suicide by guilt tripping him into thinking his show's temporary downfall amongst other horrible things happening to him was his fault (and because killing him personally is super illegal). Almost succeeds, but failed.

#immersive daydreaming #art #screen universe #paracosm #spongebob #spongebob fanart #mickey stop #I'm going feral over OOC sponge today. leave me alone. #mouse moment #Mickey...

[melishade]

A strange question, but what if instead of Optimus and Megatron, Megatronus and Orion Pax (before talking to the council) went to the world of Aot? By the way, happy birthday

Well this is late. Thank you btw. But if there wasn't a parallel with Eren/Armin and Megatron/Optimus, there definitely is now.

I'll be generous and say the two of them get dropped together during the Battle Trost because the council wanted to get rid of the both of them for their involvement in the revolution. Or Alpha Trion's bullshit ends up getting them landed there in the first place. In this house, we hate the shady librarian voiced by George Takei.

Both see the chaos around them, and because Megatronus is still kinder and isn't snorting space crack and Orion is someone who's non-violent by nature, they both immediately take action. Orion helps with evacuation since he's not a fighter, and Megatronus immediately goes after the titans. He has some difficulty killing them before figuring out the weakness is the nape of the neck.

However, Eren's titan form is still going ballistic, attacking everything titan he sees and almost kills Orion when he's helping the recruits in the fortress, since Orion is much smaller and has no fighting experience. Megatronus intervenes and nearly kills Eren, but just barely misses his nape and it's revealed that he's a titan in human form. Both Megatronus and Orion are confused because "Is this normal?" Mikasa's reaction says other wise.

They do manage to secure Trost, but the court hearings go a lot differently this time around. Megatronus and Orion don't know where they are, they don't know what humans are so they don't have a holoform, both of them are canonically ground vehicles at this time, and the revolution on Cybertron is probably panicking without them. Megatronus' priority is to get back to Cybertron as soon as possible. Orion says maybe it's wiser to wait this out. This world seems to be on the brink of extinction and they don't know how to get back to Cybertron right now. Soundwave will probably be able to manage everything for the time being.

"Soundwave isn't a leader, and I believe he might have a previous conflict of interest with the council in the past," Megatronus retorted.

Megatronus and Orion are grilled by the government opposition that what to dissect or get rid of them, and both are quickly reminded of the council's mannerism of ignoring the plight of the people and keeping the wealth to themselves. The vibe is really a:

Because humanity is on the brink of annihilation and this is who's governing you? This is some bullshit. They are prepared to leave, but Erwin manages to convince them to stay in order to help each other out. Erwin brings up the innocent people who will end up suffering if the titans win, and it strikes a cord with both Megatronus and Orion and the sufferings of their own people. Megatronus more so because he's been through the ringer.

So a few notes:

-Megatronus and Orion are smaller than the average titan and titan shifter, specifically Eren's titan form. But that doesn't stop Megatronus from wiping the floor with Eren and all the others every time. Motherfucker is a gladiator. He's fought opponents bigger than Eren with ease.

-Speaking of Eren, Megatronus still hates Eren, but for entirely different reasons. Instead of hating Eren because he's just an annoying brat who thinks he's special, Eren tried to kill Orion, and Orion is still his brother. Megatronus will actively make threats about killing Eren, which Orion has to calm him down for because Eren is still a kid.

-Hanji is crawling all over them it's ridiculous. Megatronus is reminded of Shockwave, if he was happier, and Orion is extremely nervous around her. Both are extremely cautious.

-Megatronus has to train Orion to defend himself. It's not an option. Because if someone like Eren exists, what ae the chances that there are more nefarious forces like him. They can't take that chance. Megatronus also has to train Eren, which he is not fucking happy about. He is going to break this kid.

-Orion is more cautious of Eren, since he's never fought and his first interaction with Eren was him trying to choke him out. They don't have that same close bond that they would originally have is it was Optimus.

-Megatronus and Levi get along. I know. Shocker. Again, Megatronus hasn't done fucked up shit yet. Megatronus is kind of like Levi right now. Just more charismatic. Levi likes the fact that Megatronus cares about those less fortunate.

-Do Megatronus and Orion hate humans?...They definitely take some getting used to since they've never seen them before. But they grow on them. Megatronus is definitely not as biased as he would be.

-The coup is where there is definitely a rift between Megatronus and Orion in terms of how to handle things. Because Megatronus hates the government. He hates Rod, and he significantly likes the Survey Corps more because they are willing to resort to torture, murder, and overthrowing the government for the betterment of the people. Orion believes in a peaceful option and both argue for a while about it. They don't talk civilly for a while. But when Orion sees the damage and the lives affected, he cannot ignore it. And Orion accepts that a revolution, even a violent revolution is necessary.

Definitely affects how Orion thinks when those two do go back to Cybertron. Alpha Trion is a little mortified.

#asks #send me asks #maccadam #macadam #transformers prime #tfp orion #orion pax #megatronus #tfp megatronus #attack on titan #aot #snk #shingeki no kyojin #eren jaeger #erwin smith #hanji zoe #levi ackerman #captain levi #attack on prime #ao3 #fanfic #ao3 fanfic #what if megatronus and orion were in aop AKA the Brothers Timeline

[character-profiles]

"Hello, I'm Mini! Welcome to the Mini-game Lobby. Is there anything I can do for you?"

Name: @mini-games

Preferred name: Mini

Gender: Cisgender Female

Pronouns: She/They (Preferred she/her)

Class: Exclam

Profession: Minigames NPC

Alignment: Neutral Good

History:

After having been trapped in the game through a means that is not quite death, Mini has lost all the memories of her past life and is struggling to gain them back. A task that is nigh impossible, since their memory files are being deleted and are also inaccessible. The deletion has since been remedied, thanks to CMD-Semicolon stopping the system's processes from deleting all of them. Some of the early events in which she played a larger part were the Sun Saga, the Interrobang War, the Gnome Armada, and the Creation of Statalus. In the Sun Saga, Mini had been the one to accidentally cause the sun to be extinguished by proposing that Nefarious shrink the sun to the size of an ant and shoot it with a water gun. After the sun died and Mini revealed themself, Mini had been attacked by the Ice People and had turned into one in the process. She was thawed out by Nefarious using an overpriced thawing machine he got from Status. Nefarious also gave Mini one of his cloaks, which she still wears to this day. In the Interrobang War, Tumblr user genderqueerjello, now known as Terro, made a comment on how the interrobang punctuation is cool and should be used more often. Status, however, did not like that and brought the rest of us into the drama. Mini fought for the side of interrobangs. The war ended when someone on the interrobang side drew Status some cool fanart, making him concede. The Gnome Armada came around because of the sun being extinguished and the return of the ice people. They were going to kill Nefarious and imprison Mini. They signed a peace treaty entailing the surveillance of Nefarious, and the research to cure Mini's remaining ice infection. And finally, the Creation of Statalus. Mini was one of the first people to confront Statalus once he gained his power. Shortly after, Terro angered Statalus leading to him being banned, essentially killing him. Terro's death had greatly saddened Mini. After which she didn't even want to try to reason with Statalus. She participated in both of the spells that injured Statalus, buying time for Prof to find the Command Console. Shortly after the second encantation, Prof managed to open up the dev's command console to the others, allowing Mini to bring back Terro using the example prompt given. Others who were banned were brought back after Statalus' death

Observations:

Mini is a very kind-hearted exclam, wishing to do whatever is good for the people around her, rarely putting herself first. She strives to be the best she can at all times, even when she's just shoving down her own feelings. However, if things are going in a way that she views as evil, with the exception of Nefarious, she may break any necessary laws in order to be back within her morals.

Miscellaneous Info:

Mini often feels left out, seeing as she doesn't have any special or cool power like most of her friends. They're an average guy(gender neutral). Also, she LOVES different types of insects, bugs, and arachnids. She thinks they're cute.

[Reference under the cut]

(An anon has given her a crown with a honeycomb-shaped gem in the middle, and unfortunately has no art yet.)

#exclamation point pfp rpg blog cinematic universe #!cu #epprbcu character profile #punctuationverse #epprbcu #submission #lore #submitted by shiningnightstars

[nemesislogos]

Jujutsu Kaisen: too little too late

For a precious moment it seems our boys, Fushiguro and Itadori, would pull it out and save Tsumiki in an anticlimatic way, both of them would succeed without confronting his flaws at all, it was too easy to achieve it and it failed terribly. One of my favorite aspects of JJK is the way their protagonists are treated (Yuji and Yuta), the way the world don't revolve around them and in contrast to other (shounen) mangas where the narrative and every character bend backwards to accomodate the protagonist, in a refreshing manner, they are hit by the narrative by surprising events but not unexpected. After, Gege wasted Yuki, we got Tsumiki's revelation, she was a vessel for a sorcerer from a long time ago and it's a good decision because it creates a new conflict, troubles are what make stories interesting. I find this twist not shoking and it's said it's a sign of a well done twist. However, my reasons for this aren't that deep, in fact, it was my initial guess was ecactly that due the strange way Tsumiki looked and was acting, she seemed too contemplative and serene for a person who was suffering a lot of events beyond her control and in such a fast pace, it was more suspicious when she was, at least in Fushiguro's memories, more honest and impulsive.

At that moment, my assumption didn't explain the more or less composed state of Fushiguro... well let's be sincere here, he wasn't a complete mess, so it seemed obvious Tsumiki was a person who has a cursed technique but her brain wasn't suited to be a sorceress. Let's point something out, Fushiguro and Itadori almost never communicate honestly in the right moments, in Fushiguro's case, he has shallow interactions with his sister after her coma, and before she was his model of a good person whom he has idolized for a year and seven months, he loves her but even before ger coma coma he didn't understand her.

If Fushiguro would've communicated with her sister there was a high possibility, he'd realized she wasn't herself but, as in the past, when he didn't talk to her, tell her how much he loves her or how high he thought of her due to his inability to be honest and vulnerable in front of her and his many repressed issues, now he's lost her sister again.

On the other hand, we have Yuji who isn't right since Shibuya, let's get back in time for a little bit, immediately after Shibuya, Yuji was in his lowest point and had just realized Sukuna's nefarious intentions regarding Fushiguro and he had decided to keep a safe distance from him.

Although, his lonely choice couldn't stand Fushiguro's cry for help. At that time, Itadori did tell Fushiguro and Okkotsu about Sukuna's intentions and Okkotsu agreed to kill Itadori if he switches with Sukuna again which happened but with Okkotsu in Sendai, he couldn't do anything to stop Sukuna. At first, it seems after being with his friends and the chat with Higuruma, Itadori was a bit better, but unfortunately and necessarily, he took a page from Fushiguro and repressed a lot, he kind of made peace with himself and accepted death or more accurately he was taking the easy way out but Fushiguro guessed his decision and was against it and as uncharitable as it sounds the narrative gave consequences to Itadori.

Fushiguro wanted to talk to Itadori but sometimes the lack of words has effects, they didn't manage to talk it out, and when their guard down, Itadori was forced to fullfill his binding vow. This isn't startling in itself, Sukuna would do it in the most inconvenient moment for our protagonist, this isn't a nice confortable world, this place makes our dear Yuji face obstacles. What’s more, it was a strategical decision for Sukuna, who always is hearing inside Yuji whose plans aren't secrets to Sukuna who was waiting for a good chance to achieve his goals, thus Itadori was planning Sukuna's demise without knowing Sukuna was cooking his own plot and through sheer audacy Sukuna succeded.

Who's to say thst someone you save won't kill someone in the future?

Now what will do Itadori when the one whom he saved stopped being himself? What will Itadori do when Sukuna kills people with Fushiguro body?

#Itadori Yuji #Itadori #Fushiguro Megumi #Fushiguro #jjk #jjk meta #Fushiguro Tsumiki #jjk analysis

[ripplestitchskein]

Something I’ve been kicking around is that with the addition of Edgeshot’s quirk (assuming BK can use it, which, given that people merging together and gaining access to each other’s quirks is like really common I don’t know why he couldn’t), and with 2nd users quirk most likely being a one and done kind of power Bakugou and Deku will be on a pretty even playing field ability wise, and after watching the anime and reaffirming some suspicions I had after the manga, it seems pretty apparent that this is and might always have been the goal.

Canon makes it a point to highlight in dialogue or internal monologue that with each quirk or move Deku gains Kacchan either already had it or can avoid it in the case of Blackwhip (Catch a Kacchan). It goes out of its way to establish that each move Deku gets or learns Kacchan can do it, or was the basis for because Deku straight up copied it from him.

Even the addition of the vestige quirks has them getting to a place of equity and I think Edgeshot is going to finalize that equality and I theorize that was probably the actual reason for BK’s death in the first place.

Rather than have Deku give Bakugou OFA like in the movie HK is leveling the playing field by showing that Bakugou already has most of the quirks himself, and now he’ll have the final one.

Fa Jin: is similar to the Cluster/condense move Kacchan has and uses for speed which he could still use after he gets his Edgeshot upgrade even though that move is what killed him. (Side note: It was also interesting to me that Endeavor is the one that encouraged him and Shouto to develop and hone those abilities and speed, and it would be interesting if Shouto also has a parallel with his in his fight with Dabi). I think Edgeshot’s flexibility could make the internal combustion problem a moot point since he’ll be able to theoretically change his body to accommodate it. So Bakugou could be able to keep up speed wise if that’s the case. This was something he could already do but it just turned out to be the catalyst for his death so has to be fixed to still be viable which Edgeshot’s quirk could do.

Danger Sense: I feel like Bakugou is incredibly good at this innately, and that has been shown over and over in canon from an early point. The invisible guy at USJ comes to mind. That was early on in canon so he’ll have only improved with experience. Also his ability to work blindfolded, in his own smoke etc. He honed these abilities over the years where Deku couldn’t so they should be pretty equal on this, and as we’ve seen Danger Sense is far from flawless.

Smokescreen: Has always been able to do this, used it deliberately at the Sports Festival.

Float: Bakugou has also always been able to do this and crows about it when they learn that will be the quirk Deku gets next. Bakugou’s control over his flight is an early impressive feat and one he only gets better at.

Blackwhip: This is the quirk Bakugou can’t just be naturally good at or have trained for and I believe now that Edgeshot is going to give him this one. BK can’t take Edgeshot’s ability naturally, he would never use nefarious means to get additional abilities no matter how much he wanted to win, and even getting a quirk awakening wouldn’t grant him what he needs to imitate Blackwhip, it is the only quirk of Deku’s he can’t do himself, he can only avoid. But if he has Edgeshot’s quirk he now has a ranged rope-like ability just like Blackwhip and they will both have the same level of power. Black whip always bothered me because it seemed OP on top of everything else Deku can do and because unless he got a support item BK couldn’t imitate it and his gauntlets are already fucking massive. So Deku would have a huge advantage with a ranged suppression quirk like that.

So I think this death, and his final thoughts were leading up to this: yes he WILL catch Izuku because he’s finally going to get the last bit of his “natural OFA” he didn’t have, and they will both be on a level playing field and will be able to work together to bring down AFO with their individual versions of OFA. It’s a really interesting way to have a similar ending to Heroes Rising but without giving BK OFA.

Deku has always admired Kacchan on the same level as All Might, and I think that’s important. Bakugou has had most of OFA already and from early on, he had an amazingly powerful quirk, good control, excellent combat skills, and has held his own against Deku even with higher percentages of OFA, and he also had natural abilities similar to the vestige abilities except for Blackwhip which he now has the potential to get. Where Deku had to learn how to use his new abilities, BK already had most of them, and spent his time instead getting over himself, becoming more emphatheic and compassionate, and dealing with his inferiority complex and after this rebirth, and possibly getting the last piece, they should be equal in all the ways.

Thanks for reading this completely unnecessary but I think viable theory.

#bakugou katsuki #bakudeku #bkdk #mha spoilers #bnha #theories

[cantsayidont]

January 2024. This hugely disappointing Spanish revamp of the venerable pulp hero seems to have much to recommend it — an attractive cast, colorful cinematography, lots of stylish slow-mo action, and an array of truly excellent hats — but is far too much of a mess in too many directions to readily enjoy.

Like the 1998 movie THE MASK OF ZORRO, the show makes Zorro a multigenerational figure, albeit presented here as a previously indigenous champion. When the latest Zorro (Cristo Fernández) is killed, white preppie Diego de la Vega (Miguel Bernardeau from ÉLITE, where he also played a preppie jackass) is improbably chosen ("by the spirits," it says here) to take his place, shutting out the dead man's vengeful sister Nah-Lin (Dalia Xiuhcoatl), who defiantly sets herself up as a meaner rival Zorro, dealing with abusive colonizers by murdering them rather than just carving a "Z" on their foreheads. This inevitably creates a conflict between her and Diego, who deplores her brutal methods. (Admittedly, Nah-Lin does nearly murder him, but she's not wrong, and since Diego also kills a fair number of people as Zorro, his disapproval seems hypocritical.) A certain amount of "good colonizer" paternalism is hard to avoid with the Zorro character, but instead of just treading lightly, the show works overtime trying to rationalize Diego's appropriation while relentlessly punishing Nah-Lin for her unwillingness to either give it up or become Diego's sidekick.

Tellingly, the show evinces far more sympathy for Capt. Monasterio (Emiliano Zurita), a Spanish army officer who's caught between his own sense of honor and his duty to cruel governor Pedro Victoria (Rodolfo Sancho), and who eventually steals the heart of Diego's once-and-future crush, the plucky Lolita Márquez (Renata Notni). There's also an uncomfortable subplot involving a Chinese woman named Mei (Chacha Huang), a former sex worker who insists on becoming Diego's servant after Zorro rescues her. (A running gag is that Mei doesn't speak Spanish and Diego doesn't speak Cantonese, and while Diego's servant Bernardo (Paco Tous) can understand both, he's mute.)

This doesn't even touch on the show's headache-inducing central plot — involving secret societies, nefarious Russians, and a mysterious woman (Cecilia Suárez) who gets a ruthless mercenary (Joel Bosqued) to pose as her son for reasons unknown — which is convoluted without ever being interesting or compelling.

With a lighter touch, clearer character motivations, and less racism, ZORRO could have been a winner, but it felt like a slog. CONTAINS LESBIANS? Nary a one. VERDICT: Good-looking flop that never fails to underwhelm. I really wanted to like this show, which would have taken very little, but it was so bad I kept having to turn it off for a while to build up my tolerance.

#teevee #zorro #amazon zorro #zorro 2024 #miguel bernardeau #emiliano zurita #dalia xiuhcoatl #cecilia suarez #renata notni #chacha huang #paco tous #rodolfo sancho #i have mixed feelings about the 1998 mask of zorro #but it's better than this #the dalia xiuhcoatl character is gorgeous and much more compelling than diego #and she is RIGHT on almost every point #but the show brutally punishes her over and over and over #and you're obviously supposed to think she's just a mean bitch #hateration holleration

[starrypeeps-headcanons]

Soooo... I didn't continue this (extra heretic) headcanon of mine from this post but now that we are here...

So I want to begin by saying that the whole KDL2 and KDL3 events happened mostly due to a personal vendetta plus some other reasons... But mostly due to the former.

You'll see why:

FAR, FAR BEFORE ANY OF THIS EVER HAPPENED

While Nightmare and Zero hadn't directly interacted yet, they did know about each other. Zero saw Nightmare as a very well-put and organized businessman with a great trajectory. Nightmare on the other hand thought of Zero as an intellectual with an excellent sense of strategy and leadership, although a bit unfocused calling him "a lazy genius".

Zero has really never found Nightmare to be a threat in spite of the latter's habit of conquering and destroying planets and civilizations. Not until, Nightmare attempted to get him to join, Zero always maintained a negative posture towards this proposition, however, this wouldn't stop Nightmare from meddling with what's not his...

Consisting of stealing Dark Matter for business profits and other nefarious things, this made Zero very angry and declared enmity with Nightmare ever since.

The few times they did interact physically almost always ended in a hostile note. This reached its peak when Nightmare came to the main Dark Matter cumulus and came to ask Zero for one last time to leave their differences aside and invited him to join him in his conquering.

Zero still denied the offer and before he could even do something, Nightmare quickly drew a sword and cut his head off. Of course, Zero didn't die since he's immortal, he furiously picked his head off the ground with the intention of getting immediate revenge but Nightmare was already long gone.

But, this didn't die here, this was just the beginning of everything...

The occasion arose when NOVA invited Zero to attempt to solve some past differences (will be explained later). Nightmare (nobody knows how...) managed to find them and began taunting Zero over the last time they met. Zero had a plan, a very risky and even borderline stupid plan, but he had a plan.

Zero got into a defensive position, which Nightmare took as a challenge and drew his sword out. Zero quickly proceeded to turn to NOVA and ripped one of her magical parts.

Nightmare still didn't budge.

This was just what he needed, of course, NOVA's magic is light magic in its purest form, using it meant that either this was going to be a definite win or would get the two of them severely hurt (even killed), since both are beings of negative energy.

Zero ran towards Nightmare and so did his opponent, Nightmare brandished his weapon but this time, Zero did manage to avoid his attack and kept briefly avoiding and blocking Nightmare's attacks until he saw the perfect moment, put the weapon to work and lanced Nightmare with it, while quickly trying to get away as fast as he could.

Nightmare screamed in agony, and while Zero was also hurt, it wasn't nearly as bad as Nightmare. He managed to make Nightmare go away for a long time and that's all that mattered.

Of course, he knew he would eventually appear, either by his own accord or someone would be stupid enough to summon him.

With this in mind, Zero basically dedicated himself for the longest time to find the people who awoke Nightmare up, kill them and enclose Nightmare all over again (skipping the first two steps in case there was no one to blame); becoming a sort of legend in the process.

His most successful attempt at locking him away was at the Dream Fountain, while risky (for the same reasons of using NOVA's artifacts), it seemed to really keep him there for a very long while.

Now, even when Nightmare wasn't active, he obviously had his subordinates doing his job, Zero also went on his way to eliminate all of them... or at least he thought he took all of them out.

Nightmare's most successful and loyal worker, The Salesman, managed to run away from Zero's deadly grip and enlarge the presence of Nightmare's business across other corners of the galaxy while he wasn't present.

FAST FORWARD TO THE ANIME

Escargoon and Dedede sign a contract with eNeMe Enterprises as part of an FTA and while Nightmare wasn't awake, The Salesman was sure doing everything possible to make sure Dreamland was next to be conquered, while also avoiding Zero at all coasts.

Year after year of unsuccessful attempts at conquering Dreamland (therefore Pop Star), the FTA was broken by the King's side, leaving both Escargoon and DDD with a huge debt impossible to pay and The Salesman roaming around away from Zero's reach.

FAST FORWARD TO NIGHTMARE IN DREAMLAND

Kirby and Dedede foolishly get Nightmare out of his enclosure and its both's duty to get him back into the Dream Fountain.

In another part of the Galaxy, Zero was informed of Nightmare's presence around and that two fools managed to succesfully bring him back on Pop Star. Zero was usually characterized for being very stoic and composed, even in dire situations, at most, he was usually a victim of silent rage episodes. Not this time, Zero was completely furious and out of his usual element, the other Dark Matters were completely scared, as seeing him being this out-of-control state was a (terrifying) rarity.

After briefly calming down, Zero plotted a raid on Dreamland, to search for every corner of the planet and bring in the people responsible of releasing Nightmare back so he can kill them.

Even when in the middle of being his plan he was told that he was enclosed again by the same people, he was still adamant to have them executed since he couldn't trust they wouldn't bring Nightmare back again.

AND SO KDL2 BEGAN

Zero sent the Dark Matter twins (and other drones) to start the invasion in Dreamland, in search for the two nimrods responsible for initially releasing Nightmare. The first one being located was the king and while he tried to fight back it was futile.

Kirby on the other hand, dark matters really never thought he could throw hands so efficiently and he sure was giving them the challenge of their lives.

By the end of this journey, Kirby had to get Dark Matter out of Dedede's body to give the final fight and drive all dark matters away from Dreamland, which he succeeded and took the two (very injured) twins out of Dreamland.

But things weren't remotely done...

In spite of the twins' failure to bring them with his leader to make those two pay for their tomfoolery, Zero knew that wasting time moping served for nothing, and took matters into his own hands.

PLANNING FOR KDL3 TO HAPPEN

Zero went on his way to seek for those two morons, of course, now it was easier since, he was told where he could find both the king and the kid. And now he set himself to shroud every corner in Pop Star with his presence, he was not going to let them escape from him any time soon.

He sure was really good at giving the heroes something to be occupied... Specially now that Dedede was so close to be executed, not before having a drone use his body as a puppet (again).

And sure, Dedede was going to be used to subdue Kirby and then have them both killed.

But even with all the momentum and Dedede at his feet, Zero suffered from the same results of his most experienced fighters, and with the little strength he had left, took all of himself away from Pop Star.

POST-... ALL OF THIS

After disappearing from Pop Star, Zero, just like the twins, got thrown into a pile of Dark Matter that allowed him to heal completely, because of his injuries and boy did it take him time...

While he didn't invade Pop Star again, and he's glad that Nightmare hasn't come back with his fuckery, he keeps holding a deep grudge against Kirby and Dedede, mostly towards Kirby and has remained like that even up to Star Allies.

#admin talks #headcanon #ah yes I forgot that nightmare is also a swordsman... oh well! #and no i'm not depicting zero as a hero he's not... #he just hates nightmare that much he doesn't only make him disappear he kills others that try to make them exist at the same time... #he has a phd in psychology a masters in literature and another phd in hater-ology #kirby zero #nightmare kirby #n.m.e salesman #nova kirby #dark matter swordsman #dark matter #kirby #king dedede #tw: decapitation #tw: murder

[pargolettasworld]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukND0RyYDU8

Jacques-François Fromental Halévy‘s 1835 opera La Juive is probably the most famous grand opera to feature Jewish characters, and it is . . . a doozy.  You could plausibly describe it as the lovechild of Cervantes’s La Gitanilla and Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice.  From the former it gets both the unimaginative title and the hoary old plotline of “Oh noez!  This cute white European baby girl of properly Catholic background has been semi-nefariously acquired by a Dirty Outsider (Roma in the case of La Gitanilla; a Jewish man named Eléazar in La Juive) and has grown up loyal to her adopted culture!  What will happen when she falls in love with a nice proper white European nobleman?”  From the latter it gets the more interesting moral dilemma of “how much is a Jewish man, father of a beloved daughter, prepared to sacrifice in the face of Christian persecution, which he hates on a general level and has a few particular Christians who have screwed him over, and whom he wishes to screw over in turn?”

The dark tone of this opera is much more Merchant of Venice than La Gitanilla, and in fact manages to be darker than both of them put together.  Rachel, the titular Juive, falls in love not with a bland but perfectly honest and cromulent single guy like Lorenzo, but with Prince Léopold, who is a) sneaking around misrepresenting himself by pretending to be Jewish when he’s not as a way of slumming for fun, and b) already married to the gloriously named Princess Eudoxie. Plot Contrivances™ happen, the affair is discovered, and, for Reasons of Antisemitism, Eléazar is sentenced to be executed, Prince Léopold is convicted and then his sentence is commuted because Nobility, and Rachel is given the choice of converting to Christianity or being executed as a Jew.

Eléazar knows that Rachel is adopted.  She was born Catholic, and he found her in the ruins of her home after her mother and siblings were killed.  Her father went on to become a Catholic priest and then a Cardinal with a giant antisemitic hateboner.  Eléazar could save Rachel by revealing who she is to the Cardinal, or he could do the operatic equivalent of flipping everyone off as he hurls himself to his death by saying nothing and letting Rachel be executed.  He expounds on this dilemma at the end of Act IV in this aria, the showstopper of the opera.

Of course, the opera isn’t called Le Juif, it’s called La Juive, and Rachel makes her own choice in Act V, choosing to die as a Jew rather than live as a Christian.  She’s executed before Eléazar, so he still gets to flip off the Cardinal by revealing that, whoops, that was his daughter who was juuuuuuuust now tossed into a cauldron of boiling water, right before he gets his own fatal dunking. 

In the end, no one emerges the winner. Halévy is clearly no fan of the kind of laws that would punish interfaith relationships with gruesome death, but he’s also not really a fan of religious fanatics of any flavor.  Unfortunately, as the opera demonstrates, both of these things tend to come as a unit.  And antisemitism turns out to hurt Christians as well as Jews, so . . . maybe think about that next time?  (Or just hope that you are one of the Prince Léopolds of the world and not the Cardinals.)

#jewish music

[cannonball5]

Pitch for Spider-Man 4:

Peter is trying to lead some semblance of a normal life post No Way Home. He got his GED and gets by with various odd jobs and selling photos of Spider-Man to the Daily Bugle. He also sneaks onto Empire State University campus to listen in on lectures. He’s discovered by Dr. Katrina Connors who instead of turning him in offers him an internship at her lab.

“Peter I know you have a desire to be an engineer but have you considered Bio-Chemistry? You have a real knack for it. And you can combine both. Look at my prosthetic, it was made by a former student and her husband who’s an engineer.” *cough* FitzSimmons *cough*

As everything seems to be looking up for both Peter and Spider-Man, he finds out Spider-Man has been framed for the murder of a criminal he’d caught earlier in the day. An anonymous donor has put a $5 Million bounty on Spider-Man. Unable to be Spider-Man, Peter uses his skills to make 4 new identities to continue helping people and investigate who framed him. The Identities are Prodigy, Hornet, Dusk, and Ricochet. Prodigy and Hornet are openly superheroes but Dusk and Ricochet are designed to be more nefarious so he can investigate from within the criminal underworld.

Meanwhile, MJ and Ned are doing there thing at MIT but after MJ refuses to sell a Stealth Fabric she’s developed to a generic evil company for a ton of money, her family confesses that they borrowed money from a less than upstanding individual. Her family About to lose everything, MJ uses her stealth fabric to start stealing from the rich and corrupt to pay off her family’s debt. With seeming no evidence of her existence the tabloids dub her, The Black Cat, as she’s sneaky and brings misfortune (side not: Ned is now HER guy in the chair for these heists).

MJ, as Black Cat, had actually run into Spider-Man during one of her heists a few months prior (maybe the opening scene in the movie) and with the bounty on his head, she could clear her family’s debt, pay for the rest of her schooling, and still have a nest egg for whatever she decides to do post graduation. After a bit of investigating, Ned and MJ, realize that Spider-Man is disguising himself as at least one of these new powered individuals and deduce that Hornet has a few too many similarities.

During the confrontation Peter realizes that Black Cat is MJ and tries to reason with her. Managing to restrain her Peter tries to explain things when his Spider Sense warns him of incoming danger. It’s revealed Ned has constructed a Goblin Glider using some of Vulture’s tech and has taken on the identity of Hobgoblin.

Eventually subduing the two and questioning them, Peter gets the last pieces of the puzzle he needs to figure out who’s behind everything. The murder, the bounty, and even who MJ’s family is indebted to is all the work of Wilson Fisk aka The Kingpin. Peter had been interfering with Kingpin’s business for the last year and he decided to ruin Spider-Man’s image and get him off the streets in one move.

Deciding to confront Kingpin Peter leaves Ned and MJ restrained not wanting them to get hurt. Before he leaves Peter returns the broken Black Dahlia necklace to MJ as it had gotten thrown off in the fight, which triggers something in MJ.

Donning the Spider-Man suit once more, Peter goes to a shell company warehouse owned by Fisk (he got the intel as one of his villainous identities). Going inside his Spider Sense goes crazy as he’s attacked by various traps. It’s revealed the Kingpin has hired Kraven the Hunter to dispatch Spider-Man. They fight and Peter manages to win but is pretty beat up.

He gets to Fisk and they fight with Fisk admitting his involvement in the murder Spider-Man was framed for. Because of Peter’s injuries Kingpin gains the upper hand and is about to win when MJ and Ned arrive. With their help they beat Kingpin. Peter has to talk MJ down as he can see she’s thinking of killing him. Thanks to Peter’s experience with hiding his camera, he filmed the entire fight with Kingpin, including his confession.

The Daily Bugle reports the arrest and conviction of Fisk and thanks the real hero, Matthew Murdock. Matt had been gathering evidence against Fisk to be used at Trial. “No spandex or masks here. Just an honest man gathering evidence the right way.” Also Kraven disappeared before the authorities could arrive.

The film ends with Peter throwing away a box with his other identities’ suits in the river and asking MJ out for coffee the next time she’s in the city.

The post/mid credit scene shows MJ calling some one:

“Hey Riri, it’s me. So listen I’ve come into some high tech suits from a friend. I figured we could improve them and give them to some people who want to do some good.”

It pans over to the same box Peter threw in the river fills with his alternate costumes (possibly setting up a Slingers series).

What do you all think? I know they’re probably going to do something with Venom because of the NWH post credits scene but I think this could be cool.

#MCU #marvel #marvel cinematic universe #the amazing spider man #spiderman #spider man #spider man 4 #spider man 4 pitch #black cat #hobgoblin #kraven the hunter #wilson fisk #kingpin #peter parker #mj watson #ned leeds #matt murdock #daredevil #matthew murdock