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ebitchwriting · 1 year

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Resident Evil: Apocalypse Movie Review

So, finally kicking procrastination in the balls and actually continuing the movie reviews on a movie series that genuinely was very formative in my youth but now find it more disappointing than anything. Mostly because of how in every single sequel to the W.S. Anderson Resident Evil series seems to depend on retcons in one way or another, varying wildly in quality between each movie. Apocalypse, the second movie in the six, I'm very torn from because there was not only a major retcon in terms of the timeline of the viral outbreak in Raccoon City, butchering of original game characters, but also really interesting concepts that COULD have been amazing but... just falls flat.

Firstly, the retcon. At the end of the first film, Alice is slowly walking down the desolate streets, the city devoid of life, and heavily implied that the viral outbreak had already taken place and killed nearly everyone. Alone she stands, with nothing but a thin hospital gown and a shotgun with no extra shells to spare. This ending was a great setup, suspenseful, filled with tension, anticipation, and dread. Especially with Matt being placed in the Nemesis program, we could have had a wonderful story fusion of Resident Evil 2 and 3 with Alice eventually finding her way to the Police Department, not only for more ammo but hopes of finding survivors. Perhaps she finds one, an idealistic rookie cop who just started his job and now has been surviving on his own for a week, trying to reach someone, anyone for help through a radio. Perhaps she runs into a young girl, scared, alone, and helpless, and now Alice has to protect her from the zombies and infected animals, and the Lickers. You could have Nemesis constantly chasing her, trying to eliminate her, with perhaps a few moments where he struggles and forces himself to run away, leaving a wounded Alice alone. These were all things I hoped to see, and instead, it's reconned in favor of Alice awakening in the climax of the outbreak rather than the aftermath, yet all the tension of it being the climax is nonexistent. No value is truly given to any of the people who lost their lives. It might be just because as a kid I've always preferred the zombie films where it takes place in the aftermath rather than the climax, but the retcon of the timeline and its narrative and character handling was a major flop.

Secondly, the introduction and subsequent butchering of many video game characters into the films. The only one I actually liked the handling of was Carlos, as they not only captured how much of a fun-loving, flirtatious, genuine guy he is but also how seriously he takes his mission and truly believes he's there to help people, not clean up after Umbrella's mess. Jill, the Ashfords, and Nicholai were all massive failures of their characters. Jill in the games was not just a badass with great intuition and perseverance, but a strong sense of compassion and comradery, and so willing to help everyone she was able to. Meanwhile, the movie version just feels like a cheap distilled version that purely focused on her badassery, making her feel like a 2-dimensional character rather than a 3-dimensional character. Plus, where's the rest of S.T.A.R.S.? Where's Chris? Barry? You can't just cherry-pick one and ignore the existence of everyone else on the team. Then, Nicholai, the bastard that constantly antagonizes Jill and only sees value in data, money, and what serves him and him alone. The world collapsing? A life-saving vaccine that the world will inevitably need when containment breaks out? Who cares, it doesn't give him a big enough paycheck in the end. Yet in the film, he's so two-dimensional and forgettable that it isn't even worth getting into what little he does before he's killed by an infected dog. This seems so pointless since it seems they shifted his role in the game off to Major Cain. At that point, why bring Nicholai in the first place? For shits and giggles? Pointless added death to the survivors to show how bad the outbreak is? Regardless, it's just a disappointment.

The Ashfords, both the Doctor and Angie, are interesting yet disappointing. It's something that completely differs from what takes place in the games, by a fucking mile, yet the concept of a father inventing a virus to help his daughter live a life without struggle which inevitably the virus gets stolen and abused by a cold, heartless corporation IS something I think could have worked and almost did work, yet still falls flat in the overall poor writing and handling of the film in general. And honestly, I also wouldn't be so ticked had they not slapped the Ashord name on there for sake of having an easter egg from the game, and instead just made this concept and these characters truly their own, like with Alice, Rain, and Matt.

Another concept that I was truly, truly, looking forward to the most was Matt, aka Nemesis, and how they would handle it in the movie. In the game, Nemesis really had no backstory, just a B.O.W. that was programmed with killing all S.T.A.R.S. members and anyone that could potentially ruin Umbrella's reputation. By creating Matt, the movies gave this memorable monster a wonderful and depressing backstory of having everyone he loves destroyed by Umbrella, then experimented on and enslaved by them. Forced to kill innocents just trying to escape, and the one person he has the closest ties to now, Alice. This could have been wonderful, filled with angst and grief, but unfortunately, the piss poor writing of the film just makes all of this feel so flat and wasted. We get a little hint of what could be when Nemesis remembers he's Matt, his experiences in the Hive, his sister, and Alice, and chooses to ensure she and the rest of the survivors escape Raccoon City. He sacrifices his life because he knows despite he's still breathing, his life ended in the Hive. He's suffering and wants it to end, and there is no chance he would be able to have a life outside of Umbrella, and would rather take his final breath knowing Alice and the others got out safe, and that Cain is dead.

The ending with Alice as we know it being dead, and now following her clone, as well as her being a good bond for the T-Virus WAS a very interesting concept at the time of it's release(though little did I know it was foreshadowing for a major downfall of this movie series). However, Jill, Carlos, and Angie magically showing up to save Alice without a fuss from Umbrella, completely unexplained not only here but in the future sequals really tick me off. But that little rant will have to be saved for the review for Extinction as this is already long enough.

In conclusion, had W.S. Anderson decided to a) keep the movie universe and game universe completely separated and kept only original characters, or limited himself to just one or two game characters; b) not retconned the timeline established in the first film; and c) not focused to much on action and focused more on suspense and horror like in the first film, this truly could have been a slam dunk. 3/10 STAAARS purely for the few concepts that were intriguing and carried the film.

#resident evil: apocalypse #resident evil #W.S. Anderson #ebitch speaks #ebitch reviews #movie reviews #I couldn't resist the STARS pun

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ultracaramela · 3 years

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Top 10 favorite characters in tgcf

OMG OMG MY FIRST ASK 🥺

also can you believe it, it wasnt too long ago that you shared the tgcf carrd to me and now i’m in this too deep???? Thank you for that again btw (´▽`ʃ♡ƪ)

It’s 6am from where I am but every time is a perfect time to talk about TGCF. Here we go!

1. Xie Lian

I could write a sonata with how much I love this boy. He’s not perfect and that’s what amazing about him, all the misfortunes, torture and disasters that happened to him should’ve turned him into a calamity but he’s just that GOOD and his character now is a perfect mix of all the goodness of the world and a little dash of attitude, enough for him not to take bullshit from anyone (like he gonna risk his life for you but also not shy to smack qi rong around you know?) GAAHHH I LOVE HIM

2. Hua Cheng

HAVE YOU SEEN THE DUDE? Nah jk because even if he looks like rags, his complete devotion to XL (i’m in love with mxtx because of how she wrote HC), is an absolute fairytale. Despite his overprotectiveness he doesnt lose his absolute respect for XL’s decisions, he just cold sweats as he watches him make the most dangerous decisions humanly possible (SWALLOW A SWORD? REALLY???), its pure love, he is pure love

3. Yushi Huang

SHE’S JUST A POWER CHARACTER!!! She was introduced the latter part of the book but the moment she appeared and everything clicked together, like how she helped XL with Yong ‘an and how she keeps saving the whole circus that is the upper court and the princess who slit her throat???? PURE BADASSERY. I love how she’s so subtle yet so essential especially how even Jun Wu wasn’t able to do anything to her

4. Mu Qing

he’s got that attitude that would make you hate him but he’s just emotionally constipated, it can be seen in the novel how he truly cares for both FX and XL and that’s endearing for me (i wanna be your f-f-friend! 😞 ) also I’m a sucker for pretty boys??? Mu Qing's design in the manhua is *chef’s kiss*

5. Feng Xin

Because he’s the perfect sidekick, he’s loyal and he’s gonna laugh at your stupid jokes and most importantly, he’s got his principles straight, when he promises he come through and he knows his duties and i love that about him

6. Quan Yizhen

this fluffy child deserves all the love!!! he’s been misunderstood before he even ascended and he didn’t even do anything wrong!!! It’s way he seeks out his shixiong despite rejection and the subtle admiration he has for XL (yes everything abt my fave characters is how they are to XL) He’s just a pure child I wanna protecc

7. He Xuan

yeah he killed Shi Wudu but meh kinda deserved? If one goes through the things he did, isnt it understandable, besides its not as if he’s like White Clothed Calamity, killing off and traumatizing centuries of people, he was just getting his revenge, plus I’m loving that he seems to be the closest thing HC has to a friend (HE PUNCHED HIM TO THE GROUND I CANT WITH THEM T_T)

8. Pei Ming

I talked about him in my previous post, about him ending the novel with the most improved image and how he is a misogynistic son of a btch BUT he is honest and genuine and even HC acknowledges that he isn’t a shady man. Also one of Hualian’s earliest supporters

9. Shi Qingxuan

i mean duh??? purest boy ever, I feel like he’s the one that made XL experience true friendship yk? like FengQing are more like retainers, HC is a devoted believer, SQX is a mutual friendship like, he does things for XL (who can forget how he defended XL’s purity infront of the whole upper court?? he failed but still!) XL does things for him and them together is just the best friendship ever???

10. Ruoye/ E-Ming

they’re characters right?? Idk why I picked them over other characters but I find them adorable when they show emotions to their owners, like ruoye nuzzling XL or with e-ming rebelling against HC, trembling with excitement at the sight of XL, they’re amazing little weapons uwu

*look at lil ruoye dancing like a snake 😭

There you have it! I wasnt asked for the reason but I went ahead and rambled because that’s me as a person also because I’m in LOVE with MXTX for creating an amazing set of characters, making them all out to have flaws and grave mistakes yet incredibly loveable at the same time. IT WAS SO HARD TO CHOOSE!! 😭

Anyway, I enjoyed answering this ask so thank youuu ❤️

#tgcf #xie lian #hua cheng #hualian #tgcf spoilers #tian guan ci fu #had way too much fun answering this #heaven official’s blessing #mxtx #pei ming #yushi huang #ruoye #fengqing #feng xin #mu qing #shi qingxuan #he xuan

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melonsmessymusings · 3 years

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Preventing ‘Dark Willow’

This essay is based off an argument with my brother a long time ago. The question is if Giles staying in Sunnydale in S6 would have prevented Darth Rosenberg. There are many thoughts on this, but I’ve probably put my foot in my mouth as per usual and made a mess.

No. Giles staying in S6 would not have prevented Willow from being a magic junkie.

Throughout the show, magic is used as a metaphor for drugs and sex, albeit ham-handedly. In this case, it’s about drugs. With this in mind, let’s focus firstly on Willow. From as early as S1, Willow expressed an interest in learning magic. Her relationship with Jenny Calendar and her Technopagan badassery led to her forming what seemed at first to be a harmless interest in magic and Paganism. Towards the end of S2 in I Only Have Eyes For You, Willow admits to Giles: “I found loads of websites and stuff on paganism and magic... it’s really interesting.” which demonstrates her interest may be a little more than purely ‘educational fun’.

Her first taste of powerful magicks was restoring Angel’s soul at the end of S2. In Becoming Part 1, Giles warns Willow of the consequences of such mystical forces: “Channelling such potent magicks through yourself… it may open a door you won’t be able to close.” The Passion of the Nerd touched upon it briefly and explained the choice of phrasing is especially key here. It’s not as simple as a one-off spell that has no ramifications, the nature of the Soul Restoration uses a kind of magic that will stay with the caster forever. It leaves a mark. As we know, Willow does the spell anyway after waking up from a coma (don’t even go there) and successfully restores Angel’s soul. This is how her addiction started and it is the ONLY explicitly direct warning of the impact caused by using magicks that Giles gives her.

In Faith, Hope and Trick, Willow tries to persuade Giles to let her help him with the ‘spell’ to bind Acathla and lets slip that she knows more about the black arts than she’d originally led him to believe. There’s an interesting bit of dialogue between the two:

WILLOW: Are you mad at me?

GILES: No, of course not, no.

It’s obvious that Giles is anxious about this but because of his well-established role and priorities at this point, he’s not going to dwell on it too much, despite it being a genuine concern. Later in the episode, Willow also says, “Giles, I know you don’t like me messing with mystical forces…” so it has evidently been the topic of discussion previously. In Gingerbread, Willow is messing with magic again trying to make a protection spell for Buffy. The symbol used by Willow, Amy and that other kid is one commonly associated with human sacrifices according to Giles. The Black Arts. Even if that isn’t the spell they were casting, the symbol had other less pleasant implications. And so, it continues. By S4, Willow is doing much more than floating a pencil, progressing alarmingly quickly and becoming highly proficient by the end of the season. Giles reminds her of the dangers of magic subtly, “I don’t think it’s wise for you to be attempting spells, your energy is too unfocused” and Willow is still doing magic that is both powerful and harmful enough to have caught the attention of D’Hoffryn, Lord of the Vengeance Demons despite his apprehensions.

In S5 we get a first look at ‘Dark Willow’, when Tara gets brain sucked by Glory. There’s no way the whole gang didn’t know about that. Not a chance. Yet oddly, it’s never mentioned? Obviously, the writers had other priorities with the main plot and Glory etc. but it was criminally neglected. Willow used extremely dangerous dark magicks to go after Glory for hurting Tara at incredible risk to herself and the others who ended up having to rescue her. Justifiable or not, her actions were a reckless abuse of power that very nearly had fatal consequences. How any of them just let it slide without so much as a comment is infuriating. In The Weight of The World, Giles says to Xander, “It’s extraordinarily advanced” when he learns that Willow is trying to enter Buffy’s mind yet again, concerned. Also, we start to see the black eyes when Willow attempts more advanced spells, like teleporting Glory away in Blood Ties, or casting the protective wards in Spiral so it can be theorised that the magicks Willow evokes are steadily darkening.

Roll on S6. Set after Buffy’s death, a huge trauma for all the characters. Willow raising Buffy is evidently a massive achievement from her perspective. She considers herself to be a God. In Flooded, she gets the gut-punch from Giles that he is not in fact pleased with her at all. She’d expected him to be “impressed or something” which he was, but in the wrong ways.

GILES: The magicks you channelled are more ferocious and primal than anything you can hope to understand, and you are lucky to be alive you rank, arrogant amateur!

He blames himself for not stopping her, and rightfully so... to an extent. He failed to provide her with proper guidance or even show an interest in the types of magic that she was engaging with. If he had done so at an earlier stage, then perhaps Willow would not have taken things as far as she did. One interpretation of the argument in Flooded is that Giles is lashing out at Willow because he’s frightened. Most likely for Willow instead of Willow herself. He makes a point of saying that she was “the one [I] trusted most to respect the forces of nature” and bringing Buffy back defies the laws of nature. She had no respect for these forces, bending them to her will which is a scary concept. The argument that the Scoobies were selfish for bringing Buffy back notwithstanding, Willow was the one that actually performed the spell, hell bent in succeeding. That horrifies Giles and if anything, is a wakeup call for him to pull his head out of the sand and deal with this seriously. Willow meanwhile doesn’t want to hear a word of it, pacifying him instead of actually understanding the implications of her actions and listening to anything beyond his anger. There’s a lot that could be dissected in this scene but that’s unnecessary at this moment.

Magic is also the primary factor that caused Willow and Tara to split up at the end of Tabula Rasa. Tara had brought her concerns to Willow as early as Tough Love, saying that she was ‘scared’ about how powerful Willow was getting. When Tara tried to explain why she felt this way, Willow refused to listen. Every single time that Tara raised a concern about Willow’s use of magic, Willow either ignored it or reassured her that it was fine, and she was totally in control. But Willow has a history of altering people and their actions to suit her. She attempted to do so in Lover’s Walk by casting a spell on Xander to stop them having feelings for each other. Again, in Something Blue, while unaware of the effects of the spell, she still made the conscious choice to use magic to ‘have her will be done’. She ended up hurting her friends, however unintentionally. Then in S6 when Tara and Willow are arguing about magic, instead of having a proper conversation, Willow uses the Lethe’s Bramble to make Tara forget they were even arguing. A direct invasion of her mind. And Willow didn’t show any indication that she thought it was wrong. Barely two episodes later, Willow then used a spell which caused everyone to forget who they are after promising Tara that she would go a week without using magic. It’s no surprise that Tara wanted to break up.

Willow does get ‘clean’ by Entropy. Subsequently Tara comes back, and it all seems to go well until the brutal, vicious, non-sensical murder that causes Willow to launch herself back into the dark magicks stating, “I’m not coming back.” Only then does Giles do something about it. Only then does he take it upon himself to step up and realise that he has failed her, by which point it was far too late and resulted in her very nearly killing him, a price he deemed a suitable penance for his neglect.

But NOT ONCE prior to this did Giles intervene. He had the resources and was capable of it, and not once did he sit her down properly and say, “Willow, I think we need to talk about your use of magic because I’m a tad concerned.” Even after resurrecting Buffy, he only chastises her for her recklessness, he doesn’t actively do anything beyond this except a few powerful glares. He is watching her make all the mistakes he made as a young rapscallion and doing nothing about it. Then in S7, he fulfils the mentor role to her and helps keep on track of her recovery, an older addict helping the younger. It just highlights that he could have helped her sooner before it was out of control.

This comes back to Giles’ basic structure as a character. He’s a Watcher, the mentor to the Slayer. His purpose is to be in Sunnydale for Buffy. His whole life is revolved around Buffy, she is factored into every single one of his decisions. He never signed up to be the ‘father-figure’, despite appearing to adopt that role very quickly. He never signed up to care for Xander and Willow, he isn’t the Watcher of them. He has never given any indication that he wants that responsibility, and it shouldn’t fall to him to care for a group of random teenagers. It’s this fundamental construction of Giles’ character that means that he’s borderline dependant on Buffy, which isn’t her fault at all. He sacrifices everything, even parts of himself for her and most of the time gets nothing in return. The point is that Giles is so busy being a Watcher that he can’t think of anything else. It’s not necessarily his fault, that’s exactly how he was trained, and arguably after the whole Eyghon debacle, it’s unlikely that he ever truly had faith in his judgement again. Remember when Giles put Buffy before Jenny, the woman he loves? Buffy comes first, always because the mission is what matters.

On a more speculative note, Giles was aware of Willow’s obsession with magic and didn’t know what to do, instead choosing to believe that he wanted to help her, but he didn’t trust himself to teach her the control she needed. It does narratively fit for Giles to be reluctant to help Willow learn the magicks given his past. However, he neglected her and is at least partially to blame for Willow becoming a magic junkie. He had every opportunity over YEARS to step in and offer her a proper education. He had the skills and if he were hesitant, certainly had the connections to find someone who would teach Willow properly, e.g., the Coven in Devon. The audience is acutely aware after The Dark Age that Giles has a history of abusing dark magic. Note that throughout the series, he does not actually use that much magic himself. This abuse led to Giles having to murder one of his friends among whatever else he and his ‘friends’ got up to, which means he knows full well the ramifications of messing with that kind of power and doesn’t want to go down that rabbit hole again. Magic is an addiction and he’s a recovering addict.

Equally, Willow never asked Giles for help. It’s all very well blaming him for being negligent and grossly irresponsible, but she didn’t ask him to teach her. She didn’t ask him for guidance or whatever, at least not memorably. Assume that he did help her. That he trained her and gave her a proper education in the magicks. There’s no guarantee that any of that would have prevented Willow from taking it too far. Willow has an addictive personality and therefore it makes logical sense for her to become addicted to magic. Ultimately, Giles could have spent years training her, but he can’t make decisions for her, nor does he wish to. Willow is her own person, a bright, capable young woman who is an adult. He cannot push her to do anything and it’s not in his nature to do so. Dark Willow is an inevitability in a sense.

Essentially while Giles staying in Sunnydale would’ve been preferable on a personal level, it would have made very little difference as to whether Willow would abuse the magicks. She’d already done so on countless occasions with no intervention therefore he likely wouldn’t have interfered until it was too little too late. It’s not that he doesn’t care for Willow, but he had other priorities, right or wrong. Should he have helped her? Absolutely. But it takes two to Tango...

#btvs #Buffy The Vampire Slayer #rupert giles #willow rosenberg #meta #very long essay that took too long #sorry for my mess

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prose-for-hire · 4 years

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The Magic of Tupperware

Pairing: Spike x fem!demon!reader

Request: I'd love to see the Scooby gang's reaction to Spike's gf. He hypes her up to be this strong badass who could kill anyone but when she finally meets the gang everyone's confused cuz she's polite & sweet & cute. On patrol with everyone, Spike is super protective of her which leads to him being kidnapped & then GF shows the gang how badass she is as she hunts down and destroys the ghouls who took Spike (maybe some fluffy care for wounded Spike that clashes with her badassery?)

Requested by: Anon

Warnings: Reader is kinda violent. Violence/fighting. Blood mention.

A/N: It’s the longest I’ve written on here, I always get carried away on a back story.

I took liberties with the demon the reader is (Fae is a catch-all I think I just needed something that wasn’t human and wasn’t vampire lol). Use your imagination if you want to be something else !!

You and spike had met in a demon bar. You appeared human, pointed ears was a myth at least in your lineage, and so he wasn’t really sure what you were doing there. You were descendent from fae. You didn’t have wings or anything to that effect, but a spell had been cast on your eighteenth birthday that meant you had strength, reliant on earthly forces for your power. You hadn’t aged much since then, your skin aged much slower than human. You would live a long life, appearing youthful for centuries at least.

He asked you why you were there – you even smelled human. You explained, hit it off, and you have been together for a while now. You had surprised him and confessed your love for him first, leaving him in awe that you were as invested in the relationship as him. Spike hadn’t introduced you to the Scoobies despite being together for a year, although he told you a lot about them. It didn’t stop him bragging about you at any given opportunity to them either.

Spike now lived with you in your little one-bedroom flat, the crypt had been nice and all but you were becoming inseparable and you wanted to share a cosy place together. You had shipped some necro-tempered glass from the manufacturer in LA and had it installed on the sly so that he could be comfortable. This glass meaning he could be in direct sunlight through the windows.

You were kind. Sweet-tempered for the most part. Your strength was often used for good, but perhaps in a more abstract sense than the Scoobies may agree with. You would do anything for him because you loved him so much and you knew without doubt he felt the same for you. However, especially when it came to him, you had a protective streak and it could get ugly.

One of the many times Spike had gushed about you, had left the Scoobies unsure. One, about the actual legitimacy of this ‘significant other’ they have never even seen after a whole year and two that he actually appeared to gush about you. Like, non-stop. Nobody could shut him up.

Spike had been, once again, punched in the face for his suggestion to a problem that launched him into a rant that turned into talking about you, “She’s gonna sort the lot of you right out. One look and you’ll be trapped in her eyes. She’ll kill you. She’ll bloody torture you and laugh while you writhe on the floor like-” Spike cut himself off, you had told him not to brag about you this way. You liked a little mystery and also, you didn’t enjoy bragging the way he did. You knew the slayer wouldn’t like you if he told them of the ways you had killed various demons that threatened either you or Spike.

There was a new threat in town. A vampire cult. Their goal was to turn people and then ‘elevate’ them as a higher being by torturing them until they sign away their un-life to the cause. They were very powerful and bonded by the violence that would break even the strongest will. It was a massive problem, Buffy and the others had been overwhelmed the last time they had faced the group and had barely got away unscathed. This was why they were going back with reinforcements. Buffy had explained that they really should meet you and also, they needed the numbers. It was hard to tell how big the threat from the group truly was from a vague prophetic dream and a half-translated text.

That evening, you and Spike entered Giles’ home and Spike made a show of introducing you to the others.

“This is y/n” spike said, pride in his voice evident, his eyes never leaving yours as he introduced you to the scoobies. He was besotted with you. Nobody else mattered in the room when you were in it. You were perfect, the sweetest person he had ever met rolled up into the tough exterior of someone who could handle themselves at a rate that could match him.

“What a lovely home you have!” You say sweetly, the sincerity acutely evident to the room, “It’s so nice to finally put faces to the names” you went around and greeted everyone individually as if they were Spike’s friends, a pleasant little smile that read as almost shy to the others.

Buffy squinted at you, on guard, but she was still pleasant. Willow and Tara offered you a smile, telling you they liked your outfit. Xander and Anya were both speechless, which should be a day memorialised for years to come. Neither of them were speechless often. You weren’t what they had expected. They had thought you would at least have scales or something. But you were innocent-looking and incredibly polite as you greeted them. Dawn squealed, instantly thinking you were the coolest. Spike had told her so many stories and she had tried twice to follow him to where you lived without luck.

“Oh, uh, well yes. Welcome” Giles sputtered; you were exactly nothing like he had pictured. Xander, Buffy and Willow just stared in shock. You spoke for a while, friendly small-talk with the group that was genuine. You really did want to hear about them, meeting new people was always interesting to you. You were a perfect sweetheart, by all accounts, and nobody could understand how you and Spike had even happened. You opened your mouth to tell them something before someone spoke over you.

“You are not like how Spike described. I don’t believe you could have fought five vampires and a fyarl demon by yourself” the woman, Anya, said bluntly finally finding her voice.

“I’ll take that as a compliment. I think” You offer with a pleasant smile, trying to figure out how to phrase what you wanted to say, “He’s said a lot about you all, he, uh- he uh- barely stops talking about you” You finish awkwardly, still smiling at the group. Spike hadn’t told you anything particularly good about any of them, so you couldn’t say you had heard good things. You didn’t tend to lie.

“Love!” He warned, trying to get you to be quiet but you giggled softly and he melted. He pulled you into his side, wrapping his arm around you and making sure he was in contact with you.

“Sorry, I didn’t want to tell them you’re usually threatening to kill them” you whispered in his ear, punctuating your words with a soft kiss next to his ear, making him smile. He loved that you cared so much that you’d protect him from them threatening him if they found out about that.

“Um, so, patrol then?” Xander asked, not able to stop staring at you much to Anya’s annoyance, leaving Buffy to take control. You would all descend on the graveyard in question together before splitting off into smaller groups to find the threat.

As you all walked towards one of Sunnydale’s many graveyards, you felt a few questioning glances on you and then on the tub you were holding. It was as if they were expecting you to turn on them at any moment. You slowly started to open the lid, their eyes widening in case they needed to fight.

“Oh! I brought snacks! Can’t patrol without cookies” You smiled, offering the younger group some homemade cookies, you had wanted to make a good impression. Spike rolled his eyes at your nature but took one for himself. They were his favourite kind and you had baked them with this in mind. Everyone delved into the tub you brought along with you, grinning wide, except Giles and Buffy. They were a little more wary of you.

Everyone was told to split up. Spike looked at you, silently threatening Buffy to try and split you both up. You and he took the west and the others squabbled among themselves for who would be with who. You left them to it. You walked for a little while, giggling and talking softly as you both were simultaneously hyper-aware of movement around you. Spike heard something and went behind an old mausoleum to check as you walked a little ahead slowly, so that he could catch up.

You were tough. A fighter. One with the elements. One thing that you never quite mastered, however, was the element of surprise. Instead, they had surprised you. Meaning you were caught without so much as a defensive stance at the ready.

“Get off!” You shouted as you were ambushed by several more. It had surprised you, usually you could handle it.

“Mm, this one’s for turning” one spoke as they kept your hands behind your back. One stroked your cheek, liking the fight you displayed. Spike ran up to them, having heard the struggle.

“You don’t lay a bloody finger on her, mate!” Spike shouted, anger lacing his voice, his temper would never cool with the vamps threatening you. Leering. Talking of siring you. Offering something so intimate. It was worse than propositioning sex.

He didn’t wait for the others, who were making their way towards the fight, he just took them on. They dropped you, but everything went slow motion. As you turned around, ready to fight alongside your love, they disappeared as if out of thin air with Spike.

You screamed bloody murder. Looking around, realising they had used some kind of transportation magic. You could feel it. Stupid cults and their powers. They were stronger because there was so many of them. You kicked the dirt where they had been only moments before in anger before turning to the rest of the group who had managed to get themselves over to where you were about two minutes too late. You couldn’t help snapping. Insulting Buffy, the supposed Slayer, for her horrible plan.

“Splitting up never works! You left him to be taken!” You stated, exasperated you had gone along with it just to be polite, “I’ll have to do it myself – here, hold my Tupperware” You start to get mad towards the real target, throwing the object towards Xander who catches it, eyes wide at your change in demeanour. How dare they take your Spike?!

You close your eyes, contacting the elements. Your fae ancestors working with you. You needed to find him and fast. You didn’t like the sound of being signed over to them yourself, much less your soulmate. You started to stalk off, trusting you were being pulled in the right direction. Knowing your ancestors approved of Spike, knew that you needed to be with him. You could tell the group was following you as you turned your pace into a run. You needed to get to him. Fast.

When you arrived at an abandoned warehouse, after a while of almost non-stop running to the outskirts of the town, you sensed there were seven. Seven horrible, evil beings holding your Spike hostage. This wouldn’t do. Couldn’t do. You needed him. You knew he would be fighting well himself, against whatever hold they had on him, but you needed to get in there. Giles tried to get you all to hang back, regroup. But you ignored him. There was a time and a place for pleasantries. You were probably older than him anyway in reality.

Instead, you charged in. A head start on everyone and you were faster than most. They had been torturing him for not breaking and joining them. They had started to threaten him with you, saying they would do worse to you. You saw Spike tied up, horrible angry wounds marked his body. His chest was bare, face bloody and not from a meal. It was his blood. This enraged you. Blood boiling thick and gelatinous in your veins. They had to pay. At a speed faster than the evil group could get their bearings, you were running at them fists raised.

You took the first three out with ease, working on pure rage. The next was more of a struggle as they rounded on you. Spike struggled against his restraints so he could join you in the fight, but he was weakened from the pain they had inflicted. You were tackled by one, restrained your arms above your head. You spat in the vamps face, kneeing him in the groin which loosened his hold on you enough to move from under him and dust him.

By the time you had recovered and were spinning into a brutal kick towards the fifth, the Scoobies had all made it into the warehouse behind you. Ready to fight. But you didn’t give them chance. You were working on pure rage. You took two long knives from your waistband, concealed in a way that not even Buffy had spotted as you cut the rest down mercilessly. Decapitating the final two and leaving them to turn to dust.

The scoobies stared in shock. Each mouth open wide in a mix of awe and horror. Half expecting you to turn on them. But you had no need to hurt them, for the most part they tolerated Spike. The day they didn’t and they started hurting him, was the day they should be scared (Spike had never told you the way Buffy had a tendency to beat him up for this very reason. You were strong, but taking on a Slayer would worry him too much – she tended to bounce back even after death).

You dusted your hands off, a satisfied little smile that Spike found adorable before your face drained, you needed to check on Spike. Tend to him. You rushed towards him, he had managed to escape the restraints while you distracted the group by, well, killing them. He had slid down the wall, sitting against it for support – the wounds still seeping blood and he appeared to be a little dazed. You were worried, his face had started to swell.

“Oh, sweetheart… look at you” tears started to well in your eyes at the state he was in. You wanted him well again. You leaned in, a small kiss pressed to his cut lips. The brief kiss telling him how proud you were to him for protecting you, how grateful you were to him and how much you loved him. Would always love him. You were a team and he was so glad you were there with him. Had come straight to get him. He wasn’t sure how long he would have lasted otherwise. He was just glad they had taken him instead of you. He would give himself time and again just so it had been him half-tortured rather than you.

Everyone appeared to have whiplash from your emotions running through so quickly. You had switched from sweet and caring to tough and scary before being back at caring again.

“Tupperware!” You shouted over to the boy who awkwardly fumbled with the tub and threw it back to you. You close your eyes, imagining what you needed to be in there before opening it and magically, it appeared just as you dreamt it. A first aid kit and a little herbal remedy for him to drink. It was items you had transported from your house into the tub. Your strengths were many.

You doted on him. Your touch so light, soothing. You never wanted to cause him pain. You cleaned him up, held him as much as you could without hurting him. The scoobies were at a loss. You were like two opposites, soft and gooey but with hard edges.

You took him back to your shared home, doting on him until he was well enough again. You snuggled up to him, caring for him and occasionally keeping the Scoobies happy (and away from Spike) by helping them instead of him out patrolling, putting his un-life at risk.

You didn’t want him in any danger, knowing that he would always protect you in the way you protected him.

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jngles · 3 years

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Thoughts You Definitely All Asked For on ‘The Mandalorian’ Season 2 Finale!!

These are in chronological order for the show.

One of my biggest fears about them reintroducing Boba Fett was that by removing some of his mystery, they would make him less cool. Thank god that has not been the case. He’s still an aloof and nasty piece of work but with dimensions added.

We all know the Empire is most often a metaphor for America right? At least when it’s not being Nazi Germany? The Imperial pilot talking about destroying an entire planet (of peaceful weaponless civilians no less) to stop terrorism hits a little too close to home of the nuclear bombs the US has dropped and the endless destruction of the Middle East in the “war against terror.” And of course we frame all our wars in similar language like “our troops died to keep our country safe,” which hasn’t really been true since WWII.

I do think it’s worth noting that this is the first time SW has had someone acknowledge the human losses of the Death Star blasts. Usually it’s framed as a loss in construction time, strategical advantage, and power. The Empire proved time and time again that the lives of its soldiers were utterly expendable, which always made me question why people remained loyal outside of fear. Through this pilot’s phrasing, you can see the propaganda Imperial superiors used to twist the truth to their followers, always blaming those deaths on Rebel aggression instead of prideful Imperial neglect (I.e. not abandoning ship when there was still time) or even direct Imperial aggression like Operation Cinder where they fired on thousands of their own (discussed in S2E7.)

You can’t tell me Din wasn’t into it when Cara shot that asshole pilot. That cold faced revenge shot? 100% Mandalorian style, and also very very hot.

I appreciate that it was a pretty equal match between Boba and Koska Reeves. So much of Boba’s advantage comes from his suit, but since she also has one, it’s a battle of wits on how to use it, and they even out. This both maintains his legendary badassery and also that of highly trained Mandalorian warriors, and hopefully avoids asshole chauvinist SW fans on the internet complaining abujt “pandering to feminism” (fuck off @ all of them, especially since Mercedes Vernado who plays Reeves is a WWE champ and could kick all of your asses.)

Din point blank asked how many Death Troopers there are and Dr. Pershing never answered, and that annoys me.

Why is no one suspicious why Dr. Pershing is being so helpful and revealing so much information? He totally did not have to tell them about the Dark Troopers or any of the specifics of locations on the ship. He’s still with the empire post-fall, implying he’s a loyalist, so... wtf on his part (since no tricks come of it), and “be smarter” on the part of everyone else. Unless he’s been captive as a clone engineer all this time. But couldn’t he have made his escape back in Season 1 when Din killed everyone at that lab to get the kid back?

Bo Katan really could’ve just told them how the retrieval of the dark saber needs to work in the flight before the mission instead of being vague about “he belongs to me.”

Boba Fett’s usage of “Princess” and “don’t worry about me” are a good throwback to Han Solo and the culture they both grew up in. You can never quite tell if it’s based in misogyny or resentment for upper classes, but both of them seem to use it as a shield for begrudging respect they hold for a woman they think is brave but following a fool’s errand (the Rebellion and retaking Mandalore).

The Comms Officer (Katy O’Brian) assisting Moff Gideon will forever and always look like Ilana Glazer to me, and then I get swept up imagining what would happen if the Broad City cast accidentally got transported to Star Wars.

The launch tube sequence has some amazing cinematography.

The second I saw Boba was cut off from the pack, I really thought they were going to kill him again and make his return bittersweet. Glad they didn’t.

God this team of Bo Katan, Koska Reeves, Fennec Shand, and Cara Dune is SO BADASS. I’m just obsessed with all these characters and their various motivations to get shit done. I honestly didn’t even think about the fact it’s all women until my re-watch, showing that the writers made it feel natural, the way women deserve to have their representation done. You can bet I am SO EXCITED for my future daughter and the wealth of possibilities she’s going to have of characters to play pretend as, action figures she can relate to, Halloween costumes to wear, etc. It’s so validating that we’ve gone from only Princess Leia as a female main character to all these women + Rey, Jyn Erso, Ahsoka, etc. etc.

Can’t wait for the trap remix of the Dark Trooper activation noises. (And the transition from that to the minimalist flute theme is perfect.)

The spy movie version of the main theme music is sick.

The Dark Trooper droid faces have a lot of similarity to Darth Vader’s mask. That callback is especially apparent when the one is literally lit from the inside with fire. He was already a martyr/legend to the Imperial remnants, Kylo Ren didn’t start the trend of ignoring his redemption.

Cara’s “excuse me” right before shooting up Stormtroopers is hilarious. Literally “can’t talk rn, doing hot girl shit and murdering space Nazis.”

Finally an Imperial ship got some frickin security cameras. Truly- the amount of times people just wander down hallways they’re not supposed to be in with no one being able to find them throughout the course of Star Wars is ridiculous when you think about the degree of surveillance our real life society carries out. I also love that this means The Mandalorian characters have also seen The Mandalorian.

The storytelling does such a service to Pedro Pascal and his already heroic efforts to portray emotion through a helmet. For example: Din easily could’ve killed the one stormtrooper outside Grogu’s cell much more efficiently, but instead, to show his absolute rage, they wrote in Din choking him out with a spear.

Moff Gideon would have been the BIGGEST pain in the ass in philosophy class. “Assume I know everything” my ass. I want to hear about his backstory (he would’ve been “coming of age” at the time of the Clone Wars) mostly just to hear about him getting bullied at school.

Smart move honestly, to try to tempt Din with the Mandalorian throne, given the Mandalorian power struggles of the past. Proud of our boy for keeping his priorities straight.

So has the blood from Grogu been transferred out of the ship and back to the remnant empire already, or do they have to find a new “donor” to help with building Snoke and Palpatine’s clones? Will they continue to go after him with Luke?

Lmao Din being so annoyed by Bo Katan being stringent about the tradition of winning the Dark Saber through combat is HILARIOUS, coming from a man who up until like a day ago hadn’t shown his face to a living being in decades.

The dark troopers can punch in blast doors but NOT Din’s helmet?? That’s a wild testament to beskar. Somehow that’s the comparison that sticks out to me, more even than its resistance to lightsabers.

This show works because of the cynicism of so many characters adding contrast to the moments of heart. Cara Dune is not a “fan” the way Rey was (for the record I love Rey, don’t come at her, it’s just different). Cara doesn’t see an X-Wing and go OMG THE REBELLION I LOVE THEM. She’s been through too much to believe in the magic saviourism of the “good guys,” and is instead thinking strategically when she, the one Rebel present, brushes off the usefulness of “one X-Wing.” The only positive things she seems to feel in battle situations are moments of relief and brief satisfaction in hurting the empire, with a dark knowledge that it will never make up for the hurt they did to her.

How do you keep a cloak hood on while fighting? Both from a technical standpoint (my hats fall off without me even having to move- is he expending force energy just to keep it on and look cool lol?) and also because idk, maybe it’s just me, but peripheral vision is helpful when surrounded by killer robots on a thin bridge above oblivion. I know his first lesson was to “see” through the force, but every resource helps, right?

Now that she has the ship, I wonder if Bo Katan can reprogram any salvageable Dark Troopers to help with retaking Mandalore?

There is nothing like seeing Luke’s fighting style, with its efficient choppiness and twinge of darkness. I always wonder how much is natural and how much is influenced by his first fights with Vader (that Skywalker diva flair). I love how they’ve advanced his technique but also kept him extremely “grey” here- like to straight up COMBUST a Dark Trooper takes some violent energy lol.

How tf is Moff Gideon alive after threatening Grogu’s life twice directly? That’s a wild testament to Din’s regard for Cara.

I love how seeing Luke slice through a bunch of murder droids like butter probably was a huge point in his favor for Din actually letting Grogu go with him. Like he will only send his child to boarding preschool if he knows the teacher will be a certified killing machine.

Oh my god they finally brought in some OG Star Wars theme music for Luke to take his hood off to 😭 It felt weird seeing him fight to different music, so the emotional payoff is huge when his themes come back for the face reveal.

Whoever added the digital young Mark Hamill face NAILED those classic shining Luke eyes and the earnest eyebrow lift.

Whoever shines the glass of Baby Yoda’s lil puppet eyeballs each day deserves a raise. The light caught in those babies is devastating.

Din is shaking as he takes off his helmet. This is the most enormous show of love he could give him, and possibly the last he’ll be able to for a long time. He only just got Grogu back and is desperate for a moment of real connection before letting him go once again.

This is the first time anyone has touched Din’s face since... likely his parents as a child.

Whoever wrote this scene clearly actually has kids. Anyone who’s ever had to leave a young child even just to go out for a bit or to drop them off somewhere knows that heartbreak of seeing them look in your eyes and hold on to your leg, trying to keep you with them. Especially when they can sense your mutual separation anxiety. The one thing that starts to make them feel better is something fun like a new toy or friend who can be their guide in the new environment, and R2’s friendly introduction is exactly that (since digital Luke isn’t being particularly emotive or child friendly... I hope that’s just because he’s reaching into Grogu’s mind while also keeping an eye on the multiple people with guns trained on him, not because he’s going to be totally unfeeling raising this kid.)

I love that Grogu and R2 are immediately buddies in contrast to Episode 5 when R2 was like “fuck this guy” @ Yoda stealing food and hitting him with a walking stick lol. I would imagine Luke must be reminded of that first introduction too and entertained by this display of playfulness in a *positive* light between R2 and mini-Yoda.

I need to know if Luke and Ahsoka have met- it is KILLING ME.

Does this mean Grogu will get killed by Kylo Ren when he fucks up Luke’s academy??? I will reincarnate Ben just to kill him again if that’s the case.

How does Luke not even fully SMILE at Grogu?? An adorable little baby version of his beloved master Yoda, and you’re telling me he doesn’t have the same heart stopping gasp we all did when we first saw him?? Maybe he did when they first connected through the force. He has a bit of bemusement on his face, and also wonder in his eyes, but I want a grin of recognition and welcome, dammit.

I really wish Luke had somehow acknowledged Cara Dune. Everyone else seems to see the tear drop Rebel sign and know it means Alderaan. He could’ve been like yo I have a badass warrior sister from your planet that you should meet. Or just “thank you for your service.” (I know this actually wouldn’t have been cinematically good but my heart wants it.)

Luke didn’t tell Din his name?? Or ask for any details about the kid and his care?? I could literally never let my kid go with someone, regardless of how worthy, and not be like, “Excuse me sir who are you and where tf are you taking my tiny beloved green goblin in case I need to find him? Here is my contact info. He likes to eat frogs and eggs, and he can have macarons as a treat. He’s 50 years old and his favorite toy is still a ball. Bedtime is 8pm and he’s allergic to dairy.”

Another reason I wish Luke had identified himself would be to see the mishmash of reactions that would ensue. Cara would be like DAMN IT’S THAT GUY WHO BLEW UP THE DEATH STAR AND KILLED THE EMPEROR, ACT COOL (and she would indeed act cool). Fennec would be like ugh it’s that guy who helped kill my best paying client Jabba the Hutt and then fucked over my boss Boba, I helped save the kid for THIS? And I would LOVE to know how Bo Katan feels about him, assuming she’s heard of him, and especially if she knows he’s Anakin Skywalker’s son. That confusion is probably the reason WHY the writers didn’t have him reveal himself- they didn’t want to break the emotion of the scene.

Let‘s all be real I’m just being needy about wanting things from Luke because of what he meant to me as a kid and my resulting innate need to have more canon of him, whatever it is, whenever I can get it. Especially in this form that’s so similar to ROTJ, a movie I watched on endless repeat. Even getting this was incredible though. Who else could we trust this lil heart-stealing green bean with so fully? Yet who would be so arrogant as to try to train a baby yodling (see: Ahsoka’s wise refusal)?

R2 is reckless as hell lmao. Not that we don’t already know that, but for him to just head on in, effectively abandoning Luke’s ship (how can they know if there are more troopers or not who might blow it up?) and also putting himself in the path of the ridiculously deadly Dark Troopers is NUTS. I’m usually on his side but he absolutely deserves a scolding by C3PO for this one.

I wonder if Grogu has any memories of R2 or vice versa since they did occupy the Jedi Temple at the same time. Can Grogu understand droids? They could swap stories about mutual acquaintances.

Does Din pretty much have to go with Bo Katan now since a) he’s shown his face and may not be able to go back to the Watch, and b) because he has the darksaber and has to figure out how to get it back to her without dying?

How in the hell did Bib Fortuna (whose chins age was not kind to) go from being butler to being boss? Were all the henchmen just like, “Fuck yeah, no Hutt parents no rules, let’s do what we want!!” And then they’ve spent the last ten years living off of whatever money they could salvage from Jabba’s non-banked wealth? Why has no one challenged them for that prime real estate and loot? I would love to hear that story.

Fennec Shand says “respect sex workers” so you better fuckin’ do it.

Idk dude Bib Fortuna really was a good butler, and he seemed pretty willing to comply with whoever’s in power. Did he screw Boba over in his attempt to return from the dead and earn that killing shot somehow? Or was this to make sure there was no one left who would have a claim to loyalty? Or maybe Boba just really wanted to sit in that chair.

Does “The Book of Boba Fett” mean we’re not on Din Djarin’s story anymore? Or is it a new show? I would much prefer the latter. I want to see Din help retake Mandalore or at least get a hug.

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katarina-elaine · 4 years

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I’ve been busy with Adult Things and didn’t know it was up yet...so of course, when I saw this message, I nearly sprayed hot tea all over my computer screen as I scrambled to go look! Since we weren’t told too much about Alastor in the pilot episode of the show, I knew that the comic would likely tell us a lot more about his personality, as the other comic did an excellent job of sort of slowing things down and zooming in to focus on Angel Dust’s character. This made me VERY excited about the Alastor comic...and I am far from disappointed. @iveneverbeenmorestressedinmylife, you probably weren’t looking for a lengthy ramble about the comic, but friend, thAT IS EXACTLY WHAT YOU’RE GONNA GET!! (I’ll be nice to everyone who doesn’t care about my thoughts by putting this under a read more, I went completely friggin’ feral over m’boi, my eyes have been blessed)

I adore the detail of the first three pages. I also find it hilarious that Alastor is legit just vibin’, and everyone else is dodging out of the way like “N O P E”. Even the worker at the cafe is just like “why tf did this walking nightmare on speed have to visit on my shift?!” There are no words to describe the way I felt upon seeing Alastor just sitting at the table reading a newspaper, I made the most embarrassing noise b/c I am soft!! I just really want Good Things for our best boi?!

The bit with the birds was...something. I thought it was precious that Alastor shared with them, but later on I just sort of narrowed my eyes at him, b/c it’s totally possible that he knew what would happen and couldn’t resist a bit of violent entertainment. One could also argue that he hoped they’d just share the egg, as he does walk out shortly after the one bird decides to wreck ALL the things (RIP that poor employee’s peaceful morning). However, I wouldn’t put it past Alastor to stir things up and then just walk away. He didn’t even close the hell hole he made in the pilot when he crushed Sir Pentious, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I need to know what’s up with the roses. Does every flower that manages to grow in hell instantly wilt? Does Alastor just have that effect on people flowers? Did he make it wilt, and if so, why? Is Alastor just having a hecken exasperating morning b/c it’s hell and disappointment and agitation will always be in the forecast? I also wheezed with laughter when the other sinners literally noped away in the middle of Alastor saying hello. Poor boi cannot get an uninterrupted introduction to save his life! ~That must get rather lonely~ 8) On the other hand, he seems to be very well-known and accepted in the cannibal colony! It’s good to know he has friends...and fangirls. That group is an entire MOOD! I would totally fight the lucky lady who caught Alastor’s hat. I find it slightly tragic that we didn’t see him wearing that hat though, because I will always need to see him wearing a hat that adjusts for his antlers and ears (they are ears, I will never believe otherwise). The person playing sax on the street is so beautiful?? I cry?? Also, bless Alastor for tossing the guy a coin. “All hat and no cattle!” Alastor. Sweetheart. Darling. Baby boi. *cries for a long time b/c he’s such a dork and I flippin’ adore him* Also, Alastor cursing was oddly amusing? All Vox did was be a showoff, but Alastor friggin mutters to himself for what looks like at least a few city blocks? Like?? Calm down, sweet pea, you’re undoubtedly giving Vox exactly what he wants, and that glorified box of static didn’t even have to work for it! The panel on page eleven where we see Alastor mid-step confirms that he is one very lanky boi! I would also like to know how often he glows?? We saw him glow a few times in the pilot, but it doesn’t seem like the light is always there. Maybe the glow is involuntary and is connected to his emotions, such as being overly agitated/excited? Of course, it could just be another intimidation tactic (mission accomplished on that last one, babe, you can stop being a firefly now). Also, I am hecken annoyed on Alastor’s behalf, hE JUST WANTED TO GET SOME FOOD AND NEARLY GOT ATTACKED INSTEAD?? HE LITERALLY DID NOT DO ANYTHING WRONG?! I know it’s hell, and to be fair, I would probably prefer to be armed against someone who was notorious for being *gestures toward Alastor entering hell and forcing people to take notice of his badassery* Like That, but it’s not exactly good business, now IS IT?! “I want fresh meat, not bubble gum!” Okay, listen...I love this man. A lot. This line? Perfection. Alastor both amused me and gave a perfect description of so many disappointing cuts of meat I’ve had to practically dissect before consuming. 11/10 would trust Alastor to do my shopping. I was NOT expecting Alastor to be so polite?? Even after the butcher clearly makes a move to attack Alastor when his back is turned, Alastor basically just gives a passive-aggressive (and probably very static-filled) warning, lets the incident slide, and thanks the guy for his service?! He even held the door open for the lil sheep bab, I cry!! Too bad the sheep is likely terrified of him now. On that note...the last panel on page fifteen. I am LIVING for that panel. Say what you will, but with consent, I would definitely still smooch the murdeer while he looked like that. It also shows that, contrary to what I had originally thought, Alastor’s ultimate spooky look isn’t just a slightly elongated (and antlered) version of how he looks while crushing Pentious. Apparently his eyes and mouth turn into oozing black voids of death! *cackles* I am so very glad the comic came out before I wrote certain scenes for my fanfics...and I hope Alastor enjoys his meal! >8) This does make me wonder whether complete dismemberment (such as being torn/blown to pieces or having your body squashed) truly kills sinners, as I wouldn’t think this would be all that difficult to accomplish or even all that rare. For example, the guy in the pilot who snatched the drugs from Angel likely got smeared into paste by that falling debris. Is he double-dead now, or will his body veeeery slowly regenerate? If it’s that easy to truly die in hell, why would heavenly weapons be such a big deal? Is it just that they can kill someone with less effort? We really need a list of ways that sinners can permanently die or at least a brief explanation of the rules, it’s one of the few things that’s seriously bugging me! I’m gonna be rereading this comic for ages, especially since we get so many lovely shots of Alastor. Do I technically have the time to do so amidst work and grad school? No! Am I going to do it anyway? Yes!

#I'm dying here y'all #glorious content of m'boi #my eyes have been BLESSED #hazbin hotel #hazbin alastor #hazbin hotel alastor #alastor comic

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ravens-words · 4 years

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Things I will never be over in The Old Guard - SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!

1. The found family dynamics. I could feel the familiarity and love between the four of them from that first scene and it was so beautiful.

2 . The only romance in this movie was between two badass immortal men. The love between them was palpable and the unique thing about it was that they only shared one kiss in the movie, but their actions- the way they slept together, the way they looked at each other, little touches like leaning their heads against each other, the way Joe's voice changed when he was trying to wake Nicky in the van, they way Nicky started really fighting when Merrick stabbed Joe, when he killed the man who shot Nicky- I want to see more of them, tbh- I want to see a whole fucking series about these five.

3. The lead. I have so much to say about why I love Andy, that I might need a whole post, but I'll stick to only a few things. She is badass. She is a damn good leader. But most importantly, and this is all due to Charlize's amazing acting, she was human. She was tired, and she wanted to give up and she was ready to let the world burn (I don't blame her) but deep down, she still cared so, so deeply.

Another thing I loved about this movie is that they didn't go the way most movies go with their leads (male and female) and what I mean by that is that I recognized she was the lead, but it wasn't very in your face, the others weren't sidelined in her favor. And they didn't (thank god) do the thing where they hero gets beaten down and then in the very last minute, gets up and miraculously saves the day. Instead, what I saw, was a woman whose strength never wavered and who kept fighting despite the fact that she didn't have her immortality to rely on- and that was so so beautiful and awesome and amazing.

4. Nile. Her talk with Andy before she left was A+++. Her relationship with Andy was amazing. I would love to see her relationship with the other explored. Her sense of right and wrong is spot on. Also, she is the definition of badass- she managed to keep up with four immortal warriors.

5. Nicky. Listen, my favorite type of characters are those who are wise, calm and are able to stay kind even after years of suffering- this man fits the bill perfectly. I love him.

6. The action. No exaggeration. No show. Just- badassery all around. Again, their familiarity shone in these scenes, I couldn't get enough. Also, they way Nile and Nicky took bullets for Andy without blinking? Beautiful.

7. Booker. I don't know what anyone thinks about him, because I haven't seen any post about this character, but I love him. And I ached for him. I hated what he did, and he was stupid to put his faith in what he was told, but man did I understand his motives. Which is why I love him. I don't know if he deserves the 100 years alone, but I understand why he was given it. To them, it's nothing at all. His relationship with Nile and Andy is beautiful, too. Especially Andy.

8. The ending. The bad guy died horribly, the misguided guy was allowed to redeem himself and right his wrongs without dying. And our badass team will start saving humanity little by little.

9. Qyinh. Her story was so heartbreaking and seeing the scenes of her in that tomb (?) In the bottom of the ocean honestly made my heart hurt. If Nile's still getting nightmares about her, is there a possibility she's alive? Please let her be alive? (Maybe I got this wrong?? Still, I hope so)

It's very rare that I love a movie, and an action one at that, in its entirety but this one was truly amazing. 10/10, the best one so far.

#the old guard #nicolo di genova #yusuf al kaysani #Sebastian le Livre #andromache of scythia #nile freeman #charlize theron #luca marinelli #marwan kenzari #kiki layne #matthias schoenaerts

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stranger-who-writes-fiction · 4 years

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So 5x18...

...Well hot d*mn.

Man when Supergirl fires on all cylinders...HOO BOY.

Case in point: *gestures to all of 5x18*

To be clear: I liked this one.

A WHOLE LOT.

Not that I disliked 5x17, necessarily. It’s just that 5x18 was more... Entertaining? ...I dunno. I dunno how to explain it.

...Okay yes I do and that explanation is: Someone remarked on Kara’s use of language and Kara overcompensated on the ‘NOooOOooOO I’m totally 100% normal!’ AND there was a musical quote AND it was WHILE TEAMING UP WITH ALEX TO FOLLOW A LEAD.

But I’m getting ahead of myself let’s backtrack...

TO THE TOWER! WITH ALEX! NIA! KARA! AND M’GAAAAAANNNNN!!!!!!

June Foray voice: WOULD YOU LIKE TO STAY FOREVER?!?!?!

I know I’m not the first person to make that reference but it’s always fitting and, for real, recurring character status WHEN. (I mean. Obviously I would prefer series regular but that feels like a big ask considering that all future TV production is...uh. Ah. Erm....

...Up in the air. At the moment.)

And then we check in with the Luthors and Non Nocere isn’t working???

I am shocked! Shocked, I say!

And then we’ve got Obsidian doing something ill-advised which is basically the company’s MO at this point but KELLY AND WILLIAM ARE ON THE CASE REGARDLESS.

(So that’s kinda the one thing I’m sad about re: the Crisis reset; Andrea’s character development. But she’s sticking around for next season so I’m not too upset that she remains...kinda...one note for now.)

And THEN the library scene.

It was so gooooood.

Then Leviathan and okay. Alright. Okay. Huge points in this episode’s favor: Rama Khan feels like a far more significant threat. And I feel like 80% of that is the fact that they just let him wear normal clothes. Thank you, show. Thank. You.

Also the rock effects were way better in this episode because they weren’t footing the bill for a giant crossover episode this time around

I am a little confused, though, by what has and has not happened with regards to Rama Khan on Earth Prime. Did the pre-Crisis stuff...happen? The dialogue...kinda made it hard to decide one way or the other. ‘He hasn’t been seen on this Earth for 100s of years’ but then also, ‘a chilly place you know quite well.’ So...he...did go to the Fortress. And fight Kara? But...all that stuff before Crisis...???

...Not gonna bother with that right now.

POINT IS...Leviathan is finally like...invested in killing Supergirl* and menacing in a very real way which both raises the stakes and makes it personal and that’s way more interesting than ‘nebulous evil organization that must be stopped.’

*I know they kinda sorta already did the whole, ‘let’s kill the Kryptonian!’ and invaded the Fortress but I don’t know what to tell ya, it was just lackluster.

J’ONN AND M’GAAAAAANNNNN

I am firmly in camp: I don’t care if they’re never green again I love seeing them in the super suits with their human faces IT’S GREAT.

Love that Nia’s snoring interrupts the moment.

Also love the deck of Rama Khan playing cards, that must’ve been a fun project for the graphic designers.

Then we’ve got William and Kara at CatCo and it’s baked goods! A hilarious line delivery by Staz! A ridiculous fabrication involving a shy, violent cat!

...Now I want Alex to actually own a shy, violent cat!

“Cats love me, for some reason.” “Of course they do.”

Side note: Love Kara’s blazer.

And then it’s ALIEEEEEENS TO THE RESCUE!

WHAT A TEAM UP, FOLKS.

We love to see it.

The interrogation scene is good n’ tense and ramps up to a very impressive showdown in the DEO (but BEFORE the sparks really start flying we get that rad shot of Kara leaping through the window and doing the superhero landing and it’s just

Perfection.)

Also perfect? Lex playing a game of transmatter pickle with the prisoners.

Then we jump back to the DEO where things are not going well!

Like, really really bad!

But J’onn and M’gann save the day! If not the building!

RIP DEO. 2016-2020

Obituary: The DEO headquarters is survived by its elder sibling, the DEO desert base.

Look none of the favs work there anymore save for Kara and Brainy and they’re both gonna be better off working freelance for J’onn but I do expect Brainy to at least pick up some additional cash by working as a Lyft driver next season.

Me, watching the characters struggle to make it in the gig economy: I feel so seen.

The final portion of the episode is just ALL ACTING and I must say...good stuff.

Like. This cast, man. They take the plot points I’ve been ‘meh’ about all season and they turn in some stellar performances and suddenly I’m like STANDING OVATION, CAN’T WAIT TO SEE WHERE THIS GOES.

Also, reason #342 I love Jon Cryer’s Lex: that scene with Lena.

Terrifying.

Full disclosure: I went in to this episode fully prepared to be really annoyed with whatever was going to happen with Lena and I still don’t...love the trajectory of this season, being so tied up in her personal drama but.

But.

Katie McGrath’s performance...went an awful long way here. In making this...not as bad as it could have been.

Like tearfully admitting she was hurt? And that hurt was the basis of all the nonsense she pulled? Finally owning up to the fact that this was never truly about the greater good but that it was all rooted in some personal issues and OUTRIGHT STATING SHE WAS BEHAVING LIKE A VILLAIN????

I am. Extremely impressed.

EVEN MORE IMPRESSIVE THOUGH: Kara remaining distant both physically and emotionally throughout that scene! Not in like, a cold uncaring way, but in a, ‘I have emotions and I have a right to feel them and set boundaries in regards to my trusting you right now given all that has transpired’ kind of way.

GOOD. YES. GOOD.

(Lex’s outburst has that kind of same Nice Guy undertone--albeit more pronounced and rage-y--as Lena’s in the Fortress. Like, ‘I supported you and you still rejected my plot to take over the world’ and ‘I was kind to you and you still messed up my mind control’ which...I dunno I might just be digging in too deep here in order to further justify the character turn but I think Cryer’s performance regardless is a really sobering wake up call for Lena, different than Lex stuff we’ve seen before. It’s close and intense and uncomfortable in a way that really sells the motivation.)

“You’re a monster...but that doesn’t mean I have to be one too.”

Wow. Might be...the first time I’ve liked Lena all season.

...whispers: might be the first time I’ve liked her ever at all

For real: credit where it’s due, that was an excellent line read.

*insert applause here*

CUT TO ADORABLE J’ONN AND M’GANN MOMENT

D’aaaawwwwwwwwww

But, look, it’s a little undermined by the fact that they both gotta try and embrace in those bulky super suits, I’m sorry, it’s true

...Maybe it’s more endearing that way?

HEY remember how I foolishly assumed that the now-unemployed Alex would simply continue to work with J’onn in an investigative capacity and, ya know, NOT jump straight back into costumed badassery?

HA. HAHA HAHAAAA.

Those leaked set photos make sense now.

OH NO, WILLIAM!

Real glad Staz confirmed he’s returning. Otherwise I would not be able to DEAL WITH THE STRESS.

I already talked a little bit about the loft scene but some additional points! Beautiful lighting. Wonderful score. Excellent performances all around.

A truly great end to a truly great episode.

Like, it makes me retroactively sad, that we’re only getting 5x19, as opposed to 5x19 and 5x20 because I wish that the crew/writers/actors had a little more space to let all of this good work they’ve done settle and breathe.

(But also, it was good that they stopped production, from a safety standpoint, so. Can’t be too upset.)

And, regardless of how the next episode goes down (b/c I’m gonna be real, SG always does really great set-ups for their season finales and then kinda...rushes to the finish line and that can only be further exacerbated in this particular case) I’m just really impressed with this effort here.

...but also LET’S TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE SOME WILD GUESSES. Specifically, what is Alex’s vigilante name gonna be???

...

Alright I generally try to avoid addressing specific fandom complaints in these things b/c I generally try to avoid the fandom itself but of course some stuff has already leaked through all of my blocks/muting so:

‘Lena didn’t apologize!’ The words ‘I’m sorry’ were not said, sure, but 1.) season’s not over and 2.) for Lena, admitting she was wrong is huge. HUUUUUUUGE. It’s solid character growth and I really wish various subsets of fandom would recognize that it’s not fun, when fans hold on to negative stuff from characters’ past and refuse to acknowledge that the characters have changed.

‘Brainy should have seen this coming!’ This one is kind of more down to personal preference I guess but I feel like they’ve established that Brainy’s got a bit of a blindspot due to his feelings about his friends, so I don’t take this as a knock against his intelligence so much as him being stretched fairly thin because he’s playing all sides, and worried about the people he loves. YMMV, though.

All the ‘fix-it’ stuff re: the last scene, by making Kara immediately forgive Lena. Lose me with that nonsense, bleh.

#SG post #long post #supergirl spoilers #5x18 spoilers

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i-only-signed-up-for-fanfiction · 5 years

Text

Gone, yet everywhere (Chapter 1)

(Y/n) Stark had always felt a connection to the sea, she resonated with it - the calmness yet the underlying danger of what lived inside. As she got older she started hearing voices, they’d whisper vague things, things she didn’t understand, a prophecy whispered among seers in a realm long from earth - the lost princess was alive, and she was greater than ever.

She graduated, then did her five years in the army and then she eventually started working for her brother, her mind easily keeping up with her brother’s brain. And little did she know that she’d find the love of her life, Stephen Strange the neurosurgeon, from her brother’s fame.

But with every happy story comes tragedy, and this story is no exception.

A cocktail of the perfect mix; strong language, sexual themes, murder, sarcasm, and badassery.

Find the prologue HERE

The familiar sound of her ringtone surrounded the living room of the big apartment she shared with her husband. She fished her phone out of the back pocket of her jeans. because women's jeans weren't allowed functioning front pockets, apparently.

She smiled as she looked at the screen. Tony's name was big on the screen, accompanied by a photo she had taken of him, passed out on the couch, back in their old home. "Well hello, brother dear. What brings you to my oh so humble phoneline?"

"You know the Avengers party that's being held in the tower?"

"...no?" Tony had completely forgotten to mention the party.

"Well, now you know - be there by six. Bring Strange too." And so he hung up. Details had never been his strong suit.

She looked at the clock on the screen, it was three o'clock, she had three hours to get ready. She was woken out of her thoughts as two hands grabbed her from behind, pulling her into a tight chest. Then she received a kiss on the neck. "Who was on the phone?"

She smiled as she heard that familiar voice, she turned around in Stephen's arms and rested her head on his shoulder. She mumbled Tony's name. "He wants us at the Avengers tower at six, there's a party happening - he invited you, too."

"He better have, I wasn't planning on leaving your sight tonight. We should probably take a shower."

"You're making it sound as if it's a classy after party for the Oscars. It's just going to be Tony and his friends drinking for two hours."

He chuckled. "That's some peoples versions of classy. Besides I wasn't planning on taking the shower alone." He smirked down at (Y/n).

She quickly got out of his arms, running towards their shared bedroom. "The last person there's a rotten egg!" And so they raced each there.

They got ready in a comfortable silence between the two. However, 'Modern Love' was playing in the background.

"Mind zipping up my dress?" (Y/n) asked, her back to Stephen. He zipped her dress up agonizingly slow, but only because he liked doing it so much. It was sensual, especially when his knuckles brushed against her back.

"We have thirty minutes left, time to get going." She nodded as she picked up her purse from the chair in the corner.

They walked hand in hand to the garage, it was filled with different cars to choose from. Felt like driving a Lamborghini? BAM, there it was. A Range Rover? There.

Of course, they were picking a Lamborghini for the ride, how else were they supposed to show off?

They got into the car and then they were on their way.

"If you crash this car, I swear I'll kill you." (Y/n) threatened. Stephen only laughed and skidded at the turn, cars honking at them. (Y/n) almost destroyed the car seat from her hard grip. "Don't make me regret our marriage, Mr. Strange."

"I wouldn't dream of it, Mrs. Strange."

The elevator dinged as they arrived at the floor where the party was being held. Hand in hand they walked out to everyone else. "I thought you said this was a party, it's just the team here."

Tony stood up and walked towards the couple. "Well, I lied, kind of. There was a party with more people, but they left."

She laughed as she removed her shoes. "Thank god, I was not feeling extroverted tonight." She walked towards the bar snatching a bottle of beer. She then walked towards the group on the couch. "Y'all coming or what?" She smirked towards her brother and husband. They quickly followed, grumbling about how they were being pushed around by (Y/n).

"So," Sam began. "(Y/n), we never hear about you, tell us your story, it's got to be interesting. Considering you're a Stark."

She laughed. "Well, my childhood was pretty boring, absent father - the usual. I graduated, joined the air force, did my five years, came back home, and then I ended up here - at Stark industries."

"Hold on, you were in the air force?" Sam and Steve looked at her in surprise.

"Yup." She responded, popping the 'p'.

"You forgot to tell them you married the best neurosurgeon in the world," Stephen grumbled into his glass of whiskey.

"Yeah, how did that even happen. As far as most of us are aware, Strange's a rich playboy."

She laughed and looked at Stephen. "Take one for the team."

Stephen cleared his throat and began telling the team the story of how they had met.

Tony and Stephen had both been invited to a gala, Tony hadn't met Pepper yet and he needed a date for the night. And so he'd had the brilliant idea to bring (Y/n). Tony would later come to regret that decision as he had unintentionally helped her find her future husband. They had been placed at the same table for the dinner, they had started talking and immediately there was a spark between the two. Three years later and they got married.

"Wow." The team had collectively expressed.

"No plans for kids?" Thor had asked, his own longing for the pleasure of having kids begging him to ask the question.

They both laughed and looked at each other. "No" they had answered at the same time, which resulted in them laughing more. "We're not exactly planning on having kids, but if it were to happen, I don't think either one of us would've been against it." (Y/n) explained as Stephen looked at her with a fond smile. They were truly the relationship goal that night.

And that's how the night went on - drinking, laughing, enjoying each other's company. Until Steve got a bit too curious.

Steve stared at her a bit before he dared ask his question. "(Y/n)," she looked at him, waiting for the rest of his question. "have you ever thought of joining the Avengers?"

She was taken aback by the question but before she could answer Tony butted in. "Absolutely not, Rogers. Over my dead body that she joins the team."

"I have, actually." She answered, surprising the whole team, all eyes on her. "I was approached by Fury, I answered no, of course - I have nothing to contribute to the team," she laughed. "it feels kind of weird to watch my brother going into fights headfirst though, and knowing you can't do anything. But yeah, I have."

"Keep your thoughts at that stage, I will not allow my little sister to fight the battles we fight."

She put her hands up, surrendering.

It was midnight and it was time for the couple to head home, unfortunately, Stephen had drunk too much so the task to get them home safely had ended up in (Y/n)'s hands. Which she did most efficiently.

She had tucked Stephen into their bed and proceeded to walk to the kitchen, making sure Stephen had aspirin and a glass of water ready for his hangover tomorrow.

She put everything he'd need on her bedside table and then got in bed, already undressed.

"We should...have a.... kid." He had slurred, half drunk half sleeping. She had simply shushed him and turned off the lights.

But right before she fell asleep she was surrounded by several voices, all saying the same thing.

Du hör inte hemma här.

You do not belong here.

#doctor strange x reader #stephen strange x reader #avengers x reader #tony stark x sister!reader

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enigmasalad · 4 years

Text

SANDERS SIDES DARK CARNIVAL AU

(WARNING: IT HAS REALLY DARK THEMES. IVE TAGGED SOME OF THEM BUT PLEASE PROCEED WITH CAUTION. Inspired by IT, FNAF, Melanie Martinez, Black Butler, general circus horror stuff, Coraline and Disney theme Parks.)

All the boys were once part of a travelling Circus/Carnival. However, one by one, each of them died in horrible ways. Their souls are tied to the Carnival, which has grown sour and sinister. It brought them back from the dead to serve it. What does this dark and horrible force want them to do? Kill. Harvest lives so It can exist. They are powerless to do anything else. (Note: Bois are not zombies but they’re not alive.)

Roman: Roman was a young ringleader. It took him a while, but his superiors decided he was the best fit. Roman could truly entertain a crowd. He was dramatic, charismatic and outstanding. One day however, in the big top Roman so loved to perform in, he took his final bow. The tent came crashing down, crushing the young man underneath wood and steel. He’s received a second chance, an encore if you will. However, his performances aren’t for entertainment. He is still the ringleader of the circus, drawing in crowds to their doom. He doesn’t often get his hands dirty, just lures them in (When he’s not distracted by a certain acrobat)

Remus: He joined the circus with his brother, but not as a candidate for ringleader. No, he was a clown. He loved making the guests scream and cry in fear terrorizing them and spooking them from tight spaces. You could say he was insane. And because of that insanity (and frustrations of Roman growing more distant) Remus decided to pull of the biggest scare. He sabotaged the big top, making it collapse. He knew he would most likely die, but that was fine. Anything to see the fear on his brother’s face and to hear the screams of the guests. Now, he doesn’t have to worry about morals or shame. He just gets to have fun, terrorizing and murdering guests to his content.

Deceit: He was the magician of the carnival, and even had his own smaller tent and show. He loved magic cause like real life, it was all a lie. A scam. He loved twisting and pushing the limits with each illusion, like the lies he’d tell. However, he pushed too far. As he slept, an angry sceptic burned his tent down, killing the magician in the process. Now he performs his illusions, porcelain half-mask covering the burnt side of his face. Unfortunately for the guests, these illusions are deadly.

Virgil: He was an acrobat/contortionist of the big top. He did almost everything; Flips, twirls, aerial silks, tight rope walking, bending and twisting into odd and almost impossible angles to wow the audience. One unfortunate day while during the tight rope walk the rope snapped. You think he’d fall to his death, but something much worse happened. As he fell, the rope wrapped around his neck. Needless to say, the rope wasn’t the only thing that snapped. Now he’s forced to perform how the dark carnival wants, wearing an elegant porcelain mask to hide his face (he may be resurrected but some parts of him are still..uncomfortable to look at). He now uses his flips, twists, twirls, bends and other things to lure and kill guests, mainly young girls because to them, he looks like a doll.

Patton: He joined the carnival as a summer job so he could save enough money to move away from his conservative family. He ran the games and concessions booths and sometimes slipped children free toys and snacks. He loved his job and often would to rig the games, so people had more of a chance to win. One day at the bottle toss booth, a father was determined to win a prize for his son. He threw a baseball with force and speed that would make a professional baseball player jealous. Instead of hitting the bottles, the ball hit Patton in the head. He died instantly when his head hit the ground. Now a days, he still runs his games and snack stands, the years of watching people die over and over fracturing his sanity and morality. He gives the toys of the children who have died away to other children, knowing they too will perish. His snacks are absolutely to die for as well. When he’s not serving or playing games, he can be found hanging out with a certain ride operator.

Logan: Logan was the ride operator/technician. He made sure the rides of the carnival ran smoothly and safely. One day during a routine inspection, Logan went to check the tracks. His co-worker, an irresponsible and bored teenager decided to give Logan a spook by turning the ride on. Logan barely had enough time to look before he was hit with a rollercoaster vehicle. His body was completely destroyed in the process. He has a new body now, a mechanical one, one of a living animatronic/robot. He runs the rides like the carnival demands of him, letting guests get on what they don’t know Is their final moments. He’s almost forgotten what being human is like, but a certain Game/Concessions booth employee is determined to remind him.

Remy: He was the weapons expert (who could do a little bit of fire breathing. Fire is a weapon after all) and knew how to handle all sorts of weapons to amaze the crowds. He could juggle and throw knives and axes with ease, and could shoot guns almost as good as Annie Oakley (almost no one could ever top her badassery). He had a real morning star too, but that went missing. However, his absolute favorite weapon is his whip. He knows how to crack and twirl and do tricks with it, making the air sound like a lightening storm. Unfortunately such skills don’t go unnoticed, and Remy soon had a “fanboy” so to speak. His co-worker started acting super creepy, following him, leaving gifts, just randomly staring. He finally approached Remy, asking him to go out with him. When Remy refused, the co-worker beat him to death in a fit of rage. Now a days, he still impresses the guests with his skills and fire breathing. He likes to put on a show before they die after all. And he has a new “fanboy”, confined to his fortunetelling tent.This time, Remy stares back.

Picani: Picani had a special gift in fortune telling, using cards and crystal balls to see into events soon to arrive. He joined the circus and would often use his ability to give advice to those who needed it. One day, the cards foretold that he was to die that day. Picani decided to at least make the best of his last day. The moment he stepped outside of his tent, a run-away circus trailer ran him over, killing him into the process. The Carnival brought him to do it’s bidding, and yet Picani is the only one who can resist. He tries to warn guests, telling them to leave. As punishment, he’s confined to his tent. He can never, ever, ever leave.

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woshuaaa · 5 years

Text

spoilers for BL3

i made some fixes for what i thought were weak points in-game. they personally made sense to me, feel free to tell me what yall think??

Maya, Ava and Krieg.

You meet maya on Athenas, and at some point along the way, she sidetracks a bit.

“I have to go find my… friend. Yeah, lets call him that. He should be near the cemetery.”

You get to the cemetery where you’re greeted by the mountain of a psycho known as Krieg. He’s screaming about poop trains or ribcages or something along those lines.

“This is Krieg, he and I were crimson raiders a few years back.” “RIDING DEATH BOMBS TOGETHER!” “Speaking of which, Krieg, where’s Ava? You were supposed to keep an eye on her. In the library.” “RRRRGHGHH CONSTRAINTS OF A SKULL SPLITTER!” “I warned you Krieg. If she gets hurt it’s your fault. Come on vault hunter, this way.”

You continue through the rest of the mission as normal, but now there’s an extra occupant in maya and ava’s room.

Upon killing the rampager, Ava shows up again, with Krieg trailing behind. Krieg could be less than interested and is just tossing rocks around.

You exit the vault and catch Maya scolding Krieg for not keeping Ava on the ship like she asked. Tyreen and Troy show up, and assume Krieg is just another psycho. “Hey there follower! You did good, capturing the Vault Thief and an extra siren! Should make you Eridium tier for that. You’ll be rewarded when we open the great vault.” Kreig cocks his head to one side in confusion, but for once is silent.

Tyreen gets Ava by the throat and Maya has Troy in a chokehold, and Krieg is clearly confused on what to do as he looks back and forth between the two rapidly. Troy reaches up and grabs maya, and Krieg goes into a bloodlust, screaming and charging at Troy full speed. “Troy!” Tyreen shouts, dropping ava to rush to her brothers aid. When Krieg tackles Troy, maya drops, tattoos gone, and makes her way over to Ava. Troy and Tyreen get a grip on Krieg, with Troys robot arm wrapped around Kriegs neck. “Rule number one, follower: never betray the family.” Tyreen sneers through gritted teeth as she begins to drain krieg. “Krieg!” Maya screams, and she tries to run toward them, when Tyreen uses an energy pulse to send them flying back further.

“Maya…. I.. love… you…” Krieg says as his eyes glaze over, and he turns into a husk, which quickly falls into a pile of dust. “No! Krieg!” Maya cries, tears streaming down her face. “Well, that takes care of that. Oh, eugh, ew, i think I got some psycho dust in my mouth, eugh, ew!” tyreen says, gagging. “Atlas! Ty, we gotta go!” Troy says, grabbing his sisters arm. They phase away as a squad of Atlas troops storm the vault, seeing nothing more than the three.

“Krieg…” Maya says sadly.

“There’s nothing we could do, Maya. Lets get back to Santcuary.” Moze says.

“I know he meant a lot to you Maya, but we have to get out of here.” Amara says.

“He was a good hunter, but his time has come. We will mourn on Sanctuary.” Fl4k says.

“It’s sad lass, but there’s nothing we can do for him now. Let’s get you back to the ship.” Zane says.

>Upon rejoining Lilith on the bridge.

“Oh no, Maya, Tyreen got you too?” “Not Tyreen, it was that Troy douchebag.” Ava says. Maya can’t bring herself to speak. “Krieg… They killed him.” Ava says, staring down at her shoes.

“Damn. I’m sorry Maya. I knew how close you two were. He was a psycho, but a good one at that. I can tell you for sure that he’s riding the shiniest of meat bicycles up in the stars, eh?” Lilith says, trying to comfort maya.

>After the mission is complete, maya has a side mission available.

“Krieg was one of the best of us, vault hunter, and I want to honor him as best I can. Can you head down to Pandora and see if he left any echo logs?”

Here you can find a few logs mentioning how he feels about maya semi-sanely. Maya seems to be oblivious to the clues that Krieg liked her, until you get to the end of the cave where there’s an echo next to a small box.

“Maya. You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting.

Your the tink to my turret, the bullet in my mag, the sister to.. My brother? Agh no that..that came out wrong. What I’m trying to say is… will you ride this meat bicycle with me, and be my wife?” The box opens, revealing a poorly made ring made of scrap steel. “Well, what did you find?” Maya asks.

“Ill show you up on the ship.” the vault hunter responds. Upon returning to sanctuary, you meet up with maya in her quarters. “What is it you needed to show me vault hunter?” The vault hunter places the ring box on the table and the echo plays for maya, and the box opens on cue.

“Oh Krieg, you crazy, beautiful bastard you.” Maya says, on the brink of tears. “Thank you for doing this, vault hunter. It means… it means a lot to me.” She pays you and you get a legendary grenade mod called Kriegs buzz axe, that turns your grenades into a buzz axe that gets hurled at enemies. It has red text that says “IM THE CONDUCTOR OF THE POOP TRAIN!”

The next time you see Maya on Sanctuary, she’s wearing the ring Krieg made on a chain around her neck.

Gaige the Siren

“Hey killer. I’ve gotten word that another former raider is in trouble. I need you to go down and check on her, will ya?”

>Player goes down to pandora and meets Gaige and Deathtrap, who are in the middle of an assault. Pain and Terror get ahold of her during the assault, and she’s to be sacrificed to the twins as an offering. During the last third of the fight against the Agonizer 9000, she ~somehow~ (Hint: siren powers) manages to free herself and summon Deathtrap, and helps you finish off the fight.

“Thanks for helping me out there, VH. Man, I must be getting rusty on my badassery. I’ll meet you up on Sanctuary, hey?”

>Continue through the game as normal, along with some additional bits with Gaige catching up with Zero and Maya, and mourning the loss of Krieg.

“Hey, you didn’t think I’d let you fight those assholes alone, didja?” Gaige says she’s coming down to help you fight Troy. “Gaige, you cant-” “Lilith, Imma be real with ya for a sec, and uh, no. Im going, and you can’t fuckin stop me. Kay? Kay.” “If you’re going, I’m coming down too. That douchebag killed Krieg, and I can’t… I can’t risk losing you too.” Maya says, and she clearly isn’t backing down. “I’m the leader of the raiders, and I’m not letting you two kill yourselves down there.” Lilith says, frustrated.

You go down to the cathedral of the twin gods, and Maya and Lilith say theyll meet you there. Gaige helps you fight through the bandit hoards.

“You’re too late vault thief! Tyreen and I are opening the great vault, you cant stop us now!” Gaige taps on Troys shoulder, and he turns around. “Guess again, jackass.” Gaige slugs him in the face with her metal arm, and there it is revealed that she has blue tattoo’s travelling up her arm and shoulder on the left side, same as her metal arm. As she punches him, her white siren wings appear behind her, and a title card pops up introducing her as “Gaige: the Siren: (whaaaaaat?)”

Gaige helps you out throughout the fight, occasionally summoning deathtrap and using phase shift (“Excuting Phaseshift, BITCHES!”) to allow small turrets to pop up along with ammo boxes.

At the end of the fight, Lilith and Maya appear, and as Troy dies, Maya regains her powers back.

“Gaige, when were you gonna tell us about this?” Lilith demands. “Well ya see, when… Y’know with the whole laying-low thing, I… okay look I know this seems bad, but I couldn’t figure out a good time. I didn’t even know what was happening, and it didn’t happen right away! A few years later, when I was off planet and trying to figure out my next move one day and bam! There they were.” “But the question is, how?” “Angel and I… talked. We liked to talk. Its not like anything personal, but it was nice. She was my first friend, and… I-I didn’t want anything to happen to that.” “So angel chose you?” Maya asks. “No, I-I don’t think so anyways.” “Maya what are you talking about?” Lilith asks. “Before a siren passes, it’s said that she must choose an apprentice, someone to pass her powers onto, and if she doesnt, her powers will just play the genetic lottery. The bond you two had must’ve meant something to Angel too, and she chose you to carry her powers.” Gaige looks at the tattoo’s on her arm and shoulder with newfound meaning.

Gaige is significantly more impacted by the Childhoods End quest, for obvious reasons.

Gaige continues to play the role that Tannis did.

Liliths death.

(to clarify, i really think it’s time for lilith to give up her role. she’s been the main focus in 2/3 games now, and i personally think that its time for her to step down and go out in a truly badass way.)

“It feels nice to have these powers back. Like greeting an old friend.” Lilith says. “Hey uh guys? I don’t think we’re in the clear yet! Elpis is still tearing pandora apart!” Gaige yells.

“Run towards the fire.” Lilith looks over at Ava and Maya. “Be ready Ava.”

“Lilith, what are you doing?” “Lilith, no!” Maya and Gaige plead with lilith, but she ignores them and takes off soaring towards Elpis.

“What the hell is she doing?!” Maya yells.

“She’s closing the great vault.” Ava responds.

“Is she insane? That’ll kill her!” Gaige cries.

“That’s the idea.” Ava looks up at lilith as she reaches elpis.

Lilith phases Elpis away, leaving behind her insignia.

“She’s dead… She’s really dead.” Maya says sadly. “Not quite. She’s still lighting the way.” Ava says.

Ava suddenly doubles over and begins to float. “Ava? Ava what the hell is going on?!” Gaige shouts. A sudden burst of energy comes from Ava, revealing the bright orange wings of the Firehawk, paired with the tattoo’s now running down Ava’s arm.

“Those tattoo’s suit you, Ava.” Maya says, resting a hand on Ava’s shoulder. “She chose right, I can say that much.” Gaige says with a gentle smile. “C’mon Guys, let’s get back to the ship.” Gaige says, making her way out of the vault. Maya follows, and as Ava goes to leave, she turns back around, looking up at the Blazing Phoenix above her head. “Thanks, Lilith.” Ava says softly. “Ava, cmon!” Maya shouts. “Coming!” Ava quickly runs back to catch up to the others.

#borderlands 3 #borderlands 3 spoilers #bl3 #bl3 spoilers #bl2 #bl:tps #borderlands #borderlands 2 #borderlands tps #borderlands the pre sequel #borderlands fic #fix-it au #fix-it fic

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ashleylikeshorror · 5 years

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3 from Hell | Review

youtube

“Hello, America. Did you miss me?”

When I first heard that Rob Zombie was getting the gang back together for a third chapter in the Firefly family’s journey, some pretty bittersweet emotions were experienced. It wasn’t just myself that felt a confusing mixture of “but, why?” and “FUCK YES.” It seemed as though a lot of Firefly following online didn’t think this needed to happen, but welcomed it anyway with an anticipation so unsure you could feel the tension a mile away.

The day of its release, 3 from Hell answered all of our questions we didn’t have about Otis, Baby, and Spaulding until its conception. Was the answer we needed satisfying? Was the film as good as we were hoping to be? Were the Firefly family truly back again to cause just as much havoc as we’ve seen them cause before?

This review could potentially be my shortest yet, as one could easily sum this movie up with two words: “womp womp.” How unfortunate 3 from Hell didn’t live up to expectations; especially when the expectations across the net weren’t that high to begin with. I’ll go ahead and get my few compliments for it out of the way, and then we’ll sit here and drown in the negativity, because I’m dead serious when I say this one was a stinker.

1.) Otis is more palatable, less over-the-top. (This could also be a negative) 2.) Richard Brake knocked it out of the park as Wolfman. Literally the only saving grace of the movie. 3.) Stellar soundtrack typical of Zombie’s films

There. Now that those two bits are out of the way, let’s dig in.

If you look at the description above that I screenshot from just a simple “3 from Hell” Google search, you can see that the description states “Crazed killers Baby Firefly, Captain Spaulding and Otis Driftwood unleash blood mayhem after escaping from prison.” That’s two-thirds of the way correct. Due to his health, it was understandable that Sid Haig couldn’t be a big part of the Firefly reunion. In the film, Captain Spaulding is understandably sentenced to death, and while we thought he was killed in the car scene from Rejects, this was an OK way for him to go as well, imo. So, no, Google, Spaulding doesn’t escape from prison.

One of the immediate questions that sparked for everyone as soon as 3 from Hell was announced was: “they’re not dead?” The last time we saw the three, they were headed full speed ahead into a hail of bullets, not backing down from a fight, and as a result - being pumped full of lead. Shockingly, they survived. I have so many unorganized thoughts on this alone that when I go to speak on it, all that comes out is a deep, clearly audible sigh. Before 3 From Hell, the Fireflys had the death they deserved, and one that fans were happy with even. Now they’re suddenly alive? It doesn’t make sense, but there wouldn’t be a 3 from Hell if it didn’t happen that way, I guess.

We don’t see too much of Otis in prison, but we do see quite a bit of Baby in prison, and she isn’t doing so good. She’s got a number of violations, not applicable for parole, and what’s left of her sanity is swirling down the drain as we see her firsthand experiencing hallucinations while in segregation. Moon’s acting is what you’d expect, but this time around it doesn’t feel like Baby is... Baby. Yeah, we’re obviously looking right at Baby Firefly on screen, but something is off. It’s not because she’s behind bars, but it’s because her character’s portrayal is so forced to the point I just don’t care anymore. I get it, you’re mentally unstable, but unfortunately now, you’re just not interesting or half as compelling as you were once before.

Otis on the other hand, a character that shouldn’t under any circumstances be allowed to see the light of day, nor have his cunning taken for granted, has (you guessed it!) his cunning taken for granted (SHOCKER) as he’s given a chance to see the light of day and uses this to his advantage to escape - all of which is caught on camera. Predictable, right? Why would any prison think that a murderer and psychopath to the extent of which Otis Driftwood is, is safe to be taken out from behind prison walls? Fuck whatever good behavior he might, or might not have displayed while inside the prison. Why would ANYONE with at least one functioning brain cell think that taking this man out of the prison anywhere is a good idea? Rant aside, this scene gives us a brief shot of Danny Trejo before he takes a laughably shoddy, beyond rotten CGI effect of a bullet to the head. With the help of his half-brother (portrayed by Richard Brake) we’ve never heard of til now, Otis makes his escape. Where does he go? Straight to the Warden’s house to work on getting Baby freed.

I hated the scenes at the Warden’s house. Despite the fantastic performance of everyone involved, these scenes just felt empty. The terror was visible as those held hostage are being hurt with no remorse by one of America’s most wanted, but other than the purpose of getting Baby back into the world, these scenes seemingly had no point. We already know what Otis is capable of, and Wolfman being a relative of Otis and Baby, we get that he’s liable to be one bad mother fucker himself. That being said, why did these scenes have to drag on so fucking long? It would have been much more appropriate, and less of a bore, to show Otis going in the home, and coming out with a body trail behind him. Our imagination alone of what could’ve happened would have been more entertaining than what was shown.

With Baby now out of prison, Otis makes the comment to his brother that prison did a lot of damage to Baby as what was left of her sanity is beyond fucked now. Baby, not too long after Otis’ sentiment being expressed, suggests going to Mexico as there’s no one looking for them there. The one individual who’s probably the most not sound of mind, that they didn’t even want to let go to the soda machine alone, comes up with the idea that can potentially secure their freedom. Seems a little out of place, but whatever.

Once in Mexico, surprise, surprise, trouble follows. A place they’d stated no one was looking for them had people that were - you guessed it - looking for them. Remember when Trejo was killed? His son, the leader of The Black Satans, wants vengeance for Otis having killed his father. Aquarius is tipped off where the three are staying and sends The Black Satans over to handle the job. This would have more than likely ended how Aquarius was hoping if Baby’s plot armor didn’t kick in by noticing the Satans pointing at her window, giving her a chance to notify her brothers resulting in a head start at surviving the situation.

The Black Satans come in and kill pretty much anyone that stands between them and who they’re after. After a bunch of innocents die, Baby and Coltrane (Wolfman) are taken hostage themselves while Aquarius offers Otis a chance at saving them via a one on one machete fight, not with Aquarius, but Creep, a very large member of The Black Satans. Otis abides and while we’re sitting here wondering what the fuck is going on, why the Firefly group is fucking going up against a gang, a cartel, whatever the fucking Satans are, plot armor kicks in again to save the day as a friend Baby has made cuts her and her half-brother free. Shit goes down and the movie ends not too long after with the three of them free to do as they please.

Even Richard Brake’s stellar performance wasn’t enough to save this Zombie film, just as it wasn’t enough to save 31, leaving him as one of the few highlights of the film. I’m not sure if I had more questions before seeing it or afterwards. They get out of prison that easily? Why are we just now hearing about Coltrane even though he’s apparently a notorious murder himself? How is Baby going to be batshit insane behind bars noticeable enough to where her brother - the nut job he is - makes a comment about it, then the second and third act come and she’s seemingly sound of mind? Why the fuck are we expected to believe that three killers, one of which is completely mentally insane to the point of creating her own reality behind bars, is able to defeat an entire fucking gang in what seems to be less than an hour? This film went off the rails in a way it truly didn’t have to. It is understood the Firefly family can get up to some crazy shit. It’s well known they’re dangerous individuals that you do not under any circumstances want to fuck with. It’s like Rob Zombie decided to construct a cash grab with some of his well known characters, yet had nowhere to go with it, so he decided to write the script as a failed ode to badassery.

All in all, this film had all the elements you’d expect from a Firefly movie and followed the same formula (if you will) as its two predecessors before it. There was blood (oh, lord, was there blood), plenty of violence, shitty acting on Moon’s part, tension, and plenty of memorable lines. We’re introduced to the gang again, shown how vicious they are, how insane they are, how ruthless, smart, and evil they are. We got what we knew we were going to get, but this time around it fell flat. Why? Because it was unneeded. The Firefly gang should have been left for dead at the end of Rejects. That Freebird backed ending was was the ending they needed. That was the ending the viewers needed. Instead, what we got was them miraculously surviving a hail of gunfire only to escape from prison and have loads of plot armor they didn’t really need.

Now having seen it, my only course of action for this movie is to just pretend it doesn’t exist. Rob, I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed. Really, really disappointed.

3 out of 10.

#three from hell #3 from hell #horror #horror movie #trailer #review #spoiler alert #rob zombie #sid haig #sheri moon zombie #richard brake #bill moseley #firefly #devils rejects #house of 1000 corpses #disappointed

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themattress · 5 years

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Attn: KH Fandom on Tumblr

intotheventures is a troll. He is a fringe, pathologically obsessed hater of KH2, and is going around to any and every KH-related blog he can asking anon copypastas that same basic trends: “How/why can you criticize KH3 when KH2 was worse in almost every way?”, “Kairi is the worst in KH2, at least in KH3 she got shit done and saved everyone, wasn’t kidnapped TWICE, and you didn’t see her panties”, “At least KH3 didn’t have (insert perceived faults of KH2 here)”, “KH2 is the worst because (insert perceived faults of KH2 here”), “What’s the worst (something) and why is it (something from KH2)?”, and so on. Basically, anything that gives off the air of “KH2 was the worst video game ever made and has no redeeming qualities and how dare you not think that and criticize any other KH game that isn’t KH2”.

If you get anon asks like this, I recommend you delete them and not reply.

If you decide to engage, though, here’s a handy guide on how to counter him.

These are his charges against KH2, and why they don’t hold water.

“Shallow Badassery”

He never adequately explains what he means by this. He seems to mean the Reaction Commands, saying things like cutting through building is “shallowly badass”, and that no other game pushes this kind of over-the-top cool factor. All you need to do is to post pics of Shotlock Commands, D-Links and Command Styles from BBS, Flowmotion, Diving and the Combined Keyblade from 3D, and basically ANYTHING from the gameplay of KH3 (or cutscenes, such as Sora defying gravity as he air-steps across falling boulders in Olympus).

Pandering

Again, never defines this other than anything fans would like, particularly yaoi baiting. To which I’d say to post anything from 3D between Sora and Riku. (He even made a post crying about how “the yaoi fangirls are back” after KH3′s release and “it’s 2006 all over again” - LMAO, the yaoi fangirls never fucking left, idiot, they THRIVED in the years since 2006!)

Bad Characterization (OOC/Idiot/Mary Sue Sora, Emo Riku & Roxas, etc.)

His charges against Sora are either that he’s OOC by being cockier and more aggressive and taunting toward opponents (show Sora’s cocky-ass victory quotes from the Coliseum in KH, or his threats to opponents like “After I finish you, he’s next!” to Axel and Marluxia), that he’s dumbed down because he does stuff like bang on a computer (show any dumb moment in 3D or KH3, or moments where his friends basically make fun of him for being dumb), or a Mary Sue because he solve too many problems in Disney worlds (show him doing so in literally any other game. Yeah, this charge against Sora may be the most ridiculous one.)

As for saying Riku and Roxas are “emo”, just go in length to explain how regret, depression, fear and anxiety works, especially in the case of Roxas who finds out that his life is a lie.

Misogyny toward Kairi

Yeah, I’ve gone over this one before. His claims that she “was made a shallow love interest in KH2, was kidnapped TWICE, and you could see her panties” don’t hold much water when she did have more personality and development not having to do with Sora than in KH3, escaped on her own after both kidnappings and was kidnapped when she had no weapon or way of defending herself (she has no such excuse in KH3, where she is kidnapped while holding a Keyblade, and also KILLED twice which is notably worse than kidnapping), and that seeing her panties was not something you were supposed to do and no impact on the plot, plus her skirt is just as short in KH3 so she is still being “used for fanservice”. Also, she did not “get shit done and save everyone”, she just believed in her heart that Sora would survive to get shit done and save everyone. In KH2, she actually did get shit done and save people.

Too many KH-original characters

He says too many characters were in KH2 who “had no personality / low screentime” or “were useless”. Which apparently wasn’t the case in KH3, despite having more than double the amount of KH-original characters, many of whom are widely considered to be shafted.

"Cringe" Dialogue

Just reply with any of the “cringe” dialogue from literally any other KH game.

Convoluted Plot

Respond by trying to summarize the plots of every post-KH2 game.

“Multiple people named Ansem” cannot compete with “Multiple Xehanorts via time travel”.

Cloud’s Side Story

He constantly defaults to “butchering Cloud/Tifa/Sephiroth” as an argument.

Post the debut of “Emo!Cloud” in KH, or the Showdown of Fate from KH:FM.

I don’t like Cloud’s Side Story either, but it got its start in the original game.

Filler Disney Worlds

Link to this post, which explains how the pace of “filler” to “plot-relevant” world visits was actually pretty expertly done. You can also mention how most of the world visits had relevant story reasons for being there, a motivation for Sora to visit them, as opposed to just dicking around in them for no given reason. Only Agrabah, Halloween Town and Pride Land are fairly pointless, but if people consider them fun to play through then that’s all that truly matters.

KH2 Atlantica

It’s an optional world. You can skip it if you want. And let’s be real: the musical rhythm mini-game is no less cringey than the later Mario Party-esque board game of BBS, virtual pet raising element of 3D, or Corona dancing minigame and “Let It Go” in its entirety in KH3.

#Disney #Square Enix #Kingdom Hearts #Signal Boost #This has been a PSA

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gabexofxavalor-blog · 6 years

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The End Is Nigh(t)

Summary: Princess Elena, Sofia and Hiro head into town after locating Orizaba’s temporary hideout in order to recover the town to its former, day-and-night glory by ending the Eternal Night.

Date: November 2nd, 2018

Triggers: None.

ORIZABA

The feeling of the Night was everything Orizaba recalled it to be: Refreshing, pure and peaceful. If you managed to ignore the dead people running amok. She managed, though, mostly because she was well aware that, after this little show in this little pathetic town, she’d go on to take over those lands taken from her by fearful invaders. And this time around, she’d show them who’s who.

As the invasion of Swynlake seemed to go swiftly, the Goddess of the Night had settled, temporarily, on top of an abandoned but wonderful mansion in what the money-obsessed mundus called The Woods. An abandoned house was perfect because, well, it would appear that nobody had been there in little less than a year. It had all the markings of a beast’s attack, so whoever lived there wouldn’t be coming back soon. Thus, it wouldn’t be easy for people to find her.

Just in case, though, outside the house sat her most trusted sentry. The sorceress’ familiar, an emerald-eyed doe, kept watch from one of the windows, ready to sprint to her mistress as soon as movement was felt. Orizaba knew that it would be technically possible for people to find out her location if they were sufficiently familiar with how her magic or the Eye worked, and she wasn’t about to take any chances.

ELENA

“I. Am. Sick. Of these mother fucking traumas in my fucking life,” Elena hissed to Sofia, channeling her inner Samuel L. Jackson. She huffed and continued her trek to the house Goliath told her was Orizaba’s hideout with what can only be described as pure murder in her eyes.

Elena’s grip on her Scepter tightened, so much so that her knuckles were turning white and her nails dug into her palm. As her nails broke skin, she didn’t even notice the blood. At least in her rage, she had achieved some level of badassery.

Lucia would be proud. She hoped.

“Sofia, I am going to r i p that overgrown moth’s wings off of her and feed them to my cat!” She continued her rant, but in Spanish. “No merciful queen here, not today. This is practice for when I yank Shuriki off the throne of my kingdom by force and make a slip-n-slide from her organs.”

For the Eternal Night? Orizaba deserved an ass-kicking. For possessing her best friend and bodyguard’s body, and for mind-controlling her gargoyle dad into trying to kill her? If Elena didn’t have to send her back to the Spirit Realm, she’d make a guillotine herself for her.

The rage that bubbled inside of Elena was palpable, like you could cut the angry aura around her with a knife.

“Mira, allí. Look up there.” Elena pointed to the rooftop of a house they were nearing. “It’s murder time, kids.”

SOFIA

No one ask where Sofia got the sword, okay?

She held it one hand as she followed quietly behind Elena, keeping one eye on her and Hiro and the other on their surroundings. This wasn’t the first time Sofia’d had to sneak around during a magical attack on her home (Enchancia was cool, not perfect), and she was ready to do what was needed. Even if that meant calming down Elena’s murderous rage before they launched an attack on a nocturnal demon.

“Elena, wait,” Sofia whispered, grabbing Elena by the back of her jeans and pulling her back out of sight as she motioned for Hiro to stop. “Orizaba could have the house guarded, we have to be careful! And we need a plan anyways, we can’t just go in screaming bloody murder.” She lowered her voice. “You still can’t use the Scepter for too long without tiring yourself out. We have to think this through.”

Rising slightly from her crouch, Sofia looked around the grounds quickly before dropping back down again. “Okay,” she said to Elena and Hiro. “Looks like there’s only one of her creatures watching the door. Shouldn’t be hard for us to keep the element of surprise. Any ideas?”

HIRO

Hiro had decided to tag along. He was ready to actually do something to help out, and had the means to do so. It was perfect. He’d even told Aunt Cass that he was barricading at Sofia’s so she wouldn’t worry, because he knew she wouldn’t let this happen.

He followed the other two, and crouched next to Sofia. The young man squinted and managed to see the doe with the twinkling eyes, and the way she twitched her ears in alert.

“I have an idea,” Hiro exclaimed, and readied his arm-cannon-thing (name pending), aiming it at the doe. “We take it out before it sees us, and sneak right in! It’s pretty easy, since I’ve got great aim nowadays. Just let me get this ready…”

ORIZABA

Meanwhile, inside the house, the moth fairy winged around the ballroom, decorating the place with colorful flowers hanging from the rafters and all over the floor. It might be a temporary home, but she still deserved a proper palace to live in!

The doe guarding the entrance, meanwhile, was almost unmovable. She didn’t get distracted, and her emerald eyes constantly scanned the grounds. She hadn’t found anything just yet, and there had been no need to worry - Of course, so far she’d failed to scan the upper ground the invaders had taken refuge on.

ELENA

Elena swallowed hard and eyed Hiro’s...whatever it was, with suspicion. “Are you sure this is safe?” she asked Sofia, before deciding on her own the correct answer to her question was, “Fuck it.”

Fuck it, nothing was safe right now, literally nothing, and worst case scenario, she’ll die by Hiro’s malfunctioning invention instead of die by Orizaba’s hand. Best case scenario? It works and Hiro becomes her new new favorite person.

Perhaps second favorite, behind only Naomi.

She met Hiro’s eye and nodded. “Go for it.”

SOFIA

“Quietly, though. Only if you can do it quietly,” Sofia said quickly, grimacing at the idea of killing the doe. What if it was just like Goliath? An innocent creature under Orizaba’s thrall? But Hiro and Elena were right, they didn’t have the time. “Otherwise we’ll alert Orizaba that we’re here. And try to just... knock it out?”

Across the street and several buildings down, far enough that the doe wouldn’t spot him, Sofia saw Goliath swoop in and land on the roof. Even this far away, she could see his eyes shining white with his anger.

HIRO

“Yeah, okay,” Hiro replied, not really making any promises because it wasn’t that probable that the thing would survive the blast. Or if it did, it would also possibly be crippled in a way that’d have them kill it out of mercy. Still, it was for the greater good, so he took aim and shot.

The doe’s head turned in their direction as soon as the blast had left the machine, but it was too late - as the laser struck its target and Hiro cheered about it, the doe was gone. Its body hadn’t truly collapsed. Instead, it seemed to turn into a cloud of magical dust and swirled around before being carried away by the wind.

“See? It’s perfectly fine. Probably was already dead or something!” the boy suggested.

ORIZABA

The moth fairy kept going about her business, now redecorating her colorful purple dress with even more flowers, when something struck at her heart. It was a light pain, but the source of it became evident when a cloud of her magic traveled into the house and reformed her beautiful, emerald-eyed doe in front of her, as if she’d just woken up.

“I suppose our friends are here, my pet?” she asked sing-songily. THen, the woman’s face turned into a frown as she pet the creature’s head. “I hope they come soon. Nobody harms my baby.”

ELENA

“No…” Elena trailed off, looking at Hiro in a mixture of pride - because that was damn impressive - and confusion, because then was the doe actually corporeal in the first place? “It’s never that easy with dark magic.”

She turned her focus back to Orizaba, perched on the rooftop, surveying the town like it was her own little kingdom.

And then the panic set in.

Shit, shit. Okay so the doe was gone but where did it go? Did Orizaba know they were there now? Why wasn’t she coming down to kill them?

Elena had never battled a dark being from the Spirit Realm before. She tried to kill someone once, in a house in the woods in Germany, when a magick hunter grabbed her baby sister’s arm and Elena acted fast and broke a dinner plate over his head, prepared to stab a shard into his abdomen before one of his buddies wrestled it from her hand.

It worked. Kind of. She didn’t get to kill him, but they left Isa alone.

(Later, when they threatened to kill Mateo, Elena grabbed one of their knives and held it to her throat, told them she’d slit her throat if they touched him, too. ‘Crazy bitch’ they called her. ‘She’s worth more money if we get her to that sorceress alive.’ Check, and mate.)

Elena was no stranger to extreme situations. This, however, was some next level shit.

“What now? Like is Goliath going to have to yeet me onto the roof to get at her?”

SOFIA

Sofia made herself watch as Hiro shot the deer, watched it disappear in a cloud of dust, and felt her stomach drop. She knew animals, magical and benign; none of them do that. It left a rotten feeling in her stomach, her gut telling her that if Orizaba didn’t already know they were here, she would soon.

“Now we move, fast,” Sofia hissed, staying low as she began make her way to the front door. “Hiro, you and I will keep Orizaba distracted while Elena gets in place to attack her with the Scepter. If we can find a way to pin her down, even better,” she whispered as they moved, keeping the sword close to her side in case any more undead tried to sneak up on them (Thank you, Aunt Tilly, for making sure Sofia got started with fencing lessons as soon as she started middle school).

“Elena, do not take the shot until you know it’ll hit,” she told the older woman firmly. “You’ve got at most two shots before the Scepter drains you, do not waste them.”

If they survived, Sofia would have to apologize to Elena for being so bossy. But right now, she was Crisis Mode.

“Hiro and I can take care of ourselves,” she said as she rested a hand on the doorknob, looking over at Hiro and giving him a small, confident grin. “Take advantage of the fact that you’ve got the ranged weapon and stay back. Also, aim for the wings.”

With that, she gave them both a nod and silently pressed the door open, moonlight spilling into the foyer from the windows and doorway.

HIRO

Soon after the doe vanished, the illusion of Orizaba on the rooftop did as well, dissolving into the wind. Her focus was elsewhere, and so the group moved along. Hiro nodded at Sofia and her orders. Why was she ordering him around? He was technically his boss! Well, he’d be whenever his aunt died. ANYWAY! He decided to follow through and made mental notes.

When the door opened, the interior of the house came into view. It was actually quite a modern house, with a beautiful foyer and a spiral staircase to their left. There was a trashed door to the right, and only the one in front of them seemed accessible. It was also half-open.

“That way, I suppose?” Hiro whispered, before distracting himself by looking at an assortment of hats in the corner, hanging from a perch. Everything seemed to be abandoned.

ORIZABA

It was hard to miss the flashes of purple and green magic that sneaked through the doors and windows every time Orizaba did something new to decorate the ballroom. Her wings fluttered as she moved around the place, as the doe began to move around the room as well.

“Where are yooooou, children?” the woman called out sing-songily, her voice being carried all through the house thanks to the place’s acoustic nature. “Never keep a lady waiting!”

ELENA

Elena wanted to die, sure, but not in a fire fight with Orizaba. She wouldn’t make it quick and relatively painless, she knew that much for sure.

Or, there was the option of the Scepter killing her first, because, apparently that was a possibility. In any case, this was going to be a shit time for Elena - for all of them, but even if they won...Elena.

She swallowed hard and followed them both into the house.

SOFIA

Well, there went the element of surprise.

Sofia held up her hand, stopping Hiro and Elena as her mind scrambled for a new plan. She needed to get close, they just needed a place with good cover. They just needed a moment where Orizaba was distracted.

Oh, her brother was screaming at her somewhere.

“Find your opening, wait for my signal,” she mouthed to the two behind her. With a deep breath, Sofia rose up to her full, unimpressive height - and holding her sword loosely at her side - stepped into the doorway.

“My apologies, Señora Orizaba,” she said in Avaloran Spanish, bowing at the waist. “With the current situation in town with the rise of the undead, I’ve been a bit on edge. I am Princess Sofia Álvarez-Hagebak from Enchancia, I am here to speak with you about the night that has enveloped the town.”

Keeping eye contact with the moth goddess, Sofia set the sword down on the floor in front of her. “I don’t want this to come to violence, Señora,” she said earnestly. “I give you my word as Princess of Enchancia that I will not attack you unprovoked. Please, let’s talk.”

HIRO

You know when people say something to you in a low tone of voice, and you don’t hear a thing because a moth fairy is blasting things in the other room? Well, that was what happened to Hiro right then and there. He wasn’t a lip reader, and was completely puzzled when Sofia stood up and walked inside.

He peeked into the room as discreetly as possible, reloading the arm cannon as he did so as to be able to shoot at whichever point he had to. He then looked back at Elena, nodding at her and slipping through the door. He hid behind one of the pillars in the ballroom while the winged lady was distracted.

ORIZABA

The sorceress was most definitely surprised at the sight of Sofia. Mainly because it wasn’t a princess she knew. It wasn’t a princess Gabe knew either, or at the very least not very well, because she couldn’t remember her face at all.

“Señorita, querida. Se-ño-rita,” the fairy corrected. “I’m only a few thousand years old. So why would I want to talk to you? I was actually expecting a different princess,” she admitted. “I supposed you’re here to thank me for the gift of night, are you not? I’d sing a song about it, but I’m quite busy decorating. Either way, thanks have been given. Feel free to leave now.”

She snapped her fingers, and Gabe’s body materialized in the middle of the ballroom, floating under the chandelier, asleep. “If you see any more princesses on your way out, tell them I have something they might want. Frankly, the sooner I get rid of her, the better, don’t you think?”

ELENA

Here, Elena almost laughed. A few thousand years old and she wants to be called señorita? Ay, ay, ay. Who does this demon from hell think she is? Fancies herself some kind of comedian.

Frankly, the sooner I get rid of her, the better, don’t you think?

Here, Elena tried not to make a peep. Really, she did. But the sharp intake of breath may have been enough to alert the ethereal being to her presence.

SOFIA

Orizaba produced the body of Gabe, sleeping peacefully, and only years and years of practice controlling her expression in court kept Sofia’s eyes from going as wide as dinner plates. She had to get Gabe away from her, or at least out of the way. But first, she needed to stall for time.

(Maybe, a hopeful little voice whispered in the back of her mind, you will be able to reason with Orizaba! Sofia knew better now than to put too much stock into that little voice.)

“Señorita,” Sofia amended. “I do admire the gift you’ve given us, and my thanks are there. But have you thought about the long-term effects this eternal night could have?” Sofia spotted the doe from before - she knew it hadn’t died, damn it - and gestured towards her. “Without the sun, all the crops will die and the climate will be too cold. Even your nocturnal friends will begin to suffer.” Sofia carefully didn’t mention the effect the eternal night would have on humans.

Sofia had a pretty good feeling Orizaba did not care.

“Day and night are meant to balance each other, provide for the land so the other can thrive. What if we were able to find some land where you could create your eternal night, more suited to the conditions? We would be able to provide everything else you needed, including a palace for you far grander than this.”

Did she honestly think Orizaba gave a damn? No. But she didn’t need to. Sofia just needed to buy Hiro time so he could get a shot at her wings.

HIRO (& ORIZABA)

The winged woman listened, arching a brow and showing off a smirk. She reached out her hand to pet the doe. “Oh, you need not take care of me,” she assured the princess. “I can take care of myself. Quite frankly, it’s offensive, that what you’re offering.”

Meanwhile, Hiro found his way closer to the floating woman, sneaking along the pillars and hoping to keep away from her sight. His intention was to get to the opposite end of the room, so the fairy’s attention would divert in that direction and give Elena her back.

“I am Itzpapalotl, the Goddess of the Night and the Sorceresses. Before your darling european compatriots came over and stole my throne, the night was for everyone. We all lived in peace and nature thrived. Then you lto came and ruined it all. Locked me away, just like you did with all the others! You didn’t think we’d be able to ever break out. And now, querida, I’m angry. The animals will thrive. Believe me. But you humans will know what it is to suffer for thousands of years. Believe me.”

With that, Hiro was positioned and ready. He took a shot at the moth fairy and hit one of her wings. It regenerated almost immediately, and her flight didn’t break. “Shit,” Hiro muttered, when the woman turned to face him and cackled. “Oh, you brought a friend. How adorable! I wonder which one of you will be more enjoyable to tear apart...?”

ELENA

Elena was waiting for Sofia’s signal. She was waiting. And waiting.

And waiting.

But before it came, she heard Hiro’s arm-cannon-thingy (name pending) go off, and Elena gripped her Scepter, prepared to leap out and fuck Orizaba’s shit up-! Shit, Hiro said. And not a ‘Shit!’ of victory, but one that said ‘this is bad.’

Elena didn’t move. She was waiting on Sofia’s signal.

The waiting didn’t last but another second, though, for what Orizaba said next set fire to Elena bones. No! It was Elena who wielded the Scepter of Light, it was Elena that Orizaba needed to fight, not Sofia and Hiro. It was Elena who was going to be the one to maybe get torn apart tonight, not two nineteen year old kids who just wanted to help her.

When she spoke up, she used tu verbs very intentionally.

“No! You don’t touch them!” Elena cried out, rushing forward. “Keep your hands and your magic off of them!”

She aimed the Scepter, prepared to go right for Orizaba’s face, but in looking up to fire at her, Elena finally noticed what it was Orizaba had talked about having. Her eyes widened the size of the moon in her horror.

“Gabe! Put him down, let him go!”

SOFIA

You know, this wasn’t the first time a dark entity had monologued at her. Wasn’t even the second.

(If she got five punches on her ‘Facing Down the Forces Of Evil’ card, she got a free smoothie.)

Her proposal had the intended effect of setting Orizaba off, and Sofia waited patiently as Hiro got in position and took his shot. His shot didn’t have the intended effect, and for a moment everything seemed to move in slow motion. Orizaba turned to face Hiro, and Sofia leaned down to scoop up her sword. Elena rushed out from behind her cover, and Sofia was already crossing the room at a run.

Elena leveled the Scepter at Orizaba, and Sofia’s fingers went to her own artifact. The Amulet of Avalor warmed in reply.

“I wish to be able to jump very high,” Sofia whispered to the amulet as she ran across the room, and with her next step, flung herself into the air. It would have taken less magic to transform into an animal instead of making a wish, but Sofia needed to keep a hold of her sword. Instead, Sofia felt gravity let go of her for a moment, and she reached out towards Gabe as she reached the crest of her arch. She grabbed onto his chest as she headed back down, and rolled protectively around his body as they bounced along the floor. Oof, ouch, okay he was heavier than she expected, especially when he was all sleepy and floppy.

Sofia quickly shifted Gabe’s body behind her and hopped back to her feet, ignoring the throbbing in her ribs. “NOW!” she yelled, sword held aloft as she prayed that both Hiro and Elena would take the shot at the same time.

HIRO & ORIZABA

Hiro swallowed when the terrifying fairy turned to face him. For a moment, he wondered whether such a woman would be capable of tearing people apart, but then he decided he had to do all he could to not find out. Thankfully, Elena came in at the nick of time, making the winged lady turn around.

“Ah, the belle of the ball shows up in the end!” Orizaba exclaimed, with a joyful cackle. “I knew you’d come save your friend. Too bad you came in last, though, Elenita. I’m disappointed you didn’t lead the charge. What would Gabe think?”

The woman dispersed into a hundred moths, and rematerialized near the chandelier, when she noticed Gabe being taken away. She materialized the Eye of Midnight in her hand. “I suppose it doesn’t matter. You can have him. That man has exceeded his usefulness. Now, darling…”

Hiro shot when Sofia yelled, hoping to hit the fairy. However, even though he succeeded, the hole that had appeared in her chest soon refilled itself with the help of the moths, and the fairy laughed. “Shit,” he repeated. “Uh - Elena, shoot the ball-thingy!” he exclaimed, gesturing at the Eye floating near the woman’s hand.

ELENA

Elena’s lip curled at Orizaba saying the nickname with the same strange cadence as post-coma Gabe, and her eyes slowly widened in dawning realization.

“You!” She hissed, the informal pronoun falling from her mouth like poison. Elena aimed the Scepter of Light directly at Orizaba’s chest, prepared to fire, until Hiro’s shout redirected her.

Ball-thingy? Again, her eyes about popped out of her head. “The Eye of Midnight,” she mouthed, near frozen in disbelief. It was the stuff of legends in her country, one of the stories from the ancient Maruvians that first thrived in the land that would become Avalor. Crazy. It looked just like the drawings by the Maruvians and in Mateo’s grandfather’s books of Maruvian magic legends.

No wonder it had been night for what should have been days. With the power inside that thing…

Right. Aim for it. Three shots before she would exhaust herself, maybe five maximum before she’d lose consciousness. Hopefully she wouldn’t need to get to five in the first place.

Eye of Midnight. Aim. Fire.

“Rayo.”

SOFIA

Sofia watched as she hid Gabe’s body behind a pillar, watched Orizaba dissolve into hundreds of moths and reappear across the room, watched Hiro’s laser punch a hole through her chest and watched her not even flinch.

Sofia probably should have wished for the ability to breathe fire instead. Burn up the damn moths instead.

She saw the Eye of Midnight appear and her eyes went wide like Elena’s. Sofia wasn’t an expert on Maruvian artifacts, persay, but she knew her basics, and the Eye of Midnight was a bad, bad sign. It at least explained the whole ‘eternal night’ thing.

She watched, waiting, as Elena took aim and fired. Hiro’s attack may not have affected Orizaba terribly, but it had distracted her, and the Eye or Midnight went flying from her hand to bounce and roll harmlessly across the room. Orizaba turned to get retrieve it, but never had the chance.

Not with five foot and four inches of angry, sword-wielding princess flying at her face.

Sofia shouted as she leapt through the air, swinging her sword in front of her at just the right angle to cut straight through Orizaba’s arm below the shoulder; moths flying into the air as the arm fell and dissolved. Sofia didn’t let that slow her momentum, her knees crashing into Orizaba’s chest as she began her descent. This time, Sofia kicked off before they hit the ground, landing on the balls of her feet a few yards away as Orizaba was knocked into the ground.

“Hold her down!” Sofia yelled towards Hiro, racing towards the goddess and grabbing onto her legs before she could lift back into the air.

ORIZABA & HIRO

It didn’t take long for Orizaba’s arm to get back in working order, thanks to her ability to rekindle herself almost immediately.Still, it was harder to do things without the Eye of Midnight. For one, her familiar had disappeared for whatever reason, and she was being held down by the girl. Still, the moth fairy did her best to slide in the direction of the Eye of Midnight as quickly as possible.

Hiro jumped in at Sofia’s suggestion, reaching to grab and try to pin down the woman. She kept sliding and her hand was reaching out for the Eye, so he fired a quick shot in that direction to make it roll away further. “How’s an overgrown moth this strong?!” he complained, looking at Sofia, as he put his all on hindering the deity of the night. He hoped Elena would end it, and quick.

ELENA

“Not for long!” Elena shouted, taking aim at Orizaba.

It was harder this time, with Sofia and Hiro on her, because if she aimed too far this way or that she’d blaze a hole through the body of a nineteen year old. Now wasn’t the time to overthink things, though.

Aim, shoot. Aim, shoot. That was all she needed to do, but…

“Rayo!”

A blaze of light shot from the Scepter at the command and flew off into the wall, sending chunks of it and the furniture along it everywhere. Get it together Elena, get it together! Aim, steady, ignore the blood in your eye from the cut you just gave yourself.

“Rayo!”

Miss. Fuck, that’s three shots, she can already feel her energy just being sucked out of her. One more time, one more time. Aim, steady.

“Rayo!”

Blue light struck Orizaba in the chest as Elena’s grip on the Scepter faltered, her arms having gone a bit floppy with exhaustion. Please, please, be the end of this. If she was lucky, really lucky, she could manage a fifth shot, but she’d rather not test that theory out.

ORIZABA

Orizaba gasped when the last bolt hit her. She was in pain, and the hole in her chest was surrounded by moths frantically fluttering around, trying to reform the body. However, Orizaba’s true weakness was the light, and that of the Scepter was particularly possible.

“No, you imbecile!” she exclaimed, turning to face Elena with rage in her eyes.

As the fairy desperately tried to reform, her wings slowly seemed to burn away in different spots. Soon enough, the entirety of her body began to do the same. In that moment, she knew it was then or never. She had to take them all down with her.

Her hands transformed into jaguar-like claws, and her legs did as well. The woman’s previously beautiful face began to morph as well, as she shook off the two kids from her body and leapt at Elena, ready to swipe her out of existence along with her.

“You must pay!” she exclaimed, desperately, as she fell toward the princess… And then, right before doing what she wanted to do, the rest of her body burned out, and only a flock of purple moths remained until, eventually, they too dissipated into the realm beyond the physical.

The Eye of Midnight glowed again, there, on the floor, as the clouds of magic that had taken over the town slowly dissipated to reveal the light of the sun. In the corner, Gabe’s eyes opened, and he leaned up as much as he could, taking in the room he was in, very confused.

SOFIA

Sofia had been counting with Elena, counting down the number of shoots left until she was done for the count, until it was two on one instead of three on one.

She felt one of Elena’s blasts come within inches of the back of her hair, singeing some of her hair. Sofia ignored it, fighting to hold down the struggling moth fairy alongside Hiro. They couldn’t do this forever, and neither could Elena.

The next blast, however, went straight through Orizaba’s chest, and Sofia felt the ripple move through her body. It was odd, after all the zombie nonsense that had been going on, to see the empty hole where there should have been fairy instead. The rest of the woman began to rapidly deteriorate as well, moths crumbling to dust, and Sofia nearly fell through the floor when Orizaba ripped her way free to lunge at Elena. Sofia didn’t even have time to try and grab her, to cry out, before Orizaba burst into a million moths. Soon, those too were gone.

Sofia rolled onto her back, breathing heavily as she tried to process the fact that they had done it. They’d really done it. Orizaba was gone.

Through the windows, Sofia could see the night melt away, and the sky turned from black to the soft, buttery yellow and pinks of dawn. She smiled, letting her head fall back and her eyes close.

One down, one to go.

GABE (& HIRO)

“Elena?” Gabe called out after processing the disappearance of the moth fairy. It wasn’t hard to assume who she was, considering the tales back home. How Gabe had gotten there, though, was another mystery entirely. The last thing he recalled was a fire had broken out in the school and he was on his way there.

Meanwhile, Hiro backed away, gazing at the Eye of Midnight and uncertain of what they should do with it. He decided to guard it while the others got their bearings in order.

ELENA

Elena fell to her knees, exhausted and in pain, and would have just laid flat on her back, too if it weren’t for the little confused, “Elena?” from the distance. Gabe. Gabe was awake, Gabe said her name, and it was his voice and his cadence, and it was him this time, and-

And Elena barely had the strength to get up off her knees, but what kind of friend and surrogate little sister would she be if she didn’t?, and beelined for Gabe.

Her strength and wakefulness were fading fast. She was fighting her inevitable blackout so hard right now, the world was getting heavier, and heavier around her, but it- she couldn’t give in just yet. There was a Gabe to hug.

She dropped to her knees beside him, eyelids drooping, and rested her head against his chest to feel for his heartbeat. There it was. Steady, healthy as far as she could tell, very much alive and not zombified or possessed, just her Gabe.

“I m-missed you,” she sniffled, her weak arms wrapping around him as she stretched her neck up to kiss his cheek. “I missed you much much. I’m s-sorry I c-can’t, I can’t explain right now, I don’t have…”

God, she was fading fast. Stupid Scepter. Stupid Orizaba.

“...have time. Scepter. I’ll ex-explain when I wake up but. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, Gabe.” Elena’s voice grew softer every few words, her eyelids fluttered shut, then open, shut, then open.

Elena’s hands clutched at the fabric of Gabe’s shirt as she relaxed into his warmth. “Gabriel, you- I just. Te quiero mucho, big brother. I l-love you so much, and I’m s-so glad you’re ba...back. You’re...ba…”

And Elena wouldn’t recall if she finished that word or not, as it was then that the Scepter’s energy drain took her under and she went limp around Gabe, unconcious.

GOLIATH

Goliath could feel the night finally end, the magic melting away like mist in the sunlight. For once, he welcomed the pain that came with the sunrise as his body twisted and broke and reset into his human skin. He felt his chest, the soft skin that gave and moved under his fingers. His blunt, human nails on five human fingers, his heels flat on the ground.

He looked up at the dawn, the sky painted in a wash of colors, and breathed.

He’d had the sense to drop back to the ground before he lost his wings, and he didn’t feel any sort of tug on his mind as he made his way into the house where Orizaba had made her temporary home. The whole house smelled of bear, but Goliath ignored it; instead making his way into the room where the four humans were left. His eyes immediately sought out Elena, breathing out in relief when he saw her safe - albeit, passed out - on top of a confused Gabe. Sofia was strewn out on the ground, catching her breath, and her friend Hiro was standing next to her, watching…

Goliath approached him, smiling at his former student. “I’ll take care of that,” he reassured Hiro, kneeling down and accepting Sofia’s weak grin and fist bump as he picked the Eye of Midnight up off the ground. Even without Orizaba around, it called to him, and he considered it for a moment before putting it into the pocket of his sweatpants.

After helping Sofia onto her feet so Hiro could help hold the young princess up, Goliath crossed over to Gabe and Elena. He smiled gently at Gabe, resting a hand on his shoulder for a moment. “Good to have you back, son,” he said before looking down at Elena. He easily scooped her small body into his arms, grabbing the Scepter and resting it across her lap. He then turned his back to Gabe, helping the young Royal Guard onto his back.

“Let’s all get home,” he said softly. “Whatever is left, we can deal with tomorrow.” For the sun would rise and set as it should, and slowly, the world would turn back to normal.

(Across town, deep in the forest, the Cauldron shuddered.)

#The End Is Nigh(t)

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