#SHES AND EVIL WOMAN HELLBENT ON RUINING ME

[bigquestionmark]

[izunias-meme-hole]

Since I already posted my favorite Sailor Moon Villains but I didn't exactly rank them, so here we go.

My Top 10 Sailor Moon Villains (From Both The 90's Anime & The OG Manga/Crystal & Eternal)

Number 10. Wicked Lady - No, I will not be calling her "Black Lady," but aside from that, this is Chibi-Usa at her undeniable worst, no matter the version. Though execution-wise, the anime wins out purely because of her resolution, and the showcase of some level of good still being in her.

Number 9. Mistress 9 - Ah, pure evil done well. She didn't exactly have a lot of screentime in the 90's anime (and she was sadly kinda basic), but in the manga she's an entirely different story. Mistress 9 is the child and herald of Pharaoh 90, and is hellbent on eradicating all life on earth because she sees them as inferior lifeforms. Oh, and let's not even bring up her possession of Hotaru Tomoe, the fact that Chibi-Usa's pure heart was used to give her power, and overall she's just heinous as hell. In short, Mistress 9 was definitely something in both the 90's Anime and Manga/Crystal, though her appearance in the latter elevates her into the 10th spot on this list.

Number 8. Queen Nehelenia & Zirconia - Life is funny sometimes. In the manga/Eternal, Zirconia has nothing going for her aside from design and the fact that she's Queen Nehelenia's other self, while Nehelenia herself is almost like Snow White's Evil Queen mixed with Maleficent and its genuinely great to see. Yet in the 90's anime, Zirconia is expanded upon so much more to the point where she's legit entertaining, while Nehelenia gets expanded upon too before being brought back from the dead with a tarnished character. Still though, in both of the mediums where they're at their best, this evil queen and the personification of her inner ugliness are great.

Number 7. The Shitennou - Ah yes, Beryl's servants. The loyal supervillain Jadeite, the passionate Nephrite, the ever so underhanded and insecure Zoisite, and last but not least the "cool" Kunzite. Surprisingly, Crystal botched these guys really bad, while the anime basically expanded upon the other 3 and gave Kunzite, the best one in the manga, the literal shit end of the stick after a good run. Still, all four of these guys are absolutely phenomenal minibosses.

Number 6. The Amazoness Quartet - God, they look absolutely ridiculous, but that doesn't stop them from being great minibosses like the Shittenou. Between their unique personalities, relations with Chibi-Usa, and overall just how solid they are as a group just sold me on them.

Number 5. Crimson Rubeus - Ah yes... the second most consistently heinous member of the Black Moon Clan. Rubeus is selfish, cowardly, sadistic, arrogant, manipulative, loyal to the literal worst people ever, and overall he's just a very hateable villain on so many angles. Though this hateability, his effectiveness as a villain, and just how much of a good addition he is to the Dark Moon Clan cements this guy's placement on here.

Number 4. Queen Beryl & Queen Metalia - Nothing wrong with a classic wicked witch. Especially if said wicked witch is an envious and hateful woman that's in service to pure unadulterated evil as a means to get what she wants most. Granted Beryl alone could've made the list, especially since Metalia doesn't have a lot going for herself, but the anime had the perfect resolution for these two by just fusing them together.

Number 3. Prince Demande - What a delightfully twisted, vile, yet tragic villain. Granted the 90's anime take on him falls short because the guy had a half-assed "redemption," but it doesn't neuter all of his best qualities, nor does it ruin the OG Manga/Crystal's take on him, where he fully commits to that bit.

Number 2. Death Phantom/Wiseman - No matter the iteration, no matter the medium, Nazgul Charles Manson here is pure, unadulterated, unrestrained evil done right. Death Phantom is a manipulative monster who sees no value in life, who's made it his personal mission to become a dark god of death and nothingness. He's not a complex character, but he has substance, his evil deeds remain significant across the entirety of the Black Moon Clan's arc, and he leaves an impact as the most evil villain in the franchise and its best final boss. TL:DR: Death Phantom is objectively the best villain.

Number 1. Professor Souichi Tomoe - I shouldn't even need to explain this, but I will. Tomoe in the anime is hammy as hell, an amazing boss, shining with personality, nuanced as hell, carried the Infinity Arc on his back, and surprisingly enough gets a shot at redemption after his evil Daimon side, Germatoid, is split from him. Meanwhile, Tomoe in the manga/Crystal is initially shown as a somewhat shady figure who possibly cares about his daughter, before slowly being revealed as just a nicer looking Professor Hojo, complete with him making his own daughter the vessel for Mistress 9 all for the sake of becoming the god of an entirely new race of super-beings that will inherit the remains of the earth. It doesn't matter if this man is a corrupted magnificent bastard or a complete megalomaniac, this man is a stellar Mad Scientist who's undeniably human.

[bloodboundismylife]

Broken

Summary: The events at Rheya mansion has created a rift between Blaire and her friends, particularly with Adrian. She doesn’t know who she can trust anymore and Adrian is terrified that he’s lost the one person he cherishes most.

Pairing: Adrian Raines x MC (Blaire)

A/N: I’ve been working on this all week and I finally finished it. It didn’t turn out quite the way I wanted it to, but it’s decent. This takes place at the end of chapter 8. This is also the first fic I’ve written since September. Writer’s block sucks.

Tag List: @kinda-iconic @choices-addict-25 @adrianadmirer @adrianrainesworld @flyawayboo @drakexnadira @tacohead13 @bloodboundsstuff @god-save-the-keen @galaxy-of-rosess

"Kill her."

Those two words kept replaying in Blaire's mind like a broken record. Images of Rheya drenched in blood, and grinning wickedly flashed in front of her, sending cold chills down her back. She felt her chest tighten again, and her stomach clenched as the fresh, raw memories tormented her over and over.

She felt faint and fought to keep herself from passing out. The burst power she'd used at the mansion had drained her physically and mentally, leaving her utterly exhausted. She had no idea where that power had come from, and her hands were still tingling from the blast. The thought that powers like that existed within her unnerved her. If she could do something like without even trying, what else was she capable of doing?

She leaned her head against the window with a sigh. She wanted to sleep so badly, but every time she closed her eyes, she saw the murderous, hate-filled faces of her friends descending on her, eager to kill her and drain her blood from her body. It was terrifying that Rheya had turned them against her so easily and that they had almost succeeded in killing her. That Adrian had almost succeeded in killing her.

That had been the most frightening thing. He had attempted to murder her and had shown no hesitation or remorse. He hadn't recognized her, and she had seen no trace of the man who had always shown her kindness and made her feel safe. No trace of the man she'd fallen in love with. Instead, she had only seen a monster hellbent on her demise. His eyes had been cold and empty, as though he'd had no soul. She would never forget the moment his hands closed around her neck, and how he had smiled while choking her, how his fangs had gleamed dangerously in the moonlight. Her hand unconsciously drifted to her neck and lightly touched where his fingers had dug into her skin. Any bruises he'd left had already faded, but she could still feel where his hands had been.

Blaire remembered the utter hopelessness she'd felt when she tried calling out to him, when she had tried to reach the real Adrian, only to realize that he couldn't hear her. Rheya had snatched him away just like that and had trapped him inside his own mind. She had made him want to kill her, and he had readily obeyed. Blaire couldn't suppress the nagging thought that deep down, he wanted to hurt her and that Rheya had only given him the final push he needed to act. The thought sent a new thrill of fear through her. Surely that couldn't be true, right?

She wondered for a moment if that was how Adrian used to be before he'd escaped from Gaius. He had always been vague when talking about his early days as a vampire and never went into great detail on what exactly Gaius had made him do. Was the Adrian at the mansion the same wild and ruthless Adrian that had once followed his master's every command without question? Had she caught a glimpse of the Warrior Prince? The Butcher of Antietam? Had Rheya managed to bring his inner darkness to the surface again?

Blaire shuddered at the thought. She hated thinking that way about him. He'd been nothing but kind, patient, and caring since the day they'd met, and she knew that he'd changed his ways. Rationally, she knew he would never purposely hurt her, and that it had just been Rheya working through him, but she couldn't help the fear she felt towards him now. Towards all of them.

Part of her wanted nothing more than for Adrian to hold her close like he always did, and tell her that everything would be okay. But the other half feared his touch, terrified that his hands would find her throat again and attempt to kill her once more.

Blaire wrapped her arms around herself as silent sobs wracked her body. Rheya had toyed with her mind so much that she no longer trusted her friends, and no longer trusted her own judgment. She thought back to the visions she'd had just a few days earlier, of New York in ruins once again, of those awful creatures on an unknown island, and of her unleashing her powers and massacring dozens of innocent humans. Was this the moment she began sinking into the darkness that Serafine had seen in her? Was Adrian's attempt to kill her the catalyst for the future she'd seen? Blaire didn't know, and that was terrifying.

Never had she felt so alone before.

Never had she felt so broken.

_______________

If there was one thing Adrian hated most in the world, it was hearing Blaire cry. He hated seeing her so upset and not being able to do anything about it. Especially when he was part of the reason for her tears. He wanted so badly to go and comfort her and tell her how sorry he was for hurting her, but he knew it wasn't wise to approach her right now. She'd been through enough already for one night.

He and the others sat quietly near the front of the plane. Neither of them had spoken since Blaire had retreated to the rear of the jet over an hour ago. They knew they needed to give her some space, but watching her walk away from them had stung each of them quite a bit. None of them had voiced it aloud, but they all knew they'd lost Blaire's trust and that it was going to be difficult to regain it. And it was all because Rheya had decided to use them as pawns in her warped quest for power. Adrian clenched his fists in anger. Rheya would pay for what she'd done. He would make sure of that.

"Damn it!" Jax's voice cut through his thoughts. Adrian glanced up to see him glaring at the wall, his hands gripping his katana tightly. "God, I hate hearing her cry. Especially when we're the reason she's so upset."

"I know," Lily said dejectedly. "I want to give her a hug so bad, but...."

"But we should leave her alone for now," Kamilah said. "She's vulnerable right now, and forcing her to talk will only make things worse."

"I just hate that Rheya was able to get inside our heads like that," Jax said. "The way she was able to control what we thought and forced us to turn on Blaire like that." He shook his head. "I never want to experience that again."

Adrian silently agreed with him. The way Rheya had corrupted his thoughts and made him want to kill Blaire was nothing short of terrifying. His mind had been filled with an overwhelming desire to hurt her in the most painful way possible. He had wanted to have her blood on his hands. It made him sick knowing how close he'd come to killing the woman he loved. He couldn't blame Blaire for not wanting to be anywhere near him.

Her petrified face appeared in his mind again, making him wince. He'd been aware of what he was doing the entire time, but Rheya had been in control of his body, whispering in his mind and making him relish the thought killing Blaire with his own hands. It was almost like what had happened with his serum. A force more powerful than him had taken over his mind and forced him to kill. But what Rheya had done to him felt so much worse. She had violated him and completely changed who he was with amazing ease. She had turned him into a monster, the one thing he'd fought so hard not to become.

And once again, it had been up to Blaire to save them. None of them had expected her powers to manifest in the way they had. The blast of psychic energy had expelled Rheya's presence from his mind and had instantly made him feel like himself again. It almost felt like he had been cleansed of Rheya's evil, and honestly, Adrian felt lighter than he had in a long time. He glanced over at Blaire. If she could break Rheya's mind control that easily, then just how powerful was she? And how much stronger would she be after training with Kano?

A hand on his shoulder drew him away from his brooding. Kamilah was frowning at him with concerned eyes, and he realized she'd spoken to him and he hadn't heard.

"Sorry, what did you say?"

"I said, are you alright? You haven't said a word."

Adrian sighed and ran a hand down his face. "No, Kamilah, I'm not alright." He glared down at his hands. "I almost killed her."

"That wasn't you back there, Adrian. That was Rheya," Kamilah said sternly. "She took control of us and used us as weapons."

"That doesn't matter," he countered. "It was still my hands around her neck. It was my face she was looking at."

"But Blaire knows it was Rheya pulling the strings. She knows you would never hurt her on purpose. None of us would."

He sighed again. "Knowing that doesn't change the fact that she's afraid of us now. That she's afraid of me. We've lost her trust, Kamilah."

Kamilah was silent. She knew he was right, but didn't want to admit it. If Blaire didn't trust them to stand by her, to help her unlock and control her powers, then defeating Rheya would be impossible. Maybe that's what the First had intended from the beginning. To cause a rift between them so that Blaire wouldn't be strong enough to oppose her rule.

A long moment of silence settled between them, and Adrian finally noticed that Lily and Jax had moved off to one side of the plane to sleep. He suddenly became aware of how tired he felt after running from Rheya's mansion and then being thrown into a random fight with Gaius, who'd somehow returned from the dead. Was it really too much to ask for a break every now and then? Apparently, the answer was yes.

He looked back at Blaire again. She was still slumped against the window, but her crying had stopped. Adrian wanted to sit with her, but he wasn't sure where he stood with her now. He didn't want to risk pushing her away any further, but he wanted to help her through everything that had happened. If she would let him, that is.

Kamilah followed his gaze and nudged his arm. "Go talk to her. She might be more receptive now that she's had some time to think. Just don't push her too far."

Adrian nodded wordlessly. That was the last thing he wanted to do. He made his way to the back of the plane sat in the chair opposite her. He couldn't bring himself to meet Blaire's eyes, though; the shame was too much.

"Hi," she said without turning to him. Her voice was unusually flat and emotionless, a complete contrast to her usual bubbly personality.

"Hi," Adrian replied, forcing a smile. "Are you doing okay?"

"I'm fine." She said with a glance at him, but Adrian could tell she was shaken by Rheya's betrayal and Gaius's unexpected return. He sighed.

"Blaire..." His voice caught in his throat. "I am so sorry I hurt you."

"It's okay, Adrian. I know it wasn't you."

Adrian frowned. It wasn't okay. In fact, it was the farthest thing from okay. Rheya had manipulated him in such a way that killing Blaire been the only thing he wanted at that moment, and he hadn't fought against her. He'd obeyed like a mindless puppet, and to him, that made him just as guilty as Rheya.

"I nearly killed you," he whispered, his emotions threatening to spill over.

Blaire finally turned to look at him. Her eyes were wary, but he could also see a hint of longing in them as if she wanted to be near him, but her instincts told her to stay away. He was proven right when he cautiously reached for her hand, and she visibly flinched away from him. He quickly pulled his hand back and tried to ignore the hurt welling up in his chest. He had no right to feel that way after what he'd done.

"I...I'm sorry, I just..." She stammered.

Adrian shook his head. "It's okay. I understand."

She relaxed slightly, but her eyes never left him. He shifted uncomfortably before meeting her gaze again.

"We're here for you, Blaire. We'll help you however we can." He paused. "And I'll do anything to keep you safe. I know the last time I said that the exact opposite happened, but I mean it this time."

"I know that, Adrian," she said. "It's just...the way she turned you guys against me like that...it was scary. And if I hadn't tapped into my powers when I did..."

She trailed off, and Adrian felt a fresh wave of guilt wash over him. He didn't want to think about what could have happened.

"I just need some time, okay?"

Adrian nodded. "That's fine. Take all the time you need." He looked into her eyes. "Just don't lock us out, okay? We really do care about you."

She nodded silently, and he returned to the front of the plane. He slumped into a chair and ran a hand through his hair. He hated the disconnect he'd felt between him and Blaire. They'd been through so much together over the last year, and Rheya had destroyed it all in one night. She'd severed the relationship he and Blaire had worked hard to build, and now it was at risk of never being repaired. All because she was power-hungry.

Adrian sighed and finally closed his eyes, hoping that sleep would come quickly. He didn't want to think about tonight's events anymore. He didn't want to think about what he'd lost.

He didn't want to think about what had been broken.

[ironbiohazard03]

The Power of Veronica

So I have been anonymously asked to write smut, as comfortable as I felt, with a dominating Alexia and sub Claire from Resident Evil Code Veronica. The plot of my choice, which I kinda chuckle at because I have NOT played Code Veronica (CV). I’ve watched a lot of videos about CV and played Darkside Chronicles, but this was a fun challenge presented to me.

This story is PG-13, 16+. Pretty much a lime!

To anyone who’s a fan of the RE series, like how much I TRULY love it, I hope you find this piece interesting!!

          The Ashford Mansion was more than just a symbolic relic left behind by Umbrella; it held more than just that. Behind its dirty and dingy walls laid something far more sinister and evil. The residents in this household were more than hellbent to bring something to the world it would never see before. The name Veronica would be etched.

                                                             //

           Guns went ablaze as Claire tried everything she could against the demented Alfred. He laughed like a royal maniac as he shot right at her, but suddenly it came to a halt and Claire could hear Alfred lowering his rifle down.

           Great, now’s my opportunity to get one shot on him and get the hell out of here.

           As she pulled out her Magnum gun to take the bastard out of his misery, a soft feminine voice came through. “Please dear brother, let me deal with the guest. I don’t think it would be wise to shoot them, it would ruin the dinner conversation.”

           A woman dressed in the loveliest, ornate purple gowns waltzed on through. She looked like she was ready to attend an opera, but as she started to sing flurries of insects surrounded Claire.

           “WHAT THE HELL ARE THESE?! GET AWAY FROM ME!”

           Oversized flies that looked like ants and spiders that had wings managed to pick up Claire and she dropped her gun in the process. “Alright, what do you two want with me? I don’t have any money or political power; all I want is for you to let go of Steve. OK?” She tried to wriggle her way out from the disgusting bugs, but a rather large sized black widow slinked its way down from the ceiling. It slightly flexed its legs in anticipation of catching its prey. An almost hissing-like sound escaped the monster’s mouth, an acidic fluid dripped down its mouth and left small holes on the concrete below.

           Alexia almost giggled at the sight of the distressed woman. “Oh, Steve you say? You mean the brat who should keep his mouth shut?” An evil smirk almost appeared on her doll-like face, but she wanted Claire to feel pure terror.

           “Look, LET HIM GO! You’re the one I’m after!” Claire screamed out, tears nearly welling in her eyes. She felt useless, for once in her life. No matter what she could do, her physical abilities were limited by the Queen-to-be in front of her.

          Alfred turned around and headed back towards his quarters. “Alexia, do whatever you want with this woman. She is of no concern to me; I doubt anyone like her can make an impact on the Ashford family. It's about time that the Ashfords reclaim what is rightfully theirs.” He almost let out another cackle, as if his grasp on a human reality was slipping farther in his mind.

          A few more of the bugs managed to carefully grab Claire’s weapons and made sure that they were put out of commission.

          With a snap of Alexia’s fingers, the insects released their grip and rudely dropped Claire like a hunk of meat.

          There Alexia stood, proud as ever. The Veronica virus melded so well with her, every action she made worked in tandem with it. Nothing could stop her now; in fact, she was more than willing to share that power with a select few. “I do say, you’re Claire Redfield right? I did some research on my end, because I was the result of what my father created and my lust for knowledge is what drives me. You managed to survive the horrific, or rather wonderful, results of Raccoon City. Hundreds of zombies running around, with no will of their own. Except, not me, I have my own will and I will make sure that everyone else around me begs on their knees for forgiveness.”

          A small ember nearly formed on the palm of her hand, not incinerating the delicate and beauty of her white gloves. Claire wanted to find something to combat with the crazy woman. How could Alexia talk about people like that? As if they’re puppets willing to be controlled. “Why are you keeping me alive? Wouldn’t you want just to kill me, right here, right now?” anger could be felt behind Claire’s voice, as if having to be reminded of the events of Raccoon City was enough. “Umbrella is nothing but scum and anyone who wants to bring harm to others deserve to burn in hell!”

          She still felt useless, normally any Redfield would find a way to get out of a situation. However, Claire felt completely out of her element.

          Just as Claire wanted to try to come up with some plan, Alexia breezed her way down the baroque staircase, one of the few remaining relics of Umbrella. The Ashford family prided themselves on elegance. If a mansion could look as elegant as ever, would it matter if there were bodies rotting in its core?

          “Claire, I want you to realize what Veronica can do for you as well. For as strong and resilient as you are, a woman like you should deserve some sort of benefit. Normally, anyone who dared to cross me would meet an untimely death. However, you are different, I see something within you that needs to be brought out.”

          Claire didn’t know what to do, she was completely terrified. A woman who would look like any other normal human, could manage to strike fear right into her. “I REFUSE!” she screamed in rebellion, she stood her ground and tried to find any sort of weapon. One of the staircase railways was on the verge of rusting off, so she managed to rip it off and swing it like a bat.

          With such grace and elegance, Alexia raised her hand and ignited the beam into a ball of flames.

          Quickly, Claire dropped it to the ground and went right into for a jab.

          However, whatever strength or ferocity Claire had, it was quickly drained as Alexia managed to inject her neck with something.

          Rage filled Claire’s delicate blue eyes, an almost tinge of red showed through, but darkness filled them. Shit, I can’t beat her. She’s just too strong.

          Thoughts of Raccoon City and people dying by the dozens flooded Claire’s mind; somehow Chris would be overrun by numerous zombies and would meet a grizzly demise.

          Minutes passed on by, hours passed on by, till Claire finally managed to gain consciousness. Chains and bindings held her down; there would be no way for her to escape.

          Suddenly, the same pain returned to her. She wanted to grab at it to dull the pain down, but nothing would quell that combustion. As if she felt every limb in her body was going through a hellfire. Suddenly, the insects that Alexia had summoned before started to gather and stood in awe in what they were witnessing. As if, somehow a sense of humanity was injected into them. “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?!” Claire screamed in confusion and anger. More and more, her hair started to change as some kind of vines or fauna started to sprout where her hair normally was.

          “You see, it’s the Veronica virus running its course. You will possess the same power as me. In fact, you could be even stronger than me if I showed you how it works.” A slight cooing tone escaped the female Ashford’s voice, she relished to see others suffer from what she proclaims as the next step of human evolution.

          Delicate fingers caressed Claire’s face, not a single blemish would ruin what Alexia visioned in her mind. As her fingers danced around, she found an opportunity with her other hand and ever so carefully let her fingers twirl the vine-covered hair. A few strands of red hair slipped through the madwoman’s fingers, but it brought an odd sense to the woman. As if, Alexia was wanting to do more than just twirl it.

          Lips met one another, but Claire had no will to fight, but to accept the truth around her. As if her body was almost craving more of the power Veronica would be able to deliver. Slowly but surely, more vines wrapped tightly around Claire’s delicate throat.

          She wanted to take a breath, but the ecstasy-filled rush took her body over. Hands tried to grab where they could, as if she was deserving to feel that way.

          Alexia pressed her body up against Claire’s; somehow Claire managed to feel the organza, the silkiness of that lovely purple dress.

          A small ember glowed on Alexia’s white gloves, yet the flame managed to not damage them. She quickly cut Claire’s red vest into tatters, exposing how much the Veronica virus could do to the human body. Alexia was far from any human, she was a scientific experiment ready to be brought out into the public. She would no longer keep herself in isolation or rely on experiments to do her bidding.

          The fauna on Claire’s body managed to hide her breasts ever so carefully, but to Alexia nothing would be hidden in her gaze.

          Fingers gradually cusped around Claire’s breast, fingernails ever so slightly dug into them. They didn’t bleed, but the pressure was too much for Claire. As she wanted to cry again, her lips were silenced once again by Alexia.

          For once in Alexia’s life, she found those sorts of romantic affairs odd, but entirely fascinating. How much satisfaction would she get from it all?

          However, Claire’s body was looking it wanted to reject the virus. Fear ran through her mind. Is this how Sherry felt all those years ago?

          Once again, she didn’t allow herself to cry while Alexia was around. Every so carefully, the female Ashford managed to pierce her hand right into Claire’s breast. Green blood slowly trickled down, but somehow the coldness brought a sense of pleasure to Claire. “PLEASE!”

          Panting breaths escaped from both women, they were completely drawn into the moment. Alexia could’ve easily just killed Claire right there, allow the virus that made Alexia who she was into Claire’s coffin. However, this moment would not be wasted.

          However, not soon after, a few male voices echoed in the chamber.

          “CLAIRE?!” both Chris and Steve yelled.

          Faith was slowly restored into Claire’s blue eyes. However, Alexia was disappointed with how short the affair was, but she was able to fulfill her purpose. See what the Veronica virus could do.

          “It’s such a shame that this game is over, but I don’t think we’re far over from it. Just remember, while I’m willing to give you a cure, Veronica will always call you back. It always does.”

          As Claire’s rescuers came by her side, Alexia dropped a purplish vial on the ground. “DO AS YOU WISH WITH HER! She can die where she is or you manage to save her, but I doubt it’ll last long.” She slinked her way back, an army of bugs created a getaway for her.

          “THE ASHFORDS ARE FAR FROM DONE, I HOPE YOU DO REMEMBER THAT!” Alexia screamed, but it was far from a scream; it was a declaration of war, Umbrella would be sure to come back to the public.

[littledata]

Kara first becomes aware that Lena has a legion of seven evil exes hellbent on destroying her life when she gets home to find “Stay away from Lena Luthor” spray-painted on her apartment door. Her first thought is the culprit must be Lex Luthor, but spray paint seems a little inelegant for him, and besides, it’s just a bit too coincidental that the crime occurs the day after she shared dinner, drinks and a foot-pop inducing first kiss with the CEO of L-Corp. She rather doubts Lex found out about that from inside his supermax prison cell.

“I might have an idea who’s behind it.” Lena says sheepishly when she arrives to survey the damage. “I do have these seven evil exes who try to kill anyone I date.” When Kara suggests that this was perhaps something she should have mentioned after the aforementioned dinner, drinks, and earth-shattering kiss, Lena holds up her hands defensively. “I assumed it wouldn’t be a problem. I mean, you are a superhero.”

There’s just one issue with that superhero plan though, as Alex points out when she shows up to take a look at Kara’s vandalised door. The legion of seven evil exes who are now hellbent on destroying Kara’s life only think Lena is dating Kara Danvers, not Supergirl. So when they show up to fight her she can’t actually punch them into space without revealing her secret identity. She either deals with this problem as Kara Danvers or outs herself to a group of heartbroken supervillains.

So what does Kara Danvers do when she’s confronted with a legion of seven evil exes hellbent on destroying her life? She makes friends with them. Obviously.

1. Michael. Lena dated Michael for three weeks when she was fifteen because he had an earring and rode a motorbike. She was in the midst of a rebellious phase where she was trying her damndest to piss off her mother, and it worked until Michael suggested she drop out of high school to tour the country with his band. Even aged fifteen, Lena Luthor was nobody’s groupie. In the intervening years, he had racked up a couple of minor felonies (he was responsible for the spray paint) and was now playing bass in a Nickelback cover band. Kara agrees to hand out flyers for their next gig, and he tells her that she’s “totally kick-ass” like he’s from a 90s teen movie, then agrees he won’t try to murder her. She has to stand on a street corner in the cold for three hours, but it’s worth it when Lena shows up with hot cocoa, plants a warm kiss on her freezing nose, and tells her she looks cute in her scarf.

2. Madison. Kara first becomes aware of Madison when she is pelted with soccer balls by a small herd of children out of the windows of a mini-van. After she makes her escape, she forces an embarrassed Lena to explain that Madison was part of her first experimental steps into sleeping with women. They had hooked up once in their freshman year of college before Madison met a man, settled down and had four kids in quick succession. Kara has to find out for herself, buried somewhere in the depths of Madison’s mommy blog, that Lena had ruined her sex life with her future husband forever by giving her the only orgasm she would ever have.  Kara ignores her friends’ rather lewd suggestions of how she could get in her good books, and instead stays up all night baking cookies and brings them to Madison’s PTA fundraiser. She arrives home that night to Lena brandishing three large pizzas and a lewd suggestion of her own.

3. Prisha. Kara knows all about Prisha. She’s beautiful and intelligent and perfect, she’s a hot-shot prosecutor and she has a blackbelt in Judo and Kara hates her guts. Lena only ever references her vaguely, but Kara does manage to get out of her that Lena was eyeing up engagement rings before she found out Prisha was cheating on her, and after that Kara just hates her even more. She’s actually determined not to befriend this particular ex until she receives a court summons for an unpaid parking ticket. Kara Danvers has never parked illegally in her life. She offers Prisha Supergirl’s number so that she can get in a few sparring sessions to train against someone really tough (under the influence of kryptonite, of course), and that means she gets to make friends with her and punch her in the face. “You do know you’re the only person I care about dating right now, don’t you?” Lena asks her later with a teasing smile, and Kara feels a little bit guilty about the whole punching thing.

4. Simon. Lena broke up with Simon after he stole some of her PHD research, published it under his own name and used the resulting exposure to start a multi-billion dollar tech company. He still frequently appears in the news for the human rights violations in his company warehouses. He sends a delivery driver to do his dirty work for him, who hands Kara an exploding pen when he asks her to sign for her package. Admittedly, this might have actually worked if she wasn’t an alien, and Kara isn’t exactly thrilled by the thought of attempting to make nice with Simon. She is excellent at gift-giving though and finally hits on what every Silicon Valley tech bro really wants: she talks Winn into hacking his social media pages and making his twitter advertising campaign go viral. She tells Lena she’s starting to worry about just how bad she is at picking her relationships, and Lena points out that her current girlfriend is pretty great. It’s the first time she’s said it, and Kara melts.

5. Jensen. Jensen was Lena’s final attempt at pleasing her parents and dating men, back around the time of the whole Lex-Luthor-tries-to-kill-Superman fiasco. It seemed like it would make Thanksgiving a little less awkward, Lena explains, and Kara supposes she can’t argue with that logic. Their relationship might have even worked out if both of them hadn’t been very, very gay, and although they parted on amicable enough terms, that doesn’t stop Jensen from trying to poison Kara with tainted cupcakes from the bakery he owns. The cupcakes are really good though, if you ignore the arsenic, so once Kara finds out he owns a bakery she becomes one of his best customers, and inside of a month she and Jensen are regularly meeting up for coffee. He’s not really evil, just kind of dramatic, and Lena pouts adorably when Kara teases that she could say the same thing about her.

6. Rosa. Kara finds out about Rosa when she receives a call from the National City jail warning her away from Lena. Lena looks faintly embarrassed when she admits that she dated Rosa for a couple of months until she realised the other woman was stealing from her apartment and attempting to milk every penny she could out of her. Which, yeah, Kara supposes you’re at risk of that when you’re an incredibly attractive, single billionaire, but Lena seems to think she should have known something was amiss in advance. Apparently, Rosa is very well connected in the organised crime world though, because she definitely recognises the goons who jump her and Alex outside of her apartment building as being from a local mob family. Said goons didn’t exactly expect to be contending with an over-protective Danvers sister though, and they’re seen off very quickly. Alex is less than impressed when Kara starts up a penpal friendship with Rosa, despite her little sister’s insistence that Rosa was mostly blackmailed into most of her crimes by her underworld family members. Lena, who perhaps understands a problematic family more than many people, sighs and says, “Well, you forgive people. That’s what makes you Kara.”

7. Clara. Kara has absolutely no idea what Lena saw in Clara. She’s nothing like any of Lena’s other exes, doesn’t even have much in common with her, and it isn’t until Alex has tears of laughter running down her face that she kind of sees it. Clara has long blonde hair, blues eyes, glasses, favours button-ups and - oh okay fine, she’s a dead ringer for Kara. She does an excellent imitation of Kara on the phone and attempts to break up with Lena, but gives herself away when she mentions eating a salad for lunch. Kara gets in touch with a talent agency she knows through CatCo and helps Clara get a steady gig as a Supergirl lookalike. When she asks Lena what she was thinking when she slept with her, Lena gives a small shrug. “I was head over heels in love with my best friend but not quite ready to admit it yet.” 

“Am I in danger of becoming evil if you ever break up with me?” Kara asks once the legion of seven evil exes hellbent on destroying her life have all been successfully befriended and neutralised. She expects Lena to make a joke about Supergirl never turning evil, but Lena just gives her a curious look instead.

“What makes you think I’m ever going to break up with you?”

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Psycho Analysis: Imhotep

(WARNING! This analysis contains SPOILERS!)

The Mummy movies are a lot of fun. Who could hate a young, charming Brendan Fraser having the time of his life fighting mummies and raiding tombs? Clearly this was a sign of a long, happy, trouble-free career for the man!

Oh, I’ve gone and made myself sad… let’s just cut right to it and talk about Imhotep.

Imhotep is the villain of the first two films of the series, and he really helps set the tone. Things get a lot less funny and a lot more darker whenever he’s on the scene, changing the tone from “fun, goofy Indiana Jones-esque romp” to a more overtly horror tone. This makes sense, seeing as he’s a soul-sucking undead monster based on one of the classic Universal monsters… but that’s really a very surface-level look at Imhotep. You see, unlike Ahmanet, the previous mummy covered on here, Imhotep has a real personality and motivations beyond being a simple villain hellbent on domination. In fact, Imhotep doesn’t want to conquer the world at all. He has a very simple, even sweet goal that makes him instantly relatable and tragic: all he wants is the woman he loves.

Actor: Arnold Vosloo plays Imhotep to perfection. He hits all the right villain notes whenever the scene calls for it: he can be scary, intimidating, badass, hammy, emotional, and even sexy. The last one’s a given when you spend a lot of the movie either shirtless or wearing a revealing robe, you know? I’m guessing one of the reasons the third movie failed so hard is because he wasn’t there to bring his own brand of awesomeness to the table, though I wouldn’t know because I’ve never watched the third film and like to pretend everything in the franchise ended happily after the first two films and there was nothing but Scorpion King spin-offs until the end of time.

Motivation/Goals: Imhotep is such an odd villain. Despite being a very powerful mystical being who could bring the world to its knees if he wished it, Imhotep is motivated solely by love. All he really wants is to be reunited with his lover Anck-Su-Namun, and he goes to great lengths to achieve this goal, lengths that do put him beyond the pale but also add a layer of tragedy to him.

The second film has him awakened by a cult to try and steal a supernatural army from Dwayne “The Scorpion King” Johnson, which ends up leading to him becoming far less sympathetic and a lot more cliche in terms of goals, though the romantic and sympathetic qualities are there still. They’re just now forced to share screentime with character traits that Imhotep didn’t really have in the first film, and while they don’t ruin him by any means and they help play into his ultimate tragedy, it just feels kind of sad they made Imhotep return and use him for a “take over the world” plot when his first outing had him really stand out as a villain in a big-budget action movie that didn’t have such a trite motive.

Personality: Imhotep is a pretty nice and friendly guy, for an ancient mummy. In the first film especially, he’s awful open about his plans to Beni and even keeps his word to him, and just in general he’s rather affable… unless, of course, you get in his way, in which case he will kill you without hesitation. He ends up dropping a lot of his more affable personality in the second film, which does come to bite him in the ass. It’s honestly pretty sad, because all that really ends up making him a villain is the manner in which he goes about his goals. Obviously bringing his loved one back would be a grim affair no matter what, but he goes way too far, with his desire to be with the woman he loves driving him to disturbing lengths to be back with her. In fact, the fact that he is such a loving man really plays into his ultimate tragedy, as he continuously suffers for love and in the end his suffering is rendered moot. Maybe villains who can’t comprehend love are better off after all.

Final Fate: In The Mummy Returns, Imhotep is clinging to a ledge and begs for his lover Anck-Su-Namun to save him. Instead, she flees, and Imhotep sees a similar situation happening with Rick and Evy; it ends exactly as you’d expect a dangerous situation with a protagonist couple to end in a cheesy adventure film. Imhotep looks to them with a look filled with jealousy and respect, and then lets go of the ledge, falling into the underworld. It’s a rather depressing and tragic fate that really highlights that for all the evil he did, Imhotep really only wanted to be with the woman he loved, and after all the pain and suffering he endured trying to make that happen, it ended up being all for nothing. It also ends up being ironic and karmic; throughout the film, he shows a lack of empathy for those serving under him, so it ends up being fitting the only person he cares about genuinely would leave him in his time of need.

Best Scene: Imhotep’s giant sandstorm from the first movie. It has become an iconic signature scene of the trilogy for a reason, after all.

Best Quote: So I didn’t exactly find a great quote from Imhotep himself on Wikiquote (my usual source), but I did find a quote from Arnold Vosloo himself that I think sums up Imhotep quite nicely:

“I’m so thankful that all that stuff made it to the screen, because a lot of the time studio executives say that there’s no time, or ask why we should feel sympathy for this bad guy. I joke that I’m the romantic lead in the movie, I just happened to pick the wrong girl. Imhotep is kind of the tragic villain, I guess, and a lot of people have come up to me and said I was hating you, but then I reach a point when I was feeling sorry for you too. It's those different facets that help explain why this film is such a success."

Final Thoughts & Score: For such a bunch of silly adventure films, they sure did go hard when it came to giving us a fantastic villain. Imhotep is, to be fair, not the most complex character in the world; I think being in a film like The Mummy kind of necessitates you being rather simple. But much like the movies he inhabits, he takes his simple concept and runs with it, elevating it into being something greater.

I love how he’s a villain not motivated by power, greed, or ambition, but a desperate desire to be with the person he loves most. In these sort of Indiana Jones-esque archaeological adventure films, you kind of expect to have the main villain or villains being motivated by greed, or power, or something to that effect, but here those motivations are relegated to side villains and our big bad is simply someone who really wants the girl he lived and died for in his arms again. It adds a layer of tragedy to Imhotep, which is only exacerbated in the sequel and then comes to his ultimate conclusion with his final death.

I think Imhotep really shines where a mummy like Princess Ahmanet ultimately failed: he has a clear, defined personality as well as a more relatable goal than “destroy the world.” As much as I enjoyed Princess Ahmanet from the reboot, my wife was right to point out in her guest spot on Psycho Analysis that her personality boils down to being ambitious and graceful, and not much else. Imhotep, on the other hand, shows a lot of emotion, even to his final look to Rick and Evy, which says so much without a single word being uttered. Ahmanet never really got moments like that, but that’s because she was stuck in a movie with an attention whore like Tom Cruise; Imhotep is in a movie with certified nice guy Brendan Fraser, so of course he’s gonna get his fair share of development.

IMHO Imhotep deserves nothing less than a 9/10. He’s the perfect villain for the cheesy fun of the first two Mummy movies, but he’s also something more, something richer than these movies deserved, and is emblematic of what made those movies so special and beloved: how, despite their flaws, there was just some magic there that allowed the films to rise above their simplistic popcorn action reimaginings of a classic monster movie to become something that even decades after the fact people still love and cherish to this day. The only thing holding him back from a perfect ten is the fact that the second film doesn’t do him quite as much justice; I have to say, the whole “world domination” thing looks better on an ambitious royal like Ahmanet than it does on a tragic romantic like Imhotep. Still, there’s no denying that Imhotep is a cool, fun villain for some cool, fun movies.

[transfemininomenon]

Hey, i'm actually a "truscum" i found out recently, but im a little confused on the whole ordeal. Im not even sure if i actually am truscum or not- because some posts seem to tie up with me being one but others dont, but i saw you were really against them, so i wanted to ask if you're okay with a friendly calm conversation about it? I am very confused and i just want to learn a bit more or find out if i'm wrong about the whole ordeal. Are you open to it?

i'll be honest im not sure how friendly i can be with this kind of conversation because i really truly genuinely, and i don't use this word lightly, Hate truscum and its hard for me to really be civil about the discussion. but for the sake of this and me giving you a lot of benefit of the doubt that this ask is in good faith i'll explain why i do not like the entire truscum ideology

1. i guess i'll start off with the Big One - the claim that dysphoria is Required to be trans. i'll preface this by saying that i am someone who has experienced, and currently Experiences in wildly different degrees depending on what is happening in my life, dysphoria throughout my entire life. i had my entire teenage and young adult years stolen from me by it. i won't get into details about it because that is a Very Very Personal subject for me, but needless to say dysphoria is something that was a very prevalent part of my life.

anyway. the notion that dysphoria is a Trans Requirement™ is something that i hugely disagree with. i used to think that me figuring out i was a trans woman was because i experienced dysphoria, but frankly the opposite is true. dysphoria is what made me refuse to believe i was a woman or could ever be one. it made me believe i was a man and that was all i would ever be. it wasn't until i really started experimenting with my gender and unpacking a lot of stuff i felt about myself that i started to finally realize the woman i was. i first started trying our she/her pronouns nearing four years now, and started using the name Alice a few months after that. being referred to as a woman & experimenting with different feminine things gave me such incredible feelings of euphoria that i still experience to this day whenever i discover something new about my identity.

and that is something ive heard from SO many other trans people i know. or different things too - i know people who are completely fine with their bodies, just certain words and terms never felt Right to them. because the thing with dysphoria is that it, like all things gender related, is a product of society. dysphoria only exists because transphobia exists - people are told that there are these two rigid things that you are and HERE is what makes you one of those things, and those things are drilled into you literally since birth. everything from colors to jobs to hobbies to cars to entertainment to clothing to Literally Everything is gendered, and when that happens then of fucking course there are gonna be people who don't fall in line with that, and when it's so instilled into people and seen as such societal norms of COURSE people are going to have trouble with that.

and that's not even getting into the subject of gender on a biological level. the fact of the matter is that the two sex system Isn't True and that biological sex is very complicated. intersex people exist, people with all kinds of different chromosomes exist, people of certain body types that have higher levels of different hormones exist, SO much goes into that subject that frankly narrowing it down to two things just doesn't Work

and that's the real problem at the end of the day. dysphoria only exists because of a fucked up gender binary that clashes with both biology and sociology. people are complicated on both a biological and personal level and having set binaries for things is bound to cause confusion & doubt.

like, people's identities are SUCH personal things in so many different ways. there isn't any Right Way™ to be trans. i know trans women with beards, trans women who have no interest in starting hrt, trans men who wear dresses and makeup, non-binary people who make no effort to be androgynous, i know SO many different identities and different people. because the fact is that there's no right way to be trans because nothing is inherently gendered including people's very bodies. people are themselves and there is no Right way to be themselves.

that's on top of the lack of education when it comes to the subject of gender. such a huge part too of me figuring out i was trans was literally learning that it was even a fucking option. i genuinely didn't know just Being A Girl was an option. reading up on gender stuff and researching the different idea of transitioning was intrinsic in my figuring out who i was because oh shit turns out there are people like me and that is Okay.

like, dysphoria literally could've been a non-issue for me. i could've lived in a world where i could just Exist and enjoy whatever i wanted without it being weird. i could've decided so much sooner that i wasn't happy with the way my body was growing and not spent my entire teen years being so confused why i was so sad seeing my girl peers. i could have from the start just gotten to be a girl and never have had dysphoria be part of the equation.

im not trans being i experience dysphoria. im trans because being a woman is rad as hell and it's what i wanted. im trans because changing my name to Alice was the biggest moment of my entire life. im trans because rebelling against the societal restraints of gender is fucking metal. im trans because my friends can't even remember me ever not being me now. im trans because im a great older sister. im trans because god nerfed me and i said nah thanks man but im not feeling it.

my identity and my gender are very personal and complicated things, and narrowing it down to "i experience dysphoria" is frankly insulting to me.

anyway, that's the big point out of the way, so here's some shorter ones

2. this is kinda expanding on the last point, but truscum both insisting non-binary people aren't a thing and them insisting "transtrenders" exist is hmm Bad

the sheer fact of the matter is the concept of being non-binary has existed from the oldest known records of human history on TOP of that concept being prevalent in many different cultures so what do ya know there's a healthy dose of racism involved in the denial of non-binary people. the gender binary is such a western concept and there are SO many different cultures where different gender identities exist.

and, frankly, going back to the above point that gender is fucking Fake and is a societal concept - again, of fucking course there are going to be people who see a rigid set of rules on gender and are like "well wait that doesn't fit me" so of COURSE non-binary people exist

on the subject of "transtrenders" i feel like i shouldn't even HAVE to get into this subject because of how inherently transphobic it is. the concept doesn't exist. there are people who experiment with their gender and then decide their assigned one is fine. there are people who go through all kinds of different identities. there are people who come out as a different gender and then revert back due to backlash. there are people who get told the way they present their gender is the Wrong Way™ and get branded a trender. it's a dangerous thought process that literally does nothing but serve the cis status quo and make people afraid to experiment and think about their identities.

3. the idea that Those Evil Trenders™ are stealing resources from the Real Trans People™ is, frankly, fucking bullshit. issues when it comes to trans people finding difficulty accessing healthcare comes from a transphobic society hellbent on denying us care on top of fucked up healthcare systems in general. hormones aren't some limited quality hard to acquire thing - when i started hrt transferring my prescription from my clinic to my local pharmacy was a non-issue because it's something basically any pharmacy will have for ALL kinds of different purposes. it's an issue because healthcare in general is a god damn Mess on TOP of inherent transphobia

and, frankly, truscum are directly involved in that transphobia in the medical field. unless you find an informed consent clinic you're going to have to jump through all kinds of hoops to prove you're Actually Trans™ by getting referrals from other (almost always cis) people and then get put on ridiculous waitlists to make sure you're not about to change your mind. that kind of attitude is only encouraged by truscum and it is one of the biggest source of trans people having such difficulty accessing healthcare.

4. truscum as far as im concerned are no different than any other transphobe. two years ago before i started hrt i was harassed by truscum multiple times, each time having them tell me i wasn't trans, that i was just a trender, and it genuinely boggles my mind that anyone thinks misgendering me because i disagreed with their ideology is Woke, actually. I've seen so many fellow trans women getting called men by truscum who disagreed with them. i was actively told i shouldn't start hrt because i "wasn't really trans and was gonna ruin my life"

i really hope all of people live in anger every day knowing ive been on hrt over a year and a half and am fucking Thriving

anyway that's all i got to say on the matter i realize my points became less thought out as it went on but frankly the first point is enough for me to not like truscum

(please refrain from reblogging this i don't want any clowns in my inbox)

[ahs-theories]

Episode Reaction: 9x07 The Lady in White

@echoesout | @its-a-goode-day

It finally came and it was SO GOOD!!! Lily was phenomenal as always, and I so enjoyed getting to see her play a truly angry character, because I feel like she doesn’t get many opportunities. Also cool to see an older ghost that, like the ones in Murder House, is getting a little scatterbrained and out of touch.

I can still hear her screams. That’s all. 

And, we actually got a lot right with our theories! Lily was the lady in white and the mother of a former camper who died. We’ll also get to Dylan’s character later on, but for now, let’s talk about the Richters and what else we might see of them in the final two episodes!

The Richter Family

I called that kid being Benjamin Richter the minute I saw him. It was perfect, and it really explains so much. It’s so crazy how Benjamin really keeps just getting thrown in these situations where he thinks the only option is to kill, even though we do see that he’ll gladly take another choice if he sees one. But jeez, having your first kill be your mother? After she blames you for the death of your brother? No wonder he’s a little messed up. I feel bad for all of them, Lavinia included. I know she went kinda psycho and killed everyone in the camp, but still. It’s impossible not to sympathize when you’re watching Lily cry.

I do think we’re probably done seeing Lavinia, but it would be great if she showed up again, because there’s so much more to dive into with their relationship. Specifically, I have a suspicion that Benjamin’s father was not Lavinia’s husband. It just seems like a common trope that’s used to explain why one child is hated and the other one is loved. Having a child out of wedlock would go a long way to explain why Lavinia thinks of him the way she does--a parasite, responsible for ruining her life. 

Which brings me to another point: What’s her real motive in telling Benjamin to kill himself? She says it’s to protect his son, but I’m not sure I believe hearing about the baby gave her a change of heart. Not when earlier she said she wanted to watch him suffer for the rest of time. Trapping him in the camp where she can kill him over and over again would be a pretty good way to do that, so if that’s what she wanted, she’s got it now. And Margaret’s just returned, too. I wonder if she has any idea the way Lavinia used her? Probably not. She needed a little push, but the psycho was already there. Still, would be wild to see the two of them interact.

I’m pretty sure Lavinia didn’t have any good intentions convincing Benjamin to kill himself, I don’t think she has a good fiber in her being when it comes to him. And it’s history repeating: she convinced Margaret and she convinced Benjamin. Both of them were already halfway gone and just needed a little push. 

Another reason I’d love her to pop back up again is that there are rumors about a swamp monster, which could very well be Bobby’s ghost. If he is around and lurking in the lake, I want him and Lavinia and Benjamin to find each other and find peace. As far as the other Bobby Richter goes, the same source that told us about the flashback to the 40s also said there would be a flash forward to present day, and there have been rumors that Finn Whittrock will be playing Benjamin’s adult son. Knowing the kind of characters Finn usually plays on this show, I somehow doubt he’s grown up to be a well-adjusted young man, but then again this season has been all about breaking people out of their usual typecasts.

I’m 99% sure he’s playing old Bobby. He’s coming to the camp, 30 years after whatever events transpire in the Halloween celebration, to avenge his father. I actually thing he could be that allows Benjamin to rest in peace and leave the camp in the end. 

The Deadly Trio

I’m still confused about the deadly trio. Right now there’s more than 3 people with killing intentions at or on their way to the camp. Also, “a deadly trio” suggest that’s three people part of the same team, but could it mean three different parties? Like Ramirez, Brooke and Margaret (to name just three of them).

The best thing I can think of right now is Ramirez, Montana, and Xavier. They all really seem to just want everyone dead. Margaret, on the other hand, I don’t actually know about. She really just seems to want to cash in on this business venture. She didn’t plan the previous murder either, just took the opportunity that arose when Jingles came after her. Then again, she knows Jonas is still around. She must have thought about what would happen if any more of her previous kills were to show up during this festival and start revealing her secrets.

But also, being “hellbent on unleashing a new era at Camp Redwood” doesn’t necessarily mean a BAD era. Brooke, Donna, and Benjamin all just want the killing to be over. If they team up to clear the camp of all its evil--Margaret, the ghosts, Ramirez. It’s a long shot, but that part of the summary and the “former counselors try to keep history from repeating itself” COULD be talking about the same people.

Montana’s Plan

Montana’s plan is hilarious. And how fun it would be that it worked? I think it was established in season one that Billie Dean was already a grown woman when she discovered her powers, otherwise it would be super fun to watch a young version of her trying to communicate with the ghosts. I guess they could do that in the present with the flashforward, but we already know Sarah is not coming back so no Billie Dean. 

That would be so cool! But also, I feel like if they do go that route, we’re gonna need some explanation as to why no one in present day has heard about a way to free ghosts. OR maybe as part of the flashforward, no one will figure out how to free them until 2019, because I can’t really see how whoever this “lost soul” referenced in the final episode summary can get closure if there are no ghosts still there to talk to.

Brooke and Donna

I really liked this storyline, and watching Brooke becoming a badass. However, I’m a bit confused about Dylan’s character. Umm, is that it? Random serial killer that is left behind (alive, I might add). Is he following them to the camp? I’m glad Brooke and Donna teamed up and can’t wait to see them arrive at the camp. 

We didn’t even get a name! But considering they left him alive, I bet he’ll show up again. Otherwise, what was the point? Just to showcase Brooke’s badass glow up? I mean, maybe, but I feel like they could have come up with a better way to do so, give them flashbacks to how they’ve spent the past five years or just give them less screen time. It could be significant that he approached them after hearing that they were going to Redwood. He mentioned being a fan of Ramirez, but there’s no way he’d have known about Ramirez’ role in the events there unless he’d followed Brooke’s trial five years ago and believed her story...which like, possible that he’d been stalking her since she got out, but if so then you’d think he would have made a bigger deal out of it. He didn’t seem to actually know who they were.

Another thing that confuses me a little is how we’ve kind of glossed over Brooke knowing that Donna was behind releasing Jingles. She found out about all of that when Brooke was strung up in the tree net. Donna breaks her out and now they’re all cool again? Or has Brooke just decided to join up with her because there are bigger problems? Either way, I feel like it would have made more sense to address on screen.

[bellatrixobsessed1]

Above The Party

Sokkla Week Day 1: Awkwardness

Azula, trying to escape the party scene, walks in on Sokka changing. 

A/N: due to real life circumstances I’m posting this one a day early. Officially, Sokkla mini-week begins tomorrow. I may or may not be able to reblog content posted tomorrow either. It really just depends atm, but I’m gonna try.

She isn’t at all familiar with the place. Frankly, she doesn’t know why Zuko has even brought her along. It wasn’t as though it was an event of any importance. No, it was little more than a fancy get together hosted by Earth King Kuei. Azula isn’t one for parties, especially not after her first experience with one. Political gatherings, sure, but this…this is just for entertainment. ‘To relive stress’, as Zu-Zu put it. She couldn’t see it soothing any of her tension. In fact, she had every intention of ditching the party scene at first opportunity.

 She sticks around only long enough to seem polite, which entailed some socializing over an appetizer platter or two. Mostly she sips at a bottle of peach sake. It sooths her nerves and takes some of the edge off. A little further into the drink than she had intended, she worries that her tongue will become too lax and excuses herself.

 For a moment—she likes to blame it on the drink—she forgets that she isn’t at home. The Earth Kingdom palace is larger than she has anticipated and she thinks that she may be lost. No, she knows that she is lost, she is wandering rather aimlessly. She doesn’t even recall where she had planned on sneaking off to. That’s right, she tells herself, she’d forgotten where she was and for it she had planned on finding her bedroom. She supposes she’ll just have to find another, hopefully with a balcony. Balconies seem to be the place to be if one loses interest in the party itself.

 She travels to the third floor and pushes on the first door she sees, only after having done so, she considers what she might find.  Granted she hadn’t heard any sort of racket coming from behind the door. So she assumes that she is safe.

The room itself is quiet, indeed so she finds the bed and drops onto it, laying with her hair fanned out and her hands tucked under her head.

 The moment of quiet doesn’t last, she hears a rustling from across the room. She bolts up again to see Sokka’s bear ass. His pants and underpants are only half up. His face is as flushed as hers, maybe even more so. He quickly scrambles to tug them up the rest of the way.

 “Wha-what are you doing?” There a very few things that can catch Azula off guard, and he has discovered one of them.

 “I spilled some juice on my pants so I ran up here to change!” Everything about his tone is on the defensive. “Why are you here?” And that fell on the accusatory side.

 Azula sighs, trying to cool her cheeks. “I don’t much like social parties, like this.” She confesses. “I came up here for some quiet.”

 “You had to pick this room?” Sokka sputters, “you’re a royal, you’re supposed to know about knocking.”

 Azula shrugs. “I’m a royal, I go where I please. I don’t need permission.” She replies with a dismissive wave. “And besides, I didn’t hear anything so I figure this room wasn’t…occupied.” She pauses. “Not like the others anyways.”

 Sokka narrows his eyes. “I guess.”

 She crosses her arms. Sitting in silence, it doesn’t take long for her eyes to wander. He is still topless. Topless and in very good shape, with the kind of abs worth trailing her fingers over. A sculpted chest…

She shakes her head, what is she thinking? He’s Sokka, the water peasant’s brother. The idiot. Again she tries to blame the sake for tainting her vision and bringing out her libido.

But he isn’t really, she knows it. She just needs an extra push to keep herself in check. She picks up his shirt and thrusts it at him, “have some decency.”

 Sokka blinks. “Decency? I don’t know if you know this, but men run around topless all the time.”

 “Great for men.” Azula mutters, only because she knows that he has a point. “Just put your shirt back on, before you make things weird.”

 “I make things weird?” He points to himself. “You made things weird when you barged in here without knocking.”

 Another good point. She was an a losing streak—a petty, trivial losing streak—but a losing streak no less. “Well perhaps you should have put a sign up. Or, if you are too uncultured to write, you should have spoke up when you heard the door open. You know, instead of letting me get cozy.” She smiles smugly because it is, in her opinion, a satisfactory argument.

 He opens his mouth only to close it a few times and she knows that she has won this silly verbal spat. Her mind goes back to her initial task. She tosses the shirt at him. “Put it on.”

 Sokka rolls his eyes and tugs it over his head. “Happy?”

 She nods. But a part of her actually is not satisfied. That part still wants to take in his sculpted abs and toned arms. “Quite.”

 He is staring at her now and she doesn’t know how to feel about it. She averts her gaze, brushes a sweep of hair over her shoulder, and pretends to pick some fuzz off of her top. She finds herself hoping that she at least looks presentable in his eyes.

She thinks that her face might have colored again and it frustrates her. She didn’t think she had drank that much.

 .oOo.

 Sokka doesn’t think that he has ever seen Azula so flustered. He can smell a faint tinge of sake and he wants to blame the drink for the pink in her cheeks, but somehow he knows that it is an old fashioned blush. Despite it all he feels bad for making her feel so awkward and out of sorts. Granted he is rather embarrassed himself.

He let her see him with his pants half-down.

 He stuffs his hands into his pockets and looks at the ceiling. When he finds the courage to look back down, she is sitting with her arms propping her up, weight shifted more-so onto the right arm. She crosses one leg over the other and seems to stare at her lap as she taps one foot. Her cheeks look less pink now. He can’t help but note that she does look rather lovely tonight. She looks nice with her hair down. And the gown she has chosen is rather elegant. It suits her well and accents her figure. It is fuller than he remembers, more grown up. Her face is some sharper too.

But her expression.

That is notably softer. It takes him a moment to realize, but he thinks that, that is why she looks extraordinarily wonderful tonight. It is because she doesn’t have such an evil presence about her. She, for the situation, almost seems relaxed.  

She crosses her arms again, holding them against her middle as opposed to her chest.

 Against his better judgment, he tucks her bangs behind her ear and brushes his thumb over her exposed cheek. He can’t quite believe that she is letting him do it. So when he feels her fingers wrap around his wrist, he expects a lash out. But she simply holds his wrists and stares at him. He doesn’t think that she knows what to do next.

 Briefly he thinks of kissing the princess, but before—and perhaps mercifully—before he gets the chance, she effectively ruins the mood.  “Just so we’re clear I’m not going to be that person.” She declares. “I’m not getting knocked up at a party.”

 Sokka rolls his eyes, the woman really is hellbent on making things as weird as she can. Truly she must have been a thrill downstairs. “I wasn’t planning on doing anything like that with you!”

 He can’t possibly fathom why Azula looks so smug. He senses that it would be a good time to get back to the party scene. But she still has him by the wrist and the smug look is gone. It takes him a second to realize that she is rubbing her thumb over his wrists. But again, she seems to be at a loss as to what comes next.

 He doesn’t want to make her uncomfortable so with a sigh he asks, “so you up for going back to the party or…?”

 Azula cocks her head and withdraws her hand. “I think that I might be.”

 .oOo.

 She doesn’t exactly know what is going on in her head. The feeling is foreign and somewhat disorienting. In avoiding the first, she has put herself in another, different situation she doesn’t know how to navigate. She is grateful that he hasn’t taken advantage of that. He takes her hand and leads her down the hall. She thinks that it might be a good idea to jerk away, but she feels safer as they are. She admits to herself that she is a little lost here and it is reassuring to have a familiar face so close. Even if the face belonged to someone she hadn’t particularly gotten along with in the past. They don’t say much to one another for a while. Not until they reach the second floor. Finally Azula finds the courage to thank him for respecting her boundaries, as grey as she had made them.

 He smiles. “It’s no big deal.”

 She lets the conversation drop again and it takes until the first floor to set her pride enough to the side to thank him for accompanying her back to the party. She didn’t want to return alone. Even with a rekindled friendship, Mai and TyLee weren’t much use here. They had conversed in the beginning but eventually Mai had gone off with Zuko and TyLee’s attention was tugged by a herd of boys.

 He nods. “Yeah, no one likes to be alone at a party. You don’t mind talking with Aang, Toph, and Katara, do you?”

 She shrugs, “I suppose that it can’t hurt.”

 “Great!” He says boldly, “I’ll re-introduce you.”

 That was just one more thing that was oddly reassuring. She is glad that things took a turn from awkward to something rather promising.

[maidenoftime-ffxiv]

gabriel and the fae - part 2

(( You can find part one >here!< ))

“I’m telling you, Adam, I saw her! The girl they tell all the stories about! Except... Except she wasn’t some wicked temptress or anything evil at all-- she was a girl! An Elezen. And she did... she did have eyes like starlight, and she was-- Nymeia take me, she was the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen, but she wasn’t evil! She was just a girl, Adam! But animals came to her so easily and she sang like... like a nymph, so sweet and so pure--” 

 “Och! Will ye keep yer voice down, lad?” Adam snapped at his companion. Others in the hunting lodge were looking up and over at the two young men and, considering Gabriel’s enthusiasm, one couldn’t really blame them. He had burst back into the lodge all wide-eyed and fresh-faced, like a babe that had been swept over with the first snowfall of the season. 

 “But it’s important,” Gabriel insisted. “She seems so... so isolated out there. If she’s a normal girl, then that can’t be good! She deserves to be... to be out here! With other people. I heard a man call her and she ran off, so maybe she isn’t entirely alone, but I can’t just leave her there in the middle of the forest!”

 “So do ye plan on kidnapping some lass just mindin’ her own out in the middle of nowhere? Maybe she’s happy there!” 

 Gabriel was about to offer yet another rebuttal when he noted an old woman approaching the table he and Adam had settled at. She was a very small Hyur woman, donned in robes of emerald green and amethyst. Large rings set in gold and adorned with gemstones were on her small and gnarled fingers, and she used a crooked stick to help her walk. Eyes that matched the emerald green garments she wore peered over at Gabriel, her face deeply impressed with wrinkles and her wiry white hair tied in a tight bun at the nape of her neck. 

 “Your friend has a point, young man,” the stranger spoke, raising her eyebrows before settling in on a chair, uninvited. “Forgive me. These old bones need a rest, and I couldn’t help but to overhear your tale about meeting the girl with the starlight eyes out in the middle of the forest. If you’ll humor an old woman, son-- why do you feel so strongly about rescuing a damsel that, by all accounts, doesn’t seem to be in distress?” 

 Adam and Gabriel blinked at each other, and then at the old woman. She seemed perfectly content with her decision to interrupt, clasping both wrinkled hands over the top of her walking stick as she observed the darker haired boy. How much had the old crone heard, anyway? She tutted quietly at their silence and shook her head, shaking out one of her skirts. 

 “Young people just don’t know how to speak to their elders these days. It’s a shame. Linkpearls are ruining face-to-face communication,” she sighed. “I ask because I, too, have met the starlit maiden. She seemed to be perfectly content where she was, and well-looked after.” 

 “B-...but she was so frightened and surprised to see me,” Gabriel said in a hushed tone. “She nearly took off running when she saw me.”

 “Maybe she was just frightened by yer ugly mug.”

 “Shut up, Adam. But-- ma’am, you’ve met her, too? The one with the long auburn hair and the lips like berries? Plump and sweet and...”

 “That’s quite enough,” the old woman replied with a frown. “I see what’s going on here. It’s a shame, really. I thought your intentions might be noble, but you’re much like any other young suitor who would chase after a creature they believe to be mysterious and ethereal and magical. Tell me, and tell me honestly -- I’m very good at sussing out a liar. Young man, you fancy yourself in love with the starlit maiden, do you not?” 

 “Of course!” Gabriel boomed, louder and more quickly than he had anticipated. Even he was surprised at the suddenness of his reply, and Adam raised a brow at him, taking a deep sip from his tankard of ale. “I-- I mean, yes, of course. It was love at first sight, wasn’t it? She’s the most exquisite, most gentle creature I’ve ever beheld, with so much... curiosity, and...” 

 “If she is as sheltered as you seem to think, do you think you ought to be her first introduction into the world at large?” the old woman asked flatly. “A young man with hardly any life experience himself, who thinks himself quite in love with a girl he spoke to for all of... Five minutes? Am I close to the mark?” 

 Adam snickered into his tankard, and Gabriel could feel the tips of his ears growing red, along with his cheeks. He cleared his throat and took a deep swig from his own tankard of ale that was starting to go flat. What did this old woman know, anyway, about Juliette? About him? 

 Enough to call you out, a voice nagged in the back of his head.

 “I wish you luck, son,” the old woman sighed at Gabriel’s silence. Slowly, she began to rise to her feet with the help of her walking stick, pushing herself up. “The girl may yet eat your heart out, if you’re not careful. Or if you don’t leave her be. I don’t know if you’re quite her type.”

 “What does that mean--!” 

 Too late. The old woman had somehow already disappeared by the time that Gabriel got to sputtering, and he frowned, swiveling around on his chair to try to find her. Adam laughed again, slapping his companion hard on the back. Gabriel shot a glare at him as the smack stung his shoulder, and then he exhaled, lowering his head and banging his forehead lightly against the table. 

 “Cheer up. Here-- next round is on me, lad!” 

The garden outside of the little woodland cottage was in full bloom. Juliette had her skirts tucked up into her apron as she knelt among the fragrant blossoms, carefully cutting an assortment of bouquets. Her tongue stuck out of the corner of her mouth as she focused, and a beam spread across her face as she pressed snapdragons close to her face, inhaling deeply. Did any flower smell more heavenly than these pink petals? 

 Her head tilted at the sudden but familiar little ripple in aether, gray eyes lifting to see Grandmother Andete appearing just a few fulms away from the garden. A fresh smile graced the girl’s lips, and she hurried to her feet with a bouquet in hand, fresh earth caught beneath her fingernails.

 “Grandmother! You’re back. I cut you a whole bouquet of passionflower. They’ve grown beautifully this cycle. You shouldn’t want for anymore until next season,” Juliette said brightly, the medicinal flowers tucked in a large bouquet in the pocket of her apron, purple blooms bouncing lightly in the soft breeze. 

 “They look perfect, little dove,” Andete replied warmly, smiling up at the girl. “I’m glad I turned most of the garden work over to you. I could never get the flowers to bloom quite so beautifully.” 

 The old woman took a moment to assess her granddaughter. In her many years, she had never met a creature quite so good or so gentle. A bit naive, perhaps, but far from stupid. She simply lacked experience. In her young eyes was the look of a woman who had lived a thousand lives, shrouded by sweetness and kindness and curiosity. It was a disservice, Andete knew, to keep Juliette so far from civilization, from her peers, from the world. The girl had powerful magic she knew not yet how to properly control, magic that could be taken advantage of or cause great harm. There was a deep desire to protect others existing within the young girl, and if she lost control in a dire situation...

 Andete smiled and reached out, grasping Juliette’s hand to lead her back to the garden. Raphael was away to get more supplies from Gridania, not to return for a couple of days yet. It was for the best. Juliette was, as far as they were both concerned, his one and only child. The man was overprotective, but it, at least, came from a good place. But one could shelter a vulnerable creature too much, leaving them to grow only more and more vulnerable and inexperienced. 

 “I met the young man you said found you by the brook,” Andete said, looking up at her granddaughter and watching the color drain from her face. “Worry not, child-- you’re in no trouble. I mean only to offer a suggestion.”

 “A suggestion,” Juliette echoed as the two of them sat on the rickety old wooden furniture outside of the cottage, in the midst of the blooming flowers. 

 “Mm. Think of it as a training exercise. I want you to focus on that boy, and I want you to try to see something of him-- not his past, but his future or his present. I want you to think of him, and only of him, until you see him.”

 Juliette looked at Andete curiously, setting the bunch of passionflower down upon the old, worn table. The old woman smiled benignly and reached over to pat the back of the girl’s hand before squeezing it. Her head dipped towards the cottage as she continued.

 “You have seen people who would be significant in your life in your visions before, yes? Call it curiosity, my dear. I’d like to know if this boy will be significant to you, or if he’s another passerby. It’s as good an opportunity as any to hone your magic and see if you can control it.” 

 It is time for to you learn how to protect yourself. A boy who believes himself to be saving a damsel in distress is a dangerous thing. I saw the look in his eyes. He will be hellbent on rescuing you until you make it clear you need no rescuing. This is your time to learn.

 Of course, Andete didn’t speak these words aloud. She simply held her smile and her granddaughter’s hand as Juliette seemed to mull over the idea. The thumb of her free hand ran over the bouquet of snapdragons she’d gathered, just upon the stems, clearly deep in thought. After the silence, her gaze lifted up to her grandmother, and she nodded slowly. There was understanding in her expression. Andete, it seemed, did not need to speak her mind for Juliette to understand what she meant.

 “I will. I’ll try to find him in the other world, and see if anything pops out. And I won’t tell Uncle,” she added with a nod. “I know he would be uncomfortable.”

 “You’re a clever little nymph, my child,” Andete said warmly, reaching over to gently pat Juliette’s cheek. “Work hard. If nothing else, it will be an interesting experiment, no?” 

 Juliette didn’t answer. Her eyes were already unfocused, a dreamy expression on her face as she stared at a spot in the garden that had nothing Andete could see but flowers. A slow exhale came, and soft, shimmering silver wisps of visible air came to pass through Juliette’s lips, trailing out of the corners of her eyes as they started to glow, just faintly. The girl started to slump to the side, and Andete reached out to catch her, gently lowering her onto the soft grass rather than leave her to collapse out of her chair. 

 “And a hard worker, to boot,” the old woman mused as she looked down at the girl on the ground, auburn hair splayed around her. She reached over for the bunch of passionflower Juliette had put on the table, beginning to pluck out the petals to be crushed inside of the cottage later. 

[televinita]

Books Read in 2018: The Why

Third year in a row* of answering the self-imposed question: why did you read this particular book?

(*Although 2017′s is presently flagged by the garbage bot and under appeal -- WHY DO U HATE MY BOOK COVER COLLAGES, MR. ALGORITHM)

I am beginning to deeply regret the extra work involved to split them by category, so next year is probably just gonna be a numbered chronological list after the Quilt of Many Covers, but for now they are still divided into adult fiction, YA, middle grade/children’s books, and nonfiction

FICTION

True Valor - Dee Henderson. 2002. Read because: I went hunting for a military romance in which to cast Dalton and Jaz [The Brave]. This one at least guaranteed me Dalton (and included rescuing a female soldier lost/hurt in combat, so).

These Healing Hills - Ann H. Gabhart. 2017. Had this one in my back pocket for a while as a quality-sounding stock romance (nurse/soldier) waiting for players. When my need for a Barbie/Julia [Under the Dome] story reached a new high, I deemed it a match.

Shane - Jack Schaefer. 1949. This is the book Fourmile is based on, so I thought I could get a two-for-one casting thrill out of it.

The Lake House - Kate Morton. 2015. A gorgeous historic mansion hidden within an abandoned estate. A mystery from the past to be solved in the present. What are "things I am here for always."

Crimson Peak (movie novelization) - Nancy Holder. 2015. I LOVED the movie, and the only thing I love more than amazing movies is when I can have them translated into and enriched by prose.

Chasing Sunsets - Karen Kingsbury. 2015. Brush of Wings - Karen Kingsbury. 2016. I was hunting, desperately, for Ben/Ryan-shaped books [Off the Map], and "Brush of Wings" checked all the boxes (young woman who needs a heart transplant volunteers in a third world country, love interest has to find a way to rush her home when the situation turns dire). I only read C.S. first because I didn't want to miss where the romance started.

Rancher Under Fire - Vickie Donoghue. 2014. I was looking for a different book when I casually stumbled upon this title, and listen. I am not gonna turn down a ready-made Barbie/Julia AU* with bonus "single father" angle. (*cowboy/journalist)

Heart Like Mine - Maggie McGinnis. 2016. "Ben/Ryan, Sexy Hookup AU Version please."

The Mountain Between Us - Charles Martin. 2010. The request list for the movie was too long, so I decided to see if it was based on a book. Upon reading the back cover and finding out one character was a surgeon, I immediately forgot the movie cast as my brain exploded with Shondaland options.

When Crickets Cry - Charles Martin. 2006. "Doctor whose wife died young of a lifelong heart condition" sounded like the best book-shaped Ben/Ryan approximation yet, with bonus "watching out for a little girl who is sick in the same way" cuteness as well.

The Woman in Cabin 10 - Ruth Ware. 2016. A woman at work recommended it to me, and I was like, "a well received general thriller? Sure!"

Listen to Me - Hannah Pittard. 2016. Put "road trip" into the library catalog --> picked 70% because "Gothic thriller" made me think of "The Strangers," and 30% because I was reliving the glory days of Derek And Addison and this marriage sounded similar.

The Lying Game - Ruth Ware. 2017. I enjoyed the other book of hers I read so my friend brought in the next one she had.

Hatter Fox - Marilyn Harris. 1973. Read in high school and forgotten until I reread the Goodreads summary, and "doctor drawn to help 17-year-old" set off my radar. Shippy or merely protective/caretaking, my radar reacts the same.

Vanished - Mary McGary Morris. 1988. The trailer for unreleased Martin Henderson film "Hellbent" whipped me into a frenzy so I did my best to find book-shaped approximations of it. (spoiler alert: this failed miserably, but I grudge-matched it out)

Thunder and Rain - Charles Martin. 2012. Former Texas Ranger who is a single dad. Rescuing & protecting a scared/abused woman and child. At his ranch with cows and horses. By an author who has proven his salt in the hurt/comfort and restrained-romance departments.

Before the Fall - Nick Hawley. 2016. Mostly I came for the dynamic between the young orphan and the passenger who saved him, but I also like witnessing the general aftermath of plane crash survivors.

The Perfect Nanny - Leila Slimani. 2018. My work friend loaned it to me with the statement, "This has such good reviews but I don't know if I 'got' it -- I am really curious to know what you think of it!"

The Girl Before - J.P. Delaney. 2017. She loaned me this one too, with a more glowing recommendation.

Everything You Want Me To Be - Mindy Mejia. 2017. Aaaand one last rec from my seasonal work friend before our projects took us in separate directions.

The Dog Year - Ann Wertz Garvin. 2014. Dog on the cover + synopsis was basically a list of tropes I love: a woman (a doctor to boot!) grieving loss of husband and unborn baby; dogs; a new love interest who is one of my favorite professions to pair with doctor (cop)...

Losing Gemma - Katy Gardner. 2002. "So basically this is the victim backstory to a Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders plot? Dude, sign me UP; I can so see this friendship!"

Uncharted - Tracey Garvis-Graves. 2013. The companion novella to a book I loved.

The English Boys - Julia Thomas. 2016. Mom checked it out of the library, "guy in piney unrequited love with his best friend's fiancee" intrigued me enough to open it, and by 3-5 pages in I was hooked.

The Broken Girls - Simone St. James. 2018. Abandoned boarding-school ruins, a murder mystery from the past being solved in the present day, possibly tied to a second murder from the past?? Yeah, give it.

Heart-Shaped Hack - Tracey Garvis-Graves. 2015. White-Hot Hack - Tracey Garvis-Graves. 2016. Proven quality romance writer's latest books feature a professional super-skilled hacker? Sounds right up my Scorpion-obsessed alley. First book was plenty good enough to launch me into Part II.

Shine Shine Shine - Lydia Netzer. 2012. In my continuing quest to find books in which to cast Walter/Paige, I searched the phrase "her genius husband" and this one's summary matched my desires well.

Learning to Stay - Erin Celello. 2013. Ever eager to expand my hurt/comfort scenario stockpile, I went looking for something where a husband suffers a TBI/brain damage that mostly affects their personality. The bonus dog content sold it.

The Fate of Mercy Alban - Wendy Webb. 2013. Came up on my Goodreads timeline. I read as far as "spine-tingling mystery about family secrets set in a big, old haunted house on Lake Superior" and immediately requested it from the library.

Rated PG - Virginia Euwer Wolff. 1981. I was rereading her Make Lemonade trilogy when I saw a quote in her author bio that said, "I did write an adult novel. Thank goodness it went out of print." Curious, I looked it up, and between its age and the fact that it sounded more like YA than a proper adult novel, I was immediately more intrigued by it than her boring-sounding middle grade books.

Someone Else's Love Story - Joshilyn Jackson. 2013. "Young single mom with genius son meeting a possibly-autistic scientist who protects them during a gas station holdup/hostage situation and later bonds with her son" was the exact literary approximation of a Scorpion AU I wanted in my brain. By the time I realized that was not the endgame ship, I had already flipped through it and fallen in love w/ William and his romantic memories of his wife instead.

Driftwood Tides - Gina Holmes. 2014. Cool title + I love the "young adult adoptee bonds with the spouse of their late birth mother" trope.

The Haunting - Alan Titchmarsh. 2011. Title caught my eye at the library near Halloween; I dug the "dual timelines" setup with a mystery from the past to be solved in the present, and hoped for ghosts.

The Lost Hours - Karen White. 2009. I searched "scrapbook" in the library catalog.  A family member's formerly buried old scrapbook, an old house, and unearthing family history/secrets? GIVE IT TO ME.gif.

The Etruscan Smile - Velda Johnston. 1977. Slim (quick read), attractive cover painting, an exotic Italian countryside setting in a bygone era, and a young woman investigating the mystery of her sister's disappearance all appealed to me.

Stay Away, Joe - Dan Cushman. 1953. All I could tell from the book jacket was that it was somehow Western/ranch-themed, possibly full of wacky hijinx and had once been deemed appropriate for a high school library. I just wanted to know what the heck it was about!

-------------------

YOUNG ADULT

(I’m kind of guessing at the line of demarcation between teen and middle grade audiences for some of these, especially the older ones -- another reason that I should give up on categories in the future -- but let’s just go with it)

These Shallow Graves - Jennifer Donnelly. 2015. Seemed like a YA version of What the Dead Leave Behind (which itself I was using as a Crimson Peak AU), from an author whose work has always impressed me.

Snow Bound - Harry Fox Mazer. 1973. Always here for survival stories! Also, this is a good author.

The House - Christina Lauren. 2015. I LOVE evil/haunted mansion stories.

The Masked Truth - Kelley Armstrong. 2015. It looked like Criminal Minds in a YA novel.

Things I'm Seeing Without You - Peter Bognanni. 2017. Went googling for stories that sounded like contemporary variations on Miles & Charlie Matheson [Revolution]. "Teen shows up at estranged father's door" fit the bill.

Even When You Lie to Me - Jessica Alcott. 2015. I always turn out for student/teacher stories, given enough suggestion of it being mostly an emotional connection rather than an illicit hookup.

Too Shattered for Mending - Peter Brown Hoffmeister. 2017. I also dig stories where teenagers have to take care of/fend for themselves in the absence of a parent/guardian.

The Devil You Know - Trish Doller. 2015. I enjoyed a previous book of hers, and I always like road trips and teen thrillers.

The Raft - S.A. Bodeen. Terror at Bottle Creek underwhelmed, so I thought I'd try a YA/female protagonist option for a survival thriller, not least because the girl on the cover reminded me of Under the Dome's Melanie.

Ghost at Kimball Hill - Marie Blizard. 1956. Picked up randomly at an estate sale; the vintage cover and incredibly charming first 2 pages won my heart.

A New Penny - Biana Bradbury. 1971. The rare idea of a teen shotgun marriage in this era -- when it would still be expected, but also more likely to fall apart and end in a young divorce or separation -- fascinated me; I was curious to see how such an adult situation would play out.

Marie Antoinette, Serial Killer - Katie Alender. 2013. I mean...it is really all right there in the title and/or the awesful puns all over the cover. ("Let them eat cake...AND DIE!") Pure unadulterated crack, combining my two fave specialty genres of history and horror? Yes ma'am.

Me And My Mona Lisa Smile - Sheila Hayes. 1981. I was looking up this author of a Little Golden Book to see what else she had, found one that suggested a student/teacher romance, and bolted for it.

To Take a Dare - Crescent Dragonwagon/Paul Zindel. 1982. 50% due to the first author's cracktastic name and my full expectations of it being melodramatic, 50% because I was still on my "Hellbent" high and looking for similar teen runaway stories.

To All My Fans, With Love, From Sylvie - Ellen Conford. 1982. The last one from my attempt-at-a-Hellbent-esque-storyline set -- girl hitchhiking cross-country is picked up by a middle aged man who may or may not have pure intentions, by an established quality author.

Be Good Be Real Be Crazy - Chelsey Philpot. Bright cover called out to me; I was in the mood for a fun road trip novel for spring/early summer.

This is the Story of You - Beth Kephart. Kephart's name always gives me pause due to her fuzzy writing style, but I loved Nothing But Ghosts, so I could not resist the promise of surviving a super-storm disaster.

A Little in Love - Susan Fletcher. "Eponine's story from Les Mis" on a YA novel = immediately awesome; I LOVE HER??? Also it's just my fave musical, generally.

Adrift - Paul Griffin. 2015. I've been really digging survival stories this year, and while stories about survival at sea aren't typically my fave, they keep popping up in my path so I keep poppin' em like candy.

Life in Outer Space - Melissa Keil. 2013. After delighting my brain with concept sketches for a high school AU, I set out to find the equivalent of Scorpion's team dynamics/main relationship in a YA novel, and by god I found it.

Everything Must Go - Fanny Fran Davis. 2017. The brightly colored cover drew me in, and the format of being like a scrapbook of personal documents/paper ephemera lit up the scrap-collecting center of my brain.

Going Geek - Charlotte Huang. 2016.

originally I thought it might be like Life in Outer Space, but once I realized the title geeks were all girls I shrugged and went, "Eh, still a solid contemporary YA novel at a cool setting (boarding school)."

Like Mandarin - Kirsten Hubbard. 2011.

By the author of my beloved Wanderlove, I was drawn in by the title, intriguing cover photo, rural Wyoming setting and the concept of a high school freshman girl latching onto/idolizing a cool senior girl.

Sixteen: Short Stories By Outstanding Writers for Young Adults. ed. Donald R. Gallo. 1984. Tripped over it at the library, and immediately wanted to consume a set of 80s teen book content from a pack of authors I know and love.

A & L Do Summer - Jan Blazanin. 2011. In the summer, sometimes you just want to vicariously relive the feeling of being a largely-responsibility-free teen in a small-town location.

The Assassin Game - Kirsty McKay. 2015. Looked like the (Welsh!) boarding school version of Harper's Island. (spoiler alert: it is rather less stabby than that, but still fun)

We Are Still Tornadoes - Michael Kun/Susan Mullen. 2016. "College freshmen? Writing letters to each other? Sure, looks solid."

Nothing - Annie Barrows. 2017. It looked relatable: like the kind of book that would happen if I tried to turn my high school journals into a book. (spoiler alert: dumber)

The Memory Book - Laura Avery. 2016. Contemporary YA about a girl with a(n unusual) disease, but mostly, the title and promise of it being a collection of entries in different formats.

Kindess for Weakness - Shawn Goodman. 2013. LITERALLY AU RYAN ATWOOD.

Make Lemonade - Virginia Euwer Wolff. 1993. True Believer - Virginia Euwer Wolff. 2001. This Full House - Virginia Euwer Wolff. 2008. I reread the first two so I could give them proper reviews on Goodreads, and then realized I hadn't read the last one at all.

Blue Voyage - Diana Renn. 2015. A hefty teen mystery in a unique exotic location (Turkey) -- with an antiquities smuggling ring! - called out to me.

Girl Online - Zoe Sugg. 2014. I was really in the mood to read something on the younger end of YA, something cute and fun, when I saw this at the library.

Wilderness Peril - Thomas J. Dygard. 1985. Reread of a book I rated 4 stars in high school but couldn't remember, which happened to be lying next to me on a morning where I didn't wanna get out of bed yet.

Survive the Night - Danielle Vega. 2015. The cover had a GLITTERY SKULL. Give me that delightfully packaged horror story for the Halloween season!

The Hired Girl - Laura Amy Schlitz. 2015. I've been digging into my journals and old family photo albums lately, really fascinated by personal historical documents (also recently obsessed over The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt), and when I saw a diary format book set in 1911 -- a housemaid's diary, no less; that must be interesting as far as recording grand house details -- it spoke to me.

Fans of the Impossible Life - Kate Scelsa. 2015. The colored-pencil-sketch cover gave me Rainbow Rowell vibes.

All The Truth That's In Me - Julie Berry. 2013. Someone who favorably reviewed The Hired Girl also recommended this one; the cover caught my eye, and it sounded like a thriller.

Girl In A Bad Place - Kaitlin Ward. 2017. I heart YA thrillers featuring girls.

Facing It - Julian F. Thompson. 1983. I was in desperate need of a book one night and my only option was to buy one off the library sale cart, so I snagged the one that looked like some entertaining 80s melodrama with a fun (summer camp) setting. (Spoiler alert: fun and entertaining it was not.)

A Good Idea - Cristina Moracho. 2017. "Rural literary noir," promised the cover blurb, and as I just mentioned: I heart YA thrillers.

Something Happened - Greg Logsted. 2008. Short/easy read + I was hoping for either a misinterpreted Genuinely Caring Teacher, or scenarios to use in an appropriate age difference context.

In Real Life - Jessica Love. 2016. My shipper radar pretty much looked at the summary and went "THE AU CHRISTIAN/GABBY SETUP OF MY DREAMS."

The Black Spaniel Mystery - Betty Cavanna. 1945.

Adorable cover (and dogs!) from an established quality author.

--------------

CHILDREN’S / MIDDLE GRADE

The Cloud Chamber - Joyce Maynard. 2005. The cover made me think of Under the Dome, and the MC immediately reminded me of Joe McAlister.

Terror at Bottle Creek - Watt Key. 2016. After rereading Fourmile, I got a hankering for more books I might be able to cast with the kids from Under the Dome, and figured more Watt Key + a thrilling survival adventure was the ticket for that.

Swampfire - Patricia Cecil Haas. 1973. One of approximately 100 unread vintage horse books I own at any given time; finally in mood because it was short and sweet.

Baby-sitting Is A Dangerous Job - Willo Davis Roberts. 1985. Reread a childhood favorite in order to give it a proper review on Goodreads.

In The Stone Circle - Elizabeth Cody Kimmel. 1998. Same as above.

Wild Spirits - Rosa Jordan. 2010. Clearly the "Kat & Tommy take Justin under their wing" Power Rangers AU of which I have always dreamed, in my very favorite version of it: the one where Kat surrounds herself with animals.

Claudia - Barbara Wallace. 1969. Picked up cheap at a book sale, standard cute vintage Scholastic about a girl and her school life. Comfort food.

Reasons to be Happy - Katrina Kittle. 2011. The cover and the 5 reasons excerpted in the summary were so cute that I wanted to know what more of the reasons were.

Dark Horse Barnaby - Marjorie Reynolds. 1967. Needed a quick read and I'll p. much read any vintage horse book.

Runaway - Dandi Daley Mackall. 2008. Start of a companion series to my beloved Winnie the Horse Gentler, featuring some favorite themes: foster care + animal rescue.

Wolf Wilder - Katherine Rundell. 2015. Pretty cover, girl protagonist, historical Russian setting, wolves. All good things!

Backwater - Joan Bauer. 1999. Sounded like a beautifully tranquil setting.

The Dingle Ridge Fox and Other Stories - Sam Savitt. 1978. Animal stories + author love = automatic win.

If Wishes Were Horses - Jean Slaughter Doty. 1984. Overdue reread of a childhood favorite because I needed some short books to finish the reading challenge.

-------------

NONFICTION

Junk: Digging Through America's Love Affair with Stuff - Alison Stewart. 2016. I mean, I am definitely an American who has a love affair with stuff.

Keeping Watch: 30 Sheep, 24 Rabbits, 2 Llamas, 1 Alpaca, and a Shepherdess with a Day Job - Kathryn Sletto. 2010.

As soon as I saw my favorite fluffy creature on the cover, I felt an immediate need to transport myself into this (dream) hobby farm setting.

(Side note: this is probably the lowest amount of nonfiction I have read in 1 year for a decade, but I was just so busy hunting down specific types of stories that I could not get distracted by random learning.)

[mynotsoawesomescenarios]

Anything You Can Do

A/N: This was supposed to be posted as a one shot but I just needed to post SOMETHING. Part 2 will be posted to my smut blog cuz...it’s gonna be smut.

DISCLAIMER: Everything I know about Volleyball is from Haikyuu and google.

~Allie

In order to be the best, you need learn from those who already claimed that title. Study their habits, their strategies and change them to fit yourself. If someone isn’t willing to look to someone better than they are in order to better themselves, how would it be possible to become the best?

That’s the one thing about Kim Jongin that got under your skin. He was a brat that claimed to be the best volleyball player in the school but he still managed to be the captain of a team that haven’t had a successful season in four years. You, on the other hand, were the captain of the Girls’ Varsity team and you lead your team to victory on your first year as captain last year, and you were hellbent on doing the same this year. You broke the winning drought at your school and almost everyone celebrated you for it and rightfully so. You were the star player in Jr. Varsity and when you became the captain of your team now, you groomed every woman to be the same.

The practices almost never ended and everyone thought about quitting at least once, but after the first win, everyone felt their hard work pay off. Your team won every game they played and in the blink of an eye, you were at regionals and then at Nationals. You didn’t have faith in bringing home the first-place trophy, but then the opposing team had a slip up during the fight for your match point. At your serve, you felt an overwhelming feeling take you over. You were happy, relieved, and proud all at once, leaving you to sob on the gym floor while everyone around you cheered.

Summer had ended and Autumn quickly showed its face. It was windy, almost unbearably so, as you were being tossed around by the wind like it was nothing. You pulled your leather jacket, a gift from your uncle, tight over your body as you walked into the school the first time as a senior. You walked through the doors instantly all eyes were on you. You brushed your hair back into place, fixing what the brutal wind ruined. You smiled as you walked down the hall that was filled with loud whistles and cheers.

“Y/N! Y/N! Y/N!” they all chanted your name and you felt your face flush as you made your way to the locker number that was on top of your roster, which you checked just before arriving to school. You nodded in thanks and graciously accepted every pat on the back and thumbs up. Being celebrated felt good. If winning Nationals felt good, being recognized by your fellow classmates felt even better for some reason.

But then, you heard the doors open as soon as you got to the locker and the cheers died immediately. You were grateful that they did, not wanting to disturb everyone in the morning, but it stopped so abruptly that you looked up.

Kim Jongin, with the same mean scowl as usual, walked in. Everyone awkwardly coughed and averted their eyes.

“Oh, please, don’t let me stop your celebration.” He looked to you and made his way to you. “By all means, continue on praising our amazing Y/N.” He clapped and made his way to you with a sick and falsely friendly smile spread across his face. When he got to you his face relaxed into an expression that had anger written all over it. He lowered his head and got closer to your face, making you roll your eyes. “Celebrate the cheater.” He said in a low voice.

You shot your eyes up to him, swearing that if your glare could kill him, you wouldn’t hesitate to attack. “Cheater?” You closed your locker and pressed your back against it while your held your books to your chest. “How exactly am I a cheater, Kim?” You cocked up your eyebrow, showing him that he peaked your interest.

“Because you did a Jump Float Serve.” His eyes were so fierce but all you could do was laugh at him now.

“How in the world is that cheating?” You chuckled once more and tried to push past him but he pushed you by your shoulder and held you against the locker.

“You knew they couldn’t predict those serves. Every time you used it, it sank to the ground of their court, especially while they were getting tired. You used their weakness, you cheated.” You let out another breathy laugh and patted his arm.

“That’s why you always lose, Kim,” you tightened your expression and he looked at you with a glimmer of sadness in his eyes. “You’re too nice on the court and too aggressive everywhere else.” You pushed your hand into his chest and walked away. You heard him walk behind you but you didn’t care to spare in a second glance. He kept saying things to you, words you didn’t want to hear, nor did you care to hear. You walked past a familiar face and smiled before pulling on the collar of his jacket as he was trying to hit on some poor sophomore girl.

“Go tame your dog, Byun.” You pushed him in Jongin’s direction and you shot him a wink before he could question you. You saw him turn to Jongin and slap him on his chest before whiningly asking him what he was doing.

After the first few weeks of school passed by, the schedule for practices finally made their way into the hands of the captains and co-captains of each sports team in your school. Volleyball practice was the usual time and in the usual place but every Wednesday, which was today, and Friday had “Joint Practice” under it. You scratched your head a bit, not too sure about what that was. But you thought it was most likely a day where the JV team and your own practiced together, which would be good. It would make the younger players improve and when the team underwent line-up changes, it wouldn’t be too bad because each player would be strong in at least something.

After the bell signaled the end of classes, you went to your locker and traded your backpack for your duffle. You made your way to the locker room with a wide smile on your face, happy to see your friends in your favorite place and eager to feel the ball sting the palm of your hand.

You emerged from the locker room in your usual sports shorts, tank top and joint pads. You set up the gym all by yourself as you usually did. You unrolled the net and tied it to the posts and pulled out the cart that overflowed with volleyballs. As you continued to wait, you started to stretch. You started with toe touches to pull your back muscles, moved on to arm stretches to loosen up your shoulders and arms, and ended with leg stretches. You popped up from the ground as soon as you heard the door open, facing the side of the gym to meet your team with a smiling face. But as soon as you could muster up the smile, it fell.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Your question was mostly directed to Jongin but to the rest of his team as well. You saw your coach push past them and she wagged her finger to you.

“Language, Y/L/N.” You charged to her which made her eyes widen.

“Coach, why are they here?” you said to her in an accusing tone. She looked at you and put her hands on your shoulders.

“They need help, Y/N.” She was serious and you saw the pity in her eyes. “They could be so good and dominate, but what good are they if they have a horrible coach and a hot head as a captain?” You understood what she was getting at but what their team did was of none of your concern.

“So, we’re supposed to help them?” Gesturing to the boys who stood by the door awkwardly while the girls got ready.

“Yes, that’s what I expect.” Her face showed you that she was clearly not going to argue and that this was not up for discussion. “And I also expect you and the girls to help them while I train their coach, who is more of a lost cause than they are.” You huffed at this. You already had your team and the younger team to look after, now you were responsible for nearly grown men too. “I believe in you. Now, go and round them up.” She started to walk away but she jolted back quickly. “Ah, and make sure you go hard on them.” You gave her a bitter smile.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” She saw an evil glint in your eyes and chuckled. She knew you were a hard ass and that just what they needed.

“Yo!” Your one shout silenced the room and all eyes were on you. “Every Wednesday and Friday, we will have joint practice with Boys’ Varsity.” Your girls groaned but you glared at them. “Cut it out. I showed my distaste to coach but what she says is law.” They all straightened up, trying to get used to it.

You side stepped so that you could stand in front of the boys’ team. You surveyed them, seeing faces you knew too well, some you hardly knew and another you nearly hated. “As for you all, I need names and positions, go.” They all looked a little startled which made you laugh. “I’m not sending you to the military, chill a bit.” You pointed to the tallest one who stood at the start of the line. “You go first.”

“Park Chanyeol, Middle Blocker.”

“Ideal height for one, I figured.” He smiled at your compliment and you moved to the next person.

“Do Kyungsoo, Wing Spiker.” You raised one brow slowly before moving to the next person.

“You know who I am.” Jongin said, annoyed but he didn’t faze you.

“Name and position.” He forced his words through his teeth.

“Kim Jongin, Setter.” You rolled your eyes and after him everyone was giving you an easy time.

“Zhang Yixing, Middle Blocker.”

“Kim Junmyeon, Wing Spiker.”

“Kim Jongdae, Wing Spiker.”

“Kim Minseok, Libero.”

“Ahh, so you’re fast?” He tried to bite back a laugh.

“Unbelievably so.” You tutted your lips and kept your eyes on him as you pointed to the next person, the ever so obnoxious and somehow one of your closest friends, Baekhyun.

“Byun Baekhyun, Middle Blocker. And don’t you dare laugh,” he pointed at you accusingly. “People always laugh.” You weren’t going to laugh but the thought of someone as small as him being a middle blocker was pretty hilarious.

“Baek, I’ve know you since our Hapkido days, I’m well aware of the power those tiny legs hold.” You smiled at him and moved to the last person who was almost as massive as the first person in the lineup.

“Oh Sehun, Wing Spiker.”

“Right, nice to meet you a-, some of you.” You cut your eyes to Jongin who was already glaring at you. “For the first practice, it’ll be Girls versus Boys. I need to be able to assess where it is that you all need to improve, as well as what about you is just right.” You surveyed them. You knew a few of their abilities, knowing of Baekhyun’s the best. He was no ace but he was probably still the best on the team. You didn’t know of Chanyeol’s abilities in sports but the boy was the definition of two left feet whenever you saw him. You knew the small ones were well capable of their positions, no questions asked. Junmyeon, Yixing and Sehun were all members of the baseball team and joined Volleyball just last year so you didn’t know how they would be. And aside from knowing he was crazy good in chemistry, Jongdae was another mystery to you.

Jongin was another story. You commended him for driving his team off of positive reinforcement, it was always good for a team to go into a match with a “whatever happens, happens” mind set but it didn’t help with the driving force they needed to help them win. Jongin was always too nice to his opponent, always playing a safe game with no tricks up his sleeve. There was no surprise to the plays and every team that played them read them easily and won over them all too quickly. The team, without a doubt, has amazing power behind it. What they lacked was a Captain and a coach that pushed them.

“So, slip on your pads and do your stretches, we’ve got a long day ahead of us.”

The match ended quick, too quick for comfort. You only played one match and it ended with a score of four to twenty-five in your team’s favor. And when they got those four points, it was thanks to their middle blockers who seemed to work as a solid wall.

“Jesus Christ, do you guys ever practice?” You asked through rough breaths. “The potential and power are there,” You heard agreements from your teammates as they guzzled down water and dried their sweat. “But the execution is far below mediocre.” You shook your head and propped your hands up on your hips. “You guys won’t break us, if anything, we’ll break you. So be more aggressive.” You let your voice drop to appear more intimidating, and it worked, they all looked to you with wide eyes. “Take a quick break, be ready to play in five.”

You walked to the water cooler and filled up your bottle to the brim. You chugged the water down, pulling it to you so fast that it spilled out of the corners of your lips and sent cooling streams down your neck and chest. You detached yourself from the bottle and whipped your face with the towel that was around your neck.

“I think it’s cool that you’re helping us.” You looked to your side and your eyes were met with someone’s chest. You looked up and saw that it was the severe looking guy, Sehun. You nodded at him, not quite willing to engage in conversation due to your short breath. “Jongin hates the idea, but I already feel like we’re getting better.” He didn’t look at you while he spoke this time, just looked above you head and into the distance, probably looking at what could be. “Anyway, thank you.” You nodded with a smile and he jogged away.

The next round ended almost as soon as the first one did. This time, the score was eleven to twenty-five, in your favor. They scored a few genuine points but you noticed that their offense was much weaker than their defense this time. They don’t have any special plays or anything to confuse their opponent, everything about them was out in the open.

“That match was…better, not by much but you’ve already made progress.” They heaved and nodded at you as they watched you speak through the net. “Usually, I would be against one on one training but you guys need it.” You turned to your girls and asked them to group up based on the position they played. After they settled, you directed the boys to the group that shared their position, leaving you with Jongin. How fitting. He dragged his feet to you and dried his sweat with his towel. You saw that he opened his mouth to speak but you held up your hand.

“I know you want to say something out of your ass right now, but I’m helping you for your own good as well as your teams’ sake.” He backed down but still looked at you with every ounce of hate he could find within himself. “Your serves are messy, so let’s start with those.”

After six months of practice, the boys improved at an insane rate. You shared some of your favorite plays with them and helped them execute them. They all caught on fast and the power you were talking about came over the entire team.

They had yet to win a game over your team though. They had won a few matches here and there but the end result would always be two to one. This match could change that.

They were on their match point and the game was constantly tight. Every time your team stole a point, they took one back. And before you could think they had stolen another one. You heard the ball smack the ground and then a whistle. You hadn’t even seen how your team lost. You don’t think anyone did because most of your mates looked as confused as you did with the exception of the three middle blockers in the front.

“Amy, what just happened?” You started pulling off your elbow pads and charged to her.

“They did a quick. I-I…”

“A quick?” You looked to the frontline and saw Baekhyun and Jongin smirk at you. You power walked up the net and sized them up, their puffed-up chest quickly deflating. “Ah, what now?” You chuckled at them as they looked like they were ready to be scolded.

“You have a way in being encouraging yet very damaging to our egos when you talk to us.” You scoffed and made a sour expression.

“I was just gonna say you did good but I guess I’ll keep it.” You crossed your arms and walked away. Baekhyun ran under the net a pulled you back.

“No!” he clasped his hands together and closed his eyes. “I need your validation!” You burst into laughter and patted his head.

“Haha! You did good kid.” He wiggled excitedly and ran to the locker room. You looked up to Jongin who had a spacy and goofy look on his face as he looked in your direction. “Uh, you too, Kim.” He showed you some thumbs up and walked off on his own. You two were far from friends but you did learn to no longer dislike one another. You respected each other as captains and learned to tolerate the other. There were plenty of times where harsh words were exchanged but let’s be honest, it’s sports.

Before the season started, both teams were up for practice matches for with the teams they would be going against in the first official match. Your match went smoothly, which was to be expected, but the boys’ match was in just a few minutes. Both teams were warming up while you and your mates were talking to your competition. Their leader was asking you for tips and tricks when you heard one of the boys in the other team speak out in an obnoxious tone.

“So, we’re playing against a bunch of pussies who were trained by literal pussies?” Some of his fellow members howled and ooh’d while others ignored him and rolled their eyes. You were used to shit talk, that was a given, especially by this lot, but he was doing too much.

All of your members looked at you and you were going to say something but were cut off.

“The fuck did you just say?” You looked over and saw that it was Jongdae that was challenging him. All of the boys were pissed. They all had jutted jaws and clinched fists. Even the calm ones sported aggressive expression. You didn’t know if it was purely because of his comment or the aggression you made them tap into during game time, but things were getting too heated.

“You and all of your little bitches heard me,” he spits out and laughed. He was pissing you off now. You felt like blood was turning into steam and you charged to him.

“Who are you calling a bitch, shithead?” His expression flickered just as you started walking toward him. But it wasn’t you he was intimidated by, it was the man that had his shirt clutched into his fist in just a few seconds.

“Apologize.” Jongin’s voice was deep and calm, nothing like the voice he kept when having petty arguments with you. The boy didn’t say anything so Jongin tightened his grip and moved his face closer to that of his opponent’s. “Did you hear me? I said APOLOGIZE-,” As he was beginning to raise his voice, Baekhyun and Yixing rushed to collect him. He was fuming.

“Take him to the locker room.” Your coach instructed and signaled you to follow behind them. He was hardly fighting back but his gaze was fixed on the scared boy who was now cowered up under his coach. You scoffed at him

When he got in, he started pacing back and forth. Everyone was used to his typical outbursts but this was another level of anger. He was muttering to himself and walking nowhere but with purpose.

“Jongin, cal-,” Baekhyun was the first to approach him but he was pushed back. You saw a glimmer of anger in Baekhyun’s eyes and asked Yixing to quickly take him out before anything else happened.

“Kim,” you held out your hands as if you were being approached with a gun and you got closer to him. “It’s okay, calm down.”

“It is not! No one talks about our team like that.” They way he emphasized “our” implied that he meant that both of your teams were one unit. “No one talks to you like that.” He threw his hands up in the air and looked at you. He looked like he was still in a frenzy but for a different reason. You wanted to ask him why he felt the need to single you out but you didn’t want to interrupt his rant as he sat down. “God, no one should ever talk to you like that.” His voice was softened dramatically. “I’m so sorry for talking to you like that…” You squatted in front of him and sat your hands on the side of the bench.

“It’s okay, Jongin.” He looked up. “It can’t be easy being inferior.” You joked. You weren’t sure if it was the right time but with the way he chuckled, you figured it was appropriate for the moment.

“Shut the hell up.” He still laughed and pushed you softly but forcefully enough to make you land on your backside. You faked your pain, rubbing your butt with a pained expression. He held out a hand and you accepted it. “We’re equals now.”

[zi-tales]

Interview: Phecda

1) Father

My mother sang praises of him. I had nothing to go off other than this. At the very least, I should have heard of him in my time living in Nashaba. Someone looking for my mother, asking what happened. Yet, I have heard nothing. Years of silence. I am under the impression perhaps he is too afraid to know the truth. A spineless fool like that never deserved my mother, and will not recieve any respect of mine. He could be dead for all I care.

2) Mother

Her name was Najma. In the village, she was an incredibly skilled huntress, and the one designated to travel to places like Nashaba or Alshuba and establish trading relationships. This made her worldview much broader, and thus much more dangerous. The village was always hellbent on maintaining tradition, and keeping things as they were without outside influence. And yet, my mother respectfully continued to push this conviction, always bringing medicine, or magics, or what have you even at risk of trouble. Beyond this, she was a trainer for the village militia, apparently known as a skilled duelist for years. So, yes, my mother was an intrepid woman, and an incredible fighter. I only hope to be as accomplished.

3) Childhood

My childhood was full of isolation and self-restraint to not interact much. My mother's story for me was being an adoptee from the dunes, and to hide the fact that my ears were the only real tell for my abnormal status. Since the risk of someone noticing such a distinct trait was very high, I had to live mostly alone. This did not bother me much, as I accepted it as a norm eventually. My mother insisted we would move away at some point, so I shouldn't bond with anyone strongly. Until I was... I am unsure. 15? 14, perhaps? I believed it would happen easily. At around that time, I was made aware of our village's distinct xenophobic tendencies, after the subject never appearing until then. That was when I realized the implication of my existence, and when I began to question things. This prompted my mother to accelerate what training she could of vocational things like hunting and fighting, although she didn't manage to do it enough before I slipped up. Perhaps I am rambling a bit. Things happened so long ago, and it is a... A haze.

4) Hometown

My mother's actions and presumed death seemed to have caused a large rift between people within the village. She was influential due to her role as the sole link to the outside world, and without her, the connections fostered were severed. While I was expecting a decline from this, I did not expect self-destruction. No one seems to want to talk about what happened to my mother, either, so I cannot even say for certain that she perished the night I fled. I simply assume so, so I do not spend the trances distracted. It was not somewhere I would call home, regardless. Most people kept their distance from one another, and it was a place of quiet reverence and obeying the law. I cannot say I miss it.

5) Time as an Assassin

The Asterius League was truly a band of interesting folk. Individuals like Arista and Eltanin used to be such... Role models, I suppose? To see them fall so far... It continues to disturb me. We trained with a distinct intimacy that bonded us together as contract killers with meaning, with purpose. Constant reminders that we were not murderers, but forces by which to shape the nation, guided by the many sources of influence. I hardly see killing as a sport, but it comes close. It is an art form, in a way. Every combat is a blank canvas waiting to be used, to observe every detail of the opponent. To kill perfectly, with grace and professionalism. These tenants separated us from the shady, unwashed masses within the Ahlbaali. Anyone can kill for money. We could kill with unparalleled expertise. There were elders, instructors, and acolytes as the organizational structure. My mentor and the man who took me in from the dunes was Errai, an expert marksman and venerable warrior. He taught me everything my mother didn't, like the hidden elegance of Common, how to infiltrate, and anything else that assisted being a true killer. Although, he despised the title of killer. It was far too inelegant for what we were doing. Am I rambling again? Please, let me know. I do not often talk of these subjects, and it can get very messy for me.

6) Transitioning to normal life

Frankly, I was hardly an assassin. I hadn’t ascended ranks past acolyte, which usually gave you the authority to actually take assignments independently. I had taken support roles in contracts with veterans like Errai, but I was not truly an assassin. Simply trained in the disciplines of one. Regardless, losing the Derelict as my home and being alone did force me to carve out a name for myself in Nashaba almost immediately, although contacts of Errai’s recognized me and helped as best they could to establish me as a mercenary or courier. From then, it was a matter of self-sufficiency and living day to day in the organized chaos of the Ahlbaali capital. I was used to the culture already, only had to adjust to the lack of companions and the discrimination behind being a half-elf. People don’t trust knife-ears as much, I suppose. At least I’ve rectified that these days.

7) Sircius

Ebmeros is innately a good man, despite some shrewd behavior and hot-headed mannerisms.  Truly, I have never met a man with more insistence on hiding his own nature than Ebmeros. He is clearly a father at heart, and yet, refuses to let this out due to what I can only assume to be fear of attachment. His fixation on what he can lose seems to be almost overwhelming, although I suppose coming from myself, I cannot begin to criticize this. I have lost what I can, and simply seek retribution. He still stands to suffer, but I intend to stand by him to prevent that as long as I can. Other than this, the ferocity by which he commands his offensive magic is incredible, if only ever disappointing when attempts to put individuals to sleep consistently fails.

8) Roc

A warrior from another time that I incidentally discovered in an Ahlbaali ruin. I can say I have thought of many things to find within the dunes, but a companion is not one of them. The apparent pain of her history forces me to be cautious when I feel a need to inquire about it, as I am one who prefers privacy of those matters myself. Nonetheless, as it does not interfere with her ability as a fighter, I do not plan to push the subject. That being said, I am highly curious what possible circumstances could lead to such a state of being, and wonder myself how I will eventually cope with being in my own accursed state upon expiry. I should consider asking Roc about that, ah?

9) Eleniel

Eleniel... I hope she realizes what she is capable of. Her capacity for goodness is matches only by her desire to martyr herself in the name of personal redemption, to the point where it can be easily construed as suicidal tendency. I worry for her. Eleniel is proof to me that there are indeed selfless individuals in this world, and how dangerous such a devotion to those ideals is. While I cannot say I envy any such obligation, nor can I begin to comprehend the mental fortitude necessary to constantly seek charitable action, I respect her unerring faith in her dogma. It is a rarity in these times, truly.

10) Herself

What do I think of myself? What an odd question. I do not reflect on myself often. To do so feels vain, and my time would likely be spent better elsewhere. I suppose I am... Learning to be normal. So long have I been accustomed to being a wolf of sorts. Everything is a potential meal. I have to negotiate, push myself, ignore pleasantries. Efficiency, displays of skill, et cetera. I live every moment to advance as a person, or something of that nature. And now, I do not know. I continue to try and socialize, which is incredibly alien to me. I have much to learn yet still, clearly. The killing arts should not be all that matters in this life.

11) The Future

I am unsure. I seek to hone my skill with a bow to an impeccable fault, at the least. Perhaps even with a blade, if I can balance my practice that well. Perhaps I am to find a worthy successor to the Umbra? Re-establish the Asterius League once I’ve killed the remnants? Or maybe, I go back to Nashaba, and return to my humble life in the sands? Options wax and wane in appeal always. Nothing ever goes to plan anyway. For all I know, I may learn to romance someone, and I settle down and start a family like Belzer and Veii. I merely hope I am not alone in all of it.

12) The Vermilion King

Normally, I would not put him under concerns of mine. His dogma and apparent ambitions seem to fall more in line with something the churches should combat, not someone like me. But, he holds Eltanin in his employ, which speaks to his shrewdness. On that virtue, I seek the Serpent’s head, and so I may as well help topple this Vermilion King’s schemes. As for him as an opponent... I generally don’t fear dying. He is no exception. Whatever bleeds can die, and if he is a being of blood, then the statement remains relevant all the same.

13) The Umbra

The Umbra is, in short, mine. Only mine. I would not hand it off willingly to anyone unless I believe they will wield it responsibly. The latent power in this bow cannot be underestimated in the slightest. It burrows deep into your soul. Like cruel tendrils that drill into your heart, feeding off of you, but pulsing energy back. We are one. A single entity whose bond continues to grow stronger. It is strange, surely, and I am well aware it will devour me in the end, but... It is not evil, necessarily. It feels akin to an animal. Its instinct is to keep its wielder alive, and only devour them when they no longer matter. If this is my fate, so be it. As long as I make it worthwhile, I have no issues with a cursed death.

14) Malerus I only hope we do not have to tamper with such dangerous materials ever again. Resurrection is one thing, sacrifice is another. Rellus should not have had to make that decision.

[daughter-of-war]

Fruk Day Three: Magic Mirror AU

—-I tend to dabble in flowers and blood magic, oh, and I love you—

For @frukheaven‘s #FrukSpringFestival2k17

Pairing: FrUk (Aph France/Aph England)

Pairing Type: M/M

Words: 1,897

Rating: General (Mild innuendo, nothing much)

Arthur's mirror was both his most valuable possession and his only one. He had been accused of dark witchcraft over a year ago now, and had been sentenced to death for his "crimes." Thankfully for him, he actually was a sorcerer, so he was able to sway the minds of the honest and simple folk that populated the village he lived in. The village wasn't anti-socrecy like many others around him, but they were quite hellbent on the pure use of magic in areas like enriching the beauty of people and nature, farming, and alchemy. Arthur lived on the outskirts of the village, and practiced both flower gardening and bloodmagic. Simple things like rosebushes and demon summonings were his specialties. However, he also had a terrible habit of getting much too fixated on certain things at a time, like once, when he ended up going a bit overboard with Easter Lillies and made everyone in a two-mile radius sprout the plants wherever they walked for a whole week. He'd gotten in quite a bit of trouble for that, since many of the village cats and dogs fell ill due to chewing on the poisonous flowers. He'd also accidentally released a low-level demon into the village square that decided to burn away the dresses of every lady in the town. Nobody had really gotten hurt, but that had gotten him in serious trouble. That's why his cottage had been moved to the edge of the forest from its place just outside of town. It was now a good half mile away from the outermost home in the village. It lost him lots of business, since not many people were willing to walk so far for his plants, near all of his customers going to the old woman in the center of town, even if her roses were enchanted to die a week after being taken off the bush to make everyone buy more week after week. And before he'd gotten locked away, he'd been in the midst of a bluebell crisis, and he was quite certain that by now, the flowers had taken over his house. They grew awfully fast. But despite all that, he still had one loyal customer.

Francis Bonnefoy.

Oh, the lovely foreign Francis. He was certainly the most beautiful man in the village, even if it was low bar to clear. He wasn't all that tall, as he was exactly Arthur's height without his shoes, but he was gently muscled and had a head of ashy blond hair that rivaled angels. Francis was willing to walk the extra half a mile to purchase flowers from Arthur, always smiling and pleasant. He was the one responsible for almost all of Arthur's income for a while, since nobody else wanted to walk so far for plants. So naturally, Arthur did what any man in love would do:

He cursed him.

Now, that may seem dramatic and less than sane, but it wasn't any sort of curse that could ruin lives. It was a silent curse, nothing too evil. But it meant Arthur could observe the man quietly when he wasn't at Arthur's cottage. Linking an enchanted silver mirror to Francis, Arthur was able to see Francis though whatever mirror the man happened to walk by. Francis' reflection had been more cursed than Francis himself, since in a silver mirror, Arthur would appear as if in a window instead of his reflection. Although, this ended up being less of a blessing to Arthur, and more like a curse unto himself. Francis owned no mirrors. No explanation, no obvious reason. He simply didn't own a single mirror.

Now, if he had, he would has been able to get the effect of Arthur's most lovely of curses. Arthur had made it so if Francis were to look into a silver mirror, and lock eyes with Arthur, his deepest attraction would come forth. And there wasn't any way that someone so devoted to Arthur and his flowers wouldn't love him even the slightest bit, right? That's what Arthur thought.

As he sat in the cell he now lived in, he looked at his mirror. The scene was boring. It was just Arthur himself, as as of now, Francis wasn't in front of any mirror. Right before he put it down, ready to sleep, the mirror flashed a soft yellow glow ad the scene changed. Arthur almost don't recognize his own home, which seemed to be overrun by Bluebells. The fragile blue flowers were covering the central room, where the door was opening. A yellow candle's flame lit up the area, the warm glow a sharp contrast to the cool plants covering the floors and walls. Arthur made a note to himself to undo the spell as soon as he could get out of the prison.

As he stared, he could see Francis' lips move, parhaps calling out a greeting. Why he'd show up to check in a year after Arthur disappeared from his home was anyone's guess. And the idea that Francis didn't know that Arthur'd been locked up puzzled him.

He looked straight at the mirror, too, which was hung at the back of the room directly across from the front door. His expression didn't change at all, even though their eyes were locked. They stayed like that for a couple seconds, and then Francis looked away, his attention drawn to a wooden rocking chair coated in dew and flowers. Arthur was desperately trying to see exactly what he was doing, but since the mirror, didn't move, all he could see was Francis' behind as he leaned over to look. It wasn't a bad view, but Arthur'd appreciate it if he could see what Francis was doing in his house.

Of course, it wasn't until Francis jumped back in horror that Arthur remembered that there was blood on the chair from his most recent summonings where he'd accidentally cut his arm too deeply. Whoops.

He ended watching him for as long as possible, with Francis only leaving when his candle started to burn his hand well past midnight.

¤

Arthur was released about a year later.

Of course, following basic logic, the first thing he did was go home. Upon arrival, he truly saw how much the Bluebells had taken over. Enfused with magic, the flowers had taken on a vine-like quality, allowing them to begin their upward journey toward the sun. The trees, his house, and even his laundryline had become the breeding ground for Bluebells. Despite the fact that they were quite literally ripping his home apart with their roots, they were quite beautiful. His little section of the edge of the woods was always covered in flowers, but with the addition of so much blue... it began to look alive. Even if the same couldn't be said for Arthur. He had bags under his eyes from his lack of sleep. He hadn't had a bed in almost two and a half years. Hay was nothing compared to the soft hammock he had in his bedroom. The thought of his room made the idea of going completely comatose unimaginably appealing.

As he made his way inside, he honestly tried his best to not crush the flowers, but at some points, it was impossible. Little droplets of blue blood smeared on his feet from where a flower's petal got caught beneath his naked feet. He worked his way to the back of the little stone and oak cottage, falling into a mess of Bluebell petals nestled into his hammock. With the flowers holding him like a baby in Mother Nature's arms, he fell asleep among baby blue.

¤

The knocking of a door woke him up.

He rolled out of his hammock, with the traitorous flowers not cushioning his fall.

"You'd think the least you could do is catch me, after all, I did give you my whole bloody house," he grumbled as he headed toward the door.

"Hel-lo," he stuttered as he opened the door to Francis. "What're you doing here?" He sounded infinitely more shocked than bothered.

"Well, I was wondering if you had any flowers?" He smiled with a shrug. The obvious answer was: 'Yes, I've got a million fucking bluebells, are you blind?' Arthur held his tongue on that one.

"Not any good ones, just these Bluebells. But I mean, you already knew that, didn't you?"

Francis laughed at that. "I meant more bouqets, but yes, I've seen the Bluebells!"

"Would you like to come in?" Arthur asked, his posture less than perfect. His first interaction with Francis in over two years hadn't gone to hell yet, so it was counted as a temporary success.

"Ah, yes, thank you," he said, stepping into the house, careful of the delicate flowers crawling along the floorboards. He looked up to stare at the silver mirror in Arthur's main room. "I really do miss those things," he smiled.

"Huh?"

"Mirrors," he elaborated, settling down in one of the wooden chairs after brushing off the Bluebells. "It's a shame they don't work for me."

"Don't... work...?" Arthur was thurougly confused.

"I was cursed about seven years ago, by this awful witch! I had bumped into her, and she had complimented my appearance. If course I laughed at that, and said something stupid along the lines of 'Yes, I know, I own a mirror!' But before I could say 'thank you anyway,' she'd cursed me!" He was both amused and frustrated by this, but Arthur turned pale as a ghost. His plan to get Francis to love him had just been stalking! Of course it'd been that since the beginning, but now it sunk in.

Francis looked at Arthur. "You alright there? You look quite ill-"

"I am so sorry!" He blurted out, unable to hold his tongue.

"For what?"

Arthur spilled the whole thing in shame. From his infatuation at the beginning to his heartbreak and desperation when he was arrested for dark magic and his decision to place a curse and-

"Okay, slow down," Francis cut in. "It's creepy, I'm just going to say that plainly. At least I don't own a mirror in my bedroom, eh?" He joked with a light blush. Arthur's face lit up a bit as well. He hadn't really considered that aspect. Not too often, at least.

"I'm sorry."

"But," he looked at Arthur, baby blue eyes the most vibrant Bluebells in the world. "I am attached to you, you know," he laughed. "You know how much I missed those roses? My God, how boring my living room had been these past two and a half years! But why don't we get to know each other a little better, okay?"

"Yeah," Arthur smiled. "Yeah, I'd like that."

"Would you like me to come by around eight tomorrow morning? I've been studying gardening in your, uh, absence. I can't do magic very well, but my peonies are growing well!"

Arthur laughed, nodding his head. "Eight it is!"

As he turned to leave, he looked back to say something. "I'll see you then, Monsieur Fleur! I forgot to water my peonies this morning!"

Arthur decided not to tell him that there was a Bluebell petal in his hair. And on his shirt. And pants. And butt. But he'd be sure to tell him about the Bluebells in his eyes tomorrow morning.

[landofsmokeandaurora]

Had a dream that I lived in a halfway home with my girlfriend, for children with 'gifts', and some gov't agency was trying to destroy us. The rest is under the cut. 

We had heightened senses of intuition, world-altering inspiration, and 'wings' - the uncanny ability to go where we were supposed to be in the world. And some sort of agency was hellbent on shutting us down and sending us back to our abusive families. They would raid our halfway home and interrogate our caretaker, looking for any reason at all to close the home. Sometimes they would figure out our real names in order to find our families and tell them where we were.

We were born in clusters, who used the halfway homes to find other members. When the families came to collect their children, I watched kids kicking and crying as they were dragged into their mothers' cars and ripped away from their cluster. I remember feeling lucky that my girlfriend was an orphan. There was no family that could tear her away from me. But I was scared of how powerless I would be if my family ever found me here.

The agency would raid our home almost every week, always late at night when the youngest ones should be asleep. But to avoid being torn out of our beds and thrown on the floor, the older kids got used to keeping watch with our caretaker, and gathering everyone in the living room before the agency arrived. Anything they found on us or in our rooms, even just an ID, could destroy our lives in the halfway home. Anything they could get us to say, or trick us into saying would destroy us. There was a cold and evil woman running the raids. She was the one who ordered the raids, contacted our abusive families, and was ruthless in her interrogations of the younger children. I hated her.

She had a constant habit of talking over people, finishing their sentences for them as if she understand what we wanted or felt. But she didn't - all she wanted was to shut us down. It was just a trick to confuse us into saying what she wanted to hear. I would get into screaming matches with her during my turn for questioning, as she tried to tell me what I felt and what I thought. I always ruined her recordings, making them impossible to understand and never giving out personal information. It earned me some physical abuse, but so did shielding other kids from the hair pulling, shoving, throwing, and other physical/verbal abuse that the agency's officers put us through.

  Anyway, this has gotten really long, and since it has no real conclusion because I woke up too soon, I'll wrap it. Turns out there is a weak link in the agency. A young woman, an assistant to the cold and harsh lady running this evil show. She didn't have the same tolerance for the violence and she wasn't as deaf to the crying and rage of the kids in the halfway home. I formulated a plan to wear her down. Early in the morning, my girlfriend and I would lay in bed and talk about her weaknesses. How could we get her to pity us? To relate to us? What could we say, during the interviews and interrogations, that would pull her heartstrings the most? This is where the dream led me, when I watched someone from my cluster get literally picked up and thrown in his mother's car, shoved in the back with these two huge dogs. And his closest friend crying at the window, begging him not to go.. That's when I knew it was past time to execute our plan. Unfortunately, that's also when I woke up.

[salarta]

For the fun of it, I’m going to post about all the cases I can remember where I stopped buying stuff from a company involved in creative works because of various things they did. Also, my history with them and current state. I could write very long posts on each of these, but my intent is to try to keep it short and straightforward.

Square-Enix

I grew up with Final Fantasy from Squaresoft. It was my lifelong fandom.

Problems arose with Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, and Chrono Trigger DS. All of these games either were ideas for new franchises forced where they didn’t belong, or half-assed projects meant to bilk money out of people. The final straw was 3rd Birthday, one of the most insulting works I’ve ever seen. It bent over backwards to ruin perception of Aya, treated her like a sex object, and the producer and scriptwriter lied profusely about things like how the clothes ripping away mechanic was for “realism.”

Current status: Starting 2010, I’ve refused to buy anything Squeenix until a new game starring Aya Brea would be made that treats Aya right and makes 3rd Birthday noncanon. Squeenix’s philosophy is to hide its mistakes instead of fixing them, so I expect I’ll never buy and engage in anything from Squeenix again.

Ubisoft

I didn’t have much history with Ubisoft. I had been starting to get some interest in Assassin’s Creed after an online pal introduced me to the franchise. I greatly enjoyed AC3.

Then, Ubisoft decided to be dicks to Patrice Desilets. A lot could be said about this, but the cliffnotes is this. Desilets was making 1666 with THQ. Ubisoft bought THQ. When Desilets left/was fired (can’t remember which), the rights to 1666 were to go back to him if it got canceled. So, Ubisoft put the game on “indefinite hold” instead of canceling it - ensuring the rights wouldn’t go back to Desilets while never actually doing anything with it. I stopped buying anything Ubisoft until Desilets got the rights back.

Current status: The rights finally went back to Desilets after a few years. I immediately bought four games: Far Cry 3, Far Cry 4, Far Cry Primal, and Assassin’s Creed Syndicate. This year, I bought Far Cry 5, and I currently have Assassin’s Creed Odyssey next to play after I’m done with Soul Calibur VI.

Soul Calibur

I’ve been playing Soul Calibur games since SCII. I’ve enjoyed them a great deal. My favorite character in the franchise is Setsuka.

Soul Calibur V is where I had big complaints. The excuse of a time jump to change the roster conveniently meant most of the female roster “needed” to be changed while most of the male roster got to remain. Including the removal of Sophitia and Taki. To Taki’s exclusion, the director claimed she was “too old” to be a ninja, yet he saw no problem with Mitsurugi, Siegfried, or Raphael returning. I played Lost Swords, but I determined that I wouldn’t play another Soul Calibur entry until Sophitia and Taki were brought back.

Current status: Soul Calibur VI just recently came out, and it brought back Sophitia and Taki, and gave them some of the respect they should’ve gotten during SCV. As such, I own this game. I’m playing it right now. 

Resident Evil

Like most people, I started with Resident Evil 2. I was never a huge fan, but I followed along with main entries up to and including Resident Evil 5.

Then Resident Evil 6 happened. A supposed “anniversary” title, it excluded Jill and Claire completely, while putting Chris and Leon on a pedestal. Other projects began to make it abundantly clear that the current team fanwanks over Chris and Leon while refusing to acknowledge the value of Jill and Claire. I can say so, so much on this, but I’ll refrain for brevity sake. I determined that after RE6, I would only buy something if it starred Jill or Claire, until they got to be the stars of a main numbered entry again.

Current status: Capcom still hasn’t done it, so this rule is still in effect. Notably, I’m skipping the Resident Evil 2 “remake” because it’s become abundantly clear that the team is treating it like a Leon fanwank with Claire included rather than an actual remake.

DC Comics

Of the two “big” superhero entities, DC is the one I grew up with. It was mostly Batman growing up, because that’s what DC was focusing on the most. But I still loved Superman a lot. I never really got to watch any of the cartoons. Never seemed to catch them. It was mostly about films. I came to greatly enjoy Harley Quinn as I got older, to the point where I read her first (in my mind only) solo series.

The first DC “reboot” of the 2010s is where things changed. I had huge problems with how they changed Harley Quinn. The design threw away her entire harlequin theme, and all the fun it meant, to make her basically look like a clown girl Joker knockoff. I dropped everything DC at that point with plan to only engage in stuff that included actual Harley Quinn until she came back.

Current status: In rare cases where I find out actual Harley Quinn is involved in something, I check it out. I watched the Batman and Harley Quinn animated movie (which sucked) in theaters, for example. The only exception I’ve made so far was the Wonder Woman film, to support female-led superhero films. I do see that there’s going to be an animated series with Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy. If that’s the start of bringing back actual Harley, I may be returning to DC soon.

Nintendo

I also grew up with Nintendo. They were the main video game provider. There’s not a lot to say in this regard.

Other M was where problems started. I actually bought, played and beat the game, and I can tell you it’s an insulting wreck. But it’s Nintendo’s behavior afterward that turned me against them. They basically blacklisted Metroid and Samus except for cases where they “had” to use her. They treated her and Metroid like a minor franchise, ignoring its anniversary, cause they didn’t want to admit they made a mistake and fix it. And there’s also Federation Force which is a whole other ball of bullshit. Nintendo’s antics there led me to refuse to buy anything Nintendo until they decided to make up for what they were doing to Metroid and Samus and treat them right.

Current status: Nintendo put out a new Metroid game and plan to release Prime 4 too. I wish I could say that’s the end of the story, but it isn’t. I’m pretty pissed still that they threw Alison Rapp under the bus for a bunch of vile assholes, and fueled more harassment in the industry. I don’t know when I’ll get Nintendo stuff again. I’m still not fucking over this.

ArenaNet

I bought and played Guild Wars when it came out. I played and enjoyed it. There isn’t a whole lot to say on this.

If you’ve watched video game news this year, you know Mike O’Brien fired Jessica Price and Peter Fries for bullshit reasons. In doing so, he fueled tons of assholes hellbent on harassing good people and forcing them out of the industry. My reaction is that I’m never touching another ArenaNet thing until Mike O’Brien is out. Because he should be forced out. He doesn’t deserve his position.

Current status: Nothing’s changed, so I’m waiting for Mike O’Brien to be gone. I don’t anticipate this being any kind of burden on me.

Disney/Star Wars/Marvel

Oooookay, this is a big ball of stuff right here. It’s gonna be hard to keep this short.

Obviously I grew up on a lot of Disney stuff, like just about anyone in the United States. Star Wars, I got into during the 90s when the original trilogy was getting released. Marvel, I saw stuff here and there but didn’t truly give a damn until 2009 when I discovered Polaris.

When Disney bought up Star Wars, they shut down Lucasarts very abruptly, with no plans whatsoever to prep the studio’s employees for its end. I found (and still find) that absolutely fucking atrocious. So, I refuse to touch Star Wars video games. I actually don’t have any criteria for engaging in Star Wars content again. Maybe that criteria will come back some day. Maybe I’ll never touch another Star Wars game. This happened in 2013, by the way.

Then Marvel. After the forced retcon on Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver’s parentage, I vowed to never buy or engage in anything from Marvel except content that’s either X-Men related or tied to Polaris, until the twins were Magneto’s kids again. Only exception I made was the Black Panther movie, to support minority-led films.

Now, I’m about to drop everything Disney - including X-Men content, Star Wars, ABC programs and anything else - because of their treatment of Polaris this past year. To treat Polaris like her only value exists in being a supporting character for the stories of men, then throw her into limbo while putting those men on a pedestal, fucking infuriates me. Disney does not deserve money or support, so I won’t give it to them. This will only change for me if Polaris gets a solo, mini or oneshot comic, or leads a team book again.

Current status: No plans to ever play a Star Wars game again. Everything’s on track for me to refuse to touch Disney content after this year, possibly for the rest of my life. Only exception I plan to make is Episode IX, just to wrap up the sequel trilogy I’ve been watching.

In conclusion, I have a lot of companies that I refuse to play, watch, read anything they offer. Sometimes, like with Soul Calibur and Ubisoft, things change for the better and I come back to it. But most of the time, it’s like Squeenix or Disney. A company treats franchises or people like shit, they do nothing to fix their mistakes, I continue to not give them money or support because they don’t deserve it.

A lot of people think this is a huge burden. It’s not. The truth is that in our world, there’s a looooooooooooooot of creative content out there. If I wanted to, I could spend the rest of my life reading all the fanfiction written just today. I’m watching 5 TV shows right now that aren’t tied to Disney, more than I watched during the 2000s. I’ve recently played Far Cry 5, Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise, Soul Calibur VI, and I’ll soon by playing Assassin’s Creed Odyssey.

I don’t need these companies to find entertainment. In some cases, I can even make my own. I can create things that these companies refuse to make. These companies need me more than I need them, because they need money to stay in business, and my money plays a role in that.

That’s my long post.