#being shot for dead really does make you jobless huh

[ringosmistress]

[ill-skillsgard]

Phoenix Rising, Part 1 - Valter Skarsgård

Title: Phoenix Rising

Description: The struggle for domination is paved with deceit and destructive lust as two enemies battle it out for control night after night.

Warning: 18+ swearing/mentions of rape/violence/femdom/DDLG leanings

A/N: This is the first and only series I’ve written with Valter in it so far. One day I will finish it. This is for all the babies riding that V train with me who miss this story. Enjoy!

I was down to my last round of bullets. The gun in my hand was a pistol and ill-suited for long distance shots. With my back up against a stone wall, I breathed in deeply and weighed my options; I could either stay there and have him come hunting for me or I could peek out from my cover to try to get a glimpse of exactly where he was located. Both options posed significant causes for a quickened heartbeat. On one hand, I could wait it out and test his patience which could buy me some time to think of a better plan, or on the other, I could risk having a bullet put in my head while I tried to put one in his. Whatever decision I made I had to make it quickly. I couldn't be sure what kind of guns he had left. For all I knew, he could have had himself a precision sniper rifle with a magnifying scope pointed right at the corner I wanted to steal a glimpse out from. If that were the case I knew that half my skull would get blown off if I risked it. But if he was left with slim pickings as I was, perhaps his accuracy wasn't all too good either. Then it became a game of luck. I knew I was just as good a marksman as him but I wasn't sure if I would be quick enough. I felt my heart start to thump loudly in my chest as I readied my gun in my hand. "Come on, bitch. Where are you, huh? Don't be scared. I'm just going to blow your head off!" I listened to him yell. His voice had an accent in it that I couldn't quite place. I gritted my teeth. Everything I wanted to say to him involved different ways that I would mutilate his genitals if I were to ever get ahold of him. If I wasn't so nervous I would have replied with how badly I wanted to shove the edge of a knife in his dickhole and give it a twist. I was better than that though, or at least I liked to tell myself. No, I would have to keep my cool until the right moment. The moment that would realize my death or be one of the most important kills of my career. "Come out, girlie. I want to see you!" He yelled and made kissing noises at me as though he were trying to beckon a pussycat from it's hiding place. "Fuck you!" I finally fired back. "Maybe I'll fuck your dead corpse." I turned my body around so that my chest was almost to the wall. Raising the gun, taking aim and preparing myself to dart out from the corner, I drew in a deep breath through my nose as a practice run. On the exhale of the next breath was when I would make my move. I couldn't hide from him forever. Once I let my lungs deflate fully for the second time, I stepped out from behind cover and saw him peeking over the mangled hood of a wrecked car. Perfect. I unloaded three shots and the recoil almost made me shut my eyes but I didn't and I held my aim as steady as possible as I dove out from behind the stone wall. I rolled low after firing and heard him yell at me. Then everything went red.

YOU WIN.

"Ha! Fuck you bitch boy! Shot you right in your fucking face!" I yelled at the TV screen. "Fuck you. Noob. Stupid bitch, you sound like you're twelve." "I still fucking raped your throat, you little bitch. Fuck! You!" I jumped up and down on my couch and laughed, the controller still in hand as the load screen to the online lobby came up, effectively cutting off our communication. I had finally won a match against Vscars. The victory was so sweet and I knew it was going to look really good after the new ranking loaded. The guy's voice kept ringing in my ears and it sounded so sweet. He was always very high up in the leaderboard fighting for the third place spot with a couple of other players that spent nearly all their time playing every day. I didn't have the time to devote to it but I had steadily worked my way up from the bottom of the leaderboard to a respectable place at about fifteenth. The more I played through the more I was determined to get myself higher up on the board. I managed to get pretty good at the gameplay and started rising higher. Then, once I broke the top ten, I started to hear the voices of the Agents of Carnage Elite. It was just a bunch of guys that sat around and played all day and night and nothing but narcissistic and sexist things to say the entire time. I liked to keep my mic off while playing but I always listened to my opponents. Their misogynistic conversations became fodder for my fiery need to vanquish them. They were all so stupid and immature-sounding and I longed to destroy them. Vscars was well-known for being nearly impossible to beat. There were three players always at the very top of the leaderboard and it was him and two other guys with just as shitty attitudes. Over the jobless days and nights, I focused on getting better and better until I was pitted against Vscars. The first few games we played he had killed me easily. I almost stood no chance against him. But he was a predictable player and I quickly caught wind of his strategy. He knew the boards well and obviously knew where all the best hiding spots were and in turn, the best hiding spots to observe said hiding spots. He would stoop down and just wait for somebody to unknowingly set up shop at one of the prime lookout locations and always found himself the sniper rifle. He would just sit there and wait, looking through the scope until he knew where you were. Then he would just shoot once when you lined up with his sight and that was it. His silly little strategy couldn't work all the time and I had finally cornered him on the board. I could still hear his stupid voice echoing in my head even as I took off my headset and logged off for the night. It was earlier than usual for me but I knew I needed to get a good night's sleep if I was going to wake up early enough to do my hair and my make up instead of one or the other. The next day I had a job interview at a store that I had been going to my whole life. It was a little shop in the corner of a plaza that specialized in buying and selling video games. It wasn't a big chain gaming store though and that was the charm of it. It was a family-owned and operated business that specialized in retro gaming. I had been trying to get a job there for the better half of my teen years and had finally landed an interview at the age of twenty-two. By that point, I still wasn't convinced that wanting a job at a video game store was for teenagers. It was more than just that. It was a store packed wall-to-wall with vintage gaming memorabilia, collectible toys, fan merchandise, and newer generation games too. Naturally, I was excited about the interview and just hoped that didn't try to challenge my knowledge of old school video games. Still feeling confident from my epic victory in Agents of Carnage from the night before, I wondered if I could bring that up as a selling point of my resume. Laughing, I dismissed the thought. The idea of sitting in front of a potential employer trying to explain to them that I had beaten one of the best players on the world leaderboard of a video game seemed silly. Yet once I was seated in front of the interviewer, I remarked that he seemed like somebody who might actually be impressed by trivial gaming prowess. Either that, or he would have a snarky remark about how it was probably just a chance shot and that the maneuver I had pulled off was nothing but luck. He had thick horn-rimmed glasses on and the speckles of scarring from a years-long battle with acne sprayed over his gaunt cheeks. He definitely fit the typical gaming nerd description. "So what would make you say you are qualified to work in this store?" He asked, trying to sound intimidating but failing in anyone's eyes but his own. Well... " I started. "I play a lot of retro games. I have an almost ninety percent completed NES collection. I like games a lot. I feel like I would be a good addition to the team because... Well, I know a lot about old-school gaming." "What about new-school gaming? Are you up on your knowledge of new releases because that's what we find people are most interested in this day and age. Not much need for people who only play classic Nintendo." I squirmed in the padded chair uncomfortably at first but then straightened my spine and asserted, "oh, I am very knowledgeable about new games. I play everything Bethesda releases and right now I'm in the top ten on several leaderboards on some popular games." "Really? Like what?" "Um... Agents of Carnage?" "You're in the top of the leaderboard on Agents of Carnage? What's your gamer tag?" "PhoenixRising. Last time I checked I was sixth." "Hm," he mused with a lame shrug. "Guess I should try that game out. You're the third person today to mention it." "It's pretty good," I said meekly. "Well, I can see here that you have other retail experience but we have a very tailored approach to selling. You will find that it's not so much like a regular store with customers coming in knowing what they want. You will have to work hard to sell things and it definitely makes a difference whether you do or not." "So, does that mean you want to hire me?" The interviewer's magnified eyes dropped down from my face to my chest and then quickly shot back up. "Uh, I guess so. I have to hire two people by noon and," he paused to look at his watch. "It's almost noon so... Sure. You can come in on Monday for orientation and the beginning of your training." "Awesome! Um, should I wear anything specific?" "Black pants and black shoes. You'll be given a t-shirt later." "Cool! Can't wait. Thanks!" I enthused, standing up and thrusting my hand out for him to take. "Uh, wait, what's your name again?" He asked as he shifted through the papers that comprised my resume. "Phoenix. I just go by Nix though. For obvious reasons." "Yeah... Like the bird." "Yeah," I snorted. "Like the bird." After the positive conclusion of my interview, I left the back room that I had been shown to with palpable confidence. That was until I noticed somebody sitting in the chair that I had sat in before my interview started. He looked like he was there for an interview as well with a grey collared shirt and black jeans. He had this pout on him that made it look like maybe he wasn't exactly happy to be there but as I walked through I saw the corner of his lips tug. He ran his fingers through the blonde hair framing his face and it all fell back down pointlessly. I couldn't help but smirk too as I passed by him. When I got home I felt like the only way to celebrate getting the job that I wanted was by sitting on the couch, turning on my TV and putting on my headset. When I logged in, all of my recently played games popped up including a notification in my inbox. I cocked my head subconsciously as it was a rare occasion I got messages from other players.

Lucky shot. Let's see you do that again I instantly deleted the message from my inbox because I usually wasn't one to engage with other players but the fact that he had reached out to me to call me out made me grind my teeth behind closed lips. I sat there on the couch with my controller in my hand wondering if I should even entertain him by sending him something back. After all, he was one of the best players on our server and I was just some girl who wanted to prove that she could beat any guy. Now he wanted to initiate a war and I wasn't sure if I could replicate my win from the night before. After a while to think about it I chose to simply ignore him and started playing something else for a little while. Once I grew bored of the game it was close to dinner time and I had to sign off to meet up with a friend anyway. I saved, logged out of my game and saw that there was another notification in my inbox. My chest tightened. "What the fuck?"  I whispered to myself as I opened my inbox.

pussy. I was just about ready to whip my controller at the TV but I stopped myself. There was something about his persistence that got me thinking about replying to him. I didn't want to just blatantly insult him but I didn't want him to think he could just go around sending vulgar messages to people just because he got beat. 

This pussy beat you. Sorry. Get over it. Instead of turning off the console as I had initially planned, I logged onto Agents of Carnage and saw that he was there too. It didn't take long for me to sit in the lobby before I got a challenge notification.

Vscars wants to challenge you! Accept? Deny? I automatically denied the challenge because I knew it would show up as a notification for him right away and it would either drive him crazy or help him take the hint that I had no desire to play with him again. I didn't log in at all, simply waited for another message from him. Instead, I got a friend request.

Vscars has added you as a friend. Accept? Deny? Scoffing to myself, I scrolled over to hit deny but instead chose to accept. "Oh, fuck," I whispered. It was too late at that point. I had accepted his friend request and that meant he could look through all of my achievements and see exactly what kind of gamer I was. That would mean he could see that I had hundred-percent completed a lot of girly RPG games and that meant I would have to prepare myself for more derogatory statements about being female.

Come on, pussycat. Let's play? Biting my lip, I decided to finally write back to him.

I'm busy. Go play with your little friends on AoC. There was almost no time in between my reply and his. I couldn't believe he was so determined to challenge me again.

But I want 2 play with U pussycat. Was this weird foreign guy getting off on my degradation toward him? It was hard to tell if he was engaging me or mocking me. But before I could go any further my cell phone started ringing and I could see it was my friend calling, probably to ask me what time I would be ready for dinner. I answered the call as I signed off completely, turned the TV off and scrambled to my room to change out of my interview clothes.

[praphit]

BP: When I think of his blackness and what he's done for me

Black Panther, baby!

I’ve been waiting for this movie for a long time! I remember the day I first saw the trailer for this movie, I was like Denzel with the one tear drop

 -          frickin beautiful. I’ve been saying that “Black Panther” is for black people what “Wonder Woman” was for women in 2017. I can remember back when WW first came out last year, I was at the coffee shop down the street, feeding my addiction. There was a girl behind the counter – I asked her for my usual.

 She replied “What so I’m just supposed to know what that is?” Praphit: “Well, I come here often, so…” Irritated Girl: “Wha, wha, what that mean? You just assume I’ve paid attention to you? Matter of fact, you just assuuuumed I’d get you some coffee this morning.” Praphit: “But, don’t you work here?” Empowered Girl who is starting to scare the Praphit: “What because I’m a woman I must be a servant huh?? Just another woman getting some man whatever he wants… that’s all I am to you?” Praphit: “…  huh” Girl who must have believed she was Wonder Woman herself: “ Did you just call me a bitch?!” Praphit: “What? No!” An angry, scary version a WW: “But I bet you thought it!”

Then, she gave me the finger, mooned me(that's right, MOONED me! - who even does that anymore??)… and then walked out. Then, came The Harvey Weinstein Storm, men scared everywhere by #MeToo, and Louis CK hiding out… possibly wherever Kevin Spacey has been hiding out. I never did see her again... I also never got my coffee.

I hope she's ok and found another job. I know Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman) is her hero, but... it's not like she's gonna feed all of the inspired jobless ladies out there. Anyway, as strange as that encounter was, I get it! Empowerment will do that to a person; it feels righteous! Now, Black Panther, baby! Black people… we’re going to have a hashtag too. Maybe #bleepwhitey… that may be a lil strong, but something! It’s coming! This movie is a big deal! - so big of a deal that white executives in Hollywood were planted in critic circles in pre-screenings to stir up bad reviews.

The white people running Hollywood were like “We’ve gotta knock this movie down a few pegs before we have another ‘storm’ on our hands! Women are already rising up…. Black people rose up recently with #OscarsSoWhite, we can’t have it happen again. What’s next??! Who's gonna rise up next??! Asians?! Latinos?! Little People?! We can’t have this?!” There’s already a belief out there that you can’t have a worldwide blockbuster with the main character being black. So, how is this movie REALLY?? That’s why your Praphit is here for you:) “Black Panther” starts out right after “Civil War” (currently my fav comic book movie:) What I appreciate about Marvel movies is how well they are written; not just individually, but how they all come together. Of course (spoiler alert from “Civil War”) the king of Wakanda is dead, and now his son T’Challa (Black Panther) is heir to take over! Black Panther as we know is played by Chadwick Boseman. I love him as Black Panther!

 Some may say he’s not aggressive enough to be king/BP, but I think someone who’s always calm, even when they’re angry is scarier than someone who wears their emotions on their sleeves. One second, you think everything is cool, and the next you’re on your back, hurting, with Chadwick Boseman smiling at you. Wakanda is beautiful! I like what Marvel did here. Marvel is really good at creating worlds that look and feel real. I'm willing to bet that some believe Wakanda is real... probably our president.

 I'm telling you,there's a speech coming up when Trump will say something like

 " We've got to make America great in tech again. I had Mike Pence go to the movie theatre to watch this documentary called "Black Panther", I had him leave quickly in protest (there were too many black and brown people there - I only bring it up because many of them were illegals..), but we had others stay and report back to me. Wakanda, this terrorist country... possibly where Barack Obama is really from; we don't know... we don't know...  but, they turned their shithole of a country into an empire with this amazing metal called "Vibranium" (Idk if you've ever heard of it, because it's AMAZING). I'm telling you, we're going to get ahold of even more Vibranium than those savages and use it to make America #1 in tech again." - you tell me I couldn't write for the prez:) Many have described Wakanda as Zamunda (another fictional nation in Africa from “Coming to America”) in the future. I think those people have it right.

 If Eddie Murphy took Zamunda 100 years into the future, and stole all of Apple’s tech (imagine how scary Apple will be in 100 years), and then came back to the present… and used this tech to create… idk… a super tech “Eddie Land”, it’d be Wakanda. They are also the leading source of Vibranium (strongest medal around this comic book universe). The plot is layered, but they make it work. I was surprised that a product of Disney would go into such deep waters. Race is of course dealt with – not only in the movie, but simply by this movie’s existence. I can remember when I was younger, the only comic book characters to dress up as or play make believe as were Superman, Batman, Spiderman, and The X-Men. But, no black characters. I mean… I could have dressed up like Storm for Halloween, but…

or it might have looked more like this -

- maybe rock a... mankini silver top, and some dark purple eye shadow and lip stick... so there was that I guess. Picture me as a little boy dressed up like that - I'd make it work. Let’s move on:) I also love how these characters are portrayed – there are lots of different cultures of black people, but all the differences in appearance and worldviews are highlighted as positives in this movie. It truly is (on a comic book movie scale of course) a celebration of black people from different walks of life. There are no dummies or potheads or gangsters – but black people are all represented as strong, smart, and capable in this movie; even the villains! Michael B Jordan!

I probably liked him more than Black Panther. His character is smart, calculated, complex and easy to sympathize with, even though he’s the main villain. As far as portraying strong women – I think “Black Panther” does it even better than “Wonder Woman” did. Again, showing the strength of different types of women. Danai Gurira (whom I’m in love with by the way… just sayin’… if somehow you’re reading this… you can find me in Bmore:)

 She has a scene in the beginning of the movie that displays courage, strength, command, and yet also warmth and beauty. It's hard to keep a strong willed woman character balanced in a story without it going in a wrong direction, or without her becoming "one note" (idk if y'all know what I mean), but the writing and Gurira's performance are perfect with this; as well as the other female characters - I'd love to see a movie with them as the stars. They also tackle colonialism, mainly through Martin Freeman.

This motha bleeper right here stole Samuel L Jackson’s part. Where the hell is Sam L?!

How you gonna have the blackest movie of the year without Sam L?!

 Anyway, Martin Freeman does a good job, but I couldn’t watch him without getting mad. Whitey! - you just couldn’t let us have one movie to ourselves could you??! This movie even tackles politics, generational black community issues, African traditions, and culture wars in the black community (again through the filter of a comic book movie, but still). A lot of this movie is about what type of king T’Challa wants to be, what type of king his people want/need, and how (or if) a nation should use its strengths to help one other nations. Marvelous (no pun intended) how they blended all of these things together. Can I talk about the sexiness??! -cuz whew! My future wife

(I also love how her character (Okoye) is so confident and committed to what she believes. She should be running Wakanda to tell you the truth)

My other future wife

(Lupita Nyong'o here as Nakia has her arm wrapped up with T'Challa here... and I don't like the way she's gazing into his eyes, but I believe I've still got a shot. That dress made me fall out my chair.)

 And many more – tons of sexiness in this movie, but not in an exploitive manner. It’s not just the looks, but the character, the ideals, the strength, the honor that adds to everyone’s sexiness.

 And it’s the men too! Even I’ve got to admit that Michael B Jordan looks damned good.

Though I couldn't find a good picture of him... you need context for what's going on with his torso (besides being jacked)... his hair messed up, and he looks like he has marbles in his mouth right now. Let me try again (not that he doesn't make that work).

There he is - with a lil nip slip action.

He's one of those men where when he walks in and steals your girlfriend or wife, you say to yourself "I understand." Shiiii, you get some drinks in you, and YOU might be leaving with him. Ladies, forget “Fifty Shades of Bullshit”, you’ve got all of the sexiness you need in this movie right here. So, you say “John Praphit, is there anything bad about this movie?” NO! Quit looking to downgrade black movies you racists! :) Nothing “bad”, but I did have a few issues. This IS a comic book movie after all, and despite the commendation I’d give this movie for veering off the typical Marvel scripted formula, I would have liked a lil more action. The action was good, but not great. Also, I would have loved more of Michael B Jordan. His character is so good! Mikey B does an excellent job making us feel  - whether it’s sympathy, hatred, or disgust in his way of thinking; he makes it happen. I would have loved to see more of his interaction with the people of Wakanda. The ending felt rushed. Not only with characters jumping from loving one another to wanting to kill one another (and vice versa), but also in CG. It’s like they didn’t have enough in the budget to crank up the last fight scene… that money probably went to Martin Freeman

 .. you rat bastard. I'm sorry. He was good, but still #wherethehellisSamL? Besides, all of that I loved this movie! Very entertaining! It was funny. It has a lot of good talking points in it. And it’s a big deal for black people! Grade: B+++ First time ever for a “B+++”!!! Originally, a B+, but an extra plus for blackness – seriously, I think it’s a game changer for not only comic book movies, but all types of movies… another stepping stone of progress. I truly believe it’ll have a positive creative impact on our youth as well. And the last plus is for sexiness, cuz.. da

 Dammit! Not you Martin Freeman! So help me!  *deep sigh* Now I forgot what I was going to say. Anyway, good stuff! On second thought... I'm going to give this movie two grades. The B+++, but also... when I think of his blackness (The king!) - the positive progressive impact that I believe this movie has and will have are too great not to give it an A My Semi Objective Technical Grade:  B+++ Blackness Grade: A The only thing that could have made it better on that scale would be if I were in it.

Makes me wanna follow in the footsteps of that now probably homeless barista.  Quit my job and march onto righteousness!

 Can’t wait for “BP2!