#can I live with the bewildering joy of knowing the one of the main characters from a Star Wars show is actually gay

[martianbugsbunny]

Idk if I'm strong enough for either canon Kalluzeb or Kalluzeb getting destroyed

[thruthetwstedlookingglass]

Headcanons please for If Lilia had a daughter from long before Malleus was born who was sucked into a portal after her mother was killed and ended up in another world like maybe fairy tale or magi (we can brainstorm about that), Lilia and company are sucked into a portal and get sent to the same world lilias daughter is in and lilia gets reunited with her and the boys meet there long unknown sister and they all meet her friends.

Sorry that this took so long! I had a hard time trying to figure out how to do this.

So, in a classic headcanon fashion, I've written out headcanons for all of the dorms. I hope that you like this, and again, I'm so sorry for taking so long

Lila's isekai'd daughter reader x dorms

Heartslabyul

• Are amazed at meeting Lilia's daughter

• Are quite confused about how his daughter suddenly comes to be in another world entirely

• Your mannerisms and habits will definitely perplex the poor boy

• Why are you acting like this?!

• Are quite amazed by your skills in this world that is foreign to him

• These boys will definitely look to you for guidance

• Be patient

• This bit of advice is meant for all of you

• You will have to explain the rules of your world to them

• Especially Riddle

• Riddle will have to learn that things are not going to always go his way in this world

• They are all very determined with his lessons from you about this strange world

• They each feel like you're a very familiar thing to latch onto

• You will have to deal with Ace and Deuce bickering... a lot!

• Cater will be recording the entire experience for Magicam when and if they get back to Twisted Wonderland

• Trey will be incredibly interested in the foods and pastries of your world

• All in all, a very interesting group to be around

Savanaclaw

• Are positively puzzled when they notice the resemblance between you and Lilia Vanrouge

• How the heck did you even get to this world?!

• While they have no obligation to Lilia, they will be very protective of you

• Even if you can take care of yourself

• Ruggie will definitely be the younger brother character to you

• Jack, while he may be the youngest of the three, will definitely be the protective older brother type

• Leona realizes that he can't be lazy in this world

• But he will definitely be intrigued by what this world has to offer

• Being as curious as he is, Leona will definitely ask questions about your world

• Be prepared for these three being absolutely RAVENOUS at the dinner table

• They are animals as well as men, so make sure to feed them a lot and well!!

• Teaching them about your world will be like teaching dogs how to roll over

• Some may catch on while the others will definitely have to keep learning

• In this case...

• Jack and Ruggie have to keep Leona out of trouble

• The lion prince is curious, so of course he's going to wander around

Octavinelle

• Have no trouble seeing the resemblance between you and Lilia

• But they are increasingly curious as to how you got to be here in this world

• Members of the "All Women are Queens" squad

• While they are not yet accustomed to the ways of your world, they'll absolutely treat you with respect

• Floyd will be hopping around like a little kid at all the wonders of your world

• Jade and Azul will definitely ask questions

• Certainly have your back

• While Azul will camouflage this as a way to gain a favor or two from Diasomnia, his main objective is how intriguing he finds you and your adaptability

• These three are probably the more gentlemanly of the groups that could find themselves in your world

• They're already quite adapted to your world and how things work

• The only reason that they want you to come with them everywhere is because they want to spend time with you

Scarabia

• Might as well be a kid and his babysitter on a field trip

• Kalim will be constantly in shock about you being Lilia's daughter

• Jamil, while at first shocked, is more interested in how you can to be in this world

• You and Jamil will exercise a great deal of patience in making sure Kalim stays out of trouble

• After some time, Jamil may confide in you about his feelings toward Kalim and may even ask for advice

• Your world has definitely given you a perspective on matters such as these

• So your insight is definitely helpful

• Kalim, of course having no clue, will be too distracted by such wonders of your world

• Kalim is a little kid in a candy store

• Being in this world is a learning experience for these two

• Jamil learns patience to a brilliant degree thanks to your guidance

• Kalim, though it's a process, learns that he needs to be cautious

• Kalim will need constant reminding, of course

• But nothing that you and Jamil can't handle

Pomefiore

• The proud founding members of the "All Women are Queens" squad

• Rook and Vil, being the romantics they are, will say that you capture all of the good aspects of Lilia

• Epel will probably be shy at first, but he will come to see you as someone he can look up to

• Be prepared for a shopping trip

• Vil and Rook want to know all about the fashion and cosmetics of your world

• While you may or may not be an expert on this, you do have fun with these three

• Vil is very interested in dressing you up in the items he finds

• Rook, at the most random of times, will verbally admire your beauty, and Vil will definitely agree

• Epel will shyly give his compliments here and there, but it will take a lot to get him out of his shell

• These three catch on to the ways of your world really quickly

• Vil and Rook, of course, soon become the fashion icons

• This leaves you and Epel a bit bewildered, but considering their looks, you two just shrug it off

• A. Lot. Of. Shopping

• You will end up having to give Vil and Rook an allowance

• Epel is seemingly the only responsible one

• These three, especially with their mannerisms, are quite a funny group to be around

Ignihyde

• Its 50/50 will Idia

• On one side, he's freaking out because he's frightened of being in this new world so suddenly

• On the other side, absolutely fanboys!!

• He's always loved reading manga about people who go from one world into another

• He's honored that he now joins the ranks of isekai'd heroes and heroines

• But at the same time it frightens the HELL out of him

• Ortho will probably be the most respectable and greet you like a human being

• He will be the one to mention to Idia about the likeness between you and Lilia

• Despite his shyness, Idia will definitely be intrigued to know more about your world

• You may have to be patient and guide him through when he gets frightened

• Ortho definitely takes the opportunity to make note of the differences and similarities of the two worlds

• He'll also be looking after his brother a bit considering how Idia can be sometimes

• Your world teaches Idia a lot about coming out of his shell, which astonishes Ortho

• Ortho is very glad to see his brother actually having fun and smiling

• Ortho learns how to let his brother try things on his own

• In Twisted Wonderland, Idia and Ortho are exceedingly close and that closeness sometimes hinders either from really learning anything new

• The two brothers are still very close, but they know that it's okay to try something new on their own every now and again

Diasomnia

• Much rejoicing on Lilia's part, especially tears of joy

• He gets to see his daughter again!!

• The other three will be in awe

• They had no idea that Lilia had a daughter

• Sebek.exe has stopped working...

• While Sebek is having a bit of a breakdown trying to come to terms with Lilia having a daughter, Malleus and Silver are actually quite curious

• Malleus himself is definitely curious about the girl who is his elder sister and wants to get to know her

• These four are DEFINITELY overprotective of you

• Even if you know the dangers of your world better than they do

• Lilia's actions are somewhat justified

• He is your father after all

• But it is very clear that Silver and Sebek are following the concerns Malleus has for your safety

• Oddly enough, you are the one to actually get them out of trouble

• Your world has A LOT to teach these four

• Malleus learns to be more open and will actually seek out opportunities to be with other people

• Silver and Sebek both learn that constant guarding and sheltering can be a bit detrimental to Malleus' social health

• So these two learn about letting things go

• This is also one of the many lessons for Lilia

• Lilia knows that you have your own life to live, but he wants to always be there for you

• This is his paternal instincts kicking in, even after so many years

• He's missed all of your childhood, and that makes him sad

• But, he couldn't be more proud of you

• He loves the strong and talented woman you've become

For all the dorms, when a way is found for all of them to go home, they want to bring you back with them. Whether you stay in this world or go back to your father's world, that decision is for you to make. And whatever you choose, these boys will respect that decision.

There we go! Sorry about that! As an isekai lover, I love thinking about all the possibilities, so that's why I did all the dorms.

[poptod]

hello! can i request something romantic with either ahk or snafu or really any rami character where y/n has round dark brown doe eyes? like so dark brown they look black if you’re not looking at them in sunlight? and he’s just flirting with them and he says something nice about their eyes? i have round dark brown eyes and i’m kinda insecure about them cuz they’re so common, and it’s been one shit-show if a week for me and i really just need to feel good about myself

notes: damn, i can totally do that for you. hope your weekend is much better than your week :) thank u for requesting and i hope you enjoy it !

WC: 2k

+

Life never worked naturally to your advantage. You were born average looking – nothing special on either side of the spectrum, with average hands and common dark brown eyes. You grew up poor and worked your ass off to get into a good college on a scholarship, eventually getting kicked out for something you didn't even do. You auditioned to be part of an orchestra, but there were too many violinists already, and you just 'didn't fit the profile'. You tried to be an artist, but no one liked your creations. You tried to pick up another instrument, but you couldn't afford a good one, and the last time you tried to buy a cheap guitar, the neck broke on the third use.

Because of these many happenstances (and the many more, less mentionable ones), you considered yourself unlucky. It was a fact of life for you as much as the sun's existence in other peoples lives, or that the superbowl was too long. Or guacamole wasn't good. Fortunately, the years of nothing ever coming naturally had made you into a fantastic worker, and by some rare stroke of luck, you found you were rather good at physical labor jobs. You weren't strong by any standards – in fact rather weak – but your attention to detail made you the janitor of a prestigious museum you visited twice as a child.

It wasn't a fantastic job, and the poor pay led to having five roommates, but you enjoyed yourself. You tried to do that in every aspect of life; finding the joy in menial tasks, or solace in duty. After all, you got to see wonderful recreations of history in the still wax figures, and learn heaps of knowledge from the many information panels you came across when making your way through the museum. The only truly unfortunate part of your job was the time – right after closing, but you had to finish quickly, as you weren't allowed inside at night. A stupid rule, but the night guard and Dr. McPhee were insistent on it.

They thought you didn't know about the exhibits.

They were, obviously, wrong. You knew, and you adored the magic behind it all. While you hadn't actually ever seen any of the exhibits come to life, you watched the news on an evening where the exhibits broke out, and with your knowledge of the Tablet curse, you pieced the mystery together.

You hadn't meant to take this long. McPhee was already pissed at you for 'accidentally' skipping over the men's restroom yesterday, and taking too long at your job would land you on thin ice, something you couldn't afford. With a hurried pace you finished sweeping the floors in the last room, storing the broom away and moving on to mopping. Checking your watch once more, you noted the time, mentally checking if you would be able to finish before closing hours.

Mopping the Egyptian room usually takes five to ten minutes, and closing is in two, you thought, despair settling in your stomach. What would you do if you 'found out' about the tablet? What would McPhee do if he found out you knew? He wouldn't fire you, would he?

You truly didn't know. He was a bit of a loose cannon when it came to those things.

As fast as you tried to move, the hours of night came faster than you could mop, and the tablet began to glow behind you. Bewildered you turned, watching with your mouth slightly parted as the glow grew to the radiance of the sun. You knew the tablet brought the magic, but you didn't know about the glow – now that you were witnessing it yourself, the only thing you could feel in your pounding heart was fear. A fear that only grew worse when the Pharaoh's sarcophagus began to rattle.

You'd thought about the wax figures coming to life. You thought about the dinosaur. You, however, did not think about the 4,000 year old mummy.

Needless to say, you bolted. Leaving behind your supplies, you ran as fast as you could, wind pounding past your ears as the sound of a lion's roar came from the neighboring hall. You grit your teeth and made for the main entrance, but by the time you got there many of the exhibits had adjoined in the main room. Pressing yourself against the locked door, you watched with wide eyes as the Teddy Roosevelt statue began to talk to Attila, and in that moment you realized that perhaps magic was not always good. Not when you were spiralling into a panic at least.

It took a couple hours of you staring into space before anyone actually noticed you. To your surprise, it wasn't the night guard, or even McPhee – it was a Pharaoh, skin and everything intact. His crown remained polished upon his head, a stark difference from the crowns on exhibit, whose colors and carvings had faded long ago.

"Hello," he said with a pleasant, polite smile as he knelt, matching the height of your seated position on the floor. "Are you a new exhibit?"

You looked down at your clothes. Janitor clothes.

"No," you said, and instantly his demeanor changed.

"Oh dear," he said, and though you agreed with that statement, you certainly did not agree with him grabbing your wrist and dragging you into the crowd.

"I don't really want to be doing this," you said in a shaky voice, but he did not answer.

As he dragged you through the crowd you kept your eyes closed, wary of overstimulation of both ears and eyes. He eventually stopped at the top of the stairs, where you opened your eyes to find the night guard, Larry.

"What are you still doing here?" Larry asked almost frantically, looking between the dancers below and you.

"In my defense I didn't want to be here, I knew about the magic and I don't – I didn't ever want to actually see it," you half-lied.

"How the hell did you know?!"

"You don't do a very good job of covering it up, Larry," you said flatly, your voice still cracking from nerves.

You didn't have very many friends. Your roommates didn't talk to you much, and the life you had outside of work consisted mostly of quiet, indoor hobbies you could do just about anywhere. So, once the whole of the situation was sorted out (with input from McPhee), you took your drawing pads and notebooks to the museum with you, working for the first few hours and drawing into the hours of night while watching history come to life.

Despite your original discomfort of being in the presence of a 100% authentic, come-to-life mummy, you became rather good friends with him. Not fantastic, and he didn't know very much about you, but he was kind and handsome. You hated to admit it, but he held your avid interest. Another one of those unlucky things in your life – of course you had to fall in love with an immortal, reanimated mummy who only came to life at night.

"Why don't you ever come dance with us?" Ahkmenrah (his name, apparently) said as he sat down beside you on the loft, the only barrier between you and a fifteen-foot fall being a stone rail.

"I'm afraid I'm not all that good of a dancer," you said, not bothering to look up from your sketchbook. You couldn't ever bear to look at him that long anyway.

"Neither am I," he laughed. "That's the point."

Instinctively you looked up at him, holding eye contact with his grey eyes for only a second before you looked away, a blush already making its way to your cheeks. He had the opposite of your life – lucky beyond belief. The favorite of his parents, completely immortal, completely beautiful, almost too wealthy, and many, many friends, including yourself.

What got you the most however was his eyes. Cold eyes were already praised in modern society – people loved grey, they loved blue and green. But in Ahkmenrah's society, the one that existed thousands of years ago, blue eyes hardly existed. The mutation for the new color was one in a billion back then, making him one of the (probably) three people on the planet with blue eyes. And now that lucky mutation stood before you in its purest, oldest form, and you couldn't bear to look at them for any longer than a solitary moment.

For some reason, it hurt you. Maybe because you were boring. Dull. Brown in a brown society. Sure, they looked beautiful in sunlight – you knew that. They turned into swirling gold and the taste of chocolate, but Ahk couldn't see them in the sunlight. That made you dull.

Now, Ahkmenrah was not a man to point things out about people. If they were being a dickhead, yes, but most of the time he noted things and dismissed them. But you'd been doing this for so long that he grew weary of the dance.

"Why don't you ever look at me?" He asked, a question that had your eyes widening and your back straightening, alarm bells ringing all over your brain.

"I look at you plenty," you said while avoiding his gaze like a 15th century doctor avoids respecting women.

"No, you don't," he said softly. "Not even now. I wish you would – you've got such beautiful eyes."

Your sketching stopped at his words. At your silence he placed his hand on your jaw, tilting so you looked at him. Instead of meeting his gaze you looked to the floor.

"They're very common," you got out weakly, still unable to make eye contact, but he kept you where you were, in the easy sight of him. "They only look good in the sun."

He shifted closer, keeping his hand on your jaw in hopes of you changing your mind and meeting his eye.

"Even in darkness they're beautiful, voids as empty and long as night," he hummed, drawing closer yet till you could feel the heat off his body on your still fingers. "I've noted them quite a lot. Eyes are a beautiful thing, aren't they?"

"Yours are," you mumbled, barely catching the meaning and insinuation of your words before they came out.

"As are yours. Remember when we snuck into McPhee's office? The lamplight bounced off of them and they practically glittered like the embers and smoke of a fire," he said with a small smile. "And the bright lights in the hallways –"

Florescent, you thought.

"– and the candle lights that Nick brought, those flicker with that same spark within you. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"

You couldn't move, stuck in place and stuck in your own head.

"The golden fireplace, Christmas lights – and the light of the moon, a dim, faraway light that can only be admired from a distance... like you," he murmured.

Sometimes you forgot his people were poets and admirers of nature.

"You have blue eyes," you whispered through the knot in your throat. He listened carefully. "And... I can see reflections in them. They're soft, like velvet. Despite everything, they.. you seem... happy. You always seem happy, and your eyes give it away."

"Have you ever kissed anyone?" He asked quietly, and in that moment you realized his nose was almost touching yours.

"No," you answered honestly. Another unlucky aspect of you.

"Neither have I," he said before he leaned in, pressing his lips against yours in a tender embrace you weren't at all expecting.

From both the view of the first kiss and of a Pharaoh's kiss, you weren't prepared, but the plush of his pink lips against yours sent sparks of delight into your heart. He moved slow, taking his time to map out your aspects just as you began to trail your hands over his open palm, memorizing the creases. You were reluctant to part, but he ran his hand through your hair and your brain short-circuited into placitude.

"You have the softest lips," he murmured, hand coming to cup your cheek once more.

You never applied aquaphor or did anything to make your lips soft.

Maybe it was luck.

Didn't really matter to you, because he kissed you again, and your eyes fluttered shut as everything in the world but him faded away.

[the-river-person]

F.A.Q.

AO3 HERE

Who are you?: I am a person. I live in a boat that is on the river. I am The River Person. If you must, you can call me River. He/They is fine. 

Do I actually have enough followers to warrant a F.A.Q. Page?: No. But I’m doing it anyway cause I will forget.

Can I send you asks?: Sure. Here are the Guidelines.

When do you update?: I’m not great with schedules. Its whenever I feel like it. But I’ll try to be fairly regular.

Can I repost your story?: Um.. No. You may reblog it all you like. In fact, go wild. Reblog the whole story across Tumblr. Or the Ao3 link. I love that. Good. Do it. Reposting = Bad. Reblogging = VERY GOOD. Likes = *finger guns* to you too.

Do you like so and so ship? No Fontcest, Incest ships, or child ships. If you send me asks about things like that, or tag my work with it, I will block you. Go away. But I enjoy some of the Sans AU ships. Of course Alphys and Undyne. Maybe Errorink. Also something called Nicepants? Nothing NSFW. Idk. Ships aren’t really something I have much interest in.

Do you do writing requests?: Send in an Undertale related prompt and If I’m inspired enough I might write some small piece for it. Even if I can’t or don’t feel like writing that for some reason, well... asking won’t hurt.

What is Aeontale?: Its an Undertale AU and the first story of a series I’m working on. The world starts out pretty close to the Undertale world we know, and begins to diverge over time. You can read the full thing on my Ao3 account (see link above).

Can I draw Fanart of your story?: Sure! As long as you tag and credit me for the AU, don’t use any of the ships I warned against above, and keep it SFW... then knock yourself out. I’ll probably cry out of bewildered joy for fanart.

Can I make an AU based on Aeontale?: What? Like how Underfell was based on Undertale, then other Fell AUs were based on that? Mmmmm. Lets wait until I’ve finished the story first, okay?

Can I include your AU characters in MY fanfic story (Comic, etc)?: Currently only Mistral Sans is Community Shared. However there might be more characters in the future you can use.

Wanna do an Undertale Collab with me?: Dunno. Depends on the project. DM me and we’ll talk.

Do you have other AUs?: I have some ideas for them, yes. Also some plans for one shot stories and some other bits. But one thing at a time.

Do  your stories have Dark Themes?: Sometimes. I like Psychological Horror, some violence, emotional suffering, death, reflections on mortality and immortality, and whatever the trope would be for Gaster’s unfortunate accident with the falling into the Core thing.

What is the Rating of your blog?: There may be some minor swearing, perhaps blood and death as mentioned above, but no excessive gore. Trauma, and mentions of things such as depression and occasional mental illness. There will be some romance, as I feel it necessary to the narrative, but I’m not hugely into ships so it won’t be a main focus. There will be nothing NSFW (explicitly sexual) ever, though brief non-human and human nudity might be mentioned in passing as a matter of course.

Do you tag triggers? Will you tag this trigger for me?: On the occasion something big pops up, I’ll try to tag it accordingly. If you need me to add a tag, do not hesitate to send me an ask requesting it. 

My question isn’t on here?: Send me an ask. Fastest way to get things done. I don’t bite, promise.

Want to be friends?: I’ll gladly chat with you, providing all interactions remain pg. I’m quite the friendly Monster. But this is still the internet and I don’t actually know you, so I do still have to be careful. I probably won’t be sharing any personal info about myself. Doesn’t mean I don’t like you, I just gotta be careful, you know? Thanks for understanding.

[ellewritesfix05]

Trick & Treat

Characters: Sam x Reader

Word Count: ~2.5k

Warnings: Fluff!

A/N: halloween fluff! This is based of this request by @marilynh21 . Hope you like it, sweets! ☺️💜

📸 cred: to rightful owners

Here’s my full Masterlist if you’d like to read more!☺️

Stepping out of the bunker, you adjust your favorite scarf around your neck. The leaves of the trees surrounding your new home are gathering on the ground; beautiful, warm colors dancing in your vision. A smile adorns your features, you’ve been waiting for this time of year for what feels like an eternity. As a hunter, there are only a handful of things that you need to be happy; your boyfriend, Sam, autumn, and a good book.

Unlike others you know, you don’t need eccentricities to fulfill you. You never have. That’s one of Sam’s favorite things about you - the fact that, despite everything you have to deal with, your happiness never truly falters. It’s infectious, he says, pure sunshine. Little does he know that’s not always the case. You have your moments, as everyone does, but when the man you love loves you back and happens to be one of the sweetest, smartest, kindest hunters in the world… it’s easy to let the bad things go and focus on the good.

You climb into the passenger seat of the blue Dodge Dart, one of Sam’s favorites from the bunker’s garage selection, and lean in to give Sam a kiss. His lips immediately curve upwards, he’s always so glad to see you. Just getting back from a week-long hunt with Dean, Sam wanted to take you out on a date to celebrate a good hunt. As the car exits the long driveway and turns into the highway, you look out the window, admiring the way all those reds, oranges, and yellows blur past you. You feel a warmth enveloping your hand, turning to see his fingers entangled in yours. He always did things like that, always needing to keep some sort of contact with you even if you weren’t exactly interacting in any other way. And you were more than happy to oblige, feeling an array of butterflies in your stomach every time.

It’s been nine months since you and Sam began dating; three weeks after you first met him, to be exact. Never one to hunt in groups, you’d found yourself in the position of saving him and his older brother when a couple werewolves got the drop on them. Shortly after witnessing an impressive show of skills and badassery, if you did say so yourself, Sam had asked for your number — in case either of you needed any help. Not long after parting ways, you found yourself texting the tall Winchester nearly 24/7. Three weeks later, you happened to be passing through Kansas which prompted him to ask you to go see a play at the Lebanon Community Theatre, and, well, the rest was history.

Now, you are inseparable and “insufferable,” according to Dean. Although their mother, Mary, definitely disagreed as she welcomed you into their family with wide-open arms.

Pulling into the cafe’s parking lot, Sam gives your hand a squeeze, “you okay, babe?”

“Yeah,” you chuckle, “I was just remembering the night we met.”

“Ah, you mean the night you saved our asses?”

“Pretty much,” you laugh.

Climbing out of the car, Sam walks around to open your door and offers a hand to help you step out with him. Keeping a hold on your hand, he guides you to the entrance of the town’s little cafe. One of the perks of living close to a small town was the accessibility to quaint, personalized cafes like this one. The owner/barista knows you and Sam by now, since you always love to pass by for a coffee or hot chocolate before whatever Sam has planned for the rest of the evening.

You look out the window, smiling at the costumed children passing by on their way to the next business participating in the main street Halloween celebration. Before long, a steaming cup of coffee is placed in front of you and Sam. He tells you all about the hunt, a brand new witch that frankly couldn’t tell the difference between a rat’s brain and her own, and you laugh as he describes the ridiculous things she attempted against them which ultimately resulted in her own demise.

Soon enough, it’s dinner time and Sam takes you back to the car, which you find unusual since the restaurant he said you’d be dining at is only across the street. You arch an eyebrow in question at Sam and he smiles.

“Change of plans, we’re going back to the bunker.”

“Why…?” Now that you notice, he’s behaving rather oddly. Fidgeting and tripping over his words, in a very unlike-Sam manner. Well, unless he’s lying, but he wouldn’t lie to you… would he?

“Just, uh, I forgot my wallet.” His smile is nervous and you narrow your eyes in suspicion but shrug and comply anyway. Maybe the lack of sleep was catching up with him?

On the drive back to the bunker, the sun sets, turning the sky into a breathtaking fresco of orange, purple, and blue hues. Every time you look over at Sam and he catches your glance, he chuckles. You can’t figure out what the matter is with him, though now that you think about it, perhaps it has something to do with the fact that it’s Halloween, probably his least favorite holiday. Unfortunately, that’s where you both differ - you love Halloween, even if “everyday is Halloween” for you, as Sam once said. It’s a shame. You simply live for the holiday, the whole autumn season really, but Halloween is just always so fun. People carve pumpkins to make jack o'lanterns, the air always smells of apples, you watch your favorite movie, Ghostbusters, and the best part is everyone dresses up to go trick or treating or have fun at parties.

Well, everyone except for you. At least for this year. As much as you love to dress up, not being able to do so with anti-Halloween Sam kind of puts a damper on the whole thing. Where’s the fun in being the only one to dress up, especially when you were only supposed to go out for dinner and then back to the seclusion of the bunker? You love the place but the fact that it’s not exactly next door to the main town area makes the whole “going out on Halloween” thing not seem as fun.

Your train of thought is interrupted when Sam stops the car in front of the main entrance.

“Do you want me to wait here while you get your wallet?” You ask.

“Actually, would you mind getting it for me? I think I twisted my ankle and it kind of hurts to go down stairs,” Sam requests sheepishly.

Hesitatingly, you nod and head to the entrance. You look back over to Sam and he waves at you. Waving back, you go to enter the place. As soon as you do, you’re put off by the darkness inside. Even when you all go on a hunt together, there’s always at least one light on. Cursing under your breath you reach for your phone to turn on the flashlight app. You walk down the stairs carefully, and head for the big light switch at the bottom of the stairs. Pulling it down, the bunker buzzes and light slowly begins to illuminate the place.

You jump as voices yell “Surprise!” behind you. Bewildered, you turn to find your hunting family gathered on the steps between the war room and the library. Jack and Mary stand closest to you, both dressed as what you can only describe as wacky doctors, oversize stethoscope and giant head light included. Donna waves at you excitedly, standing next to Jody in their police uniforms. Dean, of course, has opted for a cowboy look, and somehow convinced Cas to do the same. While you’re speechless with joy and excitement at the sight before you, you can’t help but look for those beautiful hazel eyes you love so much.

You’re about to ask where he is when you hear his voice, “Happy Halloween, baby.”

You look over to your left, only to find Sam standing at the entrance of the hallway that leads to the garage. He walks towards you, the pack on his back jiggling along and you can barely contain the tears as he offers you a matching costume: a ghostbusters uniform.

You jump to his arms, giggling excitedly at the surprise you’ve just received. Sam twirls you in place and the group behind him smiles wholeheartedly. Setting you down, he leans towards you and captures your lips in a sweet, gentle kiss. You can hear “oooh’s” and a wolf-whistle, which make you chuckle against Sam’s lips.

“I can’t believe you did this,” you tell Sam as you fully take in everything they’d done. On the war table are 10 pumpkins, as well as carving tools. There is a large tub of water containing apples, presumably to get everyone bobbing for apples. On top of that, there are strings of lights with little orange pumpkins instead of lightbulbs, accompanied by black and orange streamers.

Sam places a hand on your lower back as he leans down to whisper, “anything for my love.”

The butterflies in your stomach are working overtime. You thank him silently and he places a kiss to your temple before you walk over to the rest of your hunting family. Hugs are exchanged, and the moment the group parts, you become even more excited as you see a full Thanksgiving-esque feast laid out on the library tables, which have been pushed together to fit everything and everyone. Your cheeks hurt from how wide your smile is but you don’t care. Just when you thought you wouldn’t have your Halloween, Sam had made sure you had everything you needed and wanted.

Running down the steps, you grab the Ghostbusters costume that Sam had placed down on the war table and hurry off to change. Once done, you head back to the library where Sam awaits, having saved a spot next to him for you. Chatter and Halloween music fill the room, everyone buzzing with excitement and joy as food is passed around and thoroughly enjoyed. Every time you look over at Sam, he smiles and grabs your hand, lifting it to his lips to lightly kiss your knuckles. As the night wears on, you can’t wait to get started on the games. Jack suggests starting with bobbing for apples and you jump at the chance. Not to brag, but you are freakishly good at it.

Everyone gathers around the war table and you prepare yourself to dunk your face in the tub. Grabbing your hair in one hand, you dive down and can hear clapping and wooing muffled by the water. Within seconds you emerge, red apple in your mouth only to find that everyone has moved out of your line of sight. Rubbing the water off your eyes, you turn to see where they went and freeze.

Right in front of you is Sam, the rest of the group behind him. He’s down on one knee, long fingers holding what seems to be an engagement ring. The group behind him smiles widely as they hold a sign that reads, “Marry me, Y/L”

Time slows down as you try to process the scene, teeth still firmly holding on to the apple in-between them. You look directly to Sam’s hazel eyes and see a sparkle like you’ve never seen before.

He smiles and starts, “Y/N, I mean it every time I say you are the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I know we haven’t been together that long, and I know that, as hunters, our life expectancy isn’t the best… but, I also know that having someone like you in my life is all I’m ever going to need. I love everything about you. I-I love how peaceful you look when you sleep. I love the little dimple that forms on the side of your mouth when you’re concentrating on research. I love the way that you hum when you’re getting cereal in the mornings, and the fact that, no matter what, you always manage to stay my bright sunshine. I love you so much, and I would be honored to have the opportunity to spend the rest of my life by your side. So, please, tell me you want to spend the rest of your life with me, too.”

Sam’s hazel eyes are boring into yours, eagerly asking for an answer to his sudden proposal. You nod fervently and a sob escapes your lips as you let go of the apple in your mouth yell out “Yes!” in response.

Sam lets out a breadth he seems to have been holding, an expression of relief quickly followed by pure happiness paints his features as he stands in front of you. You stand on your tiptoes and press your lips to his. Sam wraps his arms around your waist and lifts you into his embrace, twirling you in place. The room erupts in cheers and excited claps. But they all seem muffled as all you can really feel, and register is Sam’s touch. His arms around you, his soft lips dancing with your own.

He breaks the kiss and lets you back down, reaching for your left hand to place the ring in your finger. You know most people would be looking closely at the ring right now, but all you can do is admire Sam. His hair hangs down, covering some of his face but you can still see the beaming smile, the glimmer of love in his eyes.

He stands upright and brings your hand to his lips once more, it’s then that you see the diamond sparkling in the bunker’s dim lighting. It’s simple, yet beautiful — a princess cut jewel with a gold band. It looks familiar, and it takes a moment to realize.

“Wait, is this… ?” You look over to Mary, who is widely smiling and nodding. It’s her ring, the one John gave to her all those years ago.

You shake your head and begin to take the ring off, “I-I can’t take this, Mary. It’s your-“

“Yes, you can!” Mary immediately places a hand on your own to stop you. “Like I told Sam, I couldn’t be happier that you’re joining our family and it’s important to me that you take the ring. You’re one of us now. I had no daughters to give a family heirloom to before, but now that I do, it means the world to let you have it.”

You look to Sam, who nods slightly, and immediately wrap your arms around Mary. You’ve heard everything about them, Sam told you their entire life story, so you understand just how important it is for both of them.

“I can’t thank you enough, Mary,” you whisper.

“Just take care of him, Y/N. He deserves to be happy.”

The rest of the night continues to become your favorite Halloween ever — the games, the laughter, the fact that Jack somehow managed to carve a pumpkin with you and Sam as the design.

But even then, none of this compares to the best part; you and Sam, taking tonight as your own. The beginning of a beautiful life together.

****

If you’d like to join any of my taglists, let me know which one here!

Forever Loves Taglist 🖤

@deanwanddamons / @hobby27 / @spnchick1996 / @briagallen / @downanddirtydean / @vicmc624 / @justanotherblonde23

Sam Darlings Taglist ♥️

@austin-winchester67 / @supernaturalgrandma / @stoneyggirl / @wiserainbowgirl

[xmanicpanicx]

INTERVIEW: EMILY A. DUNCAN, AUTHOR OF WICKED SAINTS AND RUTHLESS GODS

These are dark times we’re living in, and dark times can call for even darker books. New York Times bestselling author Emily A. Duncan’s 2019 series opener Wicked Saints is pretty dark, filled as it is with holy wars, paganesque gods, blood magic, bleak settings, and mysterious cults. Can anyone be trusted? Probably not. I had a chat with Emily (@glitzandshadows​) about the second installment of the series, Ruthless Gods, which, incidentally, comes out today.

MM: Without getting too spoilery, what can we expect from Ruthless Gods? How will it be different from Wicked Saints? EAD: I like to say that Ruthless Gods is the last 90 pages of Wicked Saints, but this time for 500+ pages. It’s weirder, darker, and also a lot slower (I grew up on fantasy doorstoppers and I immediately went back to my roots with this book haha). There’s a bewildering amount of blood, eyes where no eyes should be (and also teeth? at one point? it’s fine), a lot of intense conversations, and a lot of kissing. It’s different because Wicked Saints leaned into a lot of YA tropes that we all know and love, albeit turning them slightly. Ruthless Gods does not do that at all. Rather I ignore most YA conventions because I wanted to do something else! I love Ruthless Gods a lot, it’s a bizarre book that was extremely hard to write but very satisfying to have written. MM: One concept that especially fascinated me from Wicked Saints was the possibility of “ascending into godhood,” that so-called divine beings could have originally been something else and could have acquired so much power, they came to be regarded as gods. That concept can have some parallels to our own world. Did you do that on purpose, or was this just an ultra-cool idea exclusively for the world of the trilogy? EAD: It wasn’t really a concept I got out of any kind of research, rather it made sense for the structure of the world and for what was driving the characters (well, two characters in particular) forward. I find it an interesting theological discussion in a fantasy context! And I find it interesting as a motivator for characters. I’ve always loved stories of mages reaching for too much power (Dragonlance! The Legends trilogy about the Majere twins in particular) and what better way to get too much power than to ascend to godhood? MM: If this trilogy were to be turned into a TV series, who would be your dream cast? EAD: I’m going to turn this one on its head because actually I would want it to be animated. I think it would work so well animated. Like “Castlevania” but with an Eastern European flair to the art style. Also I have no facecasts. I have a lot of Eastern European models that I think at certain angles with the right lighting look like the characters though. And Anya Taylor-Joy does look like Nadya, I will grant that. MM: What was it like to write a sequel? Furthermore, what was it like to write an entire novel and have to do edits on a deadline? How did that compare to the experience of writing Wicked Saints? EAD: Extremely difficult! Incredibly hard! I had 18 months to write this book and I took every single second of that! Wicked Saints was actually written very quickly. I wrote it in a few months and had it revised and ready to query before a year had passed. Ruthless Gods was just a different beast altogether. It wasn’t even necessarily the pressure, more just that I knew that what I wanted to do would require me to level up as a writer and I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to manage it. I think I did though? Absolutely would not have been able to do it without my editor and her willingness to suffer drafts that were just complete messes. MM: In an interview last year, you stated that one of the main takeaways of Wicked Saints was that it is okay to question things. Is there a new takeaway for Ruthless Gods, or does it build on the theme that is okay (and even good) to challenge power structures? EAD: I would say it builds on that theme. A lot of Ruthless Gods is breaking down what we thought we knew as truth in Wicked Saints, and realizing that maybe everyone is a little bit wrong and a little bit right on both sides of the war because maybe there’s more to everything that none of them are seeing. Does that make any sense at all? Rather, to use a more succinct example, in Wicked Saints I give you two very defined magic systems. Ruthless Gods is about shattering that notion completely.

*combusts with excitement* Well, there you have it, folks! Wishing Emily and everyone else all the best in the midst of this pandemic. 🙂

[revlyncox]

Dreamers (2021)

Working toward a better world, a world of racial justice and an end to interlocking oppressions, requires imagination. On this weekend when we remember the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., let's also consider both the history of civil rights and the unbounded creativity of speculative fiction by writers of color as sources of inspiration. 

Expanded and revised for the Washington Ethical Society, presented January 17, 2021. 

“We are creating a world we have never seen,” writes Adrienne Maree Brown in Emergent Strategy. On this weekend, as we remember the legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., support a peaceful transfer of power, and recommit to his legacy and the work of civil rights yet to do, it may seem like a luxury or a distraction to engage with imagination. It is not. Just like we cannot allow oppression to steal our joy, we cannot let it steal our imagination. Neither threats of violence, nor attempts to push us into re-creating a fictional and regressive society of the past, nor manufactured austerity preventing relief from reaching working people, nor white supremacy in any form should be allowed to steal our imagination. Our ability to dream of a better world is a matter of collective survival.

What does it take to dream big? What fuels our ability to imagine a future without limits like racism, classism, and sexism? Entering a dream state where equality is possible takes some practice. Music can get us there. Listening to activists who are moving our society forward can help us get into that frame of mind. Great art can invite us into that kind of transformational trance.

Dreaming is important. Dreaming gives us creativity, energy, and a warm vision around which we can gather a community. Dreaming is not enough. Once we have imagined a better world, we have to (we get to) build it, to keep building it, and to rebuild the parts that got torn down when we weren’t paying attention. The next step is to use those dreams as a doorway to action.

Dr. King’s words and actions demonstrated connections between systemic racial inequality, economic injustice, war, threats to labor rights, and blockades to voting rights. All of those forces are still relevant. He and the other activists of his era left a very rich legacy, for which we are grateful. We are not done.

I’ll be drawing today from Dr. King’s 1963 work, “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” (Also available as an audio file from the King Institute.) I think the critiques he offered in that letter are still valid, especially for us in this community that strives to be anti-racist and yet must acknowledge that we are impacted by the norms of what King calls, “the white moderate.” His letter was a response to Christian and Jewish clergy, who had written an open letter criticizing nonviolent direct action. Though Ethical Culture uses different language and methods than our explicitly theist neighbors, I think it is incumbent upon us to hold on to the accountability that comes with being part of the interfaith community. So I believe this letter is written to us as well. Dr. King wrote:

I must confess that over the last few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the … great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizens Councillor or the Ku Klux Klanner but the white moderate who is more devoted to order than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says, “I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can’t agree with your methods of direct action”; who paternalistically feels that he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom; who lives by the myth of time; and who constantly advises [us] to wait until a “more convenient season.” Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.

I would like to think that, in this community, we have made some progress since 1963, and that majority-white communities have stopped explicitly trying to slow the pace of civil rights. Indeed, WES can be proud that racial justice has been woven into its goals from the beginning, though we must also be honest that a perfectly anti-racist history is unlikely. At the same time, I see people who claim to be progressive rushing to calls for “civility” or “unity” without accountability. Understanding the direct link between the intended audience of this letter and the people and communities with which we have kinship today is an act of imagination that we must embrace in order to learn from the past and to continue Dr. King’s legacy. “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” can help us understand why we need to dream of something different in the world.

We need dreams and we need plans. We seek inspiration as we continue to work toward bringing a dream of economic and political equality fully into reality.

One place I turn for inspiration is toward socially conscious science fiction. Looking at how the art form has offered critiques of what’s wrong and pathways to what’s right, I see suggestions for how we can nurture the dream of a better world.

Science fiction has even helped me understand spiritually-connected social movements, such as the one depicted in Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler. The series depicts a self-governing poetic community that tries to live sustainably in an environment affected by catastrophic climate change, and that maintains an improbable vision of exploring the stars. The poetry uses the word God, but not in the way that it is normally used. Recognizing that WES is not a community that makes use of theism, I hope you’ll be able to hear how that metaphor is used in the world of the story. In Parable of the Talents, the main character, Lauren Olamina, writes a poem for her community:

God is change

And hidden within change

Is surprise, delight,

Confusion, pain,

Discovery, loss,

Opportunity and growth.

As always, God exists

To shape

And to be shaped 

(Parable of the Talents, p. 92)

In the book, the community that reflects on change in meditation and song is able to use that energy to maintain resilience, even in the face of white supremacist violence and criminalization. Butler imagines an inclusive community led by People of Color who strengthen and encourage one another, inject their strategic planning with an expectation for backlash, and still imagine and make their way toward a better world. Her books provide inspiration to those who know that the negative extremes of the world of the story are possible.

Socially conscious science fiction spins dreams that are extreme, that challenge us in good ways. In science fiction and in practical experience with progressive movements, we learn that dreams need help to become reality.

The alternate universe where justice rolls down like water may seem too fantastic to believe, it may be cobbled together in ways that seem mis-matched to mundane perceptions, and it will certainly take work to achieve. Nevertheless, like Dr. King, I believe “we must use time creatively.”

Dreams Are Extreme

The first thing to note about dreams, whether sleeping or socially conscious, is that they are extreme. Things that would be totally absurd or unthinkable in everyday reality are woven into the fabric of a new vision. The dream might be a positive one, in which we imagine what it would be like to live in a better world. On the other hand, dystopian dreams can also be effective at stirring us to action. In an imagined world, we are met with the possibility that a flaw in our current society might go too far. Absurdity comes uncomfortably close to the truth.

Dr. King spoke about the role of discomfort in “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” saying that nonviolent direct action is meant to bring that discomfort to bear so that those in power will sit down and negotiate, to recognize people of good conscience. This is different from using violence as coercion, which is destructive to democracy; this is using peaceful means to declare the right of people to have a voice in what concerns them. Dr. King writes:

Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and establish such creative tension that a community that has consistently refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored. I just referred to the creation of tension as a part of the work of the nonviolent resister. This may sound rather shocking. But I must confess that I am not afraid of the word “tension.” I have earnestly worked and preached against violent tension, but there is a type of constructive nonviolent tension that is necessary for growth.

Tension has a place in literature and drama that can also be used for racial justice. I once served as an intern at a regional theater. In one of the plays we presented that year, the plot hinged on something unexplainable and highly improbable, which is one definition for science fiction. It was the 1965 play Day of Absence by African American playwright Douglas Turner Ward. In the story, white citizens of a racist town awaken one day to find that all of the African American residents have mysteriously disappeared. They slowly come to realize that they cannot function without the neighbors they mistreated and took for granted. Rather than try to solve their problems, they spend the rest of the play panicking and blaming each other in comedic ways.

Between the satirical script, the exaggerated makeup, and the abstract set, the show turns reality inside out in an effort to alter the audience’s collective conscience. Day of Absence shines a spotlight on the links between racial oppression and economic oppression, and is an incitement to join a movement for change. Consistent with the Revolutionary Theatre aesthetic, the play is meant to make people uncomfortable. We should be uncomfortable with the real systems of inequality parodied in the play.

It worked. Audiences were uncomfortable. Some patrons were able to take that discomfort and use it to grow. Some patrons were not ready to deal productively with their discomfort. For art or spirituality or dreams or anything else to offer the chance for transformation, creating the opportunity can’t wait until everyone is equally ready to begin the journey.

One goal of satire is to take something that is true and to exaggerate it until the truth cannot be ignored. When that something is oppression, making art that can’t be ignored and suggesting a justice-oriented overhaul to society is going to seem extreme to some people.

Speculative fiction by writers of color, even when not satirical, can also use exaggeration for a positive effect. The 2019 HBO Watchmen series explored this, creating an alternate history that lifted out problems with racism and policing in our own timeline. The Broken Earth trilogy by N.K. Jemisin explores extremes of climate change and identity-based exploitation, and weaves in glimpses of generational trauma between parents and children trying to survive in a society that rejects their wholeness. Extremes in literature can reflect back to us the plain truth.

Similarly, a dream that draws people together for the hope of a society that is very different from what we have, a dream that re-imagines the future of justice and economic opportunity, is going to be considered extreme, which is not a good thing by some standards. Every time there is a popular movie or TV show in the science fiction/fantasy genre that uses multiracial casting, and every time a speculative fiction novel by a writer of color receives sales or awards, there are claims that social justice warriors are running amok, or that trends have gone too far. Allowing for multiracial imagination is considered a violation of balance, a bridge too far. Inclusion is considered extreme, rather than a tool for bringing imagined futures into being.  

Dr. King explored this critique of extremism. In “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” he expresses some initial frustration at being labeled an extremist for his peaceful methods. It seemed that any movement toward change was too radical for the white moderate clergy. But the status quo was not and is not acceptable. Dr. King writes:

So I have not said to my people: "Get rid of your discontent." Rather, I have tried to say that this normal and healthy discontent can be channeled into the creative outlet of nonviolent direct action. And now this approach is being termed extremist. But though I was initially disappointed at being categorized as an extremist, as I continued to think about the matter I gradually gained a measure of satisfaction from the label. Was not Jesus an extremist for love: "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you." … (Dr. King gives a few more examples before he goes on.) So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice? … Perhaps the South, the nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremists. (paragraph 24)

I believe the nation and the world are in need of creative extremists. We need dreamers. We need bold playwrights, courageous writers, and artists who cannot be ignored. We need the power to imagine a more just and radically different future.

Dreams Need Help to Become Reality

Another point that connects science fiction with visions of equality is that dreams need help to become reality. We hear often that “the arc of the universe is long, but it bends toward justice,” but the unwritten part of that is that actual people have to do some bending. Dr. King wrote about that, too; though he uses “man” in a way that was common at the time to mean people of all genders, and he invokes his own religious tradition, we can all hear the collective responsibility in this passage. In his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” Dr. King wrote:

Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co workers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation. We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right. Now is the time to make real the promise of democracy and transform our pending national elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. Now is the time to lift our national policy from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of human dignity. (paragraph 21)

We can and should have hope. We still need to act according to our values. No act of encouragement, no vote cast, no letter written is a wasted effort. We must use time creatively. In the case of arts, literature, and entertainment, we must also use time travel creatively. Progress does not happen by accident.

Nichelle Nichols, who played Lieutenant Uhura in the original Star Trek series, spoke about the creation of her character and why she chose to stay on the show. None of it was an accident. When she first met with Gene Roddenberry, she was in the middle of reading a book on Uhuru, which is Swahili for freedom. Roddenberry became more convinced than ever that he wanted a Black woman on the bridge of the Enterprise. Nichols said:

When the show began and I was cast to develop this character – I was cast as one of the stars of the show – the reality of the matter was the industry was not ready for a woman or a Black and certainly not the combination of the two (and you have to remember this was 1966) in that kind of role, on that equal basis, and certainly not that kind of power role.

Nichols was also an accomplished singer and stage actress. The producers never told her about the volume of fan mail she was receiving. She was considering leaving the show to join a theatrical production headed for Broadway, when she was at an event (probably a fundraiser for the NAACP, but Nichols doesn’t remember clearly) and was asked to meet a fan. The fan turned out to be the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He told her how much he enjoyed the show, and that it was the only show he and his wife allowed their children to stay up late to watch. She told him that she was planning to resign. “You cannot!” he said. Nichols goes on:

Dr. King said to me, ‘Don’t you understand that you have the first non-stereotypical role in television in a major TV series of importance, and you establish us as we are supposed to be: as equals, whether it’s ethnic, racial, or gender.’ I was breathless. ‘Thank you, and Yes, I will stay.’

Nichols’ decision to stay had a ripple effect. Whoopi Goldberg said that the first time she saw Lieutenant Uhura on television was a major turning point for her as a child. Mae Jemison, the first African American astronaut in space, spoke about Uhura as an inspiration. Stacey Abrams is a fan.

The inner workings of a TV show with cheesy special effects, beloved as that show may be, might seem inconsequential to the future of human rights. I maintain that anything that expands our ability to dream of a better world is necessary. Stories that give us building blocks for change make a difference. And representation matters. People are hungry for diverse, respectful, innovative stories. Representation increases the chances that someone from a marginalized group can get the resources to tell their own stories rather than relying on the dominant group to borrow them. In this age of communication, it is possible to engage people from all over the planet in a conversation about our shared future. The trick is that we have to work to make sure all of the voices are included. The dream of a better world needs people who can make it a reality.

Imagination is key, and it is a starting point. In Emergent Strategy, Adrienne Maree Brown writes:

Science fiction is simply a way to practice the future together. I suspect that is what many of you are up to, practicing futures together, practicing justice together, living into new stories. It is our right and responsibility to create a new world. What we pay attention to grows, so I’m thinking about how we grow what we are all imagining and creating into something large enough and solid enough that it becomes a tipping point.

Earlier, you heard another quote from the book, in which Brown names the Beloved Community that we can use imagination to grow ourselves into. She names “a future without police and prisons ... a future without rape … harassment … constant fear, and childhood sexual assault. A future without war, hunger, violence. With abundance. Where gender is a joyful spectrum.”

Brown frames this imagined future world, this Beloved Community, as a project of both imagination and community organizing. A better world is possible.

Conclusion

The arts, in particular science fiction, can ignite a kind of a dream state. By using time and time-travel creatively, we can envision a world of justice, equality, and compassion. We have yet more ways to craft stories and plans that respect the inherent worth and dignity of every person. The dream of economic equality, the dream of equal voting rights, the dream of equal protection under the law all need foundations built under them.

If we wish to count ourselves among the dreamers, let us take action. We can continue to build coalitions with partner organizations of other faiths and cultures. We can send representatives to workshops and meetings, and listen carefully to their findings when they return. We can read about dismantling oppression and share what we find with each other.

This community is a place where we can dream freely. Let us use time effectively. Let us enter into the powers of myth, creativity, and art to imagine a better future. And then let us work and plan to make that better future come to pass. May our dreams refresh us and energize us for the tasks ahead.

May it be so.

[letmetellyouaboutmyfeels]

I just spent hours going through the search results for ‘meta’ on your blog, and there’s so much interesting stuff there, and it’s way too late at night now, but it was so worth it. Anyway, I love your leverage meta and was wondering if you could talk about the leverage crew interacting/working with others? (ie two live crew job, the last dam job), especially when they’re allies and/or people they’re actively working against in different scenarios (like chaos)

First of all, thank you so much nonny, that means so much to see that you appreciate my meta! I put a lot of thought into it and it gives me such joy to see that others appreciate my rambling and overthinking about fictional characters. Truly, you have made my evening. ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ 

Second of all, this is such an interesting meta question and I’m excited to answer it!

Oh man, if anybody was in any doubt that the Leverage team are hugely protective of each other, their interactions with their allies would blow that misconception out of the water. Note that I’m not including Sterling in this because that would be a whole post by itself and I personally don’t see Sterling as an ally. He’s been their ally at times but they’ve never really trusted him--he’s more like a comfortable antagonist. But anyway.

When the team has to deal with an ally, or team up with anyone really, they close ranks. Mr. Quinn is a bit of an exception since Eliot has no personal beef with him (more on that later) but Tara, Chaos, Archie? Slamming the fucking door in their faces. Maggie is the only real exception (gonna tackle her last). No matter how many squabbles might be going on, no matter if the rest of the team wants to strangle Nate with a piano wire (in a loving way), once someone else is introduced, they prove what a family they have become by uniting as one and going, and whom the fuckst might you be?

Let’s start with the longest ally relationship they have: Tara

Tara was, I think, a great addition to the team. I think she really challenged them and in ways that they needed. Eliot, Hardison, and Parker all quickly latched onto Sophie as a mom figure (in different ways--Eliot behaves like an oldest sibling with her, he’s old enough not to need her anymore but he knows he can turn to her if he needs her and she’s his ally when they’re making decisions, but Parker heavily relies on Sophie for guidance). Having Sophie ripped away from them forces them to stand on their own two feet more. It forces them to deal with Nate themselves instead of using Sophie as a shield. And Nate, well, we all see how he falls apart without Sophie and tries to blame her when it’s really himself.

The team closes ranks around Tara immediately. Nate doesn’t kick her to the curb for two reasons only: they need a grifter, and Sophie trusts Tara. Tara’s beautifully unapologetic behavior (insisting on getting a profit from their jobs, not babying Nate) doesn’t help in keeping the team at arm’s length, but Tara knows her worth and knows they’ll come around, and sure enough, they do.

Oddly enough, Tara’s really great for the team because they prove to themselves that they really are a family by her being there. Season one’s theme, as stated by the producers/writers, is all about family, and in season two we see the team really internalize that and realize that it’s true, they are a family. Through the adversity of losing Sophie and having to adjust, they recognize what they have truly become.

(I would argue that this is also the season where the OT3 realizes how deep their feelings for one another are as a result, but that’s another post for another time.)

By the end of the season of course we see them accept Tara as a friend and ally even if they’re loathe to admit it because all the members of the team are loathe to admit when they’re wrong about something. But their interactions with Tara show the team how they’ve become set in their ways, in their dynamic, and makes them question why, and makes them realize what a family they are.

Which is why it’s such a beautiful ending with Nate going to jail and the feeling of betrayal when they realize he’s not coming with them--they’ve spent all season going oh shit, we’re a family, we’re really in this together, okay, and then to have Nate make his plan without them and to abandon them even if you can understand that he did it to protect them...

So yes, the team’s interactions with Tara basically show them what a family they have become and set the entire thing up for Nate’s sacrifice at the end of the season, bless you Tara, you queen, I’m single, please call me.

The other ally that the team has that they’re automatically sort of forced to accept (the way that because of Sophie they were forced to accept Tara) is of course Archie.

That motherfucker.

Look Archie is a charming bastard but he’s still a rat bastard and I will punch him in the face if I ever meet him and y’know what he’ll probably understand. The fact that in The Last Dam Job we see him say to his bewildered daughter “that’s my daughter” about Parker, proving that he STILL, after EVERYTHING, hasn’t introduced Parker to his family? Ahaha. We are in a fight, sir, we are in a MASSIVE fight.

Archie only appears in one other episode but like Nate’s dad shows us so much of who Parker is and why she’s the way she is. We’ve got Parker’s family backstory, her asshole father whom she killed, but there’s still a big gap between that and how she became a thief, and Archie fills that gap. And the way the team reacts to him is fantastic because the only one who closes ranks around him is Nate.

Nate, who also has a rough relationship with his father, Nate who treats Parker like his own daughter, Nate who mentors Parker into becoming a mastermind. Nate who was also a father. Nate hates Archie, because Archie should’ve helped teach Parker to become a person, and instead he taught her to become a weapon.

Hardison, Eliot, and Sophie? They are extremely protective of course and they are not fans of Archie, but they are a bit busy getting Parker to safety, they respect how important Archie is to Parker, and they are proud of Parker. They know who and what she is. They know that Archie will see the proof in the pudding.

But Nate, Nate is so goddamn offended, and I think this is the moment he realizes that Parker really is like family to him, and really takes responsibility for her growth. I think this is the episode where Nate goes, oh, she’s going to be my successor. Parker is going to be the new mastermind.

It’s so great to watch as Nate’s the one knocked off-balance by an ally, rather than the OT3, showing his hand more than the others.

Then there’s the other main player during The Last Dam Job: Chaos

Oh Chaos. We all love to hate you. Chaos is absolutely everything that fuckboy nerds often are, the thing that makes women hide their love of geeky things, he is the gatekeeping asshole that thinks nerds are still the most oppressed class and probably goes on rants about fake geek girls.

The seething hatred that Parker, Hardison, and Eliot have for Chaos is hilarious but understandable, but what’s interesting is how nobody in the team seems surprised by what an asshole Chaos is. Sophie and Nate just kind of roll their eyes at him. Eliot’s angry at Chaos for Parker and Hardison’s sake. Hardison feels that his professional pride is offended, that anyone would ever consider Chaos and Hardison to be in the same category, and he’s angry at how Parker is treated by him. And Parker is pissed off by Chaos’s objectifying comments.

But none of them seem surprised.

You know the moments when the team is taken aback in disgust by someone, we see it all the time when a team member realizes just how awful a mark truly is. Even Nate has his moments where you can see him actively wondering if maybe he should just scrap the whole plan and throw the mark out the window. But with Chaos, it’s par for the course.

Because sadly, very sadly, as I said--Chaos represents what we expect nerds to be.

Okay so brief history recap, the whole ‘nerds get bullied’ was a thing that absolutely happened for a period of time back when reading comics and science fiction was considered lowbrow. Comics were for younger children, not high schoolers, fantasy writers were considered hack writers (you can read Ursula K. LeGuin’s excellent essays on the matter), and in fact a lot of parents thought reading comics and science fiction and the like was bad for you. Then when computers first came onto the scene, they were very new and difficult to navigate. Something parents are finding nowadays is how damn easy it is for their young kids to navigate and use electronic devices, and so kids will often, to the horror of their parents, get onto social media sites and see things they shouldn’t because the parents didn’t realize how easily their child could access and learn to use these things. Because back in the ‘80s, it was a lot harder to navigate the internet and computers. So if you were hugely into them, you were an outlier.

But those days of comic books, science fiction, and computers being things that only fringe communities got into are LONG gone. Women have always been a part of those communities although, surprise, nobody wants to mention it, and they’re even more so nowadays. Even when Leverage was being filmed, superheroes were cool! Several Batman movies had been wildly successful, the Sam Raimi Spiderman films had been box office hits, Lord of the Rings had won A MOTHERFUCKING OSCAR. In fact, it SWEPT THE OSCARS.

Geeks and nerds were no longer someone to laugh at and bully, especially straight white male nerds. And yet, these sad excuses for human beings continue to whine and bully and show their true racist, misogynistic, self-centered mindsets by insisting that they are bullied and ignored and can’t get dates because of their “nerdy” interests.

Newsflash: it’s not because of your interests, it’s because you’re assholes.

Chaos represents that. He is the WORST kind of nerd, and unfortunately, probably the kind of nerd that gets into the criminal world because he has a superiority complex and a chip on his shoulder. So if you watch the crew, they’re all pissed off by him, but none of them are surprised by him.

In fact, that’s why they recruit him for their team in The Last Dam Job!

Chaos tried to murder Sophie, he tried to murder Sophie’s old friend, he makes derogatory and objectifying remarks about Parker, and it’s all EXACTLY par for the course for hackers. Hardison is the hacking exception. He’s a gentleman, he’s black, he’s emotionally mature and aware, he’s thoughtful, and his “age of the geek, baby” catchphrase isn’t bitter and plotting “oh how I shall make you all rue the day you bullied me” it’s ecstatic and fun. He knows that the people who don’t appreciate his skills will come around in time. He’s not going to be an asshole about it.

The team recruits Chaos for the job not just because he’s the last person that their enemies will expect but because if they went out to find another hacker, they’d run into people who were just like Chaos in personality and behavior. Chaos is, at least (and ironically given his moniker), a known evil, he’s someone they understand and therefore can to a certain degree control. The team goes damn easy on him during this job. They could’ve taken the opportunity to make his life MISERABLE while he was distracted working for them. But they didn’t. They just roll their eyes and make quips about wanting to kill him.

Note that the other people in the Two Live Crew Job, the hitter and the thief, are treated very much as novelties. Eliot and Parker seem amused by them like they’re shiny new toys, but we also get the impression that they’re glad to see the back of them because the shine of these new toys would wear off rather quickly. Meeting someone who’s exactly like you is fun for a short bit but it can’t last--you’re too alike for any kind of relationship (platonic, romantic, or otherwise) to work long-term.

Chaos is hated by the team and they absolutely close ranks around him. Eliot and Hardison don’t even take their eyes off him and Eliot tells Mr. Quinn to do the same. The whole team works to keep Chaos away from Parker so that she doesn’t even have to deal with his presence. But given the insane revenge that the team has planned against others who’ve tried to kill them, and especially given that the last time someone made Parker upset Eliot and Hardison literally offered to kill the man, it’s unusual that they let Chaos off so easily. And it’s not out of a sense of “you’re our ally” honor. They screw over Sterling when he’s supposed to be their ally as well (although Sterling is also screwing over them, so...) so it can’t be that.

I honestly think it’s that they feel that Chaos is one symptom of a disease. He’s one type of cancer in a long, long line of cancers. Knock him down, and another incel asshole is gonna take his place.

So why bother? Why bother, when instead they can just keep Chaos on a tight leash. Better the devil you know, and thanks to his inability to shut up and his ego, they know Chaos very, very well.

Then we have Mr. Quinn, who is very interesting in that he’s one of those instances where you have to read into Eliot’s silences to get a lot about him. Now, unlike Moreau, I’m not saying that Quinn and Eliot were ever a thing. They could’ve been, sure, but I don’t personally get that vibe from them. What we get from Quinn is a window into how the rest of the criminal world sees Eliot.

Now, we learn in The Girls’ Night Out Job what the criminal world thinks of Parker. “You’re the Parker?” People know of Parker and how crazy she is, even if they don’t necessarily know her gender. We get a lot of what the criminal world thinks of Sophie, from Sterling to British nobility to everything and everyone in between. Hardison doesn’t have as much of a repuatation yet but as I’ve stated elsewhere Hardison is twenty-two at the start of the series, he’s still establishing himself, even in the relatively young game of hacking. But other than Damien Moreau, we don’t really get a huge look into what people think of Eliot (and Moreau isn’t even a proper look at Eliot the professional, he’s a look at Eliot the person, but I’m not recapping my entire goddamn Moreau/Eliot meta it’s under my tag y’all can go find it).

So Quinn is our one foray into how Eliot is seen by the criminal world, and the overwhelming emotion is: respect.

Unlike Chaos, or even Parker and her counterpart from the Two Live Crew Job, Quinn and Eliot respect each other and don’t take anything personally. They sort of accept that they’re on opposite sides out of a sense of honor--staying loyal to the person writing their checks--but it’s nothing personally antagonistic. And we see this with the other hitmen that Eliot tangles with 90% of the time. There’s no personal beef, it’s just doing their job, (and we get hilarious exchanges like Eliot being frustrated with amateurs, “how are you gonna improve,” etc), and that’s extremely fascinating considering how very personally Hardison, Sophie, Parker, and even Nate take it when they’re up against someone of their own field.

It all, for me anyway, harkens back to the talk between Sophie and Eliot in the boxing ring about Eliot’s rage and violence, and how he explains that he doesn’t let it own him and he has it under control. Being a hacker is who Hardison is, being a thief is who Parker is, being a grifter is who Sophie is (and that’s part of what spurs her season two journey to find herself), and Nate, well, we all see for five seasons how Nate struggles with his sense of identity. But Quinn and other hitter allies show us that being a hitter is what Eliot does, it’s not who he is. Eliot is a chef, he’s a boyfriend, he’s a lover, he’s a protector. He separates his identity from the job and it’s incredibly healthy of him and he’s possibly the only one of the team who can do that and I think that’s absolutely fascinating and another way in which the Leverage writing team uses Eliot to deconstruct the trope of the violent small-town white army boy hitman and blow it up to smithereens.

Because normally, Eliot would be the person most married to his job, the person least in touch with his emotions, the person constantly tempted by violence and to lose himself in his role. But instead he can walk away from it. In fact he wants to walk away from it, he wants to distance himself from the violent person he became and the things he did, he wants to become someone new (and did, when he fled Moreau and Toby taught him how to cook).

Mr. Quinn is our key to going, oh huh, hitters and bodyguards, ‘retrieval experts’, they don’t identify themselves with their jobs the way the other roles do, and that sets up a really interesting dynamic and I love it.

Finally, we have arguably the most interesting ally, which is Maggie.

A quick note on Maggie: While she is an ally, Hardison, Parker, and Eliot seem to view Maggie as separate from most of their other allies because she’s Nate’s ex-wife. Tension with Maggie comes more from Sophie and Nate. Eliot does flirt with her and score the date with her but the moment he realizes who she is he seems to go on the date purely for spying purposes for Nate--her being Nate’s former anything immediately puts her in this special category for the OT3 where they’re more excited to watch Nate responding to her than they are anything else. The OT3 don’t see her as any kind of threat--they rightly recognize that any interpersonal issues attached to her are Nate’s to deal with, and the OT3 have always been good about detaching themselves from Nate’s problems, calling Nate out on them, and not taking on Nate’s problems like they’re their own.

And I love how they write Maggie. She’s an ally who’s a civilian and the team treats her differently as a result. The OT3 want her for juicy information on Nate. She’s never once treated like a harpy, like a bitch, as a one-dimensional prop for Nate’s backstory. Sophie likes and respects Maggie. Maggie is a foil to the team because she reminds all of them of Nate’s fallibility, and she really shows them how they’re seen in the eyes of the public. She likes them, she’ll even join them occasionally, but she doesn’t 100% endorse them, and the team knows it, so they use her judiciously. In The Last Damn Job they use her precisely because she’s not a criminal, and you know that the team would welcome her into their lives if she wanted it, but also maintain a distance out of respect. They all adore Maggie, they find her fascinating, and it’s such a delight with the way ex-wives or ex-girlfriends are usually written.

They say that to really know a person, you have to know their friends and their enemies. And that holds true in this show. To see the status of the team, you have to look at how they treat their allies and their enemies, and so through seeing their allies, you see the team better. And I love that. A+ writing.

So those, nonny, are my random rambling thoughts on the team’s allies! Sorry it took me a few days to get to this, I hope you enjoyed it!

[almondbiscotti]

Top 10 Netflix Watches in 2020

A roundup of my favourites from what I’ve watched this year on Netflix.

 1.       Alice in Borderland

I only recently finished this (in like 2 days) and it is the best thing I watched this year. 10/10 will recommend, will pine for season 2, will attempt the webtoon even to keep my obsession at bay.

If you have not heard of AIB, you must be living under a rock. Or don’t have Netflix which is close to the same thing. The premise of AIB is that 3 friends suddenly find themselves in an alternate Tokyo where all the residents have mysteriously disappeared. They quickly realise they have to play pretty sadistic games to in order to survive and lives are dispensable. It has elements of Battle Royale (hey, also Japanese! The Japanese have some serious issues.) but I found AIB more engaging and suspenseful than Battle Royale because unlike Battle Royale which can be thought of as one long killing game, AIB is a series of many, extremely stressful but shorter games that aren’t just about killing each other.

What works so wonderful for AIB is the storytelling. It has AMAZING storytelling. How the characters progress from stage to stage and the mystery behind this “country” they’re in is kind of slowly revealed, how there are parallels with Alice in Wonderland, the playing cards, the excellently fleshed out characters. *Chef’s kiss* Chishiya is my favourite character. LONG LIVE CHISHIYA! I don’t care if everyone else dies but CHISHIYA MUST LIVE.

There are things I didn’t like about it, but it’s less to do with the show and more to do with Japanese acting/dramas in general. I find it very unnatural when the characters give very dramatic outbursts or attempt to act gangster-ish but I find this is very common in most Japanese shows. So I like to believe it’s a cultural thing. I also didn’t like the pointless skin showing and sex. I mean, we get an entire scene where a girl in a bikini fights a katana wielding mad man. But I think it might be more because it was adapted from a webtoon and it’s just adapting the anime style? And EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER has a depressing backstory, like every single one has some weird ass issue. (Tell me it doesn’t sound like Battle Royale.)

But overall, AIB’s winning combination of great world building, excellent storytelling and likeable characters, makes it my favourite in 2020.

 2.       Kim’s Convenience

I’ve talked about Kim’s Convenience before so I shall not go too much into it. It’s great, just watch it. If only for Appa. Just watch it for Appa. Appa is best. I love Appa.

 3.       Kingdom (S2)

I started on Kingdom quite a lot later than most people. Mostly because I’m a coward and horror is well, horrifying. So I watched Season 1 about 1-2 weeks before Season 2 was released. Must say I’m glad I did cos hello cliff hanger much?!?!

S2 was great too. Has all the elements I loved in S1. Excellent storytelling, the suspense, the build up, NO ROMANCE (makes it a frickin unicorn in Korealand), believable villains but the thing I enjoyed the most about Kingdom is the relationship between characters. SO PURE. SO REAL. SO AMAZING. MUST PROTECT.

The one thing I didn’t like was how the damn characters like to do this thing where they’d just freeze and AIIIISIH FFFFFFUUUUCCCCKKKKK and draw out the suspense when a literal tonne of zombies are coming for them. Like dude, RUN. But no. They will pose there like fucking idiots for like 2 minutes while the zombies come closer and closer till FINALLY, someone goes “RUN, YOU FOOLS” before they move a muscle. It’s nonsensical, it’s frustrating but it happens in every damn Korean show so… I’ll give it a pass. It’s not the show, it’s Korea.

No news if there will be a season 3 but there is a special episode being released next year, a side sequel of sorts. So… yay?

Still, IS GREAT. WATCH IT. LOVE IT. DESPAIR WHEN IT’S OVER.

 4.       Queen’s Gambit

This baby made chess sexy. How it did it, I have no idea. But 10/10 will recommend. It made chess so alluring, I downloaded a damn app and played 2 games and remembered how much I sucked at chess and promptly deleted the app again.

Anya Taylor-Joy is beautiful. Will recommend just for her face alone. And the beautiful cinematography. Beautiful, the whole thing is just beautiful.

I didn’t like the guy that played Benny though. Seriously what a weird casting choice. Dude is supposed to play some devil may care gangster but he looks like he’d fall over if breeze came by.

I think what makes Queen’s Gambit so appealing is that you see Beth succeed and rise up, then falls dramatically down but she comes back and triumphs over her chess opponents and her own issues. It’s essentially a story of overcoming adversary, of triumph. Gives you hope. Gave me hope. Made me want to play chess. Made me watch entire Youtube videos explaining the chess games featured in it. I’ll say that’s a win.

 5.       Sweet Home

My (and apparently the rest of the world’s) latest obsession. Well, my obsession is actually less the show, more just one character/actor.

CHA HYUN SOO IS A PRECIOUS BEAN THAT MUST BE PROTECTED AT ALL COSTS. So frickin precious, with his broomstick spear and mismatched socks. I. LOVE.

But honestly, it is a pretty good show, my obsession with Song Kang (the actor) aside. The world building in Sweet Home was pretty well done, characters were compelling though as with Kingdom, characters do the same thing where they just stand there and freeze when danger is about to descend on them. Seriously, I lost count of the times I yelled HELLO FOOL RUN!??! at the screen. If the Spanish have magical dicks, then Koreans have idiotic legs.

I think the director/writer made a deliberate decision not to explain how the infection (if it’s even an infection) occurs, how monsters can be defeated or if they can even be defeated, and how the monsters’ abilities/traits are determined. And I enjoyed the mystery of not knowing and could understand the characters’ despair better because they were just as bewildered as me. (Me being me of course went to read a bit and it is explained more in the webtoon the show is adapted from but, I like to think the two are different.)

I find myself comparing it to Alice In Borderland quite a bit. Might be because I watched them one after another but also, the main characters share such similar traits, they even look similar. And with that comparison, AIB won. AIB has better storytelling and pacing. But Sweet Home has more characters you feel for and more deaths you care about. I cried a FUCK TON watching Sweet Home.

It’s good. Would recommend. If only to stare at Song Kang’s perfect face. 😊 Oh oh oh and the Soundtrack is also 10/10.

 6.       Derry Girls

I did not expect to like Derry Girls as much as I did. This was supposed to be a mindless Circuit Breaker watch for me but it was SO FUNNY! I related so hard to the characters because I was from an all girls catholic school in my youth.

Each episode is a bit of a standalone so you don’t even have to watch the episodes in chronological order. But they are all SO DAMN FRICKIN FUNNY. That’s what I loved the most about Derry Girls. It’s just funny. Watch it if you want something to make yourself happier.

Also, Irish accents are LOVE. That alone is worth the A grade.  

 7.       Criminal United Kingdom S2

Depressing as fuck but so engrossing. It’s literally watching a mystery unfold. The acting is also 10/10. Though the episode with Kunal Nayyar (Raj from BBT) made me very uncomfortable because I couldn’t unsee Raj.

What makes Criminal even more amazing is that there is only one set, an interrogation room. So the show can only rely on the writing and acting to be good. And it is really really very good. Not light watching but feed your soul with the excellent artistry.

(S1 is just as good as S2. 100% will recommend the entire Criminal Series TBH. France, Germany and Spain all are good.)

 8.       Teenage Bounty Hunters

CRACK. 10/10 SOLID CRACK. The show is as ridiculous as the title suggests. But I enjoyed it because it was so engaging! Storytelling was great, characters were great and IT WAS SO FUNNY. Great light watching. 😊

 9.       Dirty Money

ALSO DEPRESSING AS FUUUUUUUUCK. But I learned so much from it. Will not recommend watching it all at one go but it was hella educational. I feel like it opened my eyes to many things.

 10.   Dr Jason Leong Hashtag Blessed

SO FUCKING FUNNY. Nuff said.

[bluewithpurplepolkadots]

I love ATLA and am currently right in the middle of book 2 in my rewatch but honestly it’s kind of sad because I’m also re-reading some Harry Potter at the same time.

Deathly Hallows is a story where the trio have to travel both in the magical and muggle world instead of remaining in Hogwarts. It was a risky move for a tried and true formula (even if book six was shaky). But it still could have been good instead of the boring load it ultimately was. 

We could have had the trio really explore the Wizarding world. We could  perhaps have seen things we only ever got told about second hand in earlier books and even met people. Maybe even make the whole Beaubaxtons and Drumstrang inclusion in Book 4 mean something if they’d dipped their toe elsewhere outside of Britain. It could have been great. They even mentioned Voldemort getting a horcrux from abroad. (The diadem). Why not pursue that.

Instead we’re stuck in a tent with them poking mushrooms. And in fact the most interesting story was apparently at Hogwarts anyway despite us leaving it.

Oh such wild joy.

We do get some things outside the boring camping trip- like the gringotts break-in attempt and the horrible trials against muggleborns. There’s also brief random interlude of snatchers. 

Like the ministry plan was frustrating because it seems like Hermione and Ron do all the work and Harry watches but at least it wasn’t dull. But like could we not have had the trio run into and help I don’t know, some people who are smuggling muggleborns/blood traitors and their families off to wizarding France or something instead of them sitting and doing fuck all in a tent. It also means that whole snatchers scene and being taken to Malfoy manor would feel less random and contrived. You know if they were doing things against them or had to pursue them after people are captured.

Also: a reason ATLA worked so well was because of the amazing friendships formed in the group and how their losses affected them: but also because we saw a world which was interesting, full of other people and seemed worth saving. It was complicated and messy and in the grips of a long war and also felt real. Harry Potter’s Wizarding World? Not even close. We’re stuck with Hogwarts being fleshed out properly and that’s about it. But even some places in ATLA which were only around for one episode still felt real and important- at least to the people who lived in it. They were places that could exist and you’d feel invested in  as you visited them. Were there some duds in ATLA? Sure. (Hi Avatar Day). But overall this seemed to be true at least 95% of the time. There was quite often someone to connect with or be interested in outside of the main band. Even if just for a little while.

If Wizarding Britain is (apparently) bereft of ideas: you could have Hermione find out that Beaubaxton’s or Drumstrang’s library has the potential book they need to perhaps figure out how to destroy horcruxes or something or perhaps set them on the right path. They go there. Or maybe they have to contend with continental europe’s folklore and creatures. Maybe this book’s location is the wild clue Dumbledore leaves rather than that whole useless deathly hallows thing. Hermione went to effing wizarding france in the early books. She probably knows french too. Malfoy is a french word meaning bad faith. Voldemort is basically a french word too. The diadem was in eastern europe for a time. All this stuff could have meant something. When there perhaps they find baslisk venom is the thing (instead of Hermione knowing straight off before the adventure) and that maybe in cool damp conditions basilisk venom lasts a long time. Off to hogwarts and the chamber they go! Then we get to see some (just a glimpse) of hogwarts as they get the fangs instead of obsessing over the sword (which only is an option thanks to basilisk venom guys!!) like losers. We have the whole locket scene happen in the chamber and it’s like a creepy retell of the chamber. Have GINNY stab the damn thing like as her catharsis and revenge perhaps while Harry is utterly overtaken by what it says.

Other ideas:

Have the trio at points learn things that war perhaps shows them. Like maybe a similar lesson which can be learned in the episode Jet. That the enemy of your enemy isn’t always a friend and also maybe what being a traitor really means in so many ways in this world where people are being snatched out of their beds and families broken apart. There may even be some jerks on their side like those earth kingdom soldiers who bully a town in Zuko alone. Who knows.

Basically an over-reaching arc with smaller stories wouldn’t have been a bad idea for this sort of book. It would have stopped things becoming so unspeakably dull.

And hell, just like in ATLA, sometimes they might just be passing through a place or a character was only around for one episode but they felt like real people with real problems. Maybe a nice family takes them in even for a time! (Make it a nice muggle family with no magical connections for bonus points who just see these three kids in need. I could imagine a rather bewildering middle of the book which seems like some peace before the oncoming storm) Perhaps there are consequences to that. Perhaps they have to be saved. Hell have a muggle kill a death eater! It would be cool!

It’s a book about wizards. We were never going to get a Sokka but could we at least get something like that kid Zuko meets in Zuko Alone. Or the freedom fighters and Jet. Or even that ignorant if well meaning earth king. A well prepared non-bender can take down a bender. Can’t see why muggles can’t do the same.

Hell have them run into Nicholas Flamel who is on his last bit of stone juice or something. Something from the first book. Maybe he knows how to break horcruxes because he’s looked into immortality routes in great detail and threw that idea away as a bad idea for a variety of reasons he’s keen to disclose. I know it’s utterly random but I don’t care. 

Do something!!! Anything!!! Instead of sitting on your ass saying you won’t do X because of Y. Hell seeing someone try a plan and fail is more fun then having them sit on their ass and explain why not.

There’s so many things that could have happened in a wizarding world travelogue where the villain despises those without magic and yet what happens is so boring.

[ettadunham]

A Buffy rewatch 5x14 Crush

aka no threesomes unless it’s charlize theron

Welcome to this dailyish text post series where I will rewatch an episode of Buffy and go on an impromptu rant about it for an hour. Is it about one hyperspecific thing or twenty observations? 10 or 3k words? You don’t know! I don’t know!!! In this house we don’t know things.

And in today’s episode we’re finally confronting head on Spike’s weird crush and all the twisted elements that comes with “a vampire in love”. Unless you’re Harmony. Harmony is a poor sweet child even as a vampire and none of you deserve her.

So... Crush. This is a great, fun episode, even if Spike’s whole idea of dealing with Buffy not reciprocating his feelings has plenty of yikes to it. Him tying up Buffy, and then trying to force her to “admit” that she feels something for him under the threat of dying is not... good. Buffy’s answer of “the only chance you had with me was when I was unconscious” pretty much just underlines the dynamic we’re dealing with here right now. Big old yikes.

Still, joke’s on Spike for thinking that the thought of dying would actually move Buffy. She’s a depressed millenial. At this point, only a big character arc can get back her will to live - and Spike will be the rock bottom she hits on the way there.

But enough of things yet to come. Let’s talk a bit about Spike and his “feelings” for Buffy.

I for one am very conflicted about my own feelings regarding this relationship, and I don’t think it’ll get much better throughout the show. On one hand, we get these snippets of a real, honest connection between the two, like the porch scene from a few episodes back. In these moments, Spike seems to know Buffy and what she needs, and she doesn’t feel the need to hide or pretend with him. That’s actually a pretty good basis to build a mature relationship upon.

...Except Spike can’t actually be mature, what with being a vampire without a soul and all. He feels entitled to Buffy’s feelings, and that entitlement is not only childish, but dangerous. He thinks he can convince Buffy to love him by tying her up and threatening her life. We’re playing this for comedy, because he’s inefficient and all the women end up ganging up on him, but it’s fucking scary actually.

So, is it even love? Drusilla says that vampires can love “if not wisely”, but this all depends on what we define as love.

The show has previously already made the distinction between obsession and love - Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered has a nice speech from Giles on it for instance. But here, we also get a bit into what can be the moral value of this type of love (which is only apt, as Spike thinks he should be rewarded for developing these feelings for Buffy), using Tara’s Quasimodo analysis as proxy.

Willow:  I just don’t see why he couldn’t end up with Esmeralda. [...] Tara:  No, see, it can’t end like that, ‘cause all of Quasimodo’s actions were selfishly motivated. He had no moral compass, no understanding of right. Everything he did, he did out of love for a woman who would never be able to love him back.

And then she even has a line about how “you just know that it won’t end well, when the main guy’s all bumpy”, which... is a fun way to bring home the parallel we’re clearly painting with Spike. On the other hand, it also points out how appearance is often used to signal moral value as well in these stories. And that’s fucked up, but as a literary analysis, it’s also true, so I can’t blame my girl Tara for that.

(Of course Willow meanwhile sees the story from the perspective of someone who’s used to rejection, and has always been desperate for affection and validation. It’s also interesting to see her essentially argue that Quasimodo “deserves” to end up with Esmeralda, as it somewhat crosses that line to this entitled view of love we’ve been discussing with Spike... More on that in a season or so.)

It’s a joy to see Drusilla in this episode too, of course, even if she’s essentially a bit player in the drama. And I like that she’s also here to catch up the audience on what’s been happening over at Angel.

If you ask me though, the real MVP of this episode is definitely Harmony. She’s too good and pure for all of this. She also refuses to play out your fetishistic male threesome fantasies... unless it’s Charlize Theron. The girl’s got standards.

Next up is I believe the episode where we meet the show’s most hateable character, so who’s ready to get preemptively filled with some good old fashioned rage?

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball Z 092

Last time, Goku reailized he was losing this fight, so he risked everything on a 20x Kaio-ken Kamehameha.   If it worked, great, but if it failed, Goku would be completely exhausted and unable to continue fighting.     Above is a side-by-side comparison of Frieza before and after the attack.    

Yeah, it’s only one image because IT DIDN’T DO ANYTHING.   Goku’s toast.

I think Goku had already decided that Frieza wasn’t bluffing about his true strength, but now there’s absolutely no question.    Frieza’s been half-assing it this whole time, while Goku just went beyond his limits and came up short.    He’ll only get weaker from here.   There’s nothing more he can do.

Elsewhere, Bulma has recovered from getting blown away by Frieza’s power, and she’s caught Captain Ginyu, who got swept along with her.    You know, I’ve often wondered if civilians in Dragon Ball are a lot stronger than real-world people.   You’d assume that Bulma’s about as strong as a typical real-world woman of her height and build, because she’s not a fighter, so there’d be no reason for her to have any superhuman abilities.    But I’m pretty sure if a real person went flying uncontrollably through the air like she did last episode, she wouldn’t have survived without injury.  

I mean, this is presumably where she landed.    It’s not exactly a pile of feathers or anything.    Also, Captain Ginyu did some pretty athletic stuff while he was using her body.   And maybe Bulma works out, but I doubt she’s doing like advanced gymnastics stuff just to stay in shape.    What I’m suggesting is that if Bulma somehow traveled to our world, she could kick Brock Lesnar’s ass.   She’d just slap him and he’d get a concussion or something.

While Goku and the others are demoralized by the failure of his last-ditch attack, Frieza tells a somewhat different story.   He’s not that badly hurt.    All that Kamehameha did was singe his hand.    But it did hurt him, and that makes him upset.  

And that fires him up.   The idea that a mere Saiyan could do even that to him is infuriating, so he charges after Goku in a rage.

I’m not positive, but I think this is the first time Frieza calls a Saiyan “monkey” in the Japanese dub.    Guldo said it first, back in Episode 62, and I think Jeice might have used the term as well, but I’m pretty sure we haven’t seen Frieza say it.   I think the Funimation dub used the slur more often, which I guess fits in with how Linda Young played the character.   Ryusei Nakao has a much more chilling performance in general.    His Frieza makes polite chit-chat, then flips his shit.  Young’s Frieza isn’t so subtle.   Everything she says is tinged with an air of brutal menace, and a lot of her lines included cutting remarks and insensitive jokes at the good guys’ expense.  There was always something really emasculating about her Frieza too.  In one episode she calls Goku “big guy” in a really condescending way, and in another she mocks Ginyu for being hurt over not getting to do the dance of joy.  I’m pretty sure she used the word “monkey” in almost every episode where Frieza mentioned Saiyans.

I’m not sure what to say about Chris Ayres, since I haven’t seen as much of his work.   I feel like I saw some video about the Funimation dub of Kai, where Chris Sabat said they recast Frieza because Young couldn’t deliver the new lines at the pace they needed.   That would make sense, because it feels like Ayres’ Frieza is constantly trying to fit in as many words as he can into a limited amount of time.   Young might be fast enough to do that, but her performance always hinged on the timing, like she was soaking each word in as much contempt and spite as possible.    Ayres’ Frieza is like “Oh I see you seem to be under the mistaken impression that I will let you live as it were but let me assure you that this is hardly the case as I have decided to murder you right here.”   And it’s like I don’t think they needed that many words to get the thought across.   He’s almost like a Big Green Dub character, only with better diction. 

The point I guess I’m making is that Nakao’s Frieza developed over the course of the series.    He started out being ultra-polite and unctuous, then he got snotty and irritated as things stopped going his way, and now he’s finally revealed his naked racism against Saiyans.    Young, and perhaps Ayres, kind of did all of those things at once throughout their performances.    

Make no mistake, Goku’s got nothing left in the tank.   It would be bad enough that the 20x Kaio-ken didn’t get the job done, but on top of that, the Kaio-ken takes a heavy toll on the user.   He’s worse off now than he was two episodes ago, when Frieza was beating the crap out of him.

For Frieza, this just proves that he was right to kill all the Saiyans, since all they’re good at is fighting, and they’re too stubborn to be made to do anything else.   Goku and Vegeta insisted on fighting Frieza, even knowing how difficult it would be.   He doesn’t admire their tenacity; he just views it as self-destructive.  

Then Goku starts hearing Vegeta talking to him.    At first, he asks him to team up with him, as if he forgot that Vegeta’s already dead.   

Then he sees him in some sort of vision. 

Years ago, I found an audio recording of Vegeta’s speech in this scene, and I used to put it on playlists and listen to it on long car rides.    I’m gonna try to do the dub version from memory.    

Vegeta: Kakarot, listen to me!   Is that all the power you have?   Where’s your Saiyan pride?

Goku: But... I never was a Saiyan!

Vegeta: What are you talking about?  You can’t deny your heritage!”

Goku: Vegeta... right now it doesn’t matter what I am.   Forget about it.”

Vegeta: We both know you have Saiyan blood running through your veins!     [audio cut out for some reason]  --pain, but there is one thing you must never forget: It was Frieza who destroyed our birthplace, the Planet Vegeta.     There’s no one left except for your.

Goku: The... the pride... of my people!”

Vegeta: Think back, Kakarot.   Remember your father.... my father.”

Bardock: My... son... lives... on!

King Vegeta: Ooohhhh... (dies)

Vegeta: So while you may deny who you are, you are the very last hope for a lost race of brave warriors.    Ask yourself this: Why does Frieza want you destroyed so badly?   He’s afraid a Super Saiyan will rise up!  Fight him for the entire Saiyan race!   Destroy him, for you have the power within you!   Now go, Kakarot.  It is time!

Eh, close enough, I think.   

Anyway, Vegeta’s butt-ass nekkid the whole time he says all this.    Also he has his tail, so that’s a thing.

Now, you might be wondering what Frieza’s doing while Goku’s having this conversation.   Turns out he’s still intent on dragging this out.   I’m pretty sure Frieza is just waiting for Goku to completely shut down, the same way Vegeta did before Frieza finally killed him.  Also, I’ve begun to notice that this is Frieza’s big weakness.   Before I said it was laziness or complacency, and there’s some truth to that, but now that I’m watching him fight, I see that when you piss him off, he actually slows down more.    Frieza announced that he was going to kill Goku and end the fight like two episodes back.    Instead, Goku singed his hand.    You’d thin that would compel Frieza to hurry this along, but instead it had the opposite effect.    He’s actually giving Goku more time, because he’s convinced that Goku has no more surprises in store, and he wants to punish him even more than he did before.

Yeah, he keeps saying stuff like this, but he never follows through.

Meanwhile, on King Kai’s planet, there’s some commotion going on inside King Kai’s house.

Someone took out Bubbles and Gregory.

And it turns out to be the dead guys from the Ginyu Force.  If there was a college textbook on anime filler, this shot would probably be on the cover.   But we’ll talk about the Ginyu Force on King Kai’s Planet later.

Back on Namek, Goku has raised his hands in the air like he just doesn’t care.   Frieza is bewildered.   He figures Goku must be up to something, but he has no idea what, since he’s so weak right now.

But Krillin calls it right away.    It’s the Spirit Bomb, the same technique King Kai taught Goku to use against the Saiyans.    Of course, Piccolo wasn’t around for that, so Krillin has to explain it to him.   This irks Piccolo, because he just came from King Kai’s place, and King Kai never even mentioned a technique like this.  To be fair, Piccolo was only there for less than a week, and he wasn’t exactly cooperative.

Now you might be wondering why Goku didn’t try something like this a long time ago.   Well there’s a number of drawbacks to the Spirit Bomb:

1) It takes a long time to prepare, and Goku’s defenseless the whole time.

2) If Frieza notices what he’s up to, he’ll just dodge it, or kill Goku before he can deploy it.  

3) The Spirit Bomb is pretty dangerous.   King Kai warned Goku not to use it in broad daylight, because the energy from the sun would make it too powerful.   Namek has three suns, and Goku doesn’t think that’ll be enough, so he’s gotta borrow energy from other planets in the vicinity.   In other words, Goku might end up making an attack so powerful that he ends up destroying the planet along with Frieza.

These aren’t hypothetical issues either.   The first time Goku used the Spirit Bomb in combat, it was against Vegeta in his great ape form.    Vegeta attacked him before he was ready, then he attacked him before he could launch it.    Then he had to turn the residual power over to Krillin, and Vegeta dodged it.    Then Gohan bounced it back at Vegeta, and it didn’t work.    Vegeta took the Spirit Bomb and survived.   You know what finally did kill Vegeta?   Frieza.

I can’t stress this point enough.   The Spirit Bomb is an incredibly terrible idea in this situation.    I’m pretty sure the main reason Goku trained at 100 times gravity on the way here was so that he would never need to rely on the Spirit Bomb ever again.   Enemies like Vegeta were just too fast and powerful to take the time to make one of these things.      It’s easy for us to think “well, he can just make a bigger one!” but it only amplifies the weaknesses in the technique.   A bigger Spirit Bomb just takes that much longer to build, and it becomes that much harder to control.  

But Goku’s doing this anyway, because it’s literally all he has left.   His own power has failed him, and the one great advantage of the Spirit Bomb is that Goku can borrow energy from other sources.   Even i he does destroy Namek, it’ll be worth it to rid the universe of Frieza.

As for Frieza, he’s just standing there watching this.   I never understood why he waited so patiently here, but I finally realized that it’s his curiosity getting the better of him.    He genuinely wants to know what Goku’s trying to do, and he figures Goku’s already beaten, so he can afford to wait.    From a sadistic standpoint, I’m sure he wants to wait for Goku to execute his plan, just so that Frieza can prevail one more time and humiliate Goku further.  

Ironically, if Frieza could just sense ki energy like the Z-Fighters, he’d know exactly what Goku was up to.   Krillin spots the bomb almost immediately.   I’m not sure why it’s so high in the air like this.  Before, Goku would absorb the energy into his own body and form the bomb from his hand.    This time, he’s using energy from multiple stars and planets, so maybe it’s easier to converge it all above him.     Or maybe he’s purposely doing it this way to hide the bomb from Frieza.  He’d have to look straight up to see the thing, and he has no idea that he’d even need to.

Here’s a couple of shots from the other planets Goku is drawing energy from.    I really enjoy these for some reason.    These alien creatures seem to have Namekian style antennae, which I think is a nice touch, assuming these are worlds in the Namek solar system.  

[thesoftdumbass]

The Joys of Laser Tattoo Removal

Pietro Maximoff X Reader oneshot

Words: 1370

Summary: Pietro Maximoff has a tattoo that he got when he was drunk, and he wants it gone. What happens when he comes to you for help?

Characters: Reader, Pietro Maximoff, Wanda Maximoff, Sam Wilson, Natasha Romanoff, Steve Rogers

Warnings: Lasers, secondhand embarrassment, not much else.

Author's Note: Hi there! This is my first attempt at a writing challenge, set forth by the lovely @sgtbxckybxrnes and I had fun! I have to tell you, I know nothing about laser tattoo removal other that what I found from quick searches on Google. This was inspired by an episode of How I Met Your Mother. This is in Pietro's POV, sort of. You'll see what I mean. I hope you like it! My prompt was This. Never. Happened.

(Gif credit to owner)

"I can't believe this is happening," groaned out Pietro in his accented voice. He was staring at his reflection in the mirror, trying to clearly see his marked skin. His friends were all laughing loudly from the living room, which was not at all helping his hangover. Pietro walked out of the bathroom to face the room of laughing idiots.

Pietro woke up this morning, and disregarding his pounding head and dry mouth, he felt good. After his break-up, Piet was finally feeling like the world was back in order. At least until he spotted the road-runner tattoo'd on his left bicep. His parents would be so disappointed.

As Pietro walked into the room, his roommate and best friend Sam made a comment.

"So why a road-runner, Wile E. Coyote?" This earned more laughs.

"Shut up, Sam."

"What? I'm just really curious."

"I ran track in college, and apparently drunk me thought it would be funny to play a prank on sober me. I really don't want this stupid tattoo." Pietro all but murmured the last part.

Pietro's sister Wanda who had been oddly silent this whole time spoke up.

"Why don't you have it taken off? My dermatology office does a laser treatment to remove tattoos."

"That's a good idea, Wanda! I'll do that," Pietro exclaimed.

"Good. When you do, make an appointment with Doctor (Y/L/N). They are the best in the business," Wanda insisted.

Pietro was on his way to the appointment he set up for laser tattoo removal. As he walked onto the elevator in the doctor's building, Piet noticed a woman in the back of the lift. She seemed intelligent, she was beautiful and Pietro decided to try to flirt with her.

"Hello. Did it hurt when you fell from Heaven," he asked with a smirk.

"No, but I scraped my knee crawling out of hell."

At that, the elevator doors opened and you walked onto the same floor that Pietro needed to be on. Piet felt a slight embarrassment at your rebuttal to his pick-up line, but shrugged it off a moment later. It's not like he would ever see you again, right?

Walking in through the right doors into the Doctor's waiting area, Pietro made his way to the reception desk at the back of the large room. His sister Wanda was there, signing people in for their appointments. After saying hello and signing in, Pietro sat in a chair in the waiting room, scrolling through some work emails.

Wanda, who is your physician's assistant, called Pietro back to an examination room. There was a figure in a lab coat standing there, she turned around when Wanda greeted her. Pietro felt chagrin as he noticed that it was the woman from the elevator.

"Hi," he sheepishly muttered.

"Piet. This is (Y/N) (Y/L/N), your doctor. (Y/N), this is my brother Pietro Maximoff. He's having a tattoo removed," Wanda introduced, handing you his chart and not reacting to her twin's odd behaviour.

"Hello, Pietro. I'm glad I can help take that off of your arm," you spoke nonchalantly, not bringing up the elevator incident.

"Nice to meet you, Doctor (Y/L/N)."

"Please, call me (Y/N). And it's nice to meet you too.

Wanda excused herself to get back to work, leaving you in the examination room with her brother.

"Listen, I'm really sorry about before. I hope I did not offend you, I just think you're really beautiful, and you have this sense about you. I don't know what it is," Pietro voiced.

"You're forgiven, and I wasn't offended. It was a noble try, but I have to wonder. Do men really think those lines actually work on women?" you joked.

"I actually don't know, but I hear my roommate Sam using them all the time. I really cannot remember any of them working, ever," Pietro chuckled.

"Good. They're awful," you laughed out. "Well should we get started?'

"Of course, (Y/N)." Pietro rolled up his left sleeve and showed you the colorful tattoo. "I really thought drunk tattoos was something that only happens on TV."

"Oh no, I make my living off of drunk tattoos. There doesn't seem to be any scar tissue, which is good. It should be fairly easy to remove in ten sessions with me. Actually, we can start today," you tell Pietro as you examine his arm.

"That's great!" Pietro cried out. "I want this thing off of me as soon as possible."

"Okay, let me get the equipment set up and we'll be ready."

You prepare your tools and after a few minutes, you are able to begin.

"I have to warn you Pietro, laser tattoo removal can be an extremely painful process," you caution your patient.

"Pain? Ha, my middle name is pain tolerance," Pietro tries to assure you.

"Okay, don't forget I tried to tell you," you said and started the laser up.

Pietro felt a sudden burning in his arm, and he yelled out. You covered your ears at the high pitched screeching, trying to prevent your ear drums from bursting. You turned off the machinery when suddenly Wanda burst through the door, looking bewildered.

The screaming had long since stopped, but your ears were still ringing. Wanda looked around before speaking.

"Are you alright, (Y/N)? I heard screaming coming from back here," she asked

"Everything is fine, Wanda. Your brother just felt the joys of a laser on his skin," you assured her.

"But it sounded like someone was being murdered!" Wanda argued. Pietro then moaned from pain. "Piet, are you okay?"

"Yes, Wan. Everything's cool. It just hurts," Pietro replies.

"I'm sorry Pietro, but that was just on the first setting. That's probably the least it will hurt, until you learn to tolerate it," you tell Piet.

"It's fine, we can continue now. I need this off of my skin."

"If you're sure, Pietro."

"Do you want me to stay? I could get somebody else to cover the front," Wanda questioned her brother.

"No I am okay. Go do your job, you slacker," Pietro joked, trying to reassure his twin.

Wanda went back to work, and so did you. Though you could tell Pietro was still in pain, there were no more vocal reminders. When you finally turned off the laser again, you gave Pietro some care instructions to prevent any adverse reactions. After you walked back into the main room of your clinic, he brought you to the side, along with his sister.

"Listen, you two. I know you are both professionals and there are rules for these things. But, I also know that my friends can be nosy. So I want to make one thing clear. This. Never. Happened." You snickered and Pietro added on, "I'm serious."

"Of course I won't tell anybody about your appointment, other than for necessary medical reasons." Wanda nodded along to your statement. "Of course... you still have nine sessions left."

Pietro groaned, causing you to laugh again. He recovered enough to schedule another appointment with you before heading back to his apartment.

When he got home, Sam was waiting with Steve and Natasha on the couch. Natasha smirked and asked, "How was the doctor?"

"It was good I guess. I started the treatment."

"Oh really? I heard that hurts," Steve states.

"It sucked," Pietro declares. "But, there's an upside. I really like the doctor, (Y/N)."

"First names, huh? Sounds like someone's got the hots for Doctor Sexy!" Sam declares.

"Shut up, Wilson. She's just nice, and beautiful, and funny." When Pietro saw the expression his best friend gave him, he forced the dreamy smile from his face. "Don't say anything, Sam. I heard it."

"All I'm gonna say, man, is that you better not embarrass yourself in front of her," Sam said.

When Pietro wore a guilty expression, his friends immediately crowded around him. Nat wanted to help, Sam wanted juicy details for future blackmail, and Steve wanted a good laugh.

So, Pietro told them the story of his first treatment session with Doctor (Y/L/N). After cackling for a solid five minutes, they devised a plan for Piet to ask out the beautiful doctor. Let's just say that after your treatment sessions, you were happy to accept a date from Pietro.

[empyreanturtle]

The Darkest Hour, Chapter 1 (A Final Fantasy XV Story)

A/N: This was originally planned as a prologue to a larger Gladio/OC romance fic. I only have a couple of scenes completed, and have no plans on writing more right now, but I do want to share what I have! Gladiolus was my #1 chocobro from the early demo and forever on. My plan was to explain some deeper motivations to his in-game actions, as well as introduce a more permanent love interest for him. This first chapter/prologue is the introduction of that character, Felicity. It is mostly canon-compliant with the main game, and also canon-compliant with my good friend’s story, Solstice.

A very special thanks to @captain-zajjy for encouraging and beta-reading this work!

Full work: http://archiveofourown.org/works/11896992

Felicity Surrigo watched from the bow of the fishing vessel, Cormoran, as the city of Altissia floated into sight from behind a cliff. Even after five years of the same view nearly every day, the beauty of the city never failed to fill her with a moment of hope.

“Surrigo!”

Felicity cringed as the feeling was ripped away by the grating voice of Captain Gifre. She hurried to coil the rest of the rope as she made her way towards the mast and tied it down to the deck.

“I swear yer slower than a sea slug,” Captain Gifre complained.

Around the boat, the crew prepared to offload their catch from the last two days. The first mate Dax yelled at the greenhorn Tym for making the same mistakes the first mate had made just a few hours earlier. The fiery Roux skittered around the mast and yards tying up the sails beneath the distinctive flags of a white sea bird on navy blue. The ironsmith - the man so silent he had never even given the crew his name, so they just called him by his primary job - was inspecting each bit of their gear, taking stock of what repairs he would have to make on the ship while docked. Felicity was on clean up, as usual, finishing all the jobs the others had abandoned or never even started.

Roux swung down to the deck in front of Felicity. The seawater and sweat had made his bright red hair curl even more than usual. He had only joined the crew a few months ago, not long after Gifre had taken over as captain, but had spent most of his life serving other vessels on the sea.

“Hey, Surrigo,” he said with a lopsided smile.

“Hey, Roux,” Felicity replied. She avoided eye contact with him, as usual. Not that it ever discouraged him.

“We’re coming into port soon,” Roux stated. “When are you gonna let me show you around?”

She knew reminding him that she had lived in Altissa for the last five years wouldn’t make a difference. “That all depends on the Captain,” she replied.

“He’s planning on staying in harbor the next two days,” Roux said with a smirk. Of course he already talked to the captain. Felicity kept a straight face, revealing neither her annoyance at Roux’s persistence or her joy at the news. The next morning, the Oracle was going to summon the goddess Leviathan, and two days off meant Felicity would actually be able to attend the ceremony.

“So how about it?” Roux asked, interrupting her thoughts.

“We’ll see,” she replied vaguely. The last time she had said no outright - at least two months ago - Roux had cornered her until she agreed to a ‘maybe.’ Captain Gifre had done nothing, just looked on with mild amusement.

“Surrigo!” The captain yelled at her again for her delay of tasks, conveniently ignoring Roux’s similar offense. Ever since Gifre had taken over the ship six months prior, his favorite display of power was singling Felicity out every chance he had. She had never been disrespectful to him - she knew better than that - but the previous captain had favored her, something Gifre always hated.

Still, Felicity went back to her chores on the ship without any complaint. No matter how much the crew taunted and tormented her, it was still better than her life had been in Lestallum. She’d tolerate Gifre and Roux twice over, so long as she had work, food, and a place to sleep.

Just over an hour later, Felicity watched as Dax lowered the last of their fish onto the delivery boat below. She swung her legs over the rail - one part of the job she actually enjoyed was bringing the fish to the various restaurants and vendors - but stopped when she heard the captain yell her name again.

“Where d’you think yer going?” he asked. Felicity didn’t bother to answer, and instead swung back onto the boat.

“My ship needs to be spotless for the awakening tomorrow,” Captain Gifre continued. “All of us know yer the only bitch stupid enough to stick around and do it.”

Felicity sucked in a breath to prevent her sigh from escaping. Only stupid enough to follow your orders. “Yes, Captain,” she replied instead. Cleaning the ship had always been Tym’s task, before Gifre had taken over. Nearly seven years younger than her, the boy earned a place on the ship under the old Captain Aarao doing all the tasks a person can do before they learn how to fish. But Gifre was buying loyalty, and he didn’t seem interested in earning hers.

While she got out the mop and bucket, she heard the captain assign delivery of the fish to Tym, then walk off with Dax and Roux not far behind. The ironsmith lingered on the ship, inspecting the outer hull for any damage sustained during their voyage.

Once the captain and his two lackeys were out of sight, a whisper came from the delivery boat below, “Surrigo?” Felicity leaned over the rail.

Tym sat in the boat looking up at her, bewildered. “I don’t know where to go, or how much to deliver, or…”

“The First Secretary’s estate. Then the stalls outside the Leville. Then Mhaago. The stalls and Mhaago each get half of whatever the estate doesn’t want. Tell them you’re from the Cormoran , and they won’t give you any trouble with the payments,” she explained. Gifre was still earning his reputation with the vendors - or failing to, in some cases. But the fishing boat’s name was still one held in high regard.

“Thanks, Surrigo,” the boy replied and shoved off.

Felicity smiled and returned to cleaning. Good luck, kid.

“You are nice to him,” the rare, deep voice of the ironsmith rumbled. Most of the crew had never heard more than a few words from the man, but Felicity always tried to be friendly to him, especially when they were left behind on the boat alone.

Felicity nodded. “Someone needs to be.”

“He will turn on you,” the man declared. “Captain will see to it.”

Felicity sighed inwardly. “I know,” she said truthfully. “But Captain Aarao would have wanted it this way.”

The ironsmith clucked his tongue at her. “You should be more careful. Captain does not like to hear that name. He does not want anyone to know.”

Know? “Know what?” she asked.

“It is nothing,” he replied. “What is in the past cannot be undone.”

Felicity felt her heart begin to race. Captain Aarao’s death six months prior had been attributed to a sharp decline in health. But Felicity had spent every day with the man for nearly five years, and Gifre’s sudden elevation to captain afterwards seemed to go a bit too smoothly. If there was a reason, a real one, for why Captain Aarao died so suddenly, she had to know it.

“Please,” she begged, “Do you know something?” She knew from experience that quiet people were often mistaken to be hard of hearing as well. What have you heard?

The man shook his head. “It is too dangerous for you.”

“I don’t care,” Felicity said in a rare moment of rashness.

The ironsmith shook his head again more vigorously. “I made a mistake in saying. Please do not ask again.”

Felicity sighed, but nodded her agreement. She didn’t want to press her luck with the one person on board that was genuinely nice to her.

“Would you like help cleaning?” the ironsmith asked her.

“No, but thank you,” Felicity replied. The empty ship reminds me of when Captain Aarao was still alive. “Please, go enjoy yourself.”

The man gave a nod of his head and exited the ship.

By the time Felicity finished cleaning the boat, the sun was low on the horizon. She rushed to her cabin and began filling a bag with a few clothes, her gil, and a couple meal bars. On top, she placed her two most prized possessions - a fishing knife with the Hydraean’s image carved into the hilt, and her ragged copy of Cosmogeny. Captain Aarao had given both to her as a gift when she first joined his crew.

If you are faithful to the Gods, they will be kind in return, he had promised. She started praying with him to Leviathan and the rest of the Six that very same day, and their fishing haul that day was the largest of the season. Felicity earned enough money to buy a real meal and a room for herself at the inn for the first time in years.

Ever since that day, Felicity’s life had improved. She learned how to fish and navigate the sea. Captain Aarao was kind to her. The rest of the crew were a rough group, but they never hit her or forced anything on her. One man had tried, only a month after she came aboard, but Captain Aarao intervened and left the man’s fate to Leviathan.

But more important than the rest, from the day she started praying to the Six, Felicity knew she would never have to live dependant on anyone ever again. Of all Her blessings, Felicity thanked Leviathan for that one the most.

Felicity cinched the top of her bag and slung it over her shoulder. It was too late to go to the Hydraean’s altar that night, but Mhaago would still be open. Weskham’s stories of his travels across Lucis always made the long days seem worth it. She stepped into the passageway and saw a dark silhouette leaning against the doorframe at the other end.

“In a hurry to leave, Surrigo?” Gifre’s voice echoed down the wood paneling.

Gods damn it. She managed to keep her face emotionless, but averted her eyes downward. “Just finished all the cleaning, Captain,” she replied.

Gifre looked around the hallway and seemed to nod in approval. “I guess it’ll be good enough. We’ll see when my guests come on board for the awakening tomorrow.”

Felicity tightened her grip on her bag, waiting for the Captain to reveal what he really wanted from her. Gifre took a long draw from an unlabeled bottle. After several seconds of silence, Felicity walked towards the captain. Please let me just leave. When she got within three paces, the stench of liquor hit her like a wall, and as she tried to step through the door, he braced his arm against the opposite frame to block her path.

“Everything I do for you, and not even a ‘thank you,’” he sneered.

Felicity swallowed back several retorts that came to mind. He’s drunk. Just find a way to get past him. “I appreciate everything you do for us, Captain,” she said as genuinely as she could manage. “We’re lucky to have you on the ship.”

Gifre shook his head and chuckled. “Not for the crew, Surrigo. For you. Y’think Roux would’ve let you be if I hadn’t given you the ship to clean? Damn ginger wouldn’t shut up about how I ruined his night.”

Felicity clamped her mouth shut. He really thinks he did me a favor? she thought with horror.

“And all I get in return is yer judging me all the time,” Gifre continued. “Don’t think I don’t know what’s goin’ on in that head of yers.” He tapped her temple with his finger, as if to prove his point.

Felicity recoiled, and shook her head to disguise the reaction. “It’s not my place to judge, Captain.”

“Damn right it’s not!” He took another long draw from his bottle. “Listen, Surrigo. One day you’ll wake up and realize I did ye a favor. And when ye do, I expect somethin’ in return. Got it?”

“Yes, Captain,” Felicity said automatically. She wasn’t sure what favor he thought he did for her. She certainly couldn’t think of anything in all the time she knew him. I hope I never find out, she thought to herself, And never owe him anything for it.

“Yer a sweet girl, and a pretty good fisher,” Gifre said as he finally moved out of her way. “You’ll see one day what I can really do for you.”

As the captain walked down the passageway to his quarters, Felicity let out a long breath she hadn’t even realized she had been holding. Leviathan, please save me from this mad man, she prayed, then left the boat as quickly as she could.

The next morning, Felicity stood among the throngs of people gathered in front of podium where the Oracle would be giving her address. After visiting Weskham at his restaurant, she had spent most of the night scrubbing her clothes spotless and shining the blade of the Hydraean knife. She even spent far too much time in the mirror that morning tying up her hair in something vaguely resembling a style she once saw in a photo of Lady Lunafreya. Today was likely to be one of the most important days of her life, and Felicity wanted to look her best for it.

She went to the plaza early to guarantee a close view. She was faithful to the Six, and both admired and revered the Oracle for her connection to them. The Hydraean knife hung on her belt; it was her only possession that seemed worthy enough for the occasion. What I wouldn’t give for the chance to hear Leviathan’s response as I lay it on Her altar!

Felicity waited for what seemed like an eternity before the Oracle finally approached the podium. Lady Lunafreya Nox Fleuret brought her hands together in prayer, and it sent a tingling rush through Felicity’s body. We will be praying together, she realized.

“Dear friends,” the Oracle began. “I stand before you today with little hope the words I speak shall reach beyond these walls...”

Felicity listened intently as the Oracle continued on about the darkness of the world. Ever since the first news that Lady Lunafreya would be marrying the prince of Lucis, Felicity had been glued to her radio. She had gone through an entire spectrum of emotion through news that Lady Lunafreya and Prince Noctis had died, that the Oracle had lived, and rumors that the Prince had made it out of Insomnia as well. Now, the Oracle was in Altissia, Felicity’s home, standing barely thirty feet away, informing the crowd of her intent to summon Leviathan.

Felicity swallowed back the swell of emotion that threatened to escape her. The news reports from the last couple of weeks had said that Titan had already been awakened, and Ramuh as well, if the rumors were to be believed. Felicity worshipped all of the Six, but Leviathan had always been her favorite. She had faith that even out in the middle of the sea, far away from any altar, Leviathan could still hear her prayers and would protect her from any harm.

As Lady Lunafreya spoke of Lucis, Felicity’s mind began to wander to what Leviathan might do once awakened. Will She give us Her blessing? Will the Oracle allow us to speak to Her, and present our gifts in person? Felicity fingers brushed along the knife’s hilt at her belt. I will give it to Her from the both of us, Captain Aarao, she silently promised to her deceased friend.

Cheers from the crowd broke Felicity’s train of thought. The Oracle, having finished her speech, gave a small nod, then withdrew from the podium. This is it, Felicity thought as she sucked in a breath. Her heart was pounding in her chest. She gripped the hilt of the knife as the crowd surged around her.

The people of Altissia rushed to get as close to the summoning altar as the city guard would allow. Areas directly on the water were blocked off, which meant people pressed their way to the platforms and open areas just above. Felicity was among them, but despite her height, she couldn’t see beyond the shoulders and heads of those who had managed to get in front of her.

This is worthless, she thought dejectedly. I have to find a better place to see. She backed away from her spot, one that was filled in an instant by those nearby, and made her way to the edge of the crowd. An idea came to her, and Felicity quickly made her way back up the steps to the First Secretary’s estate, around the side, and to the channel she so often used to deliver fish. She ran along the edge of its frame, following its path towards the harbor.

When she reached the loch between the two levels, Felicity jumped from the channel’s edge to the sidewalk nearby. From there, she moved past abandoned buildings - evacuated at the First Secretary’s request - across a bridge and down an alley way she once used to hide from Roux. At the end of the alley, Felicity pressed up against a fence that prevented people from getting too close to the level’s edge.

Felicity let out a sigh of relief as the Oracle’s voice rang out in song. Thank the Six. Through the bars, she could make out the Oracle standing on a platform a level below. She wasn’t close by any definition of the word, but the silence and seclusion of her viewing point allowed her to just barely hear the Oracle’s song and words.

In the sea beyond, Felicity saw the outlines of various fishing and pleasure boats, owned by the captains brave enough to go against the First Secretary’s docking orders. She was sure the Cormoran was among them, after Gifre had ordered the ship cleaned. Felicity tried to make out the navy blue sails of the boat, but all of them were too far away to be sure.

As Lady Lunafreya’s song faded away, a sound like nothing Felicity had ever heard before echoed across the water. It was like a thousand voices in unison speaking a language the world had long forgotten. Felicity seemed to hear the sound all around her and feel it deep within her soul.

Leviathan.

Felicity grasped the bars of the fence in front of her tightly. Her entire body felt like it was sparked by lightning. She searched the water below looking for any sign of the Goddess as the Oracle spoke to Her. The world seemed to slow down. Felicity knew her heart was racing, but in that moment waiting for the Goddess to appear, each beat felt like an eternity from the last.

Then, from the calm waters before the Oracle’s platform, a serpent-like creature rose straight into the air. It had to be nearly fifty fathoms tall. Felicity fell backwards from the fence as she tried to look up at Her. The breath Felicity has been holding finally came out whispering, “Goddess.”

Felicity felt like her heart was going to explode. The last five years she had worshipped the Hydraean. In that time, she had felt the first sort of peace or happiness since before her father had been killed by the Imperials while on one of his journeys. Leviathan had protected her, listened to her prayers, and answered them.  Leviathan, the being rising from the water below, had blessed her with a better life.

Felicity rose to her feet with her eyes transfixed on the Goddess of the Sea. The Oracle continued to speak to Her, and Her voice filled the air in response.

Then an explosion erupted at the back Leviathan’s head, and another along Her long spine. Felicity jerked her head in the direction the blast came from, only to see an Imperial ship smoking with the aftermath of a fired cannon.

No, Felicity thought angrily, You can’t take Her, too. She pressed herself against the fence again. “Leviathan, please,” she prayed, “Sink these Imperials once and for…” Felicity’s voice trailed off as the Goddess sent a wave of water directly at the Oracle, knocking her to her knees. Felicity felt her brow furrow. Why would She try to harm the Oracle?

In between the Imperial blasts and Leviathan’s increasingly menacing voice, Felicity heard Lady Lunafreya scold the Astral regarding the worship and praise She received. Leviathan made a sound that could only be described as a growl, and clamped her jaws around the Oracle. Felicity could hardly believe what she was seeing. The Goddess of the Sea, the guardian deity of Altissia, had angrily taken the only human capable of communing with Her and tried… to eat her.

“Leviathan!”

The Oracle’s voice rang out over the water and a beam of light shot straight into the air. A blast sounded from the platform, and the Hydraean recoiled back, revealing the Oracle safely standing there. Felicity’s relief was quickly cut short as Leviathan roared into the sky once again. The tone of Her voice dropped low. Felicity couldn’t understand the words She spoke, but it was a tone she recognized all too well - an ominous and brazen threat.

Felicity turned away from the fence and leaned back against a wall. She felt like her lungs had filled with water. Every breath she tried to take came up short. How could this angry, hostile serpent be the same Goddess that protected and blessed her so many times?

Felicity felt sick.

Another roar from the Goddess of the Sea pulled Felicity’s attention once again to the water below. Leviathan had begun spiraling in the air. In the distance, the boats viewing the ceremony rose with a wave larger than any Felicity had seen in even the worst storms. The Imperial ships continued their assault despite their moving target. One of their blasts hit a portion of the lowest level of the city after Leviathan avoided the attack, and another followed shortly after.

It’s become a warzone, she thought in horror.

A rumbling sound behind her made Felicity turn her attention away from the battle below. It sounded like a wave crashing against the side of a hundred boats all at once. The ground beneath her began to vibrate and the glass on the windows rattled like marbles in a jar.

“Shit,” Felicity exclaimed as water began to pour around the corners of the buildings at the end of the alleyway. She quickly climbed to the top of the fence, steadying herself against the building, before jumping for a balcony further away than she cared to worry about.

Her hands hit the railing and her body collided with the stone base. Her fingers curled tightly as she try to get a grip on the metal. Beneath her, the water rushed out of the alleyway and onto the next level below.

You’re dead if you fall, she scolded herself. She let one hand slip from the upper railing and grasped one of the lower bars tightly. The secure hold allowed her to fix her grip of the other hand, and pull herself up and over the rail. Felicity looked down to where she had been standing only moments prior to see a wall of crates, tables, and debris crushed against the metal rails as the fence filtered the water passing through.

Leviathan protect me, she thought, more out of habit than any belief that the being causing this destruction had any concern for her. She grabbed for the knife at her waist. The wooden hilt, once beautifully carved with the Hydraean’s image, was now cracked and missing several chunks from her impact with the balcony. But the blade was still intact, and she used it to pry open the door to the building.

Felicity found herself in someone’s home full of children’s toys and knickknacks that were left behind when the family evacuated. After securing the knife to her belt once again, she moved through to the windows on the opposite side, looking out of each one. Finally, at the back of the home, one of the windows opened above a support column for the bridge crossing the overflowing waterway below.

Felicity climbed onto the stone ledge made slick with water. She was more used to ropes and wooden beams, but the ornate carvings along the edge of the bridge gave her enough hand and foot holds to pull herself up and over the wall. She rushed to the opposite side where she could once again see the Oracle’s platform among the chaos below.

Felicity’s eyes focused on the Oracle just as she was stabbed by a man dressed in black.

“No!” she screamed out in horror. But the man calmly bowed to the Oracle, as his long coat flowed behind him, and left on an Imperial ship. Felicity backed away from the stone wall of the bridge. Her world, and her city, was falling apart, and she was helpless to it all. A voice echoed in her mind, What good is it to pray when the Goddess you worship is the cause of this chaos?

The sound of twenty footsteps in unison made Felicity focus her attention to the street. A unit of magitek soldiers marched directly at her. With a gasp, she ducked behind the bridge’s column, but she was sure they had seen her.

This can’t be it. Felicity squeezed her eyes shut as she waited for their bullets to hit her. The guns fired, but she felt no impact or injury. She slowly opened one eye, then the other. The unit had gone to the crest of the bridge and fired on the Hydraean instead. Felicity didn’t wait for them to change their minds. She jumped to her feet and ran in the direction they came.

As she turned the first corner she came to, she nearly collided with a wooden beam. She ducked and slid underneath, immediately backpedaling to avoid collision with a wooden wall. It was a sailboat with red flag, laying on its side and blocking Felicity’s path. One of the ones that had been out viewing the summoning, Felicity surmised.

She used the ropes to pull herself on top of the hull. From her new vantage point, she could see several other ships had met a similar fate. The swirling wall of water Leviathan raised had taken all the boats from the sea and spun them directly into the city.

But even more concerning was that the route she had planned to take, to get to the higher ground at the First Secretary’s estate, was just gone. The bridges and rooftops that would have kept Felicity above the water were just broken remnants floating in the water beyond.

The ship beneath her groaned and began to slide back into the rising water. Felicity ran along the hull and jumped from the bow, landing in ankle-deep water on the next rooftop. Behind her, Leviathan’s roars and growls had become eerily absent. Felicity turned back to the water to see Her falling downwards as water sprayed from her underside.

She is finished, Felicity thought. She knew she should feel horrified at the thought, but she couldn’t help feeling some relief.

Leviathan laboriously raised Herself into the air one last time and let out a noise of desperation. Around Her, the water glowed with yellow light as a rock rose from the surface.

Not a rock, Felicity realized. It’s the Archaean.

Felicity fell to her knees, and the water on the roof came up to her waist. Please, Titan, she silently prayed. Please protect Altissia. Make Leviathan see the devastation She is causing.

The building beneath her suddenly began to tremble as Titan raised his fist into the air. She tried to stand, but was almost immediately knocked off her feet. She crawled towards a doorway at the far edge of the rooftop as quickly as the quaking and rushing water would allow.

Just as she reached the door, Titan slammed his fist into the water before him. Towers of glowing, yellow rock appeared out of nowhere. All around her, Felicity could hear the snaps of rock and stone breaking apart. One of the bell towers tilted, then fell to the city below. Buildings broke apart, the stone edges of the higher levels of the city collapsed. The entire world seemed to shudder in pain.

The only pieces of the city that had remained untouched from Leviathan’s fury were crumbling to the ground.

The water around Felicity started to rise rapidly. The towering wave surrounding Altissia began to fall with an impending white wall rushing across the city. Felicity struggled to open the door, hoping the stone would provide relative safety and an air pocket inside. She threw her weight against the door, then did so again and again until finally she heard the wood crack. She stepped back readied herself for one last push.

The water of Leviathan’s wall rushed over Felicity with the power of a thousand waves. She tried to reach for the door, the stone, anything to hold on to. But everything was out of her grasp, and she was swept away in the wave.

Open your eyes to Their light, and you will never be lost.

Captain Aarao’s voice echoed in Felicity’s head. She felt weightless, like she was soaring with the clouds. She reluctantly opened her eyes to a world of blue. She was soaring. She was above the city of Altissia, looking down on the lowest level at the sidewalks surrounding Mhaago. The canals nearby looked strangely empty, yet she could see fish swimming within their walls. In fact, there were fish everywhere, floating in the air with her.

I’m under water.

As the realization swept over her, Felicity heard the memory of Captain Aarao’s voice again. Even in the darkest depths of the seas, Their light will guide you. She pushed back the fear and panic that threatened to drown her and searched for the brightest light in the water and the infallible path to the surface it would provide.

It was nowhere to be found.

She clamped a hand over her nose and mouth to prevent them from sucking water into her lungs. Up, she resolved. Go up. Keeping Mhaago beneath her, Felicity kicked and pulled her way through the water. Her lungs burned with desperation as she made her way towards what she hoped was the surface.

Air rushed into Felicity’s lungs as her head finally came above the water.

The remnants of Leviathan’s wall descended on Altissia as a steady rain. Both the Hydraean and the Archaean were nowhere to be found. In their place, a chorus of a hundred cries for help echoed over the water. People clung to anything they could get their hands on to stay afloat.

Felicity swam towards the part of the city that now made up the shore. She pulled herself onto a stairway that once connected the second and third levels of Altissia. The bottom of the stairs were underwater, and the top led to a crater left by one of the Imperial shells. Felicity spun around in horror as she realized exactly how much destruction had come to Altissia.

As she turned away from the First Secretary’s estate, Felicity saw the wreckage of a boat several streets away that had met its demise colliding into a stone structure that was once a large platform looking over the canals. It was only one of many that had met a similar fate, but what caught Felicity’s attention was the mast. One of the only pieces of the ship still intact, it boasted navy blue flags with a white sea bird.

The Cormoran.

Felicity carefully navigated her way through the rubble towards the ship. A feeling of apprehension grew steadily in her chest the closer she got. Her crewmates may not have been her favorite people in the world, but they were still her crewmates. As Felicity moved closer, she could see more and more of the damage.

The stern was broken off entirely, and by the splintered wood at the tear, Felicity suspected it was from an Imperial shell. The mast, despite standing vertical, was leaning significantly from its base. Several dark stains blemished the deck she had so meticulously cleaned the night before. The bow had a gaping hole ripped into its side from the impact with the stone, revealing the hallway where Gifre had cornered her just before she left the ship. To Felicity, it felt like an eternity had gone by since then.

She inhaled sharply when she saw a crumpled form at the end of that hallway, only recognizable by his bright red hair. Roux. She immediately felt guilty at the twinge of freedom his fate meant for her when she saw the smaller shape of Tym a bit further away.

As she scanned the wreckage for any sign of life - and finding none - her prayer from the previous night, the request to be saved from Gifre, echoed in her mind. I didn’t mean it like this, she thought. I would have endured a thousand years of his madness if it would have saved their lives.

With a sigh, Felicity stepped away from the boat and turned her attention to the ship’s debris strewn across the platform. She found a compass that she fastened to her belt next to the Hydraean knife, a few articles of the clothing she had left behind, and a small knapsack to stuff them in. She didn’t bother with the broken pieces of other navigation tools, or things that had belonged to the others. After gathering what she could, she knelt overlooking the edge of the platform and tied off her sack.

“Surrigo,” a grating voice sneered from behind her before dissolving into a coughing fit.

Felicity stiffened. It can’t be. She slowly stood and turned to the source to see Gifre leaning wearily against a broken wall of stone.

“Of all my crew to survive, of course it was ye,” he said. Felicity was frozen in disbelief, but her mind echoed the captain’s sentiment.

“Were all yer prayers answered by the Goddess of the Sea?” he mocked. He walked towards her, and it looked like a lungful of water was the worst that had happened to him that day. “Did you pray for my ship to be destroyed?”

“N-no,” Felicity stammered out. “Of course not.” I never wanted this to happen.

“O’ course not,” he repeated with a sinister smile. He motioned with his arms to the rubble around them. “A little hard for yer prayers to be answered when the ‘gods’ yer prayin’ to are too busy with all this.”

The words twisted like a knife in Felicity’s chest. She didn’t want to believe him, believe that all her prayers had been for nothing, but after what she had seen that day, she couldn’t find the will to disagree.

Gifre moved through the debris from the ship, picking out various items that survived the wreck, many of which weren’t his to begin with. He made a noise of disappointment as he looked over the boat. “A shame, really,” he said. “I was gettin’ close to expanding to a fleet, y’know.”

Felicity stayed silent. What would he do if I just walked away? she wondered.

“Ye could’ve had yer own boat,” he said, intriguing her enough to stay. He stood and crossed his arms, staring at her. “I had the money for a second ship, a bit smaller. Wasn’t gonna be free, o’ course. But I was waitin’ fer the right time. Waitin’ on ye.”

Felicity’s brow furrowed. “Me? But wouldn’t Dax...”

Gifre cut her off, “That stupid oaf? His sorry ass couldn’t tell north from south. Ye had the skill for it, Surrigo, so It would’ve been ye, if ye had woken up any sooner. But there wasn’t gonna be any ‘Goddess of the Sea’ shit on any boat in my fleet.”

Woken up? What is he talking about? Ever since Captain Aarao had died, Gifre and his lackeys always taunted her faith in Leviathan. Felicity attributed their lower pay to less fish, a result of their offending Her with their comments. He was pocketing most of it for himself, she realized. Leviathan had nothing to do with it.

When Felicity didn’t respond, Gifre continued, “It was bad enough with Aarao leavin’ good people’s fates to Leviathan.” He spit at the ground in disgust. “My brother didn’t die because Leviathan decided it. He died because the bastard walked him off the plank in the middle of the sea.”

Felicity remembered the first time Captain Aarao ordered one of the crew to go overboard, only a few months after she had joined up. ‘The Hydraean will determine his punishment,’ Captain Aarao had said that day. And she believed him, and believed Leviathan would protect the man if he was innocent.

Gifre let out a cynical chuckle. “But he realized, in the end, there’s no goddess deciding who should live and who should die. Not for my brother, and not for Aarao either. He died foolishly believing Leviathan would save him.”

“Don’t talk about the Captain that way,” Felicity said, a bit more forcefully that she intended.

“The Captain?” A look of disdain came over Gifre’s face and he lunged at her. Before she could react, he closed the distance between them. His fist connected with her jaw, knocking her to her knees.

“I am your Captain!” he shouted. He pushed the sole of his boot against Felicity’s shoulder until her back was on the stone. “Ye think without a ship, that suddenly I ain’t yer Captain anymore?”

Felicity tried to squirm away, but Captain Gifre pinned her beneath his foot. Leviathan, why did you destroy so much, yet leave this man? But she knew the Hydraean wasn’t listening, and probably never had been.

Gifre dropped to his knees over her and leaned down into her face. “This is the thanks I get, is it? I did ye a favor and gave ye a chance to be something more than the bastard’s acolyte,” he said, his voice growing louder and angrier on each word. “An’ after all this time, yer loyalty is still only to him!” His hands encircled her throat and pushed down threateningly on it. “I should’ve gotten rid of ye as soon as I took over!”

“No!” Felicity struggled beneath him. Her hands grasped for anything she could find, anything that could help her get away from him. “Please,” she begged in ragged gasps, “Gods, please stop.”

“Yer ‘gods’ didn’t save Aarao from what I did to him, and they can’t save you now,” he hissed.

Felicity’s eyes went wide with clarity. He killed him. And he’s going to kill me too. Her fingers frantically searched at her belt before finally making contact with the Hydraean knife. Without a second thought, she ripped it from its fastenings, and sunk the blade into Gifre’s side.

Gifre jumped to his feet as she pulled the blade out. For the second time that day, air rushed into Felicity’s lungs, and she scrambled to her feet. Her body felt like it was on fire from adrenaline. Gifre examined his hemorrhaging wound, then looked up at her with contempt. “Ye bitch,” he slurred. His face was already beginning to lose color, but he grabbed at her once again. Felicity dodged around his outstretched hand and plunged the knife into his chest.

“I don’t need gods to save me anymore,” she said, then pushed the captain and the knife over the platform and into the water below.

I’m free.

The moment of serenity quickly gave way to a tidal wave of thoughts and emotions from everything that had happened to Felicity that day. She felt heartbroken, forsaken, liberated, and terrified all at the same time. Her head felt lighter than air, but her chest was thick and heavy.

Felicity Surrigo fell to her knees, buried her head in her hands, and wept.

[nctinfo]

[TRANS] NYLON Magzine April Issue with NCT 127 — Ment

TAEIL “When I was a high school student, I somewhat wanted to become a zookeeper. Since I really like animals, I wanted to take care of the animals in my neighbourhood. But after a bit of research, I gave up. The competition rate is high. Somehow, I became an idol where the competition is even more intense, haha. There are two happiest moments in my life, when I passed the SM Audition and when it was confirmed that I will debut with NCT. When I passed the audition, I was so happy I screamed, and when it was confirmed that I will debut, I bursted into tears. Especially when they confirmed my debut, really… I cried and cried until my eyes were puffy. Do you understand this feeling? It’s like there is a clear, bright flamelight somewhere over there, I know there is a bright world, but I feel like I’m just as in the dark as before. I have lived as a trainee for about three years and a half, every day I had this feeling, the moment it was announced that I am going to debut, it was like crawling out of a lonely tunnel. A world filled with bright and golden light, as if El Dorado unfolded in my life. That was a year ago, but even to this day, I still feel good and bewildered. Sometimes when I go on holidays, it really amazes me how on the streets and in shops I go to, there are people who recognise me. I am still inexperienced and I will work hard. Until I am like ‘Super Junior’s Kyuhyun Hyung… I envy his calm personality as well as his sweet voice and abilities. I also want to have his sense of security (stability). It would be a sense of security to be able to have both experience and skill. “

JOHNNY “I am Johnny from Chicago. Compared to New York, Chicago is quieter and more relaxed. It’s a city where nothing is too hasty but not overly relaxed, this is why I like Chicago. The fact that I come from Chicago is very important, doesn’t the environment shape a person? I want to be someone who will never forgot where they come from, and I try to keep my wish. I’ve been living in Korea for four to five years now. It feels like I have matured a bit after living in Korea for a while. During this time, I have learned to not only think about myself and to respect the grown-ups. It also made me reflect on the importance of ‘myself’. Idols live in the eyes of others and are obligated to live up to their standards. Under such environments, to avoid losing focus, I have to remember who I am. I constantly think about the questions ‘who am I?’ and ‘what kind of person am I?’. I, Johnny, like DJing and playing the piano. I also wish to become a warm (kind) person, and someone who gives other people strength. My ultimate goal is to become a person who, even though is standing still, can still show their great personality. I am still very much flawed, but please believe that I will become that person. “

TAEYONG “It’s NCT’s leader, Taeyong. NCT127 gave me a lot. I got a job called (being an) idol, I came into the company and met a lot of nice adults, most of all, I made a lot of friends. To me, the members are my best friends. Although I am the leader, rather than me leading the members, there are more times when they helped me. When I was young, I could paint and play the piano, I had a good reputation for expressing myself, and I often received praises, but it wasn’t easy for me to get close to people quickly. Do you like films by Studio Ghibli? I really like them, but the main characters in these films, why are they slightly different from others, they live alone and are lonely, but if you get to know, they are all good people. I’m talking about characters like Howl in ‘Howl's Moving Castle’. I think I'm that kind of character, after we became NCT I have eight friends. I am grateful. Still, the times that I spend alone are also very important to me. Therefore, no matter how busy I am, when schedules finish I go to the training room alone and dance or practice singing and tidy my thoughts. I think that having time alone has the power of helping me grow and endure the pressure of busy schedules and life as an entertainer. It is my goal to continue to express the days I have lived, the days a youth lived, through rap and music, and after gaining a lot of experience and knowledge, I have a dream of becoming an adult. I want to be a real grown-up who can help and guide the way for the juniors.”

YUTA “I have this phrase I always say whenever I introduce myself "I'm manly mountain man Yuta". I really like mountains. In Japanese, the pronunciation of 'mountain' and 'top' is the same. That's why I'm manly mountain man Yuta. Ah, I really like mountains. Before debut, whenever there was time to spare, I used to go to Bukhansan, Namsan-dong and every mountain in Seoul City alone, whether big or small. Whenever I'm at the mountains, my mind feels like it has been cleaned and I feel at ease. I thought of becoming a singer because of TVXQ sunbaenim. I wanted to become a soccer player when I was young. But after watching TVXQ, everything changed. They were really cool and they felt like gods to me... But after debuting, it's harder than I thought it would be. Above all,  there's no free time, I don't have time to go to my favorite mountains anymore... One day when I was in a lot of stress I asked our EXO sunbaenim "Until when will this be hard?" they answered it will take three years to give up everything and I firstly will need work to my fullest. That advice gave me strength, I thought 'Ah, our Hyungs also went through a lot of hardship'  and this made my heart feel more at ease. But whenever I'm tired, I'd like to watch sports documentaries. Soccer players in the A-League have to repeat the same strategy for years to improve their own skill. When I look at it, I think of their 'professional spirit' and I want to become a person like that too. After all, everything is a fight against yourself. Whenever I don't feel like practicing or just want to laze around. I think it's important to keep pushing myself. Like this, I want to keep moving forward one step at a time. It's just like climbing a mountain.”

DOYOUNG I have an episode (story) that shows well what kind of person I am. When I was in elementary school I wanted to eat an ice cream so I went and bought it but a car had rolled over my legs. But, I never let go of my ice cream for even one moment. Even when going to the hospital and arriving in the emergency room, I still held on to my ice cream tightly. In the end, I couldn't eat my ice cream because it all melted. But this shows that when there's a thing I really like, I tend to only think about that thing. Right now, I'm struck by our team's music. The music I can do alone and the music and voices I can do when the 9 of us are together are definitely different. Nowadays, I think a lot about what kind of music our team would fit best. I don't want to do just common things. Music is a 'proof of existence' to me. Since I was young, I really liked singing but my parents never really told me 'good job'. To prove my ability, I started to participate in singing competitions. And when I was in high school, I went to the singing contest hosted by the province and got the first prize. That's when my family started to acknowledge my singing ability. Since then, music has always seemed to give me a feeling of "this is it." I don't really have a role model, but I want to be a vocalist who can be recognized after singing just a single line. Like Adam Levine or Lyn sunbaenim. By the way, do you know Lyn's song 'Love U. . Love U'? You should have a listen. It's a song accompanied by a piano with delicate vocals

JAEHYUN “ When I was young, at home I would frivolously laugh well and would have a talkative personality but strangely at school words wouldn't come out. I'm also shy and somehow felt like I should stay quiet too... That's why I spent a lot of time alone and my 4th grade elementary school teacher recommended extracurricular activities. I then realized the joy of standing in front of people for the first time doing variety of activities. I think the joy I felt at that time made me do it today. In fact, it's still nice and fun to be standing in front others and not being burdened. However, it's hard when I'm not as strong as I expect. Even if you practice but your skills don't change, do something else. If you can't dance, sing, when singing falls into a slump, you can watch a movie... Then a moment to be okay will come. I realized as I went many time through that process that I was interested in dancing, singing, movies and so on. That's what I'm all about. Eventually, it's obvious but it's true that you have to be a good person to be a great artist. Being known is nice and receiving love is nice too but I want to be a better person. Someone who doesn't deceive, someone who is confident of himself. And after a decade, he continues to endlessly finding out what he likes diligently, I want to be someone who continues to enjoy. A person who doesn't lose his enthusiasm for what he does, that's the kind of person I find cool. “ \

WINWIN “ I'm Winwin from China. I have a deep fear of strangers. I'm also more of the shy type. However, if we're close then I'm a completely different person. I play around a lot... NCT members all tease me for being a "heodang" (T/N: someone who looks perfect but acts stupid) Ah, furthermore! I am a smart person. When me or any of my friends have problems, I can solve them all! Don't believe me? It's for real. When my friends encounter problems they always find me first. Because of school, starting from middle school I had to leave my family in Wenzhou to go to Beijing alone. Compared to other people my age, I think I've developed a better ability to control and cope with situations. Therefore I was able to adjust to life in Korea without difficulty. I've been in Korea for a year and a half and met a lot of cool people. EXO's Lay hyung is one of them. Dancing and singing, he is good at them both but besides that Lay hyung has a charisma that's unexplainable in words. I want to also have my own kind of charm someday. My story, what else? Someday I want to act. I'm confident I can cooly play a the lead character in a film about everyday life. Also, I like R&B... my favorite song? I'll let you know next time. If I tell you too much about me, the charm will be gone! “

MARK I have a lot of laughter. I laugh about things that don't make sense and when I was young, I was a kid with a lot of high spirits. Nonetheless, isn't it more pleasant to be positive rather than depressed? I started <High School Rapper> with a cheerful mind. I did not come with the thought of wanting to compete and win the first place. The thought of wanting to learn was bigger. But when I went out, it was more stimulating than I thought. It's also a place where I can see the talents of kids of my age around the country, and there are a lot of great friends. Above all, I have already debuted and come from a huge company. I have a lot of people who can help me and guide me. However, these kids who came out there in the competition are alone and they practice alone, I really respect that courage and will. At first, when it started, it was good to have fun, but I have to work hard too, as far as I can. I rap a lot for the team (NCT) but now it seems a bit funny to separate myself from being a rapper or a singer. From now on, without being bound to one restricted area, I want to be an artist who makes good songs and expresses them. Like Michael Jackson's 'Man in the Mirror', I want to create a song that is bright and is hopeful for people. The kind of music that can have a good influence on the world. That is my dream.

HAECHAN “I'm NCT 127's youngest Haechan. I'm in charge of being the 'cutie boy', haha, these are not my words but the hyungs. The Hyungs really adore me a lot. Instead of giving you a common introduction, I will tell you the songs of my life. The first one is 'Hello' by Huh Gak sunbaenim. Since I was young, I liked this song a lot. My parents both play music so naturally, I thought I would also definitely play music too. And one day, my mom came and said: "there's an audition, let's give it a go". I went with a light heart and thought of having fun but unexpectantly, I passed the audition in one try. The song I sang at that time was 'Hello' from Huh Gak sunbaenim. That's how I got through the auditions and started my trainee life. I didn't really know at the time but I seemed to hit puberty when I was fifteen. My mood swings were pretty severe. Whenever I cried, I would go to a dark room and listen to 'She's Out of My Life’ or `You Are Not Alone'. It was Michael Jackson who seemed to have protected me during my puberty. Also, more important than any other song of my life is NCT's debut song 'Fire Truck'. I was dazed and confused when I recorded the song, but listening to it now I realize it's a great song. I think 'Fire Truck' will be my song of life until I die. When I look back, I think about all the other debuted teams when we debuted and watched the sunbaenims who had already debuted. The teams, who made their debut together with us, were also very good and talented. I thought that 'I cannot hold too much hope, if we don't work hard enough we will be buried (underneath the other teams)' and worked even harder after our debut. I'm practicing these days to improve singing and dancing. Although I still lack a lot, I will do well. I'll have more confidence in myself.”

Translation: Teddy, Selin, Rini, Esmee @ FY! NCT (NCTINFO) | Source: NYLON April Issue

Please take out with full credit

[luninosity]

Hello, I hope you have the best of day ! You rock and are an awesome person. I send you all the virtual hugs, luni. (Ps : your writing is A++++)

Hmm....want one of the new scenes from the Inkshares book? (I’m technically rewriting one of the Evanstan AUs into original fic, but there’re a lot of new scenes, and they’re obviously different main characters! Here...)

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Thelandscape grew rockier. Drier. More grey. Hills sprouted stone boulders andcrags like bewildered stone faces. Temperatures fell precipitously; plants tookon iridescent hues, shimmering white and turquoise and primrose. Magic in theair.

 Tirianshot him a look of sheer delight, the second day into the North, and nudgedheels into his mare and took off: a streak of fairy wildness, person and horse,enchanted as the wind. Ollie sighed internally—he couldn’t breathe magic like vitality, and this wasn’t home forhim—but Tir all lit up and glowing and daring him to follow, well. That madehim want to follow. Made him grin.

 Thiswas home for Tir. More or less. The borderlands. The closest he’d got. Olliewondered, pounding after his fairy-companion down a crooked defile, leaping astream, catching up and playing tag on horseback among merry towering rocks andindecently iridescent hummingbirds, if he missed it.

 Hewondered also for the first time why Tir had never ridden North. Never come soclose to home. With that joy in each breath, in those chilly excited eyes.

 Hethought that this might be because of him. Because of himself: Tirian’d spentyears looking out for him, finding his missing boots and correcting hisarithmetic sets before the tutor checked. Ollie had never cared to ride North.

 Hischest did that odd twist and ache again, the way it had over bacon and toastthe morning they’d left.

 “Oliver,”Tir yelled over, laughing, pink-cheeked in brittle wind, “you’ll get stuck,that ravine’s a dead end—!”

 “Carrotcan turn on a penny!” Ollie shouted back, tugging at reins, getting Bellemare’sAutumn Harvest Joy to rear and spin obligingly, “and you didn’t tell me wherewe were going!”

 “North!”Tir came back and reined Sprite in and waited helpfully while Ollie figured outdirections. “You know. That way. Not down a dead-end ravine.”

 “Bloodyfairies and your bloody country,” Oliver grumbled at him. “How do you know it’sa dead-end, anyway?”

 “One,because I, unlike you, pay attention to my surroundings. Two…” Cool grey eyesgot a little more cloud-like, pensive. “I don’t exactly know. It’slike…knowing.”

 “Oh,right, that’s completely clear, thanks.”

 “No,I mean…” Sprite matched Carrot’s pace amiably, without active direction fromher rider. Ollie’d always half-suspected Tir had a mysterious magical bond withmost animals, though when asked his fairy’d only started laughing hard enoughto be useless for answers.

 “Imean,” Tir said now, thinking aloud, “no. It doesn’t work if I think about it.It’s a little like remembering.”

 “Like…you…”Came this way? When you were only twelve and alone in a brand-new human land?

 Hethought: I couldn’t’ve done it. I don’t know how you did. And you don’t talkabout it. And I can’t ask. In case it’s a spell or a geas or a charm. In caseit hurts you.

 Hesaid, “Like you spend a lot of time in ravines?”

 AndTir laughed, weightless and untroubled. “Maybe if you count the Universityarchives. I swear some of those manuscript stacks haven’t been touched incenturies. It’s funny, though, if I try to push it, to really think about it,that headache…”

 Olivergathered rein. Carrot stopped. This meant that Sprite stopped too; Crown Princeand companion regarded each other for a minute. Wind flirted with unnaturallyindigo-and-magenta rock-grass behind Tir’s head.

 Tirianlooked away first. “I know. I know what you’re saying. Not saying. You know my answer. Just—just don’t. Please.”

 “You’rehurting,” Ollie said, “because you’re riding North with me.”

 “It’snot like—”

 “Itisn’t?”

 “It’s…hardto explain.”

 “Try.”

 “Iknow,” Tir said carefully, even gingerly, “what I’m supposed to do. And I…thisfeels like going home. Before I’ve done it. And that—”

 “Oh,”Ollie said. “Oh. No. Stop. Nothing you’re not allowed to say,” and then theylooked at each other for another second, until one corner of Tir’s mouthquirked up. “I’m okay. It’s just…a reminder. From—from the magic. Land-sense.It won’t matter; we won’t be going into Fairy proper.”

 “I’llbelieve you,” Ollie told him, “if you tell me that again. Right now. Honestly.”

 “Iam being honest, you turnip.” Tir was smiling, crooked, but his eyes were serious.Graveness; gravestones, that grey. Ollie swatted that thought down. “I don’tlie to you, Oliver. It’ll hurt a little, and it won’t get much worse, and I canlive with it for now. It’ll go away after we’re done.”

 “You’lllet me know,” Ollie said.

 “Ofcourse.”

 “Then…”He bit his lip, wavered: a pebble making a choice. Could be an avalanche. Mightnot. No way to know. And he had a traditional quest to complete, and Tirhad…also a quest. Of some sort. A mission. “If you’re sure.”

 Tirgave him the most affronted look Oliver’d seen on anyone not a palace cat. Hehad to laugh. “Fine. But you’ll tell me how you’re feeling.”

 “Ijust said—”

 “Notonly when it gets worse. Check in with me. Talk to me. Did you call me aturnip?”

 “I’vecalled you worse before. I’m all right, I promise.” Wind tugged a strand ofdark hair across grey eyes; Tir tucked it back, and made even that motionelegant: ruffled as silk, as water, a fairy framed by ravine walls and cinnamonrock-roses. “Still going to beat you to that stream, up ahead…”

 “That’snot a fair start!” Oliver yelled athis vanishing back, and took off after.

 Tir and Sprite won. This was not a surprise.